OMGWTFBBQ!

As much as I don't normally go for netspeak, something happened yesterday that absolutely boggled my mind.

First, a little background: Some time ago, OneBookShelf, the operators of RPGNow and DriveThruRPG struck a deal with POD printer Lightning Source to provide print products via those sites.(Though it is only recently that this has gone live).

Needless to say, I'm all over this. The ability to offer my customers both print and PDF with a single click? And at a nice bundled price? What's not to love?

But there have been problems. A tiny glitch in the file caused the some of the illustrations to come out pixellated, like this piece by S.P. Maldonado:

And this picture is of my second proof copy, after I requested that my layout person perform a little file massage. I have recently requested a more extensive file surgery to attempt to repair the glitch.

While this is irritating, it's not that big of a deal. Glitch or no, Lulu has been providing decent quality printing of my game for some time now. So my customers can purchase print copies there no matter what, right?

I recently ordered a copy from (always reliable) Lulu to show around to people (having misplaced the last one I had when I moved a few months ago). It arrived last night, in optimum condition. Here's that same S.P. Maldonado piece, the way it should look.

Here's the weird part: As I examined this new copy, I noticed a couple of small touches that indicated this copy was printed by Lightning Source. As in the same people who printed the pixellated proof copies I ordered from OBS. In fact, it would seem that they were both printed in the same facility in Lavergne Tennessee.

The top one (white paper, November printing date) is my OBS proof copy. The lower one (cream paper, December printing date) is my new arrival from Lulu.

Any idea what's going on?