Cergorach
The Laughing One
With all the negtive threads over DriveThruRPG (DTRPG) on Enworld and RPGnet, of which i was also a part, i've had time to get a bit of a perspective on things.
People have expressed a lot of concerns over the use of DRM, the business practices of DRM, the prices of some of the products offered, and the possible slight made in the direction of RPGnow. Let's go through them together:
The use of Adobe DRM: I agree with most people, i would prefer a pdf file with no Adobe DRM. But please understand that Adobe DRM allows for a greater security of the pdf file, even if that security can be broken, a friend of mine said it best "A lock on the door won't stop the greatest thief in the world, but it will certainly stop a lot of thugs.". Adobe DRM does exactly that, stop the casual pirates. Most of the consumers (including myself) couldn't care less if that meant that we had to jump through hoops and be inconvenienced. But most publishers do, that's the reason we haven't seen a lot of pdf publications of printed books from the big print publishers, even though making a publishable pdf from the file that you send to the printers takes less then 5 minutes.
If Adobe DRM means that some publishers that didn't trust 'unsecure' pdfs will be publishing their print products in an electronic format, then i'm a happy camper. It doesn't really matter if they're right or not, they 'feel' that they're right and that's what's important.
So i'll ask you this: If you had the choise between no electronic version of a print book and an Adobe DRMed electronic version of a print book, which would you choose? Personally i would rather have something then nothing...
There are some people that have a philosophical dislike of DRM, i'm one of them. I also have a philosophical dislike of windows, but that doesn't mean i won't use it. Please see your 'philosophical dislikes' in a proper context, these are tools, things of 'comfort' and 'joy', don't make them into 'world problems'...
Adobe DRM limitations - Older OSes: It requires the use of Adobe Reader 6.0+ or Adobe Acrobat (Profesional) 6.0+, that means that on certain older OSes it won't run. I know this sucks, but that is the modern world for you. I know taht some movies won't be released on video anymore and that you can only buy them on DVD, your video recorder won't properly eat dvds so your stuck with either buy a dvd player or don't buy or rent the movie, again this sucks. That's progress, you can't expect that people, software, or hardware will be backwards compatible for ever and ever.
Adobe DRM limitations - non windows OSes: Yeah, this sucks, no linux support (among others). Go bombard Adobe withn e-mail for Linux support, if i have to sign a petition somewhere, show me where! Some people have been successful with running wine and adobe products, maybe this will work as well, an alternative is using a vrtual pc on Linux (VMware for example).
I find it annoying that there's still no support for WinCe, but i think that it will be available eventually...
Adobe DRM limitations - Can't use it because other PC has no internet connection: Use an ethernet card (those things are pretty cheap even for laptops) to connect to your internet enabled pc, connect to the internet and activate your Adobe DRM on your laptop, now you don't have to connect to the internet anymore. This is a simple action and will only require a couple of minutes of internet connection, so i highly doubt that you'll need a $50 virus scanner for that.
Adobe DRM limitations - Limited amount of computers i can activate it on: This wasn't very clear, the adobe site is a mess when it comes to concrete facts about Adobe DRM. The DTRPG faq didn't anticipate these technical question, but one of the DTRPG representatives has said that there's no limit (actually he said that there's no 6 pc limit, but we figured that means that there's no limit).
Adobe DRM limitations - Can't copy text to my hearts content: No and yes. No, the current implamentation of Adobe DDRM used at DTRPG only allows 10 copy/paste attempts (or a maximum of 10 pages, whichever is less) every 10 days. With an internet connection and a couple of mouse clicks this can be circumvented. Is it as easy as an unprotected pdf, absolutely no! And i would advice the folks at DTRPG and the publishers that use DTRPG to lift the 10 copy/paste maimum, because it really hinders a lot of people far more then that it protects. What matters to me is that i can get around it (i'll be more specific a bit later).
Adobe DRM limitations - Can you print it?: Yes you can, as much as you want! As long as you use a computer that has been Adobe DRM activated by you and has the file you want to print on it. A possible alternative is to print the file to a postscript file and then print it at a different pc, i haven't tested this yet (mostly because i don't see a need because i already have those pdfs in print form), but will try later this week.
Adobe DRM limitations - What happens if DTRPG goes under?: I don't know exactly, but from what i've heard Adobe keeps a copy of the activation keys. I don't really know if this is true or not, have to confirm this.
Adobe DRM limitations - What happens if Adobe goes under?: I don't see this happening in the near future (next decade or so), even if it would happen, the software Adobe develops is from such a 'high' quality that i'm sure another software company will pick up the software. And by the time this would even happen i'm sure that you'll be able to download litlle apps that will remove the Adobe DRM without much hassle...
Did i miss anything on the Adobe DRM front?
b]Pricing:[/b] Ouch, some of the companies that are selling their products at only a buck under retail, that means that some of the products are more expensive then bought in print form (a lot of online vendors give a 20%-40% discount on printed products). This will certainly hinder impulse buying from these vendors, but please keep in mind that most of the products sold at DTRPG are still in print and the people that use them are mainly print publisher first, pdf publishers second (Malhavoc is the exception). But If i really want a product digitally that i can search through or copy 10+ pages of text from, then it's still a bargain at the full retail price, OCRing can be so much work! I certainly wish this store launced a month earlier, that would have saved me from OCRing Fields of Blood, i'm still not completely finished,so i'll be buying this as well...
Possible slight made in the direction of RPGnow: from Malhavoc's press release:
To me the professional part instead connects with the use of "Adobe's secure server technology", instead of as a perceived slight towards RPGnow. RPGnow still only distributes pdf files that don't use Adobe DRM, although i like that of RPGnow, in certain circles that is viewed as 'unprofessional ebook' publication. Those circles are generally visited by Adobe account managers that try to sell Adobe Content Servers...
So instead of trying to start a 'crusade' against people, that very probably, didn't mean anyhthing bad by it. Try to be a little nicer to publishers that are trying to stay in business in less then prosperous years...
Will DTRPG still be in business a year from now: Unless some disaster (like a comet) strikes the DTRPG offices and kills everyone and the server, they most probably will still be around in a year and probably in a decade.
Why do you think that, others are saying they won't be: Beside the initial cost of deploying an e-commerce site like DTRPG, the maintainance costs are pretty low. The server(s) the site is running on need to be paid, in these times that doesn't have to be thousands of dollars per month ($100/month gets you a nice colocation and a lot of bandwith), and you need someone to run the site, depending on how the site was created that only needs to be a single person and doesn't need to be working on this 24/7.
DTRPG has some very exclusive titles, and they have a lot of very good titles. With the prices some of the products have, even if they only sell a dozen a week, they'll probably will be able to keep DTRPG afloat.
I actually expect that more publishers will flock under the DTRPG banner, WotC wouldn't be totally unexpected for example. RPGnow probably has a much bleaker future ahead (as much as i hate to say it), no offense RPGnow, you guys are creating a great service!
Sorry for the rant ;-)
People have expressed a lot of concerns over the use of DRM, the business practices of DRM, the prices of some of the products offered, and the possible slight made in the direction of RPGnow. Let's go through them together:
The use of Adobe DRM: I agree with most people, i would prefer a pdf file with no Adobe DRM. But please understand that Adobe DRM allows for a greater security of the pdf file, even if that security can be broken, a friend of mine said it best "A lock on the door won't stop the greatest thief in the world, but it will certainly stop a lot of thugs.". Adobe DRM does exactly that, stop the casual pirates. Most of the consumers (including myself) couldn't care less if that meant that we had to jump through hoops and be inconvenienced. But most publishers do, that's the reason we haven't seen a lot of pdf publications of printed books from the big print publishers, even though making a publishable pdf from the file that you send to the printers takes less then 5 minutes.
If Adobe DRM means that some publishers that didn't trust 'unsecure' pdfs will be publishing their print products in an electronic format, then i'm a happy camper. It doesn't really matter if they're right or not, they 'feel' that they're right and that's what's important.
So i'll ask you this: If you had the choise between no electronic version of a print book and an Adobe DRMed electronic version of a print book, which would you choose? Personally i would rather have something then nothing...
There are some people that have a philosophical dislike of DRM, i'm one of them. I also have a philosophical dislike of windows, but that doesn't mean i won't use it. Please see your 'philosophical dislikes' in a proper context, these are tools, things of 'comfort' and 'joy', don't make them into 'world problems'...
Adobe DRM limitations - Older OSes: It requires the use of Adobe Reader 6.0+ or Adobe Acrobat (Profesional) 6.0+, that means that on certain older OSes it won't run. I know this sucks, but that is the modern world for you. I know taht some movies won't be released on video anymore and that you can only buy them on DVD, your video recorder won't properly eat dvds so your stuck with either buy a dvd player or don't buy or rent the movie, again this sucks. That's progress, you can't expect that people, software, or hardware will be backwards compatible for ever and ever.
Adobe DRM limitations - non windows OSes: Yeah, this sucks, no linux support (among others). Go bombard Adobe withn e-mail for Linux support, if i have to sign a petition somewhere, show me where! Some people have been successful with running wine and adobe products, maybe this will work as well, an alternative is using a vrtual pc on Linux (VMware for example).
I find it annoying that there's still no support for WinCe, but i think that it will be available eventually...
Adobe DRM limitations - Can't use it because other PC has no internet connection: Use an ethernet card (those things are pretty cheap even for laptops) to connect to your internet enabled pc, connect to the internet and activate your Adobe DRM on your laptop, now you don't have to connect to the internet anymore. This is a simple action and will only require a couple of minutes of internet connection, so i highly doubt that you'll need a $50 virus scanner for that.
Adobe DRM limitations - Limited amount of computers i can activate it on: This wasn't very clear, the adobe site is a mess when it comes to concrete facts about Adobe DRM. The DTRPG faq didn't anticipate these technical question, but one of the DTRPG representatives has said that there's no limit (actually he said that there's no 6 pc limit, but we figured that means that there's no limit).
Adobe DRM limitations - Can't copy text to my hearts content: No and yes. No, the current implamentation of Adobe DDRM used at DTRPG only allows 10 copy/paste attempts (or a maximum of 10 pages, whichever is less) every 10 days. With an internet connection and a couple of mouse clicks this can be circumvented. Is it as easy as an unprotected pdf, absolutely no! And i would advice the folks at DTRPG and the publishers that use DTRPG to lift the 10 copy/paste maimum, because it really hinders a lot of people far more then that it protects. What matters to me is that i can get around it (i'll be more specific a bit later).
Adobe DRM limitations - Can you print it?: Yes you can, as much as you want! As long as you use a computer that has been Adobe DRM activated by you and has the file you want to print on it. A possible alternative is to print the file to a postscript file and then print it at a different pc, i haven't tested this yet (mostly because i don't see a need because i already have those pdfs in print form), but will try later this week.
Adobe DRM limitations - What happens if DTRPG goes under?: I don't know exactly, but from what i've heard Adobe keeps a copy of the activation keys. I don't really know if this is true or not, have to confirm this.
Adobe DRM limitations - What happens if Adobe goes under?: I don't see this happening in the near future (next decade or so), even if it would happen, the software Adobe develops is from such a 'high' quality that i'm sure another software company will pick up the software. And by the time this would even happen i'm sure that you'll be able to download litlle apps that will remove the Adobe DRM without much hassle...
Did i miss anything on the Adobe DRM front?
b]Pricing:[/b] Ouch, some of the companies that are selling their products at only a buck under retail, that means that some of the products are more expensive then bought in print form (a lot of online vendors give a 20%-40% discount on printed products). This will certainly hinder impulse buying from these vendors, but please keep in mind that most of the products sold at DTRPG are still in print and the people that use them are mainly print publisher first, pdf publishers second (Malhavoc is the exception). But If i really want a product digitally that i can search through or copy 10+ pages of text from, then it's still a bargain at the full retail price, OCRing can be so much work! I certainly wish this store launced a month earlier, that would have saved me from OCRing Fields of Blood, i'm still not completely finished,so i'll be buying this as well...
Possible slight made in the direction of RPGnow: from Malhavoc's press release:
Yes this can be construed as a slight in the direction of RPGnow, especially with the condesending piece Monte Cook (owner of Malhaoc) wrote regarding the use of Adobe DRM (bad Monte! ;-)
To me the professional part instead connects with the use of "Adobe's secure server technology", instead of as a perceived slight towards RPGnow. RPGnow still only distributes pdf files that don't use Adobe DRM, although i like that of RPGnow, in certain circles that is viewed as 'unprofessional ebook' publication. Those circles are generally visited by Adobe account managers that try to sell Adobe Content Servers...
So instead of trying to start a 'crusade' against people, that very probably, didn't mean anyhthing bad by it. Try to be a little nicer to publishers that are trying to stay in business in less then prosperous years...
Will DTRPG still be in business a year from now: Unless some disaster (like a comet) strikes the DTRPG offices and kills everyone and the server, they most probably will still be around in a year and probably in a decade.
Why do you think that, others are saying they won't be: Beside the initial cost of deploying an e-commerce site like DTRPG, the maintainance costs are pretty low. The server(s) the site is running on need to be paid, in these times that doesn't have to be thousands of dollars per month ($100/month gets you a nice colocation and a lot of bandwith), and you need someone to run the site, depending on how the site was created that only needs to be a single person and doesn't need to be working on this 24/7.
DTRPG has some very exclusive titles, and they have a lot of very good titles. With the prices some of the products have, even if they only sell a dozen a week, they'll probably will be able to keep DTRPG afloat.
I actually expect that more publishers will flock under the DTRPG banner, WotC wouldn't be totally unexpected for example. RPGnow probably has a much bleaker future ahead (as much as i hate to say it), no offense RPGnow, you guys are creating a great service!
Sorry for the rant ;-)
