This poll from icassop is about paper quality. Does it even matter to you at all? And if so, to what degree? You can answer the poll regardless of whether you buy physical manga or not.

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related):
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Do you think it is morally / ethically wrong to scanlate or distribute published material?
Choices:
Yes - votes: 2260 (19.7%)
No - votes: 9218 (80.3%)
There were 11478 total votes.
The poll ended: September 15th 2012

This poll was more about the comments than the actual poll itself. Judge for yourself, given the high amount of constructive activity on the issue.

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

What is the certain minimum of paper quality, I don't mind recycling paper( it's much softer than normal paper and you don't gash your finger on it). It may not be newspaper quality (not strong enough).

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Even after dead, we raise from the ashes for the sake of manga.

Yeah a certain minimum value is ok, like, standard paper. I mean, I don't usually mind, but that doesn't mean I'm going to settle for any old crap.
It's usually pretty standard for manga anyway. I don't think I've seen manga with really bad paper before.

I'd prefer good paper quality, for example, I hear tokyopop's versions of Sailor Moon had terrible binding (and possibly bad paper, I don't own them so I don't really know), and broke apart.
Also, with volume 22 or 23 (somewhere around there) of Fruits Basket, the paper felt like tissue paper. I seriously felt like I was going to end up ripping it while turning the pages.
In any case, if I were to buy a manga (and I usually do), I would like them to last for a life time, rather than a short period, so it doesn't feel like I've wasted my money.

What you heard is right, at least from my experience. I have a volume of Sailor Moon published by Tokyopop and it kind of fell apart...the binding was bad, but the paper was fine.

i vote the second one, but i honestly don't know what is 'quality' paper and what is not. everything is serviceable. even the very cheap manga licensed in my language are pretty good, they stand about +13years worth of abuse.

I just think about it, but aren't the third and fourth option the same?

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Even after dead, we raise from the ashes for the sake of manga.

no one is bad qualtiy is fine and the other just doesnt care. one would buy and the other might not.

When it comes to regular manga, the pulp stuff is fine as long as the price is right and it's not truly horrible. I'm really picky about paper when it comes to artbooks though. Ink matters too. When I pay upward of a couple hundred USD for some of my art sets, they have to look right and last over the years. Heck, I even wear gloves when I go through them.

as long as the paper isn't tearing and deteriorating easily, then it's okay.

Some mangas that have high quality paper end up being more expensive, I've noticed in bookstores, so that's good if you're into that

Since I don't buy manga that often, the manga I do buy tend to be based on series and less on quality/paper. So it doesn't really matter that much.
(ugh, I just realized that pretty much all liscensed manga is available ilegally/free on the Internet. Pirating is just too dam easy)

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Recruiting:
https://quicksandscans.wordpress.com/recruitment/

As long the paper isn't so thin like tissue, I don't mind. YenPress and DelRey paper is ok. Viz's 3-in-1 books' paper are terrible. I'm a clumsy person, so I know I could easily tear the paper. Don't want that. I've seen those super awesome paper where it still stay white after all those years. I would like to have that paper quality, but I know it's expensive. I couldn't mind if it's for my most favorite series, like Saiunkoku Monogatari and Please Save My Earth.

Yen Press and Del Rey are pretty much the standard for paper quality. Dark Horse has the best paper by far. Especially their older, flopped versions of their manga. Bigger, thicker stock paper. Then you got Dr Master publishing which ranged from falling apart before I even finished reading to Dark Horse quality.

But as to would it affect my purchasing of a book? Well, it depends as with all things on do I like the series enough. Like my Tsukihime books. Half of them are falling apart and the print looks it was done with a wet sock, but I bought them anyways.

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Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.

I think it's more a matter of distribution.
I mean, the appeal of scanlation is that it's digital, it's discreet, it's "on-demand" and it's DRM-free - not necessarily that it's free.

Scanlated material is more convenient in the digital age than paper copies of manga, and personally I like to keep a digital library so that I can read whatever I wish whenever I wish through a single reader.
Sometimes you really don't want to share that you have an interest in anime and manga (or at least specific genres and subgenres), so the digital nature of scanlation allows it to be discreet.
Scanlated material can be 'consumed' "on demand", as I've said before, the digital nature allows you to read it whenever and wherever you wish.
It's DRM-free, so I can move it between different locations/devices as I will.

The other benefit of scanlation that I've grown used to is the fact that it is distributed as image files, rather than, say, ebook formats such as PDF - I find that it maintains a certain degree of quality as well as allows for a lot of flexibility, due in part to its relatively technology-agnostic nature.

As far as paper goes, I'd prefer better rather than worse, because when I buy manga, I rarely read it - I keep it more for collection purposes and to support the author. I only buy a select few series however, for one reason or another. Maybe one day I will read it, but for now, I'm happy admiring it on the shelf.

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If you were to go there and come back to me hurt, I will take your place.. and pull everything you hate.. into destruction...
I will erase anything that hurts you.. from the face of this world.

This poll reminds me of Broccoli's quality back in the day. The first volume of Murder Princess especially, if you can get your hands on it, had the most wonderful, luxuriously smooth paper! Normally it's not a quality I look out for, but something like that turns a good read into an absolute joy.