D&D 5E So why no PDFs? Is their fear of piracy -that- bad?

[Bugleyman]

Haven't really read the thread - sorry - but just wanted to quickly say that I am about done with this silly notion of not having books on PDF. It's gotten really frustrating, and there have not been any explicit, in-depth reasons given for why this isn't happening - only that it isn't happening. I thought I'd be fine but I've gotten so used to using PDFs while gaming that not having them is really starting to make playing the game frustrating. It just makes everything take 10x longer, and when you're used to moving quickly it makes 5.0 really, really drag.

People keep saying something about Dungeonscape... Yeah. I'm one of the beta testers and my impression is that it ...leaves a lot to be desired. If that is their PDF replacement they are sorely mistaken.

Preach on, brother!

If they hear it enough, maybe they'll grow a clue.

 

[MerricB]

People keep saying something about Dungeonscape... Yeah. I'm one of the beta testers and my impression is that it ...leaves a lot to be desired. If that is their PDF replacement they are sorely mistaken.

You understate things massively.

I'm quite sure that Wizards would love Dungeonscape to be a lot better than it currently is. Using it as a pdf-substitute makes all sorts of sense, until you actually see the state of the program. I'm hoping in the next month it sees rapid improvement. I was hoping for a mostly-finished interface with just content issues, but my expectations seem to be too high.

I hope that Wizards rethink their plan if Dungeonscape takes too long to be completed.

Cheers!

 

[dd.stevenson]

Yeah, [MENTION=3586]MerricB[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9789]evilbob[/MENTION] have the right of it. Whatever dungeonscape is or isn't, the beta version is not anywhere near ready to take the place of a pdf.

I'm an optimist holding out hope, but near term I can say with confidence that consumer demand for a suitable electronic D&D reference product will go unmet, if dungeonscape is wotc's only answer.

 

[Bugleyman]

WotC not delivering on the digital front? Well, it's not like we could have seen this coming- oh wait.

 

[Jester David]

That's not the only explanation; there's also a major component of supporting game stores in Wizards' thinking. It's why the Adventurers League adventures are for Convention and Store play, and why the D&D Encounters program is store-only.

I suspect a big reason the Adventurer's League is store-only is so they can control who the paper magic item certs goes to. If it's online and home there would be a lot more play that might not actually be happening and certs on the secondary market.

Selling pdfs of books currently in print undermines game stores. As all the older core rulebooks that are not available in pdf were reprinted (in premium formats) not all that long ago, it may be that explains the delay on releasing pdfs of those books.

Does it? That assumes PDFs are a replacement for the books. If so, it will undermine game stores. But if they're supplemental to the physical books, a tool to be used during play or when not at home, then the sales of PDFs shouldn't affect game stores one bit.
Books I want I buy. Books I don't want I don't buy but *might* get on PDF. The availability of PDFs have never resulted in me not buying a physical book.

 

[Jester David]

You understate things massively.

I'm quite sure that Wizards would love Dungeonscape to be a lot better than it currently is. Using it as a pdf-substitute makes all sorts of sense, until you actually see the state of the program. I'm hoping in the next month it sees rapid improvement. I was hoping for a mostly-finished interface with just content issues, but my expectations seem to be too high.

I hope that Wizards rethink their plan if Dungeonscape takes too long to be completed.

Cheers!

In theory the iOS version is much farther along than the web version, which is still seriously lacking. In the twenty odd day's I've been in the beta I haven't seem much improvement. Magic items continue to not change the math and not all class features are integrated. But they *might* be focusing on the iOS version first.

 

[TDarien]

In theory the iOS version is much farther along than the web version, which is still seriously lacking. In the twenty odd day's I've been in the beta I haven't seem much improvement. Magic items continue to not change the math and not all class features are integrated. But they *might* be focusing on the iOS version first.

From my understanding, the iOS version has been ready to submit to Apple for over a month. They still haven't been able to come to an agreement on pricing yet, which is causing the delay. So much that I read somewhere that they might even be finished with the Encounter/Campaign by the time they're able to submit it to the App Store.

 

[Jackal2100]

Trapdoor technologies is primarily an EPub business with their patented Story Machine. If there is one thing they will be able to get right, it would be the digital books, regardless of the current state of the character creator.

 

[Iosue]

That's not the only explanation; there's also a major component of supporting game stores in Wizards' thinking. It's why the Adventurers League adventures are for Convention and Store play, and why the D&D Encounters program is store-only.

You mean D&D Expeditions, yes? Because D&D Encounters can be played in-store or at home.

 

[MerricB]

You mean D&D Expeditions, yes? Because D&D Encounters can be played in-store or at home.

D&D Encounters is store-only.
D&D Expeditions is store, public place or convention only.

However, the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure can be played at home. Given Encounters uses HotDQ, it means that the adventure can be played at home, but strictly speaking the D&D Encounters program is only played in-store.

Cheers!