They're nicely done but again, not the extreme awesome I was expecting from the hype. But then if open the book didn't cause your face to melt like a Nazi looking to the Ark then it wouldn't live up to that hype.

Quote from: Warboss Squee;842077But, but...there are words on those pages! It might spoil the awesome!

Honestly though, if you didn't tell me it was Ex3, I would have thought I was looking at a DnD product.

It looks like DnD4 to me. That's fine because 4e was a really well laid out and easy to read book. But its hardly what I would call revolutionary or exciting.

Then again this is Exatled so maybe readable is revolutionary.

Quote from: Nexus;842052Exalted 3rd book preview shots

They look... decent. Not enough to make me stop wanting my money back but... decent.

And another chance the Ex Dev.-Team squandered. They could have at least given us full resolution shots for this. But no, they do a 600-ish x 400-ish picy that doesn't really tell you anything.

Another botch-roll, Exalted Team. Well done! At least you are consistent :rolleyes:

Hmm... I bet it's going to be better than Ex 2.

It seems like the dragon on the first couple of sample spreads is positioned precisely to make sure the dynamism of its pose will be lost in the crease as much as possible in the printed version. There's a similar problem with the fourth spread where the illustration is built around two figures who are going to be fighting in the crease. The illustration on the third spread is much better, as it avoids putting the eye-drawing parts of the painting dead in the center.

I'll agree that making your sample pages tiny isn't the best marketing. The gallery that Moon Design set up of the Guide to Glorantha are is what made me break down and buy the physical books.

It's not made on authentic Egyptian papyrus and illustrated by Da Vinci.

I'll rank it "fails to meet expectations"

Quote from: GreyICE;842186It's not made on authentic Egyptian papyrus and illustrated by Da Vinci.

I'll rank it "fails to meet expectations"

For the money they are rolling in from the KS, i guess some people expected something a bit more...startling than is presented. :idunno:

Quote from: One Horse Town;842187For the money they are rolling in from the KS, i guess some people expected something a bit more...startling than is presented. :idunno:

That, and at least one of the devs has been gushing about how absolutely gorgeous the book supposedly is: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?759103-Exalted-3-Has-anything-gone-right&p=19127179#post19127179

Quote from: HoldenI have the first-round layout files now, and holy shit, now I understand why designing and implementing layout took several months. You will too, when you see it. Rich and Maria outdid themselves, beyond my wildest and most fevered ambitions and imaginings. This is a) gorgeous and b) easily the most elaborately-designed book to ever bear the White Wolf imprint.

Going to drop everything else this week to get corrections back so you guys can get this as soon as possible. Holy shit.

It's not an ugly book by any means. It looks good. But I honestly wouldn't call it anything special. I can only assume that: a) those preview images aren't the final product, b) the rest of the book is much more impressive, or c) it's just another case of the game being seriously over-hyped.

Quote from: Brand55;842188That, and at least one of the devs has been gushing about how absolutely gorgeous the book supposedly is: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?759103-Exalted-3-Has-anything-gone-right&p=19127179#post19127179

It's not an ugly book by any means. It looks good. But I honestly wouldn't call it anything special. I can only assume that: a) those preview images aren't the final product, b) the rest of the book is much more impressive, or c) it's just another case of the game being seriously over-hyped.

Or d) Hodden is just easily impressed by competent layout.

Quote from: One Horse Town;842187For the money they are rolling in from the KS, i guess some people expected something a bit more...startling than is presented. :idunno:

I had higher expectations from all the hype the presentation has been given. It looks fairly solid to my untrained eye but not the gorgeous work of art it was pimped as, allot like the mechanics, IMO. But maybe other sections are more impressive.

Quote from: Baulderstone;842190Or d) Hodden is just easily impressed by competent layout.

Well, it's only proper to be impressed by competency when you can't achieve it yourself.

Quote from: One Horse Town;842187For the money they are rolling in from the KS, i guess some people expected something a bit more...startling than is presented. :idunno:

If I'm startled by the layout then it's not a good thing.  Mage:the Awakening had a startling layout.  Layouts are primarily functional.

I dunno, I'm just hoping for a competent game that's fun and involves rolling at most 12 dice.  On the other hand it's certainly fed me with unlimited popcorn for two years, so if it was actually just "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" 5,000 times, then it would be pure cherry.

Relax.  It's probably shit. 90% of everything is shit.

Quote from: GreyICE;842217If I'm startled by the layout then it's not a good thing.  Mage:the Awakening had a startling layout.  Layouts are primarily functional.

Can't really argue with that. I still have some retinal afterburn from leafing through a copy if Immortal:The Invisible War on a game store shelf in 1993.

Quote from: Baulderstone;842221Can't really argue with that. I still have some retinal afterburn from leafing through a copy if Immortal:The Invisible War on a game store shelf in 1993.

There is that.

None of it matters if a. the game is vaporware, or b. the game is unplayable.  Exalted 2nd, and apparently Exalted 3rd, serve mainly as a rejoinder to all those people who tell me "Hero System requires too much bookkeeping."

JG