From:	Arcady arcady@***.net
Subject:	Bad Bindings (was: Re: Man & Machine?)
Date:	Sun, 11 Jul 1999 22:54:45 -0700

In all my years of gaming (since 1982) I've only had one book fall apart.
That was my GURPS 3rd edition book and it was one of my players pressing the
book completely flat that did it in. I did lose the cover to my basic D&D
book (which I've owned since March 82) before I became a comic book
collector and learned how to take care of these things and still use them
with ease.
I doubt that I am extremely lucky. Rather I would be more suspect of how
people handle their books. I've seen people who tell me they're delicate
with books turn around and press down a page or earmark a corner or
whatever.

> Arcady commented:
> >It's not that these books are bound worse than most (usually), it's that
> >they get a lot of wear and tear by non delicate hands on a very frequent
> >basis.
>
> Oh, do I disagree. I treat my books like they were the last copy on the
> planet. I am loathe to lend them based on past experience and take extra
> care of them while putting them through the first read. I watch my players
> handle their books respectfully and then right in the middle of a
> game 3 or
> 4 people lose pages from the SR3 core rules book. This batch was
> lemon. The
> ones in the past were hit or miss, but were nothing compared to the latest
> stuff. Plus, I've had books really ruffled by inconsiderate people whose
> catch-phrase was "it's just a book" and had them last for years.
>
> The same thing happened to my SR2 Core Rules (in hard back).
>
> Mike, aka Smilin' Jack