Well, I picked up the PDF last week and immediately set about getting a printed copy. I printed it all up at the office and bound it myself (splitting the content somewhat unevenly between 2 sets of pressboard covered binders). Leaving the office that day, I now had two lethal bludgeons at my disposal
Now I can agree that a PDF is not my preferred medium and that some of the helpful shade-boxed content didn't print as nicely as I would have liked (probably easily adjusted by someone with better PDF & PC skills, than myself), but all in all I was very pleased with the presentation. Yes, some minor editing foibles caught my eye, but I see them all too often these days in large manuscripts pumped out by big name publishing houses, so I'm somewhat forgiving in that respect. I did want to circle them and give out a list later for correction, but I stopped myself
The art was hit or miss, but there was some really nice standouts and not an overabundance of art that would have unduly pushed up the page count.
As far as this whole matter of size, it's not like we're talking style over substance here, as both style and substance seemed evident in the final product, as far as I'm concerned. There was not--again, in my opinion--a lot of empty calorie content, here. And, personally, I'm happy with a fair level of detail. I was however left with the impression that the rules needed to be, perhaps, clarified a bit, maybe even include a better combat overview, but this would be in addition to the already existing content and not in place of it. I would love to see a
one page flow chart for the combat system, as it would be played out, including bullet points for when some of the option rules come in to play. Maybe do one of these one page summaries for players and one specifically for the GM/storyteller etc.
Keep in mind I'm still wrastlin' with the content and rules, so I may have missed a few things, but I really did enjoy a lot of the bits and pieces I saw of combat, equipment and the like. I, too, would have liked a more detailed (specified) weapons sections. However, the equipment portion of the rules was nicely done and large enough to cover all the basics, I felt. Thank you for doing this level of detail, as it really cuts down on research, should I ever be privileged enough to run a campaign or one-shot. I really liked some of the option rules. For example, personal equipment/familiarity & also being able to sacrifice it for escaping an otherwise deadly wound.
Now we get to the time line/background issues and, I have to say, I did find myself kind of shrugging and saying to myself "Not quite the way I would have gone with it," from time to time, but I don't immediately discount a setting because of that nowadays. Having grown up with RPGs and played on both sides of the 'DM screen', I have a healthy respect for how plot points, alternate time lines and others campaign considerations can sometimes seem far-fetched when read by a third party. I feel this way when I read most people's stuff (even when I read it here
) , I feel it's usually a natural reaction for me to question how much people are editorializing when they are prognosticating. I guess I just accept nowadays, that there will be content that I will always feel I have to tinker with and make revisions to make it my own and something I feel comfortable with. In fact, I feel that such a thing is the natural consequence of being intimately involved in the hobby for so long, having grown up with it and learning that...wow, I can make my own house rules, I can write my own material, I can run my own campaign and it will fit my playstyle. I don't think there are too many people who have also been playing and running campaigns for multiple decades who wouldn't feel the same way.
In any event, I would probably fall into the category of player the designers discuss when they mention people who will always want to play in the old cold war, gone hot amongst the ruins of an irradiated Poland. The two cool things for me are:
1) I'd be more than willing to try a run at the new setting if ever given the chance.
2) I was looking for rules I was comfortable with in using in a classic T2K setting and I found them.
So, I can't say the product isn't fun to read or the material isn't useful. Far from it, for me.