Paizo isn't doing an SRD, but fans have created a couple, one here.
Actually, Paizo will do an SRD for the new rules.
__________________ 'Can a magician kill a man by magic?' Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. 'I suppose a magician might,' he admitted, 'but a gentleman never could.'
So instead of using resources once, you'd rather use an electronic device which keeps burning and burning and burning those precious resources for as long as you want to look at the product? Okay...
I buy the .pdf., lets say I like it. Oh now I want a hardcopy, do I shell out $50-60? Hell no, I go to staples, where I could make 2-3 color, bound copies of the book and still be spending less than MSRP.
Something wreaks of desperation, not sure what but something.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodKingJayIII
I'm not a founding member. I don't have an absurdly high post count. I often don't get to threads until they're well under way. I don't have an awesome story hour. I don't grace anyone's signature. I'm not gaming with any of the mods. In short, I'm a pretty average member, and generally go unnoticed around here.
Something wreaks of desperation, not sure what but something.
Your argument?
More customers by far are going to want a real, hardcover book. I would think that if someone isn't going to shell out the cash for the hardcover book, they wouldn't have done so either with or without a pdf.
I buy the .pdf., lets say I like it. Oh now I want a hardcopy, do I shell out $50-60? Hell no, I go to staples, where I could make 2-3 color, bound copies of the book and still be spending less than MSRP.
Something wreaks of desperation, not sure what but something.
Simple.
Reading on screen is a pain in the butt for many of us.
I don't think it's desperation but Paizo simply trying to get as many people as possible to take a look. The belief is that the $10 price point will keep most of the people who would be tempted by a pirated copy if it had been $25, will actually buy it at the $10 price point.
I buy the .pdf., lets say I like it. Oh now I want a hardcopy, do I shell out $50-60? Hell no, I go to staples, where I could make 2-3 color, bound copies of the book and still be spending less than MSRP.
Something wreaks of desperation, not sure what but something.
I don't know of too many placed where you can print out a bound copy of a 576-page rulebook in color for that cheap. Add in the high quality of Paizo's books and I think it's worth buying a physical copy of the rules.
As to local gaming shops, if they really want to see PDFs as a threat, then they're already behind the times. If they want to worry about a real threat to their bottom line, they can worry about Amazon.com. I could go on there right now and order the Pathfinder core rules for something like $35.
__________________ SHADOWSLAYERS: A full fantasy novel, now available on Kindle for only 1 dollar! REALITY CHECK: Everything you know is wrong.
I buy the .pdf., lets say I like it. Oh now I want a hardcopy, do I shell out $50-60? Hell no, I go to staples, where I could make 2-3 color, bound copies of the book and still be spending less than MSRP.
Good luck with that. First off, Staples wouldn't even print a copy of my own PDF.
Secondly, I think you underestimate the cost factor for color unless my Staples prices are way out of whack. You would spend more on a single bound copy at 10 cents a page...
Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorC
Something wreaks of desperation, not sure what but something.
Um, sounds like Babelfish gone bad! Can we get a translation please?
__________________ Jeffrey J. Visgaitis
Creative Director The Inner Circle
Last edited by JVisgaitis; 26th June 2009 at 05:39 PM..
Reason: Nothing like busting on someone for bad grammar and replying using worse grammar!
I really do think this is an amazingly smart move. They're giving out the PDFs for free to subscribers anyway, which means that free copes are going to be up on torrent sites lightning quick. There will be those that download it for free, but this way they can tap into those that are willing to pay a reasonable price. Some of those people, who clearly wouldn't have bought the hardcover before, now will.
That's the iTunes strategy for RPGs, people. It will help sell books in the stores as well as to Paizo directly. I wish other game companies would have been so smart.
I should note I use two monitors, one of which is tilted portrait to view docs on. And I'm considering hooking up my 32" Sony Bravia HD TV as my sole desktop monitor instead, which would provide a lot of screen real estate....
If I'm not mistaken, unless your Sony Bravia can do better than 1080p, you won't get much more real estate, just bigger letters (unless your current monitors are lower res).
</threadjack>
I love the new PDF price and I will buy a copy to review, even though I play 4e pretty much exclusively right now.
__________________ Game on, gang! Ptolus #16 (with customized, personalized sig from Monte. Awesomesauce.), Rappan Athuk Reloaded #37 (Another Awesomesauce, the Necromancer way.)
Try to not let failure to use technical language properly get in the way of getting to the real point under discussion. - Umbran
Characters & Games
Books currently in play: Dungeon & Dragon Magazine (*Scales of War AP*), WOTC 4e Core and Supplemental books
Current Campaign: Scales of War - Lost Mines of Karak -- Kodirgo, Minotaur Barbarian 6; Vondal, Dwarf Cleric 6; Karithul, Gnome Bard 6; Marshaun, Elf Druid 6
I buy the .pdf., lets say I like it. Oh now I want a hardcopy, do I shell out $50-60? Hell no, I go to staples, where I could make 2-3 color, bound copies of the book and still be spending less than MSRP.
Something wreaks of desperation, not sure what but something.
No desperation. Its a simple business decision as mentioned by previous posters. The PDF is priced to drive BOTH PDF and hard copy sales. Most releases of a hard copy product in PDF are discounted 30-50% (with 50% being the acceptable discount for most PDF pruchasers). By dropping the price down to $10 (80% discount) Paizo makes the core rules an attractive "hey, its so cheap I'll check it out" purchase to those who were on the fence about purchasing Pathfinder. A percentage of those will most likely decide they DO like the rules and will then purchase a hard copy of the book (WW sucked me into Exalted this way with a free PDF copy of Exalted 2E in PDF).
While your assertion that some that you could go down to Staples, Kinkos or another print shop and have them print out multiple copies of the manual is valid, I just don't see Paizo being worried about that. Sure some people my do that, but they wouldn't have bought the hard copy anyway. Paizo has been a long-time supporter of the PDF market and is very aware of the problems that dual hard copy/electronic publishers face and continues to address it in the best way possible: strong deterent measures that do not interfere with the owners use of the PDF combined with reasonable pricing.
__________________ "Mr. Prince, would you like to know the most significant event in the history of freedom?"
"The American revolution?"
"A defensible choice, a close second even, but not mine. I would choose the moment when the Roman plebians required the patricians to write down the twelve tablets of the law and put them where everyone could see them—and thereby proclaimed the law supreme over the politicians. The rule of law is the essence of freedom."
—Conversation between Prince Lysander and Colonel Falkenberg, The Prince
There's an assumption by many in this thread that "of course this will drive people to the local bookstore, the price is so cheap that people will be encouraged to pick up the book"
Guess what....This is an assumption that simply put, might not be true.
People are assuming that the number of people that buy the PDF and then buy the hardcover will outnumber the number of people that buy the PDF and balk at the price point.
Sure, Amazon is selling it at $35, but one could say "ok, I'm supporting my local FLGS by buying it at $50". At a price point of $10 though? even though it is a PDF?
Eh, I'm not so sure about that...
I'm actually wondering what store owners are thinking about this now....they were the only ones that actually were ticked off when other companies had their own "cheap discount PDF day" and this is a direct analogue to that.
Location: “Over the Hills and Far Away” - (TDY in Florida - "Home" is Michigan)
Posts: 1,546
I don't have a problem reading pdf's. And once e-paper readers become more common place (and the bugs worked out), I'll probably go almost exclusively to pdf's. But, there's still nothing quite like having an actual book in your hands. I would have only bought the pdf, but now I'll buy both. Mainly because a physical book is so cool, but also to support a model that I feel all publishers should embrace (they don't have to, but I won't buy physical books from them either, so...). Hopefully the number of downloaded Beta versions will foreshadow some significant sales of this book for Paizo. It would be really cool for this to be a huge success for Paizo.
edit: P.S.: IMO there's really no comparison between printing out a pdf at Kinkos, and a nice, shiny, brand new, professionally printed book sitting on your shelf (or at the game table). They're Apples and Oranges (or more like artificially apple flavored products and real oranges).
__________________ Mark "El Mahdi" Armstrong - Semper Operor Verus
". . . after all, that is why we're here. Kill the last bad guy and then there's cake." - Major General Jack O'Neal
"Don't Just Do It, Just Do It Right!"
"Right, without Reason, is unmitigated Foolishness."
"If you make a mistake, Acknowledge It, then make it Right."
I absolutely cannot understand how this news can generate ANY negative reaction. Anyone who sees this announcement and sees bad news has to be looking for a way to spin this negatively. $10 for a PDF will be a loss-leader for Paizo and will bring in more players than otherwise. Many if not most of these new players will buy the $50 hardcover (whether from their FLGS or not) and then many of these will go on to buy more Pathfinder product. People who were too skittish to buy a $50 book migh be more willing to shell out $10 for the rules in PDF form, and if they hook even a tiny percentage of these curious readers, they have a ton more to sell them down the road.
Maybe the whiny FLGS owners can band together and take a cue from the RPAA and start suing people who buy PDFs instead of hard copies, or suing the companies that are undercutting "their" sales. It makes about as much sense.
The $9.99 price point is brilliant. I have no desire to go back to a 3.75, but I love Paizo's Art Direction and everything else. The core book is too pricey IMO, but I'll happily give them $9.99 for a PDF.
__________________ Jeffrey J. Visgaitis
Creative Director The Inner Circle
Location: “Over the Hills and Far Away” - (TDY in Florida - "Home" is Michigan)
Posts: 1,546
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twowolves
I absolutely cannot understand how this news can generate ANY negative reaction. Anyone who sees this announcement and sees bad news has to be looking for a way to spin this negatively. $10 for a PDF will be a loss-leader for Paizo and will bring in more players than otherwise. Many if not most of these new players will buy the $50 hardcover (whether from their FLGS or not) and then many of these will go on to buy more Pathfinder product. People who were too skittish to buy a $50 book migh be more willing to shell out $10 for the rules in PDF form, and if they hook even a tiny percentage of these curious readers, they have a ton more to sell them down the road.
Maybe the whiny FLGS owners can band together and take a cue from the RPAA and start suing people who buy PDFs instead of hard copies, or suing the companies that are undercutting "their" sales. It makes about as much sense.
If they had a stronger lobby, like auto dealerships, maybe they could have gotten a federally mandated law giving them a percentage of all online sales.
__________________ Mark "El Mahdi" Armstrong - Semper Operor Verus
". . . after all, that is why we're here. Kill the last bad guy and then there's cake." - Major General Jack O'Neal
"Don't Just Do It, Just Do It Right!"
"Right, without Reason, is unmitigated Foolishness."
"If you make a mistake, Acknowledge It, then make it Right."
27
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
