4th Edition: portable?

[pallandrome]

So, for those more in the know than myself, what are the chances that our military boys and girls are going to get a soft-backed, portable version of the core books this time around? Cause lemme tell ya, those weight restrictions are a BEAST.

 

[psionotic]

Good point. Here's hoping that there's a softcover or even pocket-book sized phb (if not all 3 core books) soonish.

I bought the Mongoose pocket 3.5 phb, which I liked well enough, except that the Wizards IP-named spells were difficult to find, and the binding was so bad that it started coming apart pretty quickly, alas.

 

[Scrollreader]

The Digital Initiative may very be your friend.


Also, I'm reasonbly certain (though not 100%) that WotC said they would be selling/giving PDFs of their books to people who bought them in hardcopy. I know it's not the same at all, to have a PDF instead of an actual book. But it's better than nothing, a thumb drive is pretty damn portable.


(Also, I totally agree with you on the weight limits things. Though D&D books do fit nicely in a duffel surrounded by clothing)

 

[Patlin]

Actual softcover volumes are unlikely. Someone posted a long time ago indicating that the reason we hadn't seen a softcover PHB in 3e was that if they release a softcover edition, bookstores would return all unsold copies of the hardcover edition and stop selling them. I'm not clear on the details, but apparently that's normal in the book industry.

 

[Intrope]

The Digital Initiative may very be your friend.


Also, I'm reasonbly certain (though not 100%) that WotC said they would be selling/giving PDFs of their books to people who bought them in hardcopy. I know it's not the same at all, to have a PDF instead of an actual book. But it's better than nothing, a thumb drive is pretty damn portable.


(Also, I totally agree with you on the weight limits things. Though D&D books do fit nicely in a duffel surrounded by clothing)

The PDF business got dropped in favor of rules database approach. Not as convenient for this at least.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Yeah if you subscribe you will be able to get the rules from every book published online (although not the fluff etc). That would be fine for those of us used to the air conditioned luxury of the CC at PSAB, but if you ain't got easy net access....then :\

 

[Lackhand]

The PDF business got dropped in favor of rules database approach. Not as convenient for this at least.

Not what I had taken away. I believe both are planned in parallel.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I seem to remember a DDXP quote saying they are not going for PDF because it would be a real nightmare tracking who owns what. Just get the subscription and you have everything...but only online and not downloadable.
But I could be wrong I'll have a search......
Edit: I search badly Anyway I thought no PDFs at all but I hope you are right LH!

 

[UngeheuerLich]

It would be a mistake not to publish those books on PDF. There will be pdfs. But I would like to buy them for a small fee in good quality rather than use a badly scanned version... also i could be sure it is absolutely legal...

 

[Nikosandros]

Not what I had taken away. I believe both are planned in parallel.

From what I understood PDF versions of the books will exist, but you won't get any discount for owning the hard copy. That idea has been discarded in favor of automatically updating the rules database with every new release.