A Technical Look at D&D Insider Applications

Irda Ranger · Oct 25, 2007

Scott_Rouse said:
Each copy will have a unique code. No two are alike

Scott:

1. What happens to the "true owner" of a book if some jerk copied the number out of a book at the store and buys the PDF version first?

2. What happens in the secondary market?

Thanks.

PS - Sorry if someone already asked this, I just scanned through for Scott's posts, since I don't have time to read the whole thread now.

Scribble · Oct 25, 2007

epochrpg said:
I doubt it will. You can already buy WotC books online pdfs from Rpgnow and drivethrurpg.com. They aren't cheap. The $1-2 fee for electronic D&D material is only if you bought the $30-40 hardcopy. I doubt these will have any impact on the pdf market. Indy companies will continue to produce pdf and pod products at likely the same prices as they are now.

Now as far as piracy is concerned I think they will do a lot to slow it down, which as a publisher I can appreciate.

Shrug. You may very well be right. It just seems that if WOTC starts offering the books + a digital copy at a very low price people might start expecting the same from all companies.

WhatGravitas · Oct 25, 2007

Lackhand said:
If they charge per book, then you only pay for what you use. Win!

Yup. It avoids putting the extra cost (though it's much, much less than the cost for a hardcopy) onto the hardcopy price.

And it deters thiefs, and makes them trackable.

This concept sounds like 'win' to me!

While I don't know what they'll do for the secondary market, I think there isn't such a huge secondary market for RPG books, that it'll really matter. After all, on the secondary market, you only get books, if a) you want to get them cheaper (in this case, you pay less, but don't et the online deal, which is fair IMO), or b) you try to get out-of-print stuff (in which case, the online copies are probably not available any more).

Cheers, LT.

IanArgent · Oct 25, 2007

One-use codes make me very nervous; either they can be invisibly stolen if they are not tamper-evident, or they "damage" the value of the book to a retailer if they are tamper-evident, as the tampered book will lose value to many (not all) customers. And, of course, the effect on the secondary market is bad as well.

On the other hand, WotC can use individual codes as "market-research". Plus, if they don't make the codes one-use, they get more money from people who would otherwise pirate the IP, along with the people who buy on the secondary market (who would otherwise give no money back to WotC).

(I'm NOT trying to equate IP pirates with purchasers of used books, rather the opposite).

I also don't expect this issue to be clarified any time soon - it's a business decision that may not have been made yet; plus it can be changed from one-use to multiple-use, but not vice versa...

Lackhand · Oct 25, 2007

The latest person to use a code is "more" innocent than the first person to use it (as the probability that someone has purchased it increases).

Always grant a request for a .pdf download. Inform both downloaders that two copies of "their book" exist. Flag them, start a dialogue, figure out what's going on.

If the download requests come from different gleemax accounts/real-world-credit-cards-that-belong-to-unrelated-people, it's clear that something's screwy.

This doesn't really hurt the secondary market too much: they get the same thing they always got on the secondary market, the physical book. Anything else associated with the book is caveat emptor. To be really safe, remove the code before selling the book (or scribble it out or whatever).

Sorry: This is all speculation, but it's fairly reasonable speculation, I think. It doesn't make a lot of (business) sense to do it any other way, but then, I'm no businessman!

Kesh · Oct 25, 2007

The only way I can see a one-use code being useful is as a scratch-off area on the inside cover. And, having worked for a pay-as-you-go cell phone company, I can attest that some people are daft enough to scratch so hard they rub the number right off. That's going to annoy people to no end.

Plus, as others said, while you can catch the folks who "stole" the codes, what happens to the poor sap who bought the book with the stolen code? What about resale?

The only thing I can figure for the latter is that Wizards may offer to let folks buy the PDF directly online, without having purchased the physical book, but at a much higher price than the "unlock" version ($15-20). That doesn't help the poor saps who bought a book with a stolen code, though.

mmaranda · Oct 25, 2007

Irda Ranger said:
Scott:
2. What happens in the secondary market?

I'm also concerned about the secondary market for these books.

Mercule · Oct 25, 2007

JVisgaitis said:
Um, where did I say anything about the write up being random hype? All I said was I got sick of reading Windows rich... Considering I've worked in IT for 6 years now at one of the world's largest domain providers, I know what a Windows rich client is. I just got sick of reading it. It has nothing to do with me not knowing what the term is and everything to do with the fact that they designed this straight up for Windows-based machines. Yuck!

I made an assumption that no one in the industry would break down the phrase as "Windows rich" and omit the "client". So, I responded accordingly and explained the term.

The part about the hype comes from my noticing that "Windows rich" does actually sound like a PR bit. Plus, I couldn't figure out what else you would object to with that specific phrase.

PoeticJustice · Oct 25, 2007

CharlesRyan said:
[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.]

But then how does one keep someone from browsing a book without buying and copying down the number? Traditional retail methods don't really work for RPG supplements.

Mouseferatu · Oct 25, 2007

You know, I buy some of my books from Half-Price and other secondary sources. So I'm certainly sympathetic.

But I have to say, if this is a problem for the secondary market... I'm not sure it matters. It just means people pay for the book, and only get the book--exactly as things are right now, and have been for all the years before the DDI existed.

I really don't think it's incumbent on WotC to make sure that an optional extra is available for people who make secondary market purchases. Sure, it would be nice if they could, but I hardly think it needs to be their priority, or that it's somehow a failing on their part if they don't.