WotC puts a stop to online sales of PDFs

[Olaf the Stout]

I think what bothers me about this decision is:

1. They gave less that 24 hours notice
2. They are getting rid of all their PDF's from all editions of D&D, not just 4E
3. People that already bought the electronic products will no longer have the ability to download a copy

Number 1 is just a strange decision. I'm not quite sure what the reasoning behind the super-short notice is. I think a lot of people would be more accepting of this decision if WotC had given even just a week's notice. That's enough time for people to work out if there are any other PDF's that they want to buy. It also give people a chance to make sure that they defintely have copies of PDF's they had purchased previously. Legally WotC probably didn't have to give any notice. But I think it would have made most people a bit more accepting of the decision if they had.

Number 2 is also a head scratcher for me. I can understand getting rid of the 4E PDF's. I was a bit surprised that they released the core rulebooks in PDF form in the first place. But why get rid of previous edition PDF's? I doubt that they would be cannibalising sales of 4E products. Sure they wouldn't be bringing in a huge income either but it keeps some goodwill with players of previous editions. To get rid of them doesn't really do anything other that get people offside, especially since it basically makes these products unavailable now.

Number 3 wouldn't be much of an issue for me if they had given even a week's notice. That would have given me enough time to go through my PDF's, make sure that I still had copies of all the WotC products that I had bought previously or download new copies if I didn't. I think I still have copies of all the products I bought. However I bought some PDF's several years ago. I've changed computers since then so some may have got lost along the way.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Odhanan]

i think wotc has forgotten that business, even big ones, survive on customer satisfaction. I think they will get reminded of this basic fact soon.

qft.

 

[MerricB]

I think what bothers me about this decision is:

1. They gave less that 24 hours notice
2. They are getting rid of all their PDF's from all editions of D&D
3. People that already bought the electronic products will no longer have the ability to download a copy

Number 1 is just a strange decision. I'm not quite sure what the reasoning behind the super-short notice is. I think a lot of people would be more accepting of this decision if WotC had given even just a week's notice. That's enough time for people to work out if there are any other PDF's that they want to buy. It also give people a chance to make sure that they defintely have copies of PDF's they had purchased previously. Legally WotC probably didn't have to give any notice. But I think it would have made most people a bit more accepting of the decision if they had.

The best reason I can imagine is so that the pirates didn't get any notice either and so didn't download one final bunch of products... but it's still not a very good reason compared to the customer anger it has caused.

Cheers!

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Hey all. I wanted to step in and 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, 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.

Attention, customers. Since we caught a few people passing around PDFs that we had sold them (thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of the PDF watermarking system) we have decided that you're all a bunch of crooks. Since you guys like piracy so much, we've decided to arrange it so that the only way you can get PDFs of our products is by pirating them. You win by getting free PDFs, and we win by losing money. Or something. See you on bittorrent!

 

[Olaf the Stout]

The best reason I can imagine is so that the pirates didn't get any notice either and so didn't download one final bunch of products... but it's still not a very good reason compared to the customer anger it has caused.

Cheers!

I had figured that was probably the case. However it seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face. I'm sure the pirates can still probably get pirated copies off of a Torrent somewhere. So all WotC have really achieved is stopping legitimate customers from having one last chance to snap up any PDF's they wanted.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Cadfan]

5. "Pull it down or we're going to sue you." "Can we afford to be sued by a major corporation? No? Okay, we're pulling it down."

That's not how the legal system works. Lawsuits aren't some magical thing that just happen and bankrupt people irrespective of the existence of something over which to sue.

 

[joethelawyer]

You're all missing something important here. WOTC realized that with its actions in the past few years it managed to completely fracture and splinter the RPG community.

This is just part of WOTC's master plan to unify once again the entire RPG community. Every board I have been to tonight is unified in their outrage at WOTC, no matter what edition they play.

Well done WOTC!! What's phase 2 of the master plan I wonder?

 

[HeirToPendragon]

You're all missing something important here. WOTC realized that with its actions in the past few years it managed to completely fracture and splinter the RPG community.

This is just part of WOTC's master plan to unify once again the entire RPG community. Every board I have been to tonight is unified in their outrage at WOTC, no matter what edition they play.

Well done WOTC!! What's phase 2 of the master plan I wonder?

They aren't sure yet, but phase 3 is profit!

 

[mach1.9pants]

The best reason I can imagine is so that the pirates didn't get any notice either and so didn't download one final bunch of products... but it's still not a very good reason compared to the customer anger it has caused.

Cheers!

Ummm what 'final bunch of products'? Everything is already out there, including stuff which has never been released on PDF.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

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.

For your reference:

Before WotC started releasing its own PDFs for sale, pirated copies of books showed up within about a month of release.

After WotC started releasing its own PDFs for sale, pirated copies of books showed up within about a month of release.

I predict that after today, pirate copies of future titles will show up within about a month of release. Those copies will not contain watermarks that can lead to prosecution of the people who pirated them.

I'd laugh about this, if it weren't so tragic for people who don't live in places where you can buy WotC books for anything like the North American price. I'm led to believe that a lot of ENWorlders around the world rely on PDFs just because they sell for relatively reasonable prices compared to hard copies.