DriveThruRPG is down! GRR!

[Jim Hague]

Woah is right. Judging by the sales of PDFs I'm pretty sure today's average gamer doesn't buy them. And PDFs really haven't proven anything, if they had they would be a lot more popular.

Except that the PDF market is growing, whereas print sales are falling. Saying PDFs hasven't 'proven' anything is an empty statement - they've proven to be viable for many publishers, they're proven that a lot of ideas that otherwise wouldn't be seen by the public have been, and they've proven that they can not only survive but are really taking off in an increasingly fragmented and spartan marketplace. And that's without setting out to prove anything.

Sorry, but no. You're wrong. I'm also detecting some weird strain of bitterness anti-PDF slant in there, though I can't imagine why. You don't like PDFs? Don't buy them. You're missing out on a lot of great material, but that's your choice as a consumer. I don't think it's wise or economical, but it's your time and money. Do whatcha want with it.

 

[Drawmack]

Yes, I know. I believe only Don Tadow said otherwise. What I said was that people don't pirate things subconsciously

Which is why I quoted Don in my post.

 

[jaerdaph]

In 2006, almost every single RPG product I bought was a PDF. The exceptions were d20 Modern Dark*Matter, d20 Modern Critical Locations, d20 Future Tech, the True20 Pocket Player's Guide, and about three out of print/older titles. Everything else (and that's a long list) was PDF.

I love the electronic medium. The pluses far out weigh the minuses for me. I save on physical storage space (ever see a New York City apartment? They're not like the ones you see on Friends), I can carry a whole lot more with me on a laptop or a JumpDrive, I can easily cut and paste info into my own campaign material, and I save tons of time searching through stuff.

PDFs have also opened up a whole new product range of smaller pamphlet/booklet sized material that probably wouldn't sell in print except as larger collections. This means I can pick and chose between what I want.

For me, PDFs are the answer and the way to go.

Edit: Forgot I bought Expedition to Castle Ravenloft in hardcover too.

 

[Drawmack]

Also PDFs do not go out of print. Most small publishers only do a single print run of their products, being more interested in spending money to support new products. While I could make arguments all day that profit margin is higher on second, third, etc. print runs this does not seem to matter to the smaller publishers.

However, once they place the item for sale on the internet it is there for good. Also the PDFs sellers are doing POD sales as well, so you can buy print versions of the PDF stuff.

 

[DonTadow]

I agree with you guys that it's pretty thin reasoning. However you are incorrect. You can pirate pdfs by giving coppies to people who hadn't purchased them. You do not need file sharing for this you can use CDs, Floppies, Thumb Drives, Email Attachments, etc.

When i think of pirating i'm thinking of it on a grander scale. I'm not saying you can't on a lower scale. My thing was that you can't do it without doing it consciously. It's an even worse excuse if your friend is worried aboutdoing it on a lower scale. It still comes down to being responsible.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Sorry, but no. You're wrong. I'm also detecting some weird strain of bitterness anti-PDF slant in there, though I can't imagine why. You don't like PDFs? Don't buy them. You're missing out on a lot of great material, but that's your choice as a consumer. I don't think it's wise or economical, but it's your time and money. Do whatcha want with it.

Umm, Crothian bitter? I don't think so. You're reading way too much into his remarks dude.

 

[Crothian]

Saying PDFs hasven't 'proven' anything is an empty statement - they've proven to be viable for many publishers, they're proven that a lot of ideas that otherwise wouldn't be seen by the public have been, and they've proven that they can not only survive but are really taking off in an increasingly fragmented and spartan marketplace.

They have also proven as a way for a lot of crap to get published that other wise would not have. While it is true PDFs might one day prove something, they havent proven it yet. I'm not sure it is really viable for many companies. I think it helps some of them out, but it seems that very few are making a living off of it.

I'm also detecting some weird strain of bitterness anti-PDF slant in there, though I can't imagine why. You don't like PDFs? Don't buy them. You're missing out on a lot of great material, but that's your choice as a consumer. I don't think it's wise or economical, but it's your time and money. Do whatcha want with it.

And in case you didn't know I have literally gigs of harddrive space of thousands of PDFs I've bought. I'm a huge fan of PDFs, I devote a lot of time and energy promting them. So, as long as we are calling peiople wrong: You are wrong about me. I think PDFs are getting better and will someday be a force in RPGs. They just aren't there yet and I'm not going to say they are till they are. So, no bitterness here but some odd defensive aggression from people.

 

[Drawmack]

When i think of pirating i'm thinking of it on a grander scale. I'm not saying you can't on a lower scale. My thing was that you can't do it without doing it consciously. It's an even worse excuse if your friend is worried aboutdoing it on a lower scale. It still comes down to being responsible.

What he's thinking of is this. Someone asks a question or talks about something to you in an e-mail. You possess the answer in a supliment, so you get out your book and quote the answer to them (which if it is closed content is technically unlawful). If he has the answer in a pdf he's affraid he may just e-mail the entire pdf without thinking.

As I said it's pretty thin and every time he tells it to me I tell him to grow up, but it's a heck of a lot better then the server might go down for 5 minutes at 3am on Sundays.

 

[Drawmack]

The biggest problem with PDFs may be glut and quality. You can become a PDF publisher for the modest out lay of about $500 for software. Let's face it, given a little time just about anyone can come up with $500.00. As long as it is easy to become a PDF publish there will be a lot of them.

Personally I still buy PDFs, however I do not buy them unless I have access to either a preview of said PDF, access to other material from said publisher or author, or good recomendations from trusted sources.

If I'm buying a $5.00 PDF I only need to find about 3 - 5 pages useful to justify the purchase. Whereas if I'm spending 20 - 30 dollars on a book I've got to find most of the book useful to justify the expense, because not only does it cost more but it takes up shelf space that I'm already out of.

This being the case I have PDFs that cover thousands of topics. However, I have print products that cover core rules, a couple settings (2), dungeon building, traps and such, a couple different game systems, a couple magic systems and that is all.

 

[DonTadow]

What he's thinking of is this. Someone asks a question or talks about something to you in an e-mail. You possess the answer in a supliment, so you get out your book and quote the answer to them (which if it is closed content is technically unlawful). If he has the answer in a pdf he's afraid he may just e-mail the entire pdf without thinking.

As I said it's pretty thin and every time he tells it to me I tell him to grow up, but it's a heck of a lot better then the server might go down for 5 minutes at 3am on Sundays.

Like I said responsibility. I have never accidentally emailed nothing in my life. This excuse just sounds absurd. If you dont want to do something don't do it. Does this guy mail his rpg books to his friends? when they have questions.