D&D 4th Edition RulesAsk questions about 4th-Edition rules and the like in here. General discussion about 4E or any other game belongs in General RPG Discussion, above.
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Ok this is my very first adventure review. To be totally honest I am a bit unsure how to review a adventure with out spoiling to much, while still giving you enough information to purchase it if you... [Read More]
The fantasy role-playing game Dragon Warriors has a healthy following and the Lands of Legend have been around for many years; as such there are a lot of stories to tell from around this vast... [Read More]
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Where is this Dungeon Tile builder that is currently available on the D&D site? I went looking for it when I saw this and have not been able to find it...
1.) To access the e-book version, you must already have DDI account. Which means you've already registered your name and credit-card billing address. Withouy a DDI account (and a credit card to pay the unlock fee) the code itself is useless.
2.) I doubt the codes will be unique to each book. More likely, there will be one generic code for each book. The code will allow you to purchase the e-book version (for a fee). So even if you don't buy the book (you copy down the code), you could still buy an online-only version (available to you as long as you have a DDI account) without penalty (except for the lack of a paper/printable copy).
3.) Even if you DON'T buy the hardcover, WotC still gets you for DDI+Access Cost. And you'll have to be online on there site to use it. Thats more money than they'd get if you downloaded a OCR version off Kazaa...
4.) It finally gives users a choice: An online-only version for a nominal fee (still readable, if not printable) a paper-only version (and you get the bare-bones version online) or get the premium package and get BOTH the online version for reference (and the more robust generators) and the paper-book.
5.) Will it stop piracy? No. Will it slow it down by giving it a legitimate alternative (like iTunes did) yes.
The codes will be unique to each book and you will not need to be a D&D Insider subscriber to activate the E-Book version.
Can you give me an official update on how the book will work if you aren't online?
No. It will likely be a PDF type document that lives on your HD so you can use offline.
When you activate (while online) and you also have a D&DI account the system will update your database. If you don't have a D&Di account you'll need the free Gleemax account so we know who you are and you just get the PDF on your local machine.
Of course Wizards can charge any price they want for anything they sell. However, Paizo, a much smaller company, offers free PDFs to me when I buy the paper copy of Pathfinder by subscription.
Paizo isn't offering you integration with a suite of tools. That PDF doesn't get you extra stuff in a character generator or integrated maps to play with your friends online. This is really no different than the data-sets people buy from Code Monkey for E-Tools and stuff.
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Why does Paizo give me a better deal than Wizards when Wizards is bigger, sells more, and controls a large portion of the market?
Because Paizo has to work harder to get people's money.
__________________ If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him... and take his stuff.
We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are.
No. It will likely be a PDF type document that lives on your HD so you can use offline.
When you activate (while online) and you also have a D&DI account the system will update your database. If you don't have a D&Di account you'll need the free Gleemax account so we know who you are and you just get the PDF on your local machine.
Thank you. This alleviates my fears... For the most part.
Keep in mind also that the nominal fee creates accountability that, in the end, protects you.
By charging a small fee, WotC makes it impossible to anonymously take ownership of the digital version of the book. Anyone who enters a code to get the digital version must identify themselves in a real, positive manner (through the use of a credit card or other verifiable payment scheme). That makes the fee one of (probably several) roadblocks to piracy.
[And before this blossoms into a discussion of intellectual property rights, remember this: What you're downloading is a unique digital object assigned to the book you bought. If somebody steals that, they've stolen your right to access the digital version of the book. YOU are the loser in a very real way, not some giant corporation is a very intangible way.]
[And before this blossoms into a discussion of how the pirates always find a way, remember this: This will not be perfect in preventing piracy, and neither will any of the other steps WotC takes. But, combined, they're intended to keep theft to a minimum. WotC has a lot of experience with digital objects (via Magic Online), so their overall system will probably be pretty effective.]
So the requirement to purchase increases the likelihood that when I buy a book, the code to obtain the digital version is likely to still be valid when I take the book home and type it into DDI. That alone seems to be worth an extra buck or two.
All true. However, I think it's also worth pointing out that pirates already have no problems constructing electronic versions of WotC books already, and so will probably not bother to try to hijack anyone's books. Rather, if they really, really want WotC's electronic version rather than making their own scans, they will probably buy the book, unlock the electronic version, and then find a way to remove any DRM, watermark, or other identifier from that document, then distribute it.
The fee will prevent casual piracy, but the people scanning the books now will keep scanning the books. I agree that paying a fee will prevent some kid from copying down the book's code in the store and registering it before the actual purchaser has the opportunity to do so.
__________________ Formerly known as Dr. Awkward
When you get to be a certain age, everything that is cool seems to be a lot of nonsensical, idiotic jibberish. The music that blares from the pimp rides makes no sense; it all sounds like a man with severe autism halfheartedly explaining human sexuality to a parrot, while in the background a dangerously unqualified Caribbean contractor rhythmically installs an automatic garage door opener. Bollocks.
--Jeffery Rowland
wigu.com
The D20 NPC Wiki needs YOU to post your characters! Try my non-asian, non-hocus-pocus martial artist class, the bruiser! While you're at it, also try my vitality/wound point system, intended to eliminate the "15 minute adventuring day." Number of posters so far added to my ignore list due to the enormity of their spelling and grammar: 6
No. It will likely be a PDF type document that lives on your HD so you can use offline.
When you activate (while online) and you also have a D&DI account the system will update your database. If you don't have a D&Di account you'll need the free Gleemax account so we know who you are and you just get the PDF on your local machine.
What if you buy the book, register it using the free Gleemax account, and then later get a D&Di account? Will the registration be easy to migrate?
__________________ Formerly known as Dr. Awkward
When you get to be a certain age, everything that is cool seems to be a lot of nonsensical, idiotic jibberish. The music that blares from the pimp rides makes no sense; it all sounds like a man with severe autism halfheartedly explaining human sexuality to a parrot, while in the background a dangerously unqualified Caribbean contractor rhythmically installs an automatic garage door opener. Bollocks.
--Jeffery Rowland
wigu.com
The D20 NPC Wiki needs YOU to post your characters! Try my non-asian, non-hocus-pocus martial artist class, the bruiser! While you're at it, also try my vitality/wound point system, intended to eliminate the "15 minute adventuring day." Number of posters so far added to my ignore list due to the enormity of their spelling and grammar: 6
5.) Will it stop piracy? No. Will it slow it down by giving it a legitimate alternative (like iTunes did) yes.
I think that it's interesting that this endeavor is essentially demonstrating that the value of a pirated e-book is about $1 or $2. If a user has the choice between downloading a free copy of a book he owns so that he can put it on his laptop, or registering the book with WotC for $2 in order to get an official electronic version, I think most users will choose the latter. I will pay $2 for a hassle-free electronic document, but probably not $5 or $10.
__________________ Formerly known as Dr. Awkward
When you get to be a certain age, everything that is cool seems to be a lot of nonsensical, idiotic jibberish. The music that blares from the pimp rides makes no sense; it all sounds like a man with severe autism halfheartedly explaining human sexuality to a parrot, while in the background a dangerously unqualified Caribbean contractor rhythmically installs an automatic garage door opener. Bollocks.
--Jeffery Rowland
wigu.com
The D20 NPC Wiki needs YOU to post your characters! Try my non-asian, non-hocus-pocus martial artist class, the bruiser! While you're at it, also try my vitality/wound point system, intended to eliminate the "15 minute adventuring day." Number of posters so far added to my ignore list due to the enormity of their spelling and grammar: 6
Last edited by Lonely Tylenol; 24th October 2007 at 10:51 PM..
If I read the phrase "Windows rich" one more time I think my head would asplod.
There phrase is "Windows rich client". Just means that it runs as a native app on Windows and not in a browser or a Flash player or similar.
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Seems like they are saying that the Game Table and the Character suite of options won't work with dual booting a Mac unless I am reading that wrong. Sucks for me/WotC. 7 subscriptions from my motley group that they aren't getting. On a positive note, I like everything I read. It sounds awesome. Just wish I could run it on my Mac...
Why won't it work with dual booting a Mac? If you can boot into WinXP through BootCamp, you should be able to run anything, right? Except for Game Table and Character Visualizer, everything should even run on MacOS through Parallells.
Am I missing something here?
__________________ Mikael Borjesson, Sweden
The Titan of Titan Games
Keeper of the swedish D&D translations
The only problem I see is that it pretty much requires them to shrink wrap their books. Otherwise, you could just go to Barnes and Noble, copy the code out of a book and then use the code online. Then that customer who did buy the book in good faith is screwed.
There are plenty of solutions that don't involve shrink-wrapping the book.
For example, say that each copy of the PHB that ships to retailers comes with a scratch-ticket with the individual code that is intended to be kept behind the counter and handed to the purchaser.
Or just put said scratch ticket in a sealed envelope on the last page of the book; kind of like how the 3.0 PHB came with a demo CD for the then-vision of the online toolset...
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