Funksaw said:
Car Salesman: Well, here's how it works. We deliver it to your place, and if you want to drive, all you have to do is get an Austin cop to come over, unlock it. You can drive it on ten highways over ten days, then the cop comes and locks it up again.
Again, that is simply a very bad analogy. Beginning with the fact that the "cop" only checks once; after checking whether I'm allowed to "drive", I am allowed henceforth.
Try it another way:
You buy Dungeon Magazine. However, Dungeon Magazine is only sold to D&D DMs. So you have to register at the International Dungeon Master's Lodge (IDuMaL) in Muncie, Ind. Registration is free; you only have to provide your address etc, as well as your biometric data (fingerprints et al, but let's stay at finger prints).
Now, when you buy Dungeon Magazine, you show your IDuMaL license to the clerk, and he sells you the magazine, which is then programmed to yourself. You see, Paizo uses a new technology of intelligent paper which can electronically scan finger prints.
So far, so good. Registration wasn't too bad, and showing the license when you buy the mag - doesn't matter. The only thing that might be problematic is the fact that the IDuMaL now has your finger prints in their files.
However, the new Dungeon also imposes a few rules on you. You see, all to often Dungeon Magazine became "group property", and there were even some people scanning whole adventures out of it and sending it via e-mail to friends and acquaintances. Paizo doesn't like that.
So now, whenever the mag is opened by someone with different fingerprints than yours, the pages go blank. It is important to note, however, that the pages only go blank when they detect an unknown print, not when the magazine is simply lying around. So you can simply wear gloves and read Dungeon. But wearing gloves while reading a mag with thin pages is an inconvenience, and it's most often not really worth it - unless you really want to circumvent buying a mag for your own.
Furthermore, the pages detect scanning lasers. You may only scan ten pages per tenday or the pages go blank again. You also may only make ten copies per tenday; in fact, it's ten copies/scans per tenday. So you can't copy the whole adventure for you to make notes on, or to change some details, or for ease of reference. You might even have a problem copying all the handouts for the players.
Do you still buy Dungeon? ETA: And if you do, do you also purchase a pair of gloves?
