D&D 5E (2014) Does 5E have to be available as a PDF for you to consider buying it?

[Ahnehnois]

It has to be available as a free HTML document for me to consider buying it.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

For me to buy it? No. I'll almost certainly buy the "main" (PHB, DMG, MM1) books for any given edition of D&D.

For me to run it, or buy material beyond that? It has to be available in either a tablet-accessible electronic form (of which PDF is one), or it has to be a small softback format like the 4E Essentials books. I'm not going back to lugging huge numbers of A4 books to every session, as per my 2E/3E days.

Personally I'd prefer that it had it's own app, which was both a rulebook and equivalent to the DDI compendium, and it'll need an online character builder (and preferably an official app which works like i4e or the like).

 

[Emerikol]

It's not required but it is a very nice to have. I'm willing to pay 9.99 for a pdf and buy it without a second thought. So if WOTC wants my money they'll provide that option. Because I'm the type that buys the paper and pdf because they both are useful. If the pdf though is close to the paper book in price then I'll forego it because I'll be buying the book too.

 

[Lord Vangarel]

It has to be available as a free HTML document for me to consider buying it.

Like the Pathfinder SRD? A great resource but I still like the idea of owning the original book, just in electronic format.

With Pathfinder I have the Core Rulebook but every other book, perhaps 5-6 of the hardbacks is purely pdf. But an SRD for 5E would be great, I just can't see it happening.

 

[Lord Vangarel]

If the pdf though is close to the paper book in price then I'll forego it because I'll be buying the book too.

This is true for me as well. The pdf has to be significantly less expensive than the hardback version. I feel Paizo has it right on this and have invested a fair bit in Pathfinder because of it.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Like the Pathfinder SRD? A great resource but I still like the idea of owning the original book, just in electronic format.

Yes, Pathfinder releases most of the rules as a free html, the full books with examples, fluff, and art as cheap pdfs, and then the print copies. Three different tiers with differential pricing and clear implications for the purchaser. To me, that is the model for distribution.

 

[seregil]

One of the issues I see is that purely electronic versions at prices far less than the paper version tend to kill your distribution network. Case in point: comic books. Both DC and Marvel seem to have adopted a model where the electronic versions of their products are the same price OR MORE than buying them in the paper version largely because they want to preserve their FLCS network. This network is what gets most people INTO buying comics.

In the same way, your FLGS plays a large part in keeping the hobby alive in the long term, so you, as a corporation, have to be careful not to undercut your network. It is, also, why I make a point of buying local even if I can get it a bit cheaper online. I want the store to survive.

So, if WOTC starts selling the book for 30$ and the PDF for 10$, they might sell a LOT of PDFs, which will generate good revenue for them now, but when all the FLGS stores have shut down or don't carry their products anymore, they will hurt.

So, I would THINK they would want to sell the book 30$ and include a PDF for free with it. If you want JUST the PDF, then I would price it at 20$ to try and encourage people to buy the book.

Assuming, of course, that the suits at Hasbro let them sell PDFs of new items at all.

 

[Umbran]

I don't require pdfs. I find them useful when the book is available in no other form, but I'd be fine if the game were only available in print form.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

PDF is not necessary, but welcome. I still collect physical books, and PDFs are a poor form of digital representation. An application or website can be far more useful.

 

[the Jester]

No. In fact, I'm the opposite - it needs to be available in print or I won't buy it.

That said, I'll readily agree that anything that can be made available in suitable electronic forms (including, but not limited to, PDFs) should be made available in those forms.

This is exactly where I am at, as well.