WotC puts a stop to online sales of PDFs

WhatGravitas · Apr 7, 2009

WotC_Trevor said:
Unfortunately, the truth is that due to recent findings of illegal copying and online distribution (piracy) of our products, Wizards of the Coast has decided to cease the sales of online PDFs. We are exploring other options for digitial distribution of our content and as soon as we have any more information I'll get it to you.

I see. Well, crap, but thanks for stepping in and informing us.

That's all weird... I mean, pulling the plug on past PDFs won't put the genie back into the bottle (in a way, it makes piracy the *only* way to get these PDFs and they're out there already) and the DDI is very PDF-heavy anyway, so I don't really understand the line of reasoning behind that - stopping further releases of PDFs sounds more sensible.

Cheers, LT.

mach1.9pants · Apr 7, 2009

WotC_Trevor said:
Hey all. I wanted to step in and add shine a mote of light on the subject. First off, this cesation of PDF sales has absolutely nothing to do with the Internet Sales Policy. I know it's the 6th of April and I can definitely see how the two would appear linked, but the truth is, this is a completely seperate matter.

Unfortunately, the truth is that due to recent findings of illegal copying and online distribution (piracy) of our products, Wizards of the Coast has decided to cease the sales of online PDFs. We are exploring other options for digitial distribution of our content and as soon as we have any more information I'll get it to you.

So what happens to Dungeon and Dragon subscription PDFs?

This is real bad news now the only way PDF users can get an electronic copy is via piracy, PDFs are soooooo useful at the table, you can't 'search' a book!

roguerouge · Apr 7, 2009

Preventing piracy? Are you joking? The more difficult you make it to pirate, the more you drive up demand for pirated copies. Look at the Wolverine movie, for goodness sake! Look at Ain't It Cool news! Look at Lost spoilers! People who post material online do it for the prestige in their very small community. Making it more difficult just whets pirate appetites. And, with this new-fangled thing they call the interwebs, all it takes is for one person to succeed.

The way to fight piracy is to increase supply of legitimate, convenient, affordable and quality products so as to drive down demand for low-quality, low-feature scans.

And, yes, this is TSR all over again.

Psion · Apr 7, 2009

Kzach said:
Then you'd be 99.9% wrong.

I'm positive that the staff at WotC are geeky enough to realise the futility and backlash of such a gesture.

So much for that.

PaulofCthulhu · Apr 7, 2009

I must admit I'm now quite glad I picked up those White Box D&D PDFs from DriveThruRPG last year when I saw them.

DaveMage · Apr 7, 2009

WotC_Trevor said:
Unfortunately, the truth is that due to recent findings of illegal copying and online distribution (piracy) of our products, Wizards of the Coast has decided to cease the sales of online PDFs. We are exploring other options for digitial distribution of our content and as soon as we have any more information I'll get it to you.

Excellent!

We'll have a case study!

Those of you who know how to visit pirate sites can let us know if the frequency of available new WotC titles declines on illicit file sharing sites from here on out.

jdrakeh · Apr 7, 2009

Scribble said:
Maybe, but my real point was it's not a change from what they've been doing since the 90s. . .

Oh, you're talking about GW! :blush:

No, they haven't implemented any new policy lately, but all of the crap policy that they implemented years ago is still in place.

It's definitely policy designed to help brick and mortar stores by crippling online retailers, not simply by extending extra benefits to brick and mortar stores (frex, as of July 15th, 2003 they forbade any online resale of their items by US distributors or retailers).

And some of the conditions that must be met in order for GW to suppply brick and mortar stores are very, very, arbitrary (frex, your entire staff must be well-versed in GW products as determined by the GW rep). Check the attached file for specifics.

Scribble · Apr 7, 2009

have to say the updated news makes me a bit unhappy.

Stopping the sale of PDFs doesn't punish the pirates, it just makes life harder for those using the PDFs legaly.

mach1.9pants · Apr 7, 2009

roguerouge said:
Preventing piracy? Are you joking? The more difficult you make it to pirate, the more you drive up demand for pirated copies. Look at the Wolverine movie, for goodness sake! Look at Ain't It Cool news! Look at Lost spoilers! People who post material online do it for the prestige in their very small community. Making it more difficult just whets pirate appetites. And, with this new-fangled thing they call the interwebs, all it takes is for one person to succeed.

The way to fight piracy is to increase supply of legitimate, convenient, affordable and quality products so as to drive down demand for low-quality, low-feature scans.

And, yes, this is TSR all over again.

Well said sir, have some XP!

joethelawyer · Apr 7, 2009

Lord Tirian said:
I see. Well, crap, but thanks for stepping in and informing us.

That's all weird... I mean, pulling the plug on past PDFs won't put the genie back into the bottle (in a way, it makes piracy the *only* way to get these PDFs and they're out there already) and the DDI is very PDF-heavy anyway, so I don't really understand the line of reasoning behind that - stopping further releases of PDFs sounds more sensible.

Cheers, LT.

I just posted a poll on that question...under the humor category because I think the action they are taking and the stated reason for taking it is hilariously pathetically ridiculous. But so typical of a big corporation mindset. So I guess you know how I voted on it...