At half-way through the subscription, I'd say I've gotten my money's worth. In addition to good advice from two people who have been successful in the field, they will answer questions about the business on the mailing list. Some of the members of the list are themselves publishers of varying sizes, and will chime in with their own opinions and experiences. Good stuff, and it will only get better as more people join the list.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I most appreciate that it covers a lot of topics I hadn't given much consideration to, or in some cases even thought of.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: So far I have no complaints about this product, and don't expect I will through the remaining six months.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

It does a good job of promoting the idea that when creating a world (or a game) you should have a consistant vision for it instead of basing a whole setting or system around one or two 'kewl' things. It should have gone into more detail about the case study, though. Why did the group end up with the choices they made instead of something else? What other options did they consider?<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Raises some good points and doesn't cost that much.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Too short (about eight pages of content) and somewhat vague.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The art herein is perfect for adding a 'Ye Olde' feel. It is in two seperate styles, about half the images for each. The first set includes a fair number of color illustrations that may or may not work well with the b&w, depending on how you feel about mixing the two. I was disappointed to not find a volume II, though it should be possible to find more works by the artists in question with a bit of effort. Or even find someone who is willing and able to duplicate the style.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I'm a believer in maintaining a consistent art style, and there is a broad enough range of subjects in either style to populate the typical rulebook.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Really no downside. It is what it claims to be.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

The art (all b&w) ranges from so-so to pretty good, none of it up to the standards of the cover. Some of the pieces would benefit from resizing, so all in all the art is worthwhile for it's intended purpose.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: If you like cat-people, get this one, there are some pretty good ones in here. For 23 pictures, there's a decent variety of subjects.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some of the art is not good enough to be in this (not to my taste, if you prefer), and with five artists doing 23 pictures there is a great inconsistency of style.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The art (all b&w) ranges from so-so to pretty good, none of it up to the standards of the cover. A bit better quality-wise than volume one, but a lot of the images are bust-type portraits. I don't have much use for those, but they'd be good for say a character sheet illustration. I'd prefer to see this sort of collection done as a single-artist work since I prefer books that maintain the same art style throughout.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Nothing especially stands out - I might have given it four stars if there were more full-body and/or scene illustrations.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Four artists doing 23 images still doesn't give you many in a consistent style.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The art (all b&w) ranges from so-so to quite good. For 22 (not 23 - there is a duplicate) images, there is quite a lot of subjects. Overall this is better than either volume one or volume two.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: That it included a few landscapes, not required in this sort of thing but nice to get.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Again, no consistency of style. Four artists (though as one is a Studios, possibly more) doing 22 pictures means only a few by each artist. There is a duplicate image (pages 4 and 15).<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I'd rate this as student-level art, about what TSR was putting into the second edition books. Then again, if it worked for them... Some of the images may look better (even pretty good) shrunk to a small size and used as accent pieces.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: There's a lot of variety, all done by the same person. I've seen a goodly amount of other illustration with this look, so if you want a consistent style it wouldn't be too hard to put together a sufficiently large and varied set.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The art from the cover doesn't look as good on a plain white background.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>