Rules Compendium counterfeit?

[Agent 451]

So I just got a copy of the Rules Compendium in the mail, and it seems... odd. I doubt that it is a counterfeit considering the (relatively) small clientele base, but the book seems so much cheaper than any of the others that I have.

Can anyone verify that the pages are supposed to have a stark white background, that the paper the pages are printed on are thinner compared to any other books (like ToB or ToM), and that the pages are translucent enough to see (but not necessarily read) text from the opposite side?

edit: The inking itself seems fine, (no running, nice and glossy) as do the printed images.

[Malachei]

I don't think there's a counterfeit.

My RC is very good quality, but it has slightly thinner pages and yes, the background is white.

[Agent 451]

Cool, thanks for the confirmation Malachei. It just seems so odd that they would be so cheap printing one book than the others. Especially since this was supposed to be the rule to end all rules books...

[eggs]

This would be the best crime.

[Agent 451]

Pressing copies of out of print books to sell on eBay at conflated prices? Sounds exactly like an MMO strategy to me :P

[Malachei]

I think it might have been about saving money.

[Agent 451]

Yeah, if that's the case the joke's on WotC (in my case anyway) since I bought it for less than $15 secondhand. I suppose someone had to buy it to begin with though.

[Malachei]

Well, there are mint copies available for below the original price. This applies to a few books, while others seem to be in short supply and high demand, so even used copies sell for > double original price.

[Agent 451]

True, I've seen a lot of that on eBay, particularly with books that came out near the end of 3.5's printing run. It's still relatively easy to find them for cheap if you are persistent enough though.

edit: Which is one of the reasons I was skeptical about my copy of the RC, I grabbed it off of eBay for less than a quarter or more than what it typically goes for.

[Abies]

I think it might have been about saving money.

This is what I'm going with. Have you seen any of the 4th edition books? I'm afraid to handle them because the pages are made of rice paper and the covers are less sturdy than a styrofoam cup. I understand the reason for the company existing is to make money, but WotC products' quality has gone to crap lately. (materials-wise, the content has been variable with a heavy leaning towards crap for a long time).

[Malachei]

I must admit that after a brief phase of curiosity, I'm not playing 4th edition anymore and have returned to 3.5. Apart from the content (most important, for me), I was not really thrilled by the game's feel as presented in the artwork. Overall, I found the books not well-organized and content-wise, I think they are thin.

[Agent 451]

Have you seen any of the 4th edition books?.

Can't say that I have. To be honest, I never felt the need to dive into a new edition after sinking a decent amount of money into 3.5.

[Malachei]

I think 3rd edition really revived D&D. IMO, it is a milestone edition, also because of the Open Game License. 4th edition really couldn't convince me, but I also think that 3.X's success is a challenge for 4th edition, and will be so for 5th, maybe, as well. People are so active playing 3.X and/or Pathfinder that many gamers see little use in switching to a new system, IMO. I think WOTC tried to reach new audiences with 4th, with little success. Maybe also because they tried to sell their online content for $, something which is very hard to do successfully in general, and probably more so in the hobby field.

[Fax Celestis]

I think 3rd edition really revived D&D. IMO, it is a milestone edition, also because of the Open Game License. 4th edition really couldn't convince me, but I also think that 3.X's success is a challenge for 4th edition, and will be so for 5th, maybe, as well. People are so active playing 3.X and/or Pathfinder that many gamers see little use in switching to a new system, IMO. I think WOTC tried to reach new audiences with 4th, with little success. Maybe also because they tried to sell their online content for $, something which is very hard to do successfully in general, and probably more so in the hobby field.

Hands down, the OGL is what made 3.x as huge as it is, because not only WotC, but every publisher who wanted to could make stuff for it, which generated a gigantic product base. Even if WotC couldn't have the entire pie, they made the pie bigger and thereby increased their slice.

[Psyren]

Hands down, the OGL is what made 3.x as huge as it is, because not only WotC, but every publisher who wanted to could make stuff for it, which generated a gigantic product base. Even if WotC couldn't have the entire pie, they made the pie bigger and thereby increased their slice.

And now Paizo are the ones doing the baking :smallsmile:

[Malachei]

And now Paizo are the ones doing the baking :smallsmile:

I think they are doing an excellent job, for instance with the Adventure Paths, which are of high quality and among the best material I've seen.

[Palanan]

As someone who's worked in editing for years, I can tell you that the layout I've seen in 4E is choppy and amateurish, and far below the visual standards they set for the 3.5 sourcebooks. Such as they were.

I'm thinking in particular of the Forgotten Realms books. When I first took a look at the new FRCS, I felt like I was flipping through a high school term project that had randomly downloaded most of the maps and other content. They made some very, very bad design choices, and the entire effort seemed shallow and rushed.

I hadn't been looking forward to 4E in any event, and how they treated their design standards was just one more reason for me to pass altogether. Haven't seen much since to convince me otherwise.