D&D 5E Are You Planning on Subscribing to D&D Beyond

[CapnZapp]

I think the oldest gaming PDFs I have date back to 3.5e. That's fourteen years.

Will we still be using that format in another fourteen years, let alone twenty-five? Will we *want* to use 25yo PDFs with their static pixelated low colour images on our 16K quad colour tablet rolls?

Yes

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[Corpsetaker]

When you take a step back and actually look at the rules this product isn't really needed at all.

 

[Corpsetaker]

I think the oldest gaming PDFs I have date back to 3.5e. That's fourteen years. Will we still be using that format in another fourteen years, let alone twenty-five? Will we *want* to use 25yo PDFs with their static pixelated low colour images on our 16K quad colour tablet rolls?

Well we still use books and you could argue they have been around since 2000 BC.

 

[Jester David]

Yes

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

Even if everyone converts to XML or XPS? Or something totally new.
Whether it be 10 years, 25, or 50 the PDF formal will eventually be replaced and reader programs will become less common.

Well we still use books and you could argue they have been around since 2000 BC.

But we're not using those copies. We bought new ones.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Even if everyone converts to XML or XPS? Or something totally new.
Whether it be 10 years, 25, or 50 the PDF formal will eventually be replaced and reader programs will become less common.

That's why there will be converter programs to convert all the data to the new format.

But we're not using those copies. We bought new ones.

We bought new ones because those copies were getting old and falling apart and also there weren't enough copies for everyone who wanted them.

Luckily, digital data does get old or fall apart and there are infinite copies.

 

[Jester David]

That's why there will be converter programs to convert all the data to the new format.

But it never looks as good. Assuming you even realise that its not supported in newer versions of the program.

I have the TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons CD-ROM from 1996. Still works. Can still read those digital copies of the core AD&D 2nd Edition rulebooks. In their glorious .doc format designed for Microsoft Office 4 for Windows 3.1
Wheeee.

And I'm sure people here who purchased some of the original WotC 3e PDFs can tell you all about the fantastic quality of those PDFs. Low rez, not always OCR, poor cropping of the covers, limited bookmarks, no hyperlinks, etc.

Formats change. Standards change. What I considered to be a great looking PDF just ten years ago looks like amateur hour design now, and probably looks like crap on my iPad.
What we consider a "large" file will change. Compression will change.
I've literally bought some movies four or five different times. Army of Darkness. Star Wars. Because the formats and standards change. Because the media is updated.
Why shouldn't rebuying digital books immune?

Luckily, digital data does get old or fall apart and there are infinite copies.

I have a few MP3s that have been copied from hard drive to disk to drive to disk several times that would disagree with you. Copy and read errors happen.

Funny thing, I just copied all my old burnt CDs and DVDs of gaming PDFs back onto my hard drive. So I could back them up onto the cloud rather than physical media. Not every file could be read. And the oldest PDF I have is from 2001. It's still readable, but it's embarrassingly bad looking. Like watching an old VCR tape.

 

[Shasarak]

I am struggling to imagine what the problem is with a low def pdf file.

Is it that 21st century eyes do not read in low def any more?

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I don't feel I have to have it, but there are some tools that would be nice. I used to support EN World at $3/month back before the Kickstarter got me a lifetime subscription. I could see myself supporting WotC the same way in the hopes they continue to support and enhance the tools. If nobody subscribes, it will be dead before it has a chance.

 

[Jester David]

It's annoying not to be able to keep what you pay off. But that's a modern problem. I don't really "own" any games in my Steam queue or anything I watch on Netflix. Its worrisome to think that the site might go down, and lose access. But... DDI is still up. But does anyone still use it? I wonder how many people here still have their subscription. Before that, there was the downloadable Character Builder. You could keep that. But how many people still have that installed on their machines?

I own the Core Rules CD-ROM.

View attachment 86607

The best character building software 1995 had to offer.
With some amazing document formatting of the included books. No PDFs here. RTF instead.



Of course, despite the fact I own the program, it no longer works, being seven-ish iterations of Windows out of date. "Owning" it means little in this case.




Not that I'm likely to pay 2nd Edition again any time soon...

Okay... PDFs have been around for a while. And might continue to be around.
Or not. Amazon's Kindle format is a contender. Adobe might do a revision of the format. 25 years is a longtime and the above is only 22 years old. After all, modern tablets have really made PDFs usable at the table but are less than 10 years old. Will we still be using them in 25 years?

 

[Satyrn]

It's annoying not to be able to keep what you pay off. But that's a modern problem. I don't really "own" any games in my Steam queue or anything I watch on Netflix. Its worrisome to think that the site might go down, and lose access. . .

earlier in this, I pondered a hypothetical government-implemented archive that would maintain our digital purchases from companies that go defunct.