WotC puts a stop to online sales of PDFs

[Truth Seeker]

Everything that has been said, has been said.

Well, now I feel sorry some folks at a company that has tried to rebuild their 'reputation', into a good standing.

I guess no one has learnt the hard lessons from history.

A history that should not be repeated by previous stupid mistakes.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

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.

You know, you and Mistwell can keep repeating that mantra as much as you want, but It did NOT suddenly become okay to insult someone because you happen to disagree with them. ~ PCat

Have a nice day.

 

[joethelawyer]

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.

Perception is all that matters here man. WOTC used up any goodwill they had over the past 2 years, so the benefit of the doubt is gone. Not too many people blame RPGnow, because we can relate to them as a small customer screwed over by the megacorporation. Not to get into politics too much, but look what is happening in the world today? What's happening to the little guy? Isn't it natural then to project all that rage upwards to the ultimate cause of the problem?

 

[MichaelSomething]

This is sort of like getting sneak atacked by a rogue during the suprise round.

 

[HeirToPendragon]

See ya. ~ PCat

 

[I'm A Banana]

New Poll I just put up...

Dude, all of those polls don't seem to be doing much aside from cluttering up the message board. You should probably keep most of the questions here. In this thread. Where we're already talking about it.

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.

You conclusion doesn't follow from your argument. Just because WotC had the legal right to do this doesn't mean that they don't deserve a backlash for doing it. Even if the retailers shouldn't have offered a promise they couldn't back up, WotC presumably knew, and didn't really care (and probably had it in the initial contract that they could do this at any time, similar to the language in the GSL).

Even if the online retailers can be fairly blamed for promising something they couldn't actually control, that doesn't mean WotC gets indemnity for doing a pointless, boneheaded, scaredey-cat tactic like this offering the excuse of "piracy."

Yeah, you can be legitimately angry at the retailers. They shouldn't have promised something they couldn't deliver. But you can ALSO be legitimately angry at WotC, and, in fact, given the reasons for the decision and the ramifications and suddenness of it, and the fact that WotC were the ones who made the decision (with the retailers just abiding by the agreements they can), WotC is certainly to blame, and, in my mind, to blame for a much more massive and idiotic move.

I'm usually a big fan of WotC's policies, and they had shown an admirable willingness to engage the online community in a smart, levelheaded manner. This is a 180 from that. After building up the bad blood from the GSL debacle, this seems like it might be a full-fledged new direction rather than just a fluke or oversight.

Just because the retailers also screwed up doesn't mean WotC gets a free pass, or gets the heat off their backs. WotC isn't responsible for the agreements the retailers made, but they are responsible for their own behavior, and the idiot motives behind that behavior.

 

[mach1.9pants]

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.

Have you ever had a hard drive die? I have I would have lost everything if I hadn't made backups. However some people may not have made backups because they could download it again. A guy on WotC forums had his laptop stolen today, he hadn't backed up, so now he has lost his paid for PDFs despite thinking he was backed up on RPGnow when he purchased them.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I have a suggestion.

WotC took their ball and went home. Let them.

For those of us with the means to do so, let's go to RPGNow or the ENWorld PDF store and support the publishers who are selling their PDFs by purchasing some of them.

If you don't want the small press to suffer from this, do something about it. Go spend a little money on something as a way of saying thank you for doing right by the customer.

 

[Filcher]

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.

Drakeh,

WotC didn't sell you the promise of 5 PDFs. RPGnow did.

For example: I'm a middleman who sells you a year's worth of eggs. You pay up front. My supplier's chickens die.

You come to me for eggs. I don't have any eggs. I point down the road at the chicken farm, but don't offer you your prorated money back.

Who are you angry at?

Perception is all that matters here man. WOTC used up any goodwill they had over the past 2 years, so the benefit of the doubt is gone.

I think jtlawyer has the gist of it. Perception. Obviously, I can't convince my friends here otherwise, but I'm okay with that. We all still roll dice together at Gen Con.

You know, you and Mistwell can keep repeating that mantra as much as you want, but those of us here who aren't sock puppets aren't buying it.

Have a nice day.

I think I've made a good case. You are welcome to disagree with it, but insulting me for my ideas is ... lame.

Off to the pub. For real this time. Let me know who wins the internet.

 

[munkeywrench]

Hmm...

I love playing 4e.

On principle, I only buy the pdf files.


Solutions:
1) Quit 4e
2) Switch to illicit downloads

Well, I guess WotC has lost all future revenue from me regardless.

Drink up me 'earties! Yo Ho!