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Does 5E have to be available as a PDF for you to consider buying it?
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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6265414" data-attributes="member: 37579"><p>I use print at the table but rely on PDFs all the rest of the time, when planning for a session. </p><p>After 4e (with the Compendium and eTools) and Pathfinder (and the assorted websites and PDFs) I've gotten used to planning my games at the computer, writing out the adventure in Google Drive. I'll often do some planning at work (during breaks), on the couch with my iPad (quality time with the wife), or in my hidden basement lair. I'd have great difficulty adapting to PDF-less play. </p><p></p><p>That said, I can see myself not getting many PDFs. </p><p>WotC has charged a hefty price for their digital offerings. $40 for a dead tree and $18 for the digital. Ouch. Of course, that doesn't mean they'll charge something disgusting like $25 for the digital copy of a $50 rulebook. Paizo is a good example of this: they charge more for products you might only buy a single copy (print <u>or</u> PDF) and less for products where you might buy both copies. So WotC could easily follow suit and have a more reasonably priced $10 or $15 PDF.</p><p>However, most of the time I buy PDFs I buy them as a bundle. I go to the publisher's store and get a print/PDF package so the total price is less. For products I really want I'll often pre-order, which gets me the PDF for free or, in the case of Paizo, subscribe to a product line and get the PDFs added as a bonus. Neither of those options are likely to happen as WotC is allergic to taking money directly and buying a book in a physical store won't net me the PDF. Coordinating every local game store (and big boxes) with DnDClassics.com would be a nightmare, to say nothing of amazon. I'd rather not pay extra for a digital copy of a product I own myself and I'd much rather WotC think of a way to include PDFs (either free or discounted) with their physical books. </p><p></p><p>For example, I'd love it if each PHB came with a code that can be scratched off (lottery ticket style) to reveal a code that could be used to get 90% off the PDF at DriveThruRPG. (Which might reduce stolen codes as it's not completely free, so piracy is still easier. And if some jerk does scratch in stores and camera the code, when someone buys the book they can report it as pre-scratched and DriveThru can cancel the old code and block the scratcher's account, certain they have his name as they have his payment details).</p><p></p><p></p><p>Let's be honest here for a moment. PDFs are not a deal breaker. I'd love cheap PDFs and being able to buy a print/digital bundle but if WotC doesn't go down that route, finding PDFs still won't be an issue. It was never a problem for 4e, which was not digital for most of its run. If WotC doesn't want to take my money but pricing their product too high or not providing options... like most people I'll probably look elsewhere. I much, much rather pay. I want to support the hobby and give people my money. I just don't want to pay <em>more</em> for the digital product that I do for the physical books, like was often the case during early 4e.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 6265414, member: 37579"] I use print at the table but rely on PDFs all the rest of the time, when planning for a session. After 4e (with the Compendium and eTools) and Pathfinder (and the assorted websites and PDFs) I've gotten used to planning my games at the computer, writing out the adventure in Google Drive. I'll often do some planning at work (during breaks), on the couch with my iPad (quality time with the wife), or in my hidden basement lair. I'd have great difficulty adapting to PDF-less play. That said, I can see myself not getting many PDFs. WotC has charged a hefty price for their digital offerings. $40 for a dead tree and $18 for the digital. Ouch. Of course, that doesn't mean they'll charge something disgusting like $25 for the digital copy of a $50 rulebook. Paizo is a good example of this: they charge more for products you might only buy a single copy (print [U]or[/U] PDF) and less for products where you might buy both copies. So WotC could easily follow suit and have a more reasonably priced $10 or $15 PDF. However, most of the time I buy PDFs I buy them as a bundle. I go to the publisher's store and get a print/PDF package so the total price is less. For products I really want I'll often pre-order, which gets me the PDF for free or, in the case of Paizo, subscribe to a product line and get the PDFs added as a bonus. Neither of those options are likely to happen as WotC is allergic to taking money directly and buying a book in a physical store won't net me the PDF. Coordinating every local game store (and big boxes) with DnDClassics.com would be a nightmare, to say nothing of amazon. I'd rather not pay extra for a digital copy of a product I own myself and I'd much rather WotC think of a way to include PDFs (either free or discounted) with their physical books. For example, I'd love it if each PHB came with a code that can be scratched off (lottery ticket style) to reveal a code that could be used to get 90% off the PDF at DriveThruRPG. (Which might reduce stolen codes as it's not completely free, so piracy is still easier. And if some jerk does scratch in stores and camera the code, when someone buys the book they can report it as pre-scratched and DriveThru can cancel the old code and block the scratcher's account, certain they have his name as they have his payment details). Let's be honest here for a moment. PDFs are not a deal breaker. I'd love cheap PDFs and being able to buy a print/digital bundle but if WotC doesn't go down that route, finding PDFs still won't be an issue. It was never a problem for 4e, which was not digital for most of its run. If WotC doesn't want to take my money but pricing their product too high or not providing options... like most people I'll probably look elsewhere. I much, much rather pay. I want to support the hobby and give people my money. I just don't want to pay [I]more[/I] for the digital product that I do for the physical books, like was often the case during early 4e. [/QUOTE]
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Does 5E have to be available as a PDF for you to consider buying it?
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