"Are you a sucker for fancy cover pages in rulesets?" Topic

Hi.

A lot of years ago most rulesets and magazines were rather simple. The cover pages were usually dull and unattractive.

Now, the rulesets have very nice, elegant and attractive cover pages showing nice images of games with finely painted minis.

When I see any of these rulesets I find myself looking into its pages, and if the rules seems interesting enough I usually buy them (and many times I regret that decision).

Do you find yourselves in the same situation?.

Yup.

Ooohhh…shiny…..

I'm just a sucker for new rule sets; it doesn't matter how pretty they are.

Oh, yeah. Unfortunately. That is how I judge, initially, how good a rule set is: by it's cover. Pretty pictures of minis inside is even better.

No, I'm offended by gimmicks.

If the cover looks like it was done by a teenager in a high school vocational arts class, then I usually pass on the rules.

No

x42

No

No.
It does not hurt of course but the inside, the rules, the scales and design ( I love to understand and know what the designer wanted to do, how and why). Now that I am always away from shops, shows et all, a rule set without aar, reviews ( and not the page number, pics but actual play) and if possible design explaination, no go, no buying.

Might make me look, but wouldn't make me buy.

Yyyyeeeeesssssss, oooohhhhhhhh. I'm all right now.

I feel it never hurts from a marketing standpoint. That said, the contents should match the cover for quality!

Nah. By the time they're worrying about cover art, the rules are usually too long for me. Also I've seen too many attractive but unplayable projects.

No, I usually by the rules on line as PDFs, after playing at a con and I don't print the covers. I have bought rules not even seeing the covers. That said, I appreciate good artwork but it's not the deciding reason I buy rules

Presentation does generally influence sales … And most do like "Purdy Pitchers" …

One of the things I learned working on an Air Force staff is that you could have the best plan in the world, but if it is written on toilet paper no one will even look at it. But if you have a nice PowerPoint presentation, even if it is a crap plan, then that is acceptable. Unfortunately that is life and many people judge by the cover.

No I am not.

No – and not for fancy interiors either. Two of my favorite sets are Black and White interiors with line illustrations.

No – really not – nor magazines neither…

Yes USaF, unfortunatelly it does even unconsciously influence. If only by attracting the eye, or standing out.
But as I said it depends why and how you buy. If you are in front of Dave Ryan's stand in a rush, or thinking slowly in front of the computer.

No. It is usually just an excuse with triple the price and pad it out with a load of irrelevant material.

Snazzy art designs make good rules all the better (Black Powder, SAGA, British Grenadier, most of the now abundant Osprey offerings).

Note that not all low quality covers adorn good rules. I feel folks impulsively think that must be the case. I don't know what the exact correlation is between cover and content as tastes fluctuate wildly. One man's "Rules to Rule them All" is another man's brimming effluence bucket.

No

Heck yes! "You can't judge a book by its cover" is from when all books looked the same on the outside. Covers today say a boatload about a book.

I designed the covers of all my PORTABLE WARGAME books to look 'old school' because my books are very much in that style. This was a conscious decision so that the cover reflected the contents.

Feedback seems to indicate that this was the right decision to make.

No

Of course.

Isn't everyone?

Personally though, I much prefer well-written rules with a blank or line-art cover, that are inexpensive, and provide for a good game.

Nope.

If I'm browsing on the shelf at the game store or book store then yes -- if it doesn't catch my eye then I may not pick it up and I rarely buy items I haven't picked up first.

If I already know the rule set then I don't care what's on the cover, but still enjoy being pleasantly surprised by good artwork.

Cowboy Wars, Vampire Wars. All of the * Wars ruulesets I bought because of the theme and cover. So, I have indeed done so but not anymore

A good cover will get me to open the rules but only good content will get my $ most of the time.

The best "eye catcher" cover of all time for me was the original book cover for "Rogue Trader" in 1987. I'll never forget the first time I saw it.

Of course the artwork is merely to grab your attention. but since most of us have the attention spa…….

OH LOOK A SQUIRREL!!!!