MA is now POD on Lulu

[Finarvyn]

If you haven't seen this,
[glow=red,2,300]Metamorphosis Alpha is now available at LuLu as Print on Demand![/glow]
Metamorphosis Alpha
Paperback, 35 pages
Preview Price: $14.99
Ships in 3–5 business days

Metamorphosis Alpha is the world's first science-fiction role-playing game. Originally published in 1976 by TSR Rules, this edition makes the classic game available to gamers of all ages again. This version incorporates all the changes included in the RPGNow version, minus the hex paper on the last page.



www.lulu.com/product/paperback/metamorphosis-alpha/1647436

[kesher]

That's awesome.

Strangely enough, I had my copy printed and saddle-stapled at FedEx Kinko's, and it cost almost exactly the same amount!

[Aplus]

I was a bit skeptical when I first saw this, but I confirmed with Jim Ward directly that this is in fact legit. Awesome news!

[jmccann]

Jan 19, 2012 11:13:25 GMT -6 Aplus said:

I was a bit skeptical when I first saw this, but I confirmed with Jim Ward directly that this is in fact legit. Awesome news!

Now why won't wotc do this for od&d?

[perdustin]

This is very welcome news, but I'm going to miss the hex paper on the last page.

[Zenopus]

Purchased. This is my first Lulu purchase. I'm curious how it will turn out.

I used this coupon code, courtesy Calithena:
LULUBOOK305 - 25% off your order, good through January 31.

With this coupon, the total was $15.23, including shipping.

[Craig J. Brain]

I noticed that there's a lot of interest in the discount coupon - so to accompany the rules, I've dropped the price of the print version of Metamorphosis Alpha: The House On The Hill module to $13.99 for the rest of January

It can be purchased from www.createspace.com/3458160 at the new price. It may take a few days to filter through to Amazon.

Craig J. Brain
WardCo.

[Finarvyn]

A nice review of the new printing is here:

swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-play-metamorphosis-alpha.html

[Zenopus]

I pulled this quote over from the other thread since it's relevant to the POD:

Jan 26, 2012 2:43:02 GMT -6 Craig J. Brain said:

I gather at least one person has received a copy where Lulu has given them one with a poorly-trimmed cover and glossy pages. The copies I have seen have good covers and regular paper. However, 99% of people sound pretty happy so far. Lulu is pretty good at resolving quality issues with misprints, so I am confident that anything like this is easily resolved.

That would be me (assuming you saw my comment on Grognardia). I filed a complaint with Lulu and they asked for digital photos. Took me a little time to get this together due to computer issues, but I just sent them in (front and back cover shots). Here's the front cover of the copy I received:



Four problems:
1. The lightning bolt is green with some yellow splotches instead of solid yellow (this looks worse to the eye than in the photo).
2. The original cover image is cropped - large gear and lizard coming out of skull at the bottom are cut-off.
3. The original cover image is fuzzy. This is hard to see in the photo above, but noticeable in the full size photo. I think 2 & 3 may have occurred because the photo was improperly enlarged for printing.
4. The interior pages are glossy (shiny) instead of flat.

I've seen this info to Lulu & will see what they say.

[Craig J. Brain]

I am curious to see what they say.

Lulu is very good at resolving these issues. It may well come down to the quality of the original image - I used the best quality scan of a cover that I could obtain.

Mind you, the sky around the starship does look very dark.

And the pages on mine are most definitely not glossy.

Please let us know what you find out. The cogs and lizard on mine are cropped as well, however I wasn't too concerned about those. The color and clarity is of concern if it is an issue.

Craig J. Brain

[foxroe]

Figures I read this after I order my copy.

[Zenopus]

Fox, I believe Lulu uses different printers in different areas so what I got is not necessarily what you will get. James M.'s copy he posted on Grognardia looked better than mine, and as far as I could see was not cut-off at the bottom - the lizard coming out of the skull on the right was fully visible, as in the pic that Fin posted above.

[mythos]

Finarvyn, thank you for posting this information. I placed my order yesterday. Of course that would be before I've read the new posts. Still, MAas the secong rpg I ever played and the chance to have a copy of the original version is too great a prize to pass on. Besides, to me, the rules are what matters. As long as they are intact I do not care if the cover is a brown wrapper. Although I do love the original cover and hope my is intact.

[Harbinger]

My cover doesn't have the greenish lightning bold, but it is certainly cut off at the bottom, at little bit worse than the picture above.

I suspect the cover is probably posted edge-to-edge so depending on how it falls in the trimmer you can expect variance in the cut off. Looking at James M's picture, I can see he does have more of the bottom than me - and I'm certain we got our stuff from the same printer since I live in the same city.

Having never owned this, I'm perfectly happy with what I have.

[DungeonDevil]

Great news!
However I've recently had an issue with Lulu's poor printing and binding. I too had to make a digital photo and send it in to them to get a replacement.

[foxroe]

Well, I received my copy today.

I more or less have the same issues as Zenopus. The lightning bolt on the cover is a yellow-green splotchy color and the lizard at the bottom is cut off. The cover image isn't quite as "crisp" as I would expect, but it's not blurry. And my interior pages, while not "glossy", are a sort of satin texture.

Overall, though, I can't complain. The text is crisp and clear, the errata is included, and there's a one-page intro adventure included at the end. I'm so thrilled to have an actual copy of the game, I can overlook the "Lulu-ness".

[mythos]

Just got back from the post office and my copy was there waiting for me. Yeah!!!
Looking it over I have to say that my copy is an exact duplicate of Foxroe's. I can only assume that the colour balance during the printing of the cover is off somehow. The greenish splotches in the lightning bolt are not horrible, but you can see them with little effort.
But the printing inside is clear and crisp. Which was my main concern.

Now it is up to me to start creating some maps, populate them, and find some players that will have no idea of the game I'm going to be throwing them into.

[Craig J. Brain]

Well,

I am glad to hear that the most concerning issues are being dealt with.

From the sounds of things, Lulu has some variances in quality depending on printer.

I'll keep this in mind when I print the hard cover ultimate collector's edition.

Thanks for the feedback and letting me know.

Craig J. Brain
WardCo.

[Sean Michael Kelly]

Feb 3, 2012 23:02:22 GMT -6 Craig J. Brain said:

....I'll keep this in mind when I print the hard cover ultimate collector's edition.
....

Oh, now this is a tease!

[Zenopus]

After some delay on my part, I just responded to Lulu's previous query with a side-by-side of the cover of my Lulu copy and the cover from official pdf. I had thought the Lulu copy was fuzzy, but seeing them this way makes me think it is a color problem. The oranges are so oversaturated that a lot of detail is lost (compare the winged serpents).



The thumbnail on the Lulu site is small but shows more detail than my Lulu printing:


I don't expect it to look 100% like the original, but it should look as good as the picture being used for advertising it.

Also, James M's copy is also much better, which convinces me it's a printer issue (rather than source file):

[Craig J. Brain]

Zenopus,

Thanks for letting us know. I am going to have to look far more carefully at which printer service I use for the next book - or select a method that won't be so dependent upon individual printers.

Craig J. Brain
WardCo.

[Zenopus]

After sending in the above photos Lulu sent me a new copy of the rulebook.

It just arrived, and looks 100% identical to the first copy I received.