DriveThruRPG is down! GRR!

[DonTadow]

Well, that's one reason, out of many, why I don't buy .pdf's.

It was just that it actually came up about sites being down. The whole "anywhere you can find an internet connection" thing also implies being able to get easy internet access (many of the pro .pdf arguments assume that you are very centered around life at your computer, but if you don't have wireless access, don't like reading documents on a computer, don't like to pay for things using debit/credit and strongly prefer cash instead, and don't actually game anywhere near your PC they lose a lot of their appeal).

..and don't like to play games in the 21st centry...

 

[Treebore]

I hated reading pdf's on a computer too. Until someone told me what those little icons in the lower right corner fo the window do.

I don't know how many .pdf products I have bought since then. Plus I am 54 miles from my nearest LGS. So I buy a lot of stuff on line.

 

[Bacris]

Considering that for some of us, our FLGSes closed up shop, sometimes PDF or online ordering is the only option.

And it's the Information Age, man! You can go to a Kinkos just about anywhere (in the states at least) for easy internet access. A 1 gig USB thumb drive can store a LOT of pdfs and costs about $15 USD... and works on pretty much any Windows 98 or higher computer

 

[Mr. Beef]

Considering that for some of us, our FLGSes closed up shop, sometimes PDF or online ordering is the only option.

I would not mind PDF's of stuff that is out of print, like the Star Wars D6 RPG by WEG or White Wolf's WoD books for Hunter:The Reckoning. Those are two systems that I would gladly pay for PDF's.

Or some of our FLGS decide to charge a horrendious mark up on things that that are not mini's or CCG's. One of the stores I used to go to was selling Worlds Lagest Dungeon (WLD), just the book, for $100 and then another $50 for the maps. I would have gotten WLD at Amazon.com with everything for for about 35% off retail or more now, but I have no intrest in WLD.

And it's the Information Age, man! You can go to a Kinkos just about anywhere (in the states at least) for easy internet access. A 1 gig USB thumb drive can store a LOT of pdfs and costs about $15 USD... and works on pretty much any Windows 98 or higher computer

I know it's the information age, but it's also the electricity age. Last year in October the house I am living in lost power due to a thunderstorm knocking over a tree and taking the power line off the back of the house. It took the better part of three days to get power back and during that time I was thankful for having some of my RPG's in regular book form so I could go through them to entertain me.

Yes, cheap storage is a factor, but there are those of us, like myself, that do not have a laptop to take with them when they play games. I have a great desktop and DSL, but I don't want to lug around 50+ pounds of Monitor and another 30 of case into where we are playing and inconvience everyone with placement of wires and cables.

Some of the best games I've been in have been played with dice, pencil, DM Screen for the DM, a character sheet for the PC's, and all the notes you need to run the adventure. Not a laptop in site.

Just my 1/4 pound.

Mr. Beef

 

[Glyfair]

..and don't like to play games in the 21st centry...

You know, the thing I dislike most about the PDF vs. print arguments is the attitude that there is one way to play. Dismissing someone because they don't have access to a computer, or just don't want to rely heavily on it is pretty low. (of course, so is dismissing someone because they choose to use a computer to facilitate their game)

In fact, one of the things I like about tabletop RPGs is the fact that you don't need a computer to play. Sure, it can add to the experience, but you can have a top quality game without even getting near one.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Well, that's one reason, out of many, why I don't buy .pdf's.

It was just that it actually came up about sites being down. The whole "anywhere you can find an internet connection" thing also implies being able to get easy internet access (many of the pro .pdf arguments assume that you are very centered around life at your computer, but if you don't have wireless access, don't like reading documents on a computer, don't like to pay for things using debit/credit and strongly prefer cash instead, and don't actually game anywhere near your PC they lose a lot of their appeal).

Or you can do what I do and print the stuff you want, so you have a notebook filled with niftiness. My computer stays home, and never comes to the gaming table. For many years I used a dial-up connection, and still was able to purchase the items that I want, print them, and use them. It was really not that big a deal.

Being able to choose what part of a book I am going to print up and bring with me is a major advantage, as is being able to leave the parts I don't want home, so I do not have to listen to someone saying how cool the Oozemaster is. (I get a lot of mileage out of the Oozemaster, ever since I had a player want to have one in an Iron Kingdoms game... they are just so... mockable. )

The Auld Grump

 

[DonTadow]

You know, the thing I dislike most about the PDF vs. print arguments is the attitude that there is one way to play. Dismissing someone because they don't have access to a computer, or just don't want to rely heavily on it is pretty low. (of course, so is dismissing someone because they choose to use a computer to facilitate their game)

In fact, one of the things I like about tabletop RPGs is the fact that you don't need a computer to play. Sure, it can add to the experience, but you can have a top quality game without even getting near one.

woah... i have just as many books as pdfs, so there's no pdfs vs. print argument. I"m saying pdfs are a part of the industry now and a strong part of the industry. Sure you can still play tabletops without them. And I can still fire up the old intellivision and play Utopia. Still doesn't effect the matter that I shouldn't diss ps3 and xbox because my old 1984 video game system still works.

PDFs have proven more useful for today's average gamer because of the increase in the business of the overall american.

 

[wingsandsword]

Let's see, about printing .pdf's. . .

Printer ink is outrageously expensive. I printed out a .pdf once, it was a one of those suppliments for an old edition of D&D that WotC put up, it cost more to print it than the original cover price of the product. Taking a file to a copy shop isn't much of an option, as I've never gotten fair treatment at one because printing a commercial .pdf they automatically assume it's pirated and I've never managed to convince one it was legit (a free, legal download off the web, they just wouldn't believe it).

As for the whole "gaming in the 21st century" thing, why should I give up what works? With my print books I don't have to worry about battery life on my laptop or power outages or windows crashing, or the hideously slow load times of .pdf's and time to page through them, or internet connectivity. I can just pick up a book and take it anywhere, I can have them all up in my bookcases to look at the breadth of my collection.

I don't take my laptop gaming, as it's far clumsier to pack it up and pack up the AC adapter and to have to set that up and keep referring back to it than it is to just slip a few books in a satchel along with my dicebag and some pencils and paper. Some people like to game with a computer at their side, I just think it gets in the way most of the time.

If you're liking your .pdf downloads, go right ahead, but a lot of people are quite happy with using and buying books instead of computer files.

 

[philreed]

Let's see, about printing .pdf's. . .

Printer ink is outrageously expensive.

1. Throw away that "free" inkjet printer they gave you where you bought a computer. Those things are designed with only one purpose: to sell ink.

2. Buy an inexpensive laser printer. For $100-$150 you can buy a printer that will give you thousands of pages on a single toner cartridge.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Printer ink is outrageously expensive. I printed out a .pdf once, it was a one of those suppliments for an old edition of D&D that WotC put up, it cost more to print it than the original cover price of the product. Taking a file to a copy shop isn't much of an option, as I've never gotten fair treatment at one because printing a commercial .pdf they automatically assume it's pirated and I've never managed to convince one it was legit (a free, legal download off the web, they just wouldn't believe it).

I had the same experience with one place I went to, a copyshop. I even posted here about the experience. However, after going to another place, it was fine. I've gone there several times since, and they've never doubted that what I own is in fact what I own.

And yeah, as Phil Reed more or less says, laser printers are verging on godly, after suffering with inkjet costs for any amount of time.

Brother and Samsung have put out some good cheap to buy, cheap to run lasers, but there are without a doubt others, as well.

I don't take my laptop gaming, as it's far clumsier to pack it up and pack up the AC adapter and to have to set that up and keep referring back to it than it is to just slip a few books in a satchel along with my dicebag and some pencils and paper. Some people like to game with a computer at their side, I just think it gets in the way most of the time.

If you're liking your .pdf downloads, go right ahead, but a lot of people are quite happy with using and buying books instead of computer files.

I like having and using both. Best of both worlds.

And really, if you need to take a number of hardcover books (which for many is just a reality), that's definitely no less weight and is generally more bulk than a notebook PC.