General's Handbook 2021 - oh, FFS!!!

[PiotrW]

Alright guys, sorry for being angry and verbally explicit, but I just picked up my Dominion preorder that included a copy of GH2021. And, while there's nothing wrong with Dominion, GH2021 really, really annoyed me.

Why? Because of the freaking FONT SIZE.

Seriously, who's GW expecting to read this thing? Chaos mutants with abnormal eyesight? I know I can't read it at all. Seriously. Trying to read this font makes me eyes feel like they are about to pop...

Of course, GW isn't the only publisher that pulls stunts like that - last year, Corvus Belli really scored some negative points with me, when they released Infinity 4.0 with a rulebook that was impossible for me to read. GH2021 isn't a core rulebook, thankfully... but I wanted to read it. Heck, I'd just like to have these point values at hand. Instead of that, I have a book I paid for and I can't use at all... I'm not exaggerating here at all.

Seriously, this kind of stuff needs to stop. Publishers need to start taking accessibility / ergonomics of their products into account. Not everyone has perfect eyesight, for crying out loud! And we - eyesight-challenged people - want to play games, too!

Aaaaaargh!

*angry Skaven noises*

Edited July 5, 2021 by PiotrW

[Christopher Rowe]

6 minutes ago, PiotrW said:

Alright guys, sorry for being angry and verbally explicit, but I just picked up my Dominion preorder that included a copy of GH2021. And, while there's nothing wrong with Dominion, GH2021 really, really annoyed me.

Why? Because of the freaking FONT SIZE.

Seriously, who's GW expecting to read this thing? Chaos mutants with abnormal eyesight? I know I can't read it at all. Seriously. Trying to read this font makes me eyes feel like they are about to pop...

Of course, GW isn't the only publisher that pulls stunts like that - last year, Corvus Belli really scored some negative points with me, when they released Infinity 4.0 with a rulebook that was impossible for me to read. GH2021 isn't a core rulebook, thankfully... but I wanted to read it. Heck, I'd just like to have these point values at hand. Instead of that, I have a book I paid for and I can't use at all... I'm not exagerating here at all.

Seriously, this kind stuff needs to stop. Publishers need to start taking accessibility / ergonomics of their products into account. Not everyone has perfect eyesight, for crying out loud! And we - eyesight-challenged people - want to play games, too!

Aaaaaargh!

*angry Skaven noises*

 

This is a problem with almost all gaming books (especially RPG books) from big companies. The arms race of full bleed color pages (because of trade dress, even on pages without art), enormous perfect bound hardcovers, and providing as much "content" as they can in one volume is kind of the opposite of how things were when I got into the RPG hobby in the eighties. I wear graduated lenses (trifocals without the lines) and even looking through the "close up" part of my glasses I find I have to move the (often very heavy) book back and forth, especially if it's later in the day and my eyes are tired. But, the #1 thing that bugs me the most, even beyond font size, is how SHINY all of the pages in these Chinese-printed books are. If you're reading under any kind of light source at all, the reflection off the page makes at least something illegible, so again with the moving a potentially enormous book back and forth to be able to read it.

None of which means I'm going to stop buying these kinds of books, mind. I'm the perfect customer for GW on the rules and lore publication side, in that I have always been perfectly willing and happy to buy a physical book to have at home and a digital copy to put on my enormous tablet (the biggest iPad ever made, and if I'm griping, why are the manufacturers of tablets going back down in maximum size in their lines?) to take to games. Heck, I have some of the books THREE times, because I bought digital versions through iBooks, then figured out I could have them in the App, and then also bought the hardcovers. That was my bad, and I have no bones to pick over it, but they better not pull any shenanigans with all the books I have though the very good, very usable, why ****** with a good thing App (if you must have a paywall, then just put the current App behind ta paywall! I have no interest in watching Space Marine cartoons!). And, as a professional "content creator" myself, I simply cannot bring myself to using pirated versions of anything, so this rumor that upcoming Battletomes will only have the rules sections of the books electronically available and not the lore and art, drives me bonkers. And it's not even a real deal for me because I"m buying the flipping hardcover anyway! Gah!

Okay, I've gone completely off the rails, here, sorry. You're right, the font is too small.

[PiotrW]

It's true that the production quality of wargaming / RPG books gets fancier and fancier... and that so much information is being put into them that the font ends up being small. It still can be done without making the books illegible... GW's rulebooks and battletomes weren't easy on the eyes, but I could use them. But GH2021 is some sort of insanity. This is the kind of font that's used for information booklets that come with medical products. Not something one uses for books!

It'd be more palatable, if there was a digital version of this book... but there isn't. Also, GW seems intent on tying their future digital books with the apps... which is a problem, because I can't use the apps, either. Again, the font! It's too small for me, at least when I run the apps on my phone (which isn't that small). And the last I checked, the font doesn't get rescaled on tablets... Personally, I'd be happy to pay for Warhammer+ subscription, if it came with apps I could use and a way to read the digital books comfortably. Not sure if they do anything about it, though.

Right now? I'm locked out of GH2021. I can't read it in a physical form and there's no digital version. So what I'm supposed to do? Does GW realize that they are practically inviting me to look for a pirated digital copy? I don't want to, but a pirated PDF of this book seems like the only way I'll be able to actually read it...

Really, I don't understand why so many creators / publishers / designers have trouble grasping a basic fact that some people can have trouble reading small print. Last year, I really took the Corvus Belli people to the task about it (thankfully, some of their staff is actually accessible on the official forum) and kept telling them: "Guys, I love your game, but I can't read the N4 book at all. Release the PDF version, I'll happily sell the physical book and pay you for the PDF"... Nope, they just didn't want to do this for some reason. And GW is going the same way. "Your eyes aren't good enough to read the text in the books or in the app? Sorry, we can't do anything about it...". Because implementing a scalable font in an app or releasing a PDF of a book is too much trouble, apparently!

I've noticed the same thing in computer gaming, too. I mean... I absolutely love Stellaris, but I'm constantly frustrated by the font size. I actually had to mod the game on my own to be able to play it!

Coming back to GH2021: I think I'll be actually returning the book to the shop... if they take it back. As for the contents, I guess I'll miss out... This is really, really annoying.

[yukishiro1]

First, I agree re: the ridiculous font size. It's a shame that so many game companies are so flippant about accessibility. 

That said...you own the book. That entitles you to make a PDF copy for your own use under the law, just like you're entitled to make physical copies from it for your own use. It may or may not technically entitle you to download a PDF copy someone else produced and put on the internet...but nobody's ever going to know, and you bought the book, so GW already got its cut from you. This is one of those cases where I feel very comfortable saying that downloading a PDF would not be piracy in any meaningful sense of the word. It's just making the content you already paid for accessible to you, the paying customer, because GW dropped the ball and failed to do so itself. 

Edited July 6, 2021 by yukishiro1

[PiotrW]

I contacted my LFHS and they offered to exchange the book for something else. We'll see... I still would like to have access to the info in GH2021, but there's no point to have an unreadable book lying around. My bookshelves are already full...

Men. Again, this is annoying.

Is there some way of giving GW feedback? Some mailbox etc. which they actually read? Maybe if enough people complained, they'd realize they screwed this book up...

[Bayul]

1 hour ago, PiotrW said:

Is there some way of giving GW feedback? Some mailbox etc. which they actually read? Maybe if enough people complained, they'd realize they screwed this book up...

Write a very long letter like this. 18 pages, front and back.

[Greyshadow]

I very nearly called GW customer service to complain. The text is so small it has made it a waste of money for me and there is nothing wrong with my eye sight. I would have returned it only I got it from a small independent game store whilst I was on holidays. As a physical book, definitely not recommended.

[PiotrW]

I won't be calling them (although that's a... tempting idea), as I don't want to burden my phone bill with the cost of international connection. But they will be hearing from me one way or another...

[Envyus]

The font didn’t bother me at all.

[MitGas]

2 hours ago, Bayul said:

Write a very long letter like this. 18 pages, front and back.

That poor Ross guy at GW. Give the guy a break. 

[PiotrW]

5 hours ago, Envyus said:

The font didn’t bother me at all.

You're obviously an aelf or something

Seriously speaking - great, but that's you. I can honestly tell you that after a few minutes of trying to decipher the point values in GH2021 yesterday, my eyes are *still* feeling strained right now. Hours laters and after a night's rest. This is going to be a "fun" day at the office for me... And I feel similar after-effects after working with GW's apps for AoS and WH40K.

This really has to stop.

4 hours ago, MitGas said:

That poor Ross guy at GW. Give the guy a break. 

Oh no no. Ross will pay. 😈

BTW. I noticed something in Dominion: the booklet in the box doesn't include unit warscrolls as usual, only fluff descriptions. The stats are only available on the datacards... which are printed in the same insane small print as GH2021. Ugh.

Thankfully, I have a scanner at home and I can scan these cards easily without damaging them. Once I do this, I'll be finally be able to read what the new SCE troops can do... 🤨 This is stupid.

[AaronWilson]

I can understand your frustration if you're really struggling to read the book, I've had 0 issues reading it. 

[Zappgrot]

14 hours ago, PiotrW said:

It's true that the production quality of wargaming / RPG books gets fancier and fancier... and that so much information is being put into them that the font ends up being small. It still can be done without making the books illegible... GW's rulebooks and battletomes weren't easy on the eyes, but I could use them. But GH2021 is some sort of insanity. This is the kind of font that's used for information booklets that come with medical products. Not something one uses for books!

It'd be more palatable, if there was a digital version of this book... but there isn't. Also, GW seems intent on tying their future digital books with the apps... which is a problem, because I can't use the apps, either. Again, the font! It's too small for me, at least when I run the apps on my phone (which isn't that small). And the last I checked, the font doesn't get rescaled on tablets... Personally, I'd be happy to pay for Warhammer+ subscription, if it came with apps I could use and a way to read the digital books comfortably. Not sure if they do anything about it, though.

Right now? I'm locked out of GH2021. I can't read it in a physical form and there's no digital version. So what I'm supposed to do? Does GW realize that they are practically inviting me to look for a pirated digital copy? I don't want to, but a pirated PDF of this book seems like the only way I'll be able to actually read it...

Really, I don't understand why so many creators / publishers / designers have trouble grasping a basic fact that some people can have trouble reading small print. Last year, I really took the Corvus Belli people to the task about it (thankfully, some of their staff is actually accessible on the official forum) and kept telling them: "Guys, I love your game, but I can't read the N4 book at all. Release the PDF version, I'll happily sell the physical book and pay you for the PDF"... Nope, they just didn't want to do this for some reason. And GW is going the same way. "Your eyes aren't good enough to read the text in the books or in the app? Sorry, we can't do anything about it...". Because implementing a scalable font in an app or releasing a PDF of a book is too much trouble, apparently!

I've noticed the same thing in computer gaming, too. I mean... I absolutely love Stellaris, but I'm constantly frustrated by the font size. I actually had to mod the game on my own to be able to play it!

Coming back to GH2021: I think I'll be actually returning the book to the shop... if they take it back. As for the contents, I guess I'll miss out... This is really, really annoying.

Yea i have to admit this irritates me to no end. Why the hell companies choose shiny pages for things they expect ppl to read is beyond me.   I mean shiny pages make sense for the national geographic.  Not for  the freaking rule book. Beeing unable to read the rules cause there is to much background light is an absurd situation to be in 

[EccentricCircle]

Thanks for the warning. I was on the fence about getting the GHB and now know not to.

I am partially sighted, and so also struggle to use a lot of gaming products comfortably at the table. Warscroll cards are too small to be much use, and apps are generally a no go for me (I can just about read text messages, but doing more than that on my phone is a challenge.)

I think companies really need to consider how their products are going to be used, and hire people to consult on accessibility. For me there is a massive difference between what is comfortable when I'm just sitting quietly reading a book, and when I'm hurriedly trying to look up a statistic, or check a rule while in the middle of a game. I always end up feeling self conscious when I'm trying to find something in a hurry.

Warhammer books are quite variable in quality/accessibility, but at least they are not 5e D&D which takes the prize for worst accessibility ever for printing page numbers in tiny font, using brown ink on a beige parchment. Their indexes are also unusably small. 

[Marc Wilson]

I totally agree. I called this out on twitter and playtester-in-chief  @Lhw said my eyesight must be going because of onanism rather than taking the issue seriously. 

[Jazzbeaux]

The font size is very small which to my older eyes makes it hard to read in less than optimal lighting.

I know they sell it on being all shiny and fancy but perhaps practical and legible should be higher priorities?  Especially after the fact that the spiral binding makes it easier to use.

[Christopher Rowe]

3 hours ago, EccentricCircle said:

I think companies really need to consider how their products are going to be used, and hire people to consult on accessibility. 

100% agreed.

And for you folks who don't have any trouble with it, well, I'm glad for you. But since this would be a relatively easy fix and allow more people to enjoy the hobby, don't you think what is no doubt a problem for a significant minority of players GW should address it?

[Lhw]

2 hours ago, Marc Wilson said:

I totally agree. I called this out on twitter and playtester-in-chief  @Lhw said my eyesight must be going because of onanism rather than taking the issue seriously. 

You're an onanism 

[MarkK]

Reign in Blood uses a large easy to read font, I'd highly recommend it

[SunStorm]

29 minutes ago, Christopher Rowe said:

100% agreed.

And for you folks who don't have any trouble with it, well, I'm glad for you. But since this would be a relatively easy fix and allow more people to enjoy the hobby, don't you think what is no doubt a problem for a significant minority of players GW should address it?

The only way GW will know that this is a big problem is if enough people contact them to tell them it's a problem. 

Try emailing them directly (uk.custserv@gwplc.com) or contact them via their complaint portal (http://complaints.games-workshop.com/) and let them know.

 

 

 

[pnkdth]

Send in constructive feedback or except people to throw your opinion away. If sufficient people who find the font small (or hard to read) is heard then there's a much greater chance of something being done about it. I understand the frustration but similarly I have a very difficult time imagining them doing this out of malice. Someone made an oopsie, let's not get all judgy.

A note on calling people out on social media, don't. Feedback on design and such are always, and without exception, best given in a private location (mail or DM). Putting people on the spot in public is probably the most effective and surefire way to make someone get defensive or even antagonistic. Going directly to the source and being civil/constructive on the other hand will often be met with gratitude.

TL;DR: Don't be a Karen, be awesome, and people will usually be awesome right back at you.

edit; I'm not accusing anyone of being a Karen!

Edited July 6, 2021 by pnkdth

[Christopher Rowe]

14 minutes ago, pnkdth said:

A note on calling people out on social media, don't. Feedback on design and such are always, and without exception, best given in a private location (mail or DM).

I'd just add (and it's implicit in your post, I'm not saying you don't know this) that POSITIVE feedback and praise are just fine on social media!

[EccentricCircle]

6 minutes ago, pnkdth said:

 I understand the frustration but similarly I have a very difficult time imagining them doing this out of malice. Someone made an oopsie, let's not get all judgy.

So, you are right that in cases like this incompetence is more likely than malice. However, I would disagree with characterising it as a one off mistake. Its not that someone doing graphic design on this book forgot to set an appropriate text size. Rather its a product of a culture in which accessibility isn't considered (or isn't considered hard enough) on a systematic level.

What we need isn't for GW to issue a large print version of this book specifically (though that would of course be nice), but rather for them to consider the role of disability in a wider context.

Now the challenge here is that no two partially sighted people have quite the same difficulties. For me its all about font size and contrast, i've not had so much trouble with glossy pages as others posting above, and do like books with full colour and shiny artwork. So in that case there is perhaps no one solution which will work for all of us.

This is one of the reasons that the ebook versions of the battletomes going away is quite devastating to some. Being able to enlarge a pdf, or zoom in on a relevant section is one of the simplest ways to cope with small print size, and is really valuable for those who find reading from a tablet or computer screen more comfortable. (I actually find pdfs a nightmare on a tablet, as trying to read from a small screen puts more strain on my eyes than a book does. For many though its a lifeline.) 

So the solution has to be for any publisher to consult with the people who are using their products and get a range of views and opinions.

And not make stupid apps which don't use the entire screen available, that too!

[pnkdth]

11 minutes ago, EccentricCircle said:

So, you are right that in cases like this incompetence is more likely than malice. However, I would disagree with characterising it as a one off mistake. Its not that someone doing graphic design on this book forgot to set an appropriate text size. Rather its a product of a culture in which accessibility isn't considered (or isn't considered hard enough) on a systematic level.

What we need isn't for GW to issue a large print version of this book specifically (though that would of course be nice), but rather for them to consider the role of disability in a wider context.

Now the challenge here is that no two partially sighted people have quite the same difficulties. For me its all about font size and contrast, i've not had so much trouble with glossy pages as others posting above, and do like books with full colour and shiny artwork. So in that case there is perhaps no one solution which will work for all of us.

This is one of the reasons that the ebook versions of the battletomes going away is quite devastating to some. Being able to enlarge a pdf, or zoom in on a relevant section is one of the simplest ways to cope with small print size, and is really valuable for those who find reading from a tablet or computer screen more comfortable. (I actually find pdfs a nightmare on a tablet, as trying to read from a small screen puts more strain on my eyes than a book does. For many though its a lifeline.) 

So the solution has to be for any publisher to consult with the people who are using their products and get a range of views and opinions.

And not make stupid apps which don't use the entire screen available, that too!

In other words, because the lead graphic designer didn't consider accessibility it continues to be an issue throughout GW.

If they get feedback constructive feedback as opposed to judgemental and/or angry posts online it is much more likely to read and considered. I'd really wish people would reflect on when they changed their minds on something, was it when they were publicly shamed or was it after a heartfelt discussion? Did it happen when you got called stupid and/or ignorant (or worse) or when you kept things on topic to avoid things getting personal?

I also happen to agree on some accessibility points as I frequently make use of filters or apps to change away from searingly bright white background when reading. It isn't even something new, we've known for ages that the human eye is much less strained on a bone whitish/beige background. The point is, there's always egos behind a large company and you gotta manoeuvre accordingly. Plus, even the most thick-skinned designers I know have been known to lash out at times (hurts to get roasted when you put a lot of time into something). It isn't even about sugar-coating stuff but making it clear what the problem is with a proposed solution so it is easy to rationalise, understand, and act upon.

 

[pnkdth]

34 minutes ago, Christopher Rowe said:

I'd just add (and it's implicit in your post, I'm not saying you don't know this) that POSITIVE feedback and praise are just fine on social media!

True, as is the compliment sandwich (good, bad, good) or just a mix. The main thing which set people off is when you get personal or accuse some of -isms, insults, or implying an impaired intellect or wit! Well, some people just want the reaction on social media so I guess those are good for that!