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I have recently discovered many people have a pirated .pdf-playtest version of the Epic Level Handbook and now see the Morrus has allowed a "scoop" to be added to the main site, directly ripped from this pirated .pdf.
Now, my question is: Is this a prudent action? I mean, could EN World be liable for the release of this news or indirect support of these pirated playtest copies?
I'm not supporting or acting against piracy -- I'm mainly concerned for EN World and wanted to ask the mods here (and Morrus) if the news blurb should continue to be posted about it.
Disclaimer: No offense is intended to either Morrus or EN World, I'm just a loyal supporter of this site.
(And I did wonder if I should send this via an email to Morrus, but I wanted the quickest avenue for him to be aware of it. If I'm wrong about the legal issues, then my apologies and just delete this post.)
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Last edited by Khan the Warlord; 14th May 2002 at 12:24 AM..
The person legally responsible is the jerk who allowed his playtest copy to slip out; this sort of leak is in extremely bad form from someone who has signed a NDA. However, Morrus (and EN World) have no legal liability here; he is just repeating a rumor which may or may not be true.
In any event, it's good free advertising for the product!!
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I don't think it will be a problem - WotC isn't horrible with that kind of stuff, and there are plenty of movie rumor sites that operate on the same principle.
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I hadn't heard of a pirate pdf at all. As far as I'm concerned, this is just a random rumour - I don't even know if it's true. If WotC does have a problem with it, then I'll remove it, but I don't see that it's an issue. It certainly doesn't replicate any content form the book.
Originally posted by Morrus I hadn't heard of a pirate pdf at all. As far as I'm concerned, this is just a random rumour - I don't even know if it's true.
Originally posted by Darkness Query: Do you mean to say that "thousands and thousands" already have gotten this file?
Answer: I have no idea how many have gotten the file yet (I only wish I was omniscient), but I do know that the file is on certain venues capable of delivering it to "thousands".
And to be honest, it doesn't really matter how one can get it, as once someone does, it can easily be sent to everyone in one's address book, who then pass it along to many others afterwards.
However it happens, I only hope that it doesn't change WotC's policies regarding playtesters (which will probably occur).
Originally posted by Khan the Warlord
However it happens, I only hope that it doesn't change WotC's policies regarding playtesters (which will probably occur).
Heh. Why not? Eric's site changed WotC's policies regarding playtesting!
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Heh. Why not? Eric's site changed WotC's policies regarding playtesting!
I must've missed that - what happened? I remember something about Dragon Magazine and a slight snaffle involving publishing of errata or sage advice or something along those lines, but I don't remember anything about playtesting.
I'm not sure if he's joking, but he might be referring to a rumored instruction for playtesters that specifically mentioned my site by name (as in "do not pass scoops to Eric Noah").
If you think about it, though, the playtesting of many products over the past couple of years has been nothing short of astounding in terms of how little stuff has leaked out. I mean there are five builds of Master Tools for the beta testers and have we heard one thing about folks downloading it en masse? No. WotC should be very pleased at how well it has gone thus far.
Whether you are outsourcing your playtesting or not, leaks will occur here and there. (Anyone remember the only way in which three people will keep a secret? ) However, Eric is right - WotC I hope should be quite proud of their playtesters thus far. Out of the thousands who have been involved in playtesting over the years, they've only had about - what - two major leaks, I believe?
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Originally posted by EricNoah
If you think about it, though, the playtesting of many products over the past couple of years has been nothing short of astounding in terms of how little stuff has leaked out. I mean there are five builds of Master Tools for the beta testers and have we heard one thing about folks downloading it en masse? No. WotC should be very pleased at how well it has gone thus far.
Exactly, which is why I was so surprised to see this .pdf leaked (as I've yet seen any playtested material of 3rd edition or D&D software like MT leaked up to this point).
And like I said before, my only purpose with this thread was to ensure that EN World wouldn't be held accountable by indirectly supporting this leak (by posting a news blurb from someone that obviously has the playtest material). Anyway, its been pointed out that I needlessly worried and EN World wouldn't be liable, so this thread doesn't really need to be.
Here is an example on these forums of yet another person that got this pirated playtest copy.
Now yes, this is a "new member" (I'm guessing it is an existing member that doesn't wish to reveal their identity), but before anyone wonders -- he/she isn't me (do whatever check you wish).
/me ponders on just how many people have this now...
A lot of people have it by now I guess. I was able to find the file in 20 minutes. I don't know how much piracy like this will affect sales, but my guess is that WotC will not tolerate this. I do think it will seriously affect playtesting.
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