Zardnaar
Legend
It's cool that they're wanting to expand more.
I prefer physical books in general. I also like to have pdfs to go with my books. They are more portable, more searchable (if I don't happen to know it like the back of my hand), and allow me to have multiple rules pages visible simultaneously.
Other digital formats might be better in some ways, but they have major downsides too. Subscription models bug me. Buying content that I can only use with a specific online service bugs me in general--probably because I've lived in several places in the US, and have never yet lived anywhere where the internet is as consistent as the electricity (though I think I may just have bad luck in that regards). And I also like to be able to access the book itself in my digital content, not just the content in it. I like seeing the layout and art. Then I can turn my tablet into a quasi-book. I memorize where stuff is on the page. So I'd rather have a digitized book to supplement my physical book, than just a digital content element reference. Maybe I'm a minority, but I still think they are dismissing the pdf market without sufficient evidence.
Glad to hear it. The previous policy justification was absurd. I certainly hope they aren't considering piracy based on them officially releasing a pdf to be a real issue. Because it's not. There is this amazing newfangled device called a "scanner" that allows people to scan that physical book they bought, borrowed, or stole, and upload it to the internet so anyone who wants to can download it. I mean, it's not a given, of course. Amongst all the millions of physical copies of the books circulating, you need at least one whole person to decide to scan it and upload it. If WotC put out their own pdf, it would entirely eliminate the scanning element, so now you only need one whole person who knows how to upload, but not scan, a book to enable piracy. :rolls eyes:
The books are already going to be pirate-ready almost immediately after release. The question is whether WotC would like to offset the losses incurred through piracy by providing a legal option for those who actually want to buy a pdf to give them money rather than going without (or pirating, based on the individual in question).
I think right now they just aren't taking into account those who are interested in pdfs specifically, as opposed to just having some sort of digital delivery in general. It makes sense for them to go with the angles they are taking based on their perspective on what people want. Maybe it's just me who would like the actual books in pdf (and not at the same price as the hardcopy!) rather than just the content in some other digital format.
Why in Baator would Chinese censorship care about fiendish stuff? The problem it had in the Western world back in the day was predominantly due to a specific (possibly minority) segment of Christians. That demographic is tiny in China. Is there some sort of tension between Communism and fantasy fiendishness that I'm unaware of?
It's cultural and the communists see things like spiritualism, ghosts, demons etc as backwards and superstitious.
Chinese culture used to have Hungary Ghosts and honoring your ancestors. It's been a while since my China paper at University but things like that are frowned on.
It's kind of like superstitious peasants vs modern industrial superpower and how the government wants to present itself to the world.
Magic is also a problem in the Islamic world so D&D won't appeal much and their idea of magic includes things like palm reading and horoscopes.
Something like Storm Kings Thunder could be banned in Russia and may not be very popular in Eastern Europe and parts of South America.
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