Wizards of the Coast Print Quality

Broken Twin · May 28, 2018, 11:06:04 AM

My favorite was a D&D 4E book I had (PHB3, if I recall correctly) that had green tape across half the pages, UNDER the ink. So readability wasn't really impacted, but damn it was funny looking.

Likewise, the binding on my 5E PHB has almost completely fallen apart with minimal use, but I honestly don't really care enough about the system anymore to bother contacting them for a replacement.

Motorskills · May 28, 2018, 11:49:11 AM

I work in much more tightly-controlled industry and things can still happen, especially with sample-inspection, instead of 100%. Sometimes you just get unlucky with the maths.
(If you roll 5 d20s, they will still come all all 1s more often than the number of millions of these that WOTC has printed).

The good news is that WOTC Customer Service is excellent in replacing damaged books. You need photos of the damage, and photo of the serial on the first page. Go via the Wizards website.

I also give WOTC credit for pulling the initial print run of MToF collector's edition. Unfortunate, but they did the right thing. Not every publisher will, or even prepares for the possibility that they might have to.

Mike the Mage · May 28, 2018, 11:58:01 AM

Great for customer care and all that, but still, 3% one star and 6% two and under for reviews on Amazon and most of those I read are about the lack of QC and generally shabby printing/glueing.
https://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Dungeons-Dragons-Wizards/product-reviews/0786965606/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar

Read before purchasing.

Or rather, buy a better version of the game and at the same time opt out of WotC's line,

Ras Algethi · May 28, 2018, 12:50:53 PM

Looks like quality control issue more so than some cheap printing.

Cave Bear · May 28, 2018, 01:09:41 PM

It isn't just D&D books. There have been a lot of issues with Magic: the Gathering cards as well. Warped, mis-cut, ink rubbing off, etc.

Mike the Mage · May 28, 2018, 01:16:03 PM

Well they gave it a good run. I expect bonuses and parachutes will be good. When it's all over they won't miss the Gamecons.

Brand55 · May 28, 2018, 03:00:59 PM

Quote from: Cave Bear;1040975It isn't just D&D books. There have been a lot of issues with Magic: the Gathering cards as well. Warped, mis-cut, ink rubbing off, etc.

WotC has deliberately downgraded the quality of their cards over the last several years, printing expensive cards on cheap stock that lead to those problems even though they know it'll happen. The worst part is probably the horrific foiling process they use that always leads to warped, unusable cards unless a player is lucky enough to seal them away from air and humidity immediately upon opening, and even then success isn't guaranteed. Bad card stock is one of the big reasons I got out of Magic last year, in fact.

danskmacabre · May 28, 2018, 09:06:25 PM

The first print run of the PHB for 5e I got was REALLY bad.. Pages falling out etc..

The first print run for the DMG for 5e was bad in that the ink hadn't dried properly and on dark pages, ink was coming off on other pages or on my fingers... ick!

I also had a background book about a year ago (Can't remember which one) for 5e, where the black page on the front inside cover was stuck to the first page, causing a rip across the inner black front page attached to the inside cover....

So yeah, quality control has been poor for printing IMO.

Mike the Mage · May 29, 2018, 02:18:58 AM

Quote from: danskmacabre;1041028The first print run of the PHB for 5e I got was REALLY bad.. Pages falling out etc..

The first print run for the DMG for 5e was bad in that the ink hadn't dried properly and on dark pages, ink was coming off on other pages or on my fingers... ick!

I also had a background book about a year ago (Can't remember which one) for 5e, where the black page on the front inside cover was stuck to the first page, causing a rip across the inner black front page attached to the inside cover....

So yeah, quality control has been poor for printing IMO.

:eek: That's a disgrace. I would much rather have a few less colour plates and have b/w art if it meant proper binding tbh. Then again, a lot of modern games are image over substance.

Omega · May 30, 2018, 08:08:09 AM

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040950Still, 5th edition is pretty pricey.

Maybe a little more investement in QC and a little less time and money spent on PR would improve matters.

30-35$ on amazon from the start for each book. And WOTC likely only gets around 50% of that back per book. depending on their deals with distributors and/or retailers. but the real reason for the price is all that colour art.

RPGPundit · June 02, 2018, 06:52:16 AM

Quote from: danskmacabre;1041028The first print run of the PHB for 5e I got was REALLY bad.. Pages falling out etc..

The first print run for the DMG for 5e was bad in that the ink hadn't dried properly and on dark pages, ink was coming off on other pages or on my fingers... ick!

I also had a background book about a year ago (Can't remember which one) for 5e, where the black page on the front inside cover was stuck to the first page, causing a rip across the inner black front page attached to the inside cover....

So yeah, quality control has been poor for printing IMO.

Strange, that wasn't my experience. I was about to ask whether the later print runs were significantly worse in quality. It seems to me that the quality of my first print run 5e books is decent.

thedungeondelver · June 02, 2018, 11:58:08 AM

Quote from: Chainsaw;1040936Agreed, UA print quality was pure and utter crap.

But the Blumes had to save $.05 per book! /sarc

Gronan of Simmerya · June 02, 2018, 02:44:28 PM

Quote from: sureshot;1040958To be fair it's not just Wotc. Too many rpg companies take the cheap route when printing their rpgs imo. THe first printing of the Pathfinder core and Shadowrun 5 had issues as well.

That's because the buyers want hardcover and full color and all that other shit on a book printed in runs of a few thousand, but they want to pay the price of books printing ten times as many copies.

Franky · June 02, 2018, 03:24:17 PM

Quote from: thedungeondelver;1041732But the Blumes had to save $.05 per book! /sarc

Was that the amount? Yes, I see the sarcasm tag, but...

I recall that in one of his Q&A threads-- ENworld or Dragonsfoot-- Gygax mentioned spending extra to have the AD&D books 'textbook' bound. He may have mentioned how much. I do not recall the number, 10¢, 25¢? My MM, PHB, DMG have held up to quite a bit of use. My UA fell apart quickly. TSR was in a financial pinch at that time and the UA was slapped together to generate some quick cash. (It seemed) TSR probably did not have the money to get a better quality binding.

Paizo had problems with the first print run of their Starfinder book. I've seen several PHBs fall apart. Book binding is apparently a forgotten art.

Emperor Norton · June 02, 2018, 06:33:12 PM

All my 5e books are first print runs are in perfect condition, and I live in the humid southeast US. So *shrug*.