So to be clear the preorder books will be play test material, and then there will be a final set of books released later. So potentially the play test material will be unusable after the play test period, at least with new additions etc?
I would replace "potentially" with "almost certainly." Hard copies of the playtest documents are only for collecting purposes/avoiding printing out your own PDFs.
Thanks for the reply, I thought as much, but hey Im a sucker for tabletop books anyway.So to be clear the preorder books will be play test material, and then there will be a final set of books released later. So potentially the play test material will be unusable after the play test period, at least with new additions etc?I would replace "potentially" with "almost certainly." Hard copies of the playtest documents are only for collecting purposes/avoiding printing out your own PDFs.
Just spent $100 on them, and I'm a PDF player... So yeah.
That's the advantage of economies of scale and buying in bulk.
That's the advantage of economies of scale and buying in bulk.
China hype!? Pretty sure that's where they normally print.
China hype!? Pretty sure that's where they normally print.
I think they said they're printing it in Canada.
I think they said they're printing it in Canada.
China hype!? Pretty sure that's where they normally print.
You are correct. They wanted more time to work on the book.
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Yeah, I thought it was weird too, but apparently Paizo did the arithmetic and they can provide professionally printed and bound copies of the rules more cheaply than you or I could have it done at your average copy-place...
Of course, that's only relevant if you plan to print off the whole file...
I kinda doubt that.
The softcover is $29.99.
A black-and-white 600-page perfect bound book at lulu.com is $19.40
At lightningsource.com it's $13.43
That's assuming the book is 600-odd pages. If it's smaller, the price goes down.
Colour knocks up the price, but that's not really necessary for a playtest book.
(If you want maximum table benefit, I'd recommend printing as 2-3 spiral bound books. Slightly pricier but they lay flat and you can fold over the cover.)
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So to be clear the preorder books will be play test material, and then there will be a final set of books released later. So potentially the play test material will be unusable after the play test period, at least with new additions etc?
Like the Pathfinder Beta from 2008, after a year it's going to be a neat conversation piece on the bookshelf but not very useful at the game table.
I like my copy of the old softcover beta. And it was fun taking that to conventions to hunt for signatures. But it never saw much use.
Really, I'd recommend one of two options:
1) Get the big fancy leather edition. Because if you're going to have a book just sitting on the shelf and not getting used, it might as well look really cool. It makes more sense as a collector's piece if it's not a regular looking book.
2) Get the free PDF and sent that to a Print on Demand site.
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Okay... in fairness, you don't HAVE to not use the Playtest books. But, by design, the playtest will likely be a less stable and more quirky version of the rules. It's not a ruleset you will want to use for the full year between the playtest being released and PF2 being released.
Once the playtest ends (likely in December), you're probably better off taking a Pathfinder break for a few months and cleansing the palette. More time away will make it easier to separate the new rules from the old. Try some other, new systems out in a mini campaign or two. I recommend FFG's Star Wars or Modiphius' Star Trek Adventures. Or Starfinder for that matter (but that still might be a little too similar.)
Colour knocks up the price,
Which is why you have to compare the cost of buying the book from Paizo to the cost of printing in color.
It's not cheaper to print your own version if you want color. It's only cheaper if you want something different from what Paizo offers.
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Colour knocks up the price,Which is why you have to compare the cost of buying the book from Paizo to the cost of printing in color.
It's not cheaper to print your own version if you want color. It's only cheaper if you want something different from what Paizo offers.
You can get a 300-page colour softcover book from lightningsource.com for a hair under $30 including shipping.
Going up to hardcover bumps the price to $40.
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It'd include art.
I have a number of PoD reprints from the DMsGuild that reprint Out of Print 2nd Edition and 3rd Edition D&D products. While not as good as an official WotC book (not having as glossy pages) they're comparable to a lot of 3rd Party books I have from Kobold Press and Dreamscarred Press.
(Edit: to clarify, DMsGuild/ DrivethruRPG uses Lightningsource as it's PoD printer. So they'd be comparable quality.)
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Colour knocks up the price,Which is why you have to compare the cost of buying the book from Paizo to the cost of printing in color.
It's not cheaper to print your own version if you want color. It's only cheaper if you want something different from what Paizo offers.
You can get a 300-page colour softcover book from lightningsource.com for a hair under $30 including shipping.
Going up to hardcover bumps the price to $40.
The Playtest Rulebook is 416 pages.