> On the Glorantha Digest David Dunham wrote:
> > I attempted on many occasions to sway [Greg] about the biggest
> > presentation problem [of the HW rules] (the small size of the
books).
>
> I'd like to support the choice of small page sizes. Small pages does
> not mean layout has to be bad.
>
> I think, ironically, the problem with the layout is DTP software. In
> the old days, one might have called in an expert; now everyone
thinks
> they can do it themselves, even if they can't. Book design is a
> skill.
>
> Issaries Inc. need to employ someone skilled, or become more skilled
> themselves. Many people have complained about the poor table of
> contents and lack of index. Automatically producing a ToC is a one
> click job, if you've marked up your text properly (used style
> sheets). Similarly, indexing is assisted by technology. I do both
> daily, and my job is not (technical) authoring. Clearly Issaries
> don't know how to use the tools they have at hand. RTFM
I would agree that the book size is not the problem. In fact I
remember Greg at the last Convulsion saying that the size was an
attempt to get the book into regular bookshops rather than just RPG
shops.
Proper use of either DTP or WP software should make the Index and ToC
automatic but as Benedict said layout is a skill. Its a bit like web
page design, anyone can do it but you need a good eye for design and
layout to produce something great. Lets hope that when version 2 gets
done Issaries will have the funds and the product confidence to sort
out these problems.
Jarec