Germination

I have some questions from the vets here regarding germination...

I have ALL the general knowledge on different germination methods I need, so I'm looking for some rather specific advice.

Here goes:
I've always used the wet paper towel /ziplock method.

I'm finding lately for some reason, I'm getting a VERY poor rate of popping seeds.

What tempatures are you expert botanists germinating at? I'm currently trying 80F as I'm getting poor to no results at 72 to 74. Anyone else take temps into consideration?

I've heard of some people germinating at 88F, but I'm thinking this may be a tad high for new white shoots if you are not checking every hour. Soil shock might be a factor as well at this temp.

I hope I've just gotten a couple bad batches lately, but I'm willing to try new VERY SPECIFIC methods in a controlled environment.

Any growers with 20+ crops, and a 90+ percent crack rate willing to share specifics? Or is that too optimistic?

I have a rather expensive batch of seed incoming from attitude, and with my last two germs being completely fubar'd I'm paranoid as hell that I'm doing something wrong.

I've googled tons, and been trying to find some controlled advanced germination techniques, but I'm striking out.

Thanks!