And yes, oh those McBride covers, also really like way they kinda tell a story between the books, when I was a kid starting out with RM, those covers always paused me to think about what was happening to the group and how they ended up in the situation, the way art is meant to do.
I have said it before on these boards, and I am here saying it again: Art matters! As they say in cooking, "we eat with our eyes first." (For better or worse.) Also, think of real estate, curb appeal is a big deal, because if it doesn't look good as they drive up, they are much more likely to drive away without ever going inside and seeing all the great features.
Also, I really think it would be cool if the same characters ran through the books. In the beginning, with character creation, they would be young/new, with little detail, and as the book goes on, and these character's experiences grows, they get more and more developed, and are shown to be dealing with and doing more and more dangerous things (& beasties). Until, at the end of the books, you have these high-level characters, richly detailed in both look and history. Along with the art could be information on the web about the character's stats and abilities at the various stages of development and experience. Or, that can be in the book as well, though I am pretty sure it is too late for that now.
