Update: Malhavoc PDFs no longer available at RPGnow (merged)

[SteveC]

I was awfully confused for a moment, until I realized you weren't referring to DivX, but the original DIVX (my confusion, not a lack of clarity on your part).


For clarity's sake, DIVX was a completely different situation in comparison to DVDs than DRM versions of PDFs. DIVX was never meant as a way to counteract piracy, but a way for Circuit City (and ONLY Circuit City) to bilk as much money as humanly possible from consumers. It only had any initial market penetration due mostly to consumer ignorance and expensive (at that time) DVD prices. Back when DVDs were new, the idea of paying a rental price of $4.95 for limited viewings over a short period of time didn't seem like a terrible idea...to some.

In practice, DIVX was doomed from the start for a host of reasons.



I'll give Monte the benefit of the doubt, but I think this may be a serious misstep. I really have little to no desire to use Microsoft's Passport system, especially considering how poorly implemented it was when I last used it.

Is there a better solution? I don't know, yet. But there seem to be a lot of little things I have to do to get access to a PDF through driverthrurpg.com, and I don't like the convuluted process. At this moment, I'm leaning towards waiting an additional two months for print copies of material, rather than involve myself with the whole DRM fiasco.

I think is is especially ironic that the only thing that remains from the term "DIVX" is DivX, a very nice, and also free, video codec. I think there's something of a lesson here... One other thing: DIVX was marketed as an anti-piracy product to the industry. The company tried a variety of marketing schemes with the public, none of which worked.

I agree with you about waiting for print on items available through this service. The problem becomes that publishers decide what to take to print based on PDF sales, so I might miss out on some products entirely by doing this. Well, c'est la vie.

 

[HiLiphNY]

DRM-crap. Not gonna buy it. I once thought about buying a Sony mp3 player until I learned it required that you convert the mp3s into Sony's proprietary format, thereby making the transfer process 2x as long.

The customer will always drift towards a technology of transparancy, and away from that of nuisance. I love Malhavoc, and have been running an AU campaign for almost a year now. Have I bought the AU PDFs. . . .yes. Will I buy DRM PDFs. . . nope.

So where does that leave an AU DM? Hmm, well I'll buy the books, old-school format. I believe those are sigbificantly lower margin business than the PDFs which I usually pick up. Monte. . .you're heading for what people in my business (Wall St.) call a margin slip. I'm not telling you how to run your business though, just what my response is.

 

[mearls]

Monte. . .you're heading for what people in my business (Wall St.) call a margin slip. I'm not telling you how to run your business though, just what my response is.

Actually, you are, and that's a good thing. We didn't make this change lightly, and you can believe me that we're taking a long look at the sales numbers for the next couple months and paying close attention to the site.

We knew going in that this would be controversial. We are never going to plug our ears and ignore the gaming public. Just give this time to play itself out, and let's see what happens.

In the meantime, we're listening.

 

[Belen]

Actually, you are, and that's a good thing. We didn't make this change lightly, and you can believe me that we're taking a long look at the sales numbers for the next couple months and paying close attention to the site.

We knew going in that this would be controversial. We are never going to plug our ears and ignore the gaming public. Just give this time to play itself out, and let's see what happens.

In the meantime, we're listening.

Mike,

I am glad that you're listening. I know that I appreciate publishers' thoughts on topics such as these. I have no idea what your sales will be like after a few months with DRM, but I can say that I would have been happier had we be told about this in advance or if Malhavoc had decided to run dual systems for a while in order to test out the DRM method.

I know that I will not purchase PDFs from Malhavoc with DRMs. It is too much a hassel to upgrade my programs, such as Adobe, with a dial-up connection, and it is a far larger hassel to register just to read a book that I legally purchased.

The advantage of PDFs (immediate accessibility, price, portability) flies out the door when you have to spend time registering your identity with a company on every computer you own, then being unable to cut and paste rules for things such as house rules documents, or programs like HeroRPG etc.

I will buy the books that I truly desire in print format, but PDFs allowed me to buy the entire Malhavoc catalogue, while print products must be limited to available shelf space and real need for the book.

I know that Monte is the last person to want to stifle honest gamers, but this is the exact effect of DRMs.

Dave

PS- The net effect is that every customer is treated as a potential criminal.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

The net effect is that every customer is treated as a potential criminal.

"All purchasers shall be presumed potentially-guilty until proven innocent."

 

[francisca]

Actually, you are, and that's a good thing. We didn't make this change lightly, and you can believe me that we're taking a long look at the sales numbers for the next couple months and paying close attention to the site.

We knew going in that this would be controversial. We are never going to plug our ears and ignore the gaming public. Just give this time to play itself out, and let's see what happens.

In the meantime, we're listening.

Thanks Mike. For me, it's mostly about the privacy issues tied up with DRM, passport, etc.. Not only from a mistrust of what the 3rd party companies might do with my information, but the fact that there would be an additional open door for others besides Adobe and Microsoft to poke their heads in and look about.

Another, albeit minor, concern is gee whiz, all of the WW imprint companies are jumping into this exclusive deal. You say you didn't take the decision lightly. I hope that implies you had some say in the matter, and weren't told to do it by WW.

The above issues, coupled with my general dislike for WW (believe me, beyond the scope of this thread) has lead me to the point where I will not be buying anything from under the WW umbrella, print or pdf.

I hope you guys have an exit clause, because this will burn hot and fast out of the gate, and then fizzle.

 

[Deamoclese]

Out of sheer curiosity... I bought a PDFs of their site... note, I have no experience with "cracking" or hacking files... I did a google search on it... 15 minutes later I removed all the security on the file and it is now like a good 'ol fashion pdf.

Was rather laughable.

 

[BlackMoria]

I am taking a 'wait and see' approach to this.

I mention in passing that this very issue is the subject of a lengthy thread at RPG.NET with 357 posts and 13288 views......and still going strong.

The majority opinion at RPG.NET appears to be similar to here - most people view this as not a good thing for the consumer.

 

[Numion]

My opinion is that those who pirated the PDFs before will continue to do so (googling indeed found something), and those who bought PDFs before aren't too happy. Pirates aren't affected, but customers are.

Seems like a strange move for Monte Cook, but I trust his judgement more than my own - after all, he's a big part of making RPG PDFs as popular as they are.

 

[NeghVar]

And now you have violated the DMCA by bypassing the DRM...

I wouldn't advertise this...

Out of sheer curiosity... I bought a PDFs of their site... note, I have no experience with "cracking" or hacking files... I did a google search on it... 15 minutes later I removed all the security on the file and it is now like a good 'ol fashion pdf.

Was rather laughable.