WotC puts a stop to online sales of PDFs

[Haffrung Helleyes]

Wow

I didn't get to my WoTC PDFS on DriveThruRPG on time , and now they're gone.

Well, this is the last time I spend a dime on a WoTC product. I don't have to bend over and take it in my leisure time. And I won't.

For the first time, I'm glad WoTC let all their best game designers go, because those people can now support the systems I'll be buying. And again, I'm very thankful for Paizo!

Ken

 

[Mistwell]

Hahaha, are you still going on about your "WotC is TOTALLY JUSTIFIED in screwing over their fanbase" thing there?

Look, you're the only one claiming that WotC is completely in the right here. The only one. Shouldn't that be a hint?

Seriously, there's tons of people ON THIS THREAD that have defended every single other thing WotC has done. And even they are drawing teh line here.

Stop trying to claim that the greviences are because of some bizarro "OMG I MUST HATE WIZARDS" conspiracy. It's not only complete BS, but it cheapens and insults everyone around you.

WOTC is completely in the right here.

There. Now you know two.

Also, while definitely not all, a disproportionate number of the squeaky wheels over this issue are also people who already did not like WOTC to begin with.

 

[HeirToPendragon]

Are you guys done flinging poo yet? Wizard hasn't even posted anything on it. You're going off of e-mail and blog posts.

Really? Come on people.

 

[Filcher]

I didn't get to my WoTC PDFS on DriveThruRPG on time , and now they're gone.

Well, this is the last time I spend a dime on a WoTC product. I don't have to bend over and take it in my leisure time. And I won't.

For the first time, I'm glad WoTC let all their best game designers go, because those people can now support the systems I'll be buying. And again, I'm very thankful for Paizo!

Ken

Haffrung,

Respectfully, it is RPGnow that owes you a refund.

RPGnow set up the conditions for the purchase, and your expectations (and mine). Their supplier had a change of mind, and RPGnow is unable to fulfill their commitment (5 copies).

If RPGnow didn't have the power to enforce the maintenance of 5 copies for download, they shouldn't have sold them to us.

 

[Friadoc]

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!

That'd work, except that they're pirates, so they downloaded the first time and seeded the net like a prolific fertility clinic.

While I'm not one to push, outside of role-playing, a conspiracy theory, I'm fairly comfortable in looking at WotC's motivations and timing here with a curious, cynical eye, but that could be my psychology coursework talking.

 

[Relique du Madde]

They are getting rid of all their PDF's from all editions of D&D, not just 4E

Easy. If people can't find books or pdfs of previous editions of DnD then they can't play those games. If they want to play DnD, then they are forced to buy over priced 4e books and eventually over priced 4e pdfs from WoTC.

 

[HeirToPendragon]

Why would you ever need 5 copies of a pdf? These things are small enough to fit into e-mails. I would only ever need one download. I can understand 2 in case the first gets corrupted.

 

[Treebore]

P. Cirno, I think you've misunderstood my argument. I'm not disputing *you*, I'm disputing the conclusions you are positing. Two different things, that keep us friends in the end, while permitting intelligent dialog without resorting to full caps. It's not a popularity contest.

I maintain that, despite the backlash, Wizards was within its rights to stop selling their product.

I maintain that, despite the misdirected bile, the PDF middlemen were wrong to offer to sell something they didn't have control over (5 copies).

I maintain that everyone is angry at the wrong entity.

Business is perception. We, the customer base, perceive that it is WOTC's fault we no longer have access to PDF's we were planning on one day buying or no longer have access to additional downloads if our house burns down and destroys all our digital copies of PDF's we have already bought. I do not see how RPGNow, or Paizo, is at fault for WOTC's knee jerk and foolish action.

We perceive that WOTC is punishing us law abiding customers for the actions of a few thieves. Insinuating we are also some how guilty, since we are being punished.

So what matters is that WOTC has once again slapped a segment of their customer base in the face.

Guess what? It is our CUSTOMER GIVEN RIGHT to be angry and to quit supporting WOTC.

So I personally do not care what rights you think WOTC has, what I care about is my right to be angry and to stop supporting WOTC completely.

It seems people have forgotten that companies ultimately answers to their customers. They live and die by the happiness of their customers. I think this may have angered enough of WOTC's customers to actually get them to exercise their right to not support WOTC. Hopefully on a large enough scale to remind and reawaken WOTC to this fact, and show them how badly they have been failing at performing such an important part of business.

Hopefully it will then motivate them to get off their collective hind ends and to actively and aggressively make their customers happy.

 

[On Puget Sound]

As a past owner of a brick and mortar store (different hobby - aquarium not gaming), I applaud WOTC for shutting down PDF purchases. Now if they could just do something about Amazon, we might be able to save at least a few places people can go to talk to, and game with, actual live humans, and also save those live humans' jobs.

 

[jdrakeh]

We're angry because we won't be able to downloaded it the other 4 times, as promised by RPGnow.

I'm sorry, but that's just pure, unadulterated, . People are angry because WotC pulled their entire PDF catalog from circulation everywhere, indefinitely, without giving any notice whatsoever to consumers. Not only does this punish people who purchased their PDFs legally by making such legal channels no longer available, it also does nothing to significantly hinder piracy while also potentially harming other PDF publishers.

WotC has, via their reps in these very threads, said that they're through with PDFs and are now looking into alternative distribution methods. Your assertion that they'll be back selling PDFs within a week or two has no basis in any current reality. They might return to PDFs, sure but that currently isn't their plan according to what precious little their reps have revealed. How do you think that will effect the PDF market?

One of the biggest players in PDFs just packed up their shop and went home, giving only a few hours notice. If I quit a 9 to 5 job, it's basic courtesy for me to give at least two weeks notice — but WotC gets to walk out on a huge business arrangement with only a few hours of notice? This is almost certainly legal but it sure as hell isn't considerate or professional.

WotC might not be evil but they sure as hell aren't a company that I want to give my money to anymore.