Enough with the PDF table of contents already!

[Jim Hague]

So? As long as things could be worse, no one should bother improving them?

How about if it ain't broke, don't fix it? There's nothing wrong with the format and presentation; you and a few others don't like it.

Which they, of course, don't do because they're philanthropists, but because it will make some people buy their products. And the fewer the hoops they have to jump through to get your incentive to buy their products, the more likely it is for the customers to buy them.

And again - you're stating your preference. Of course they want people to buy their products; they're in the business of making money. You're presenting a minor niggle, a nitpick, as some great, nay, nigh insurmountable obstacle. And it just ain't so.

You imply that people won't buy out of spite. That might indeed be the case in some cases (after their murdering Dragon and Dungeon, I guess it's more than just a few cases, but that's nothing to do with the current topic), but you don't see the big picture: As I said, those excerpts are there to make people buy books. You're supposed to look at the teasers, get giddy like a schoolgirl, and go get your copy of the book. But if you do something like, say, offer the preview as a .pdf document hidden in a .zip archive, instead of presenting it in good old HTML right on the web page, there will be people who won't bother with Wizards' take on the Russian Doll, so they never get excited about the book, and their money goes elsewhere.

And here, really, is where I think the truth of the thread lies - deprived of the opportunity to continue complaining about WotC being an evil conspiracy, we're down to people complaining because they have to take an extra step to open a file. Surely this is all part f the Grand Conspiracy to Destroy Tabletop and Move Everything Online, right? There's so much hyperbole in the above quote that it goes straight into unintended comedy. Did you actually say 'murder'? They made a business decision you don't like. If you don't like it that much, don't bu WotC products. In the meantime, please top equating the cancellation of a license to the ending of a life; it's offensive.

Let's assume that it will take some Wizards employee 5 more minutes to put it up as HTML instead of the current scheme, and let's assume that only one guy will now look at the TOC, get excited, and buy the book (while he would not have done this had it been in a zipped pdf). And let's assume that Wizards gets 5 tacken per book. That guy just earned 5 tacken in 5 minutes. That's 60 per hour. Not that bad.

I'd think that it would push over half a dozen people, and that Wizards gets more than 5 big ones per book, and that it probably doesn't even take 5 extra minutes.

You assume (and surely you know what's said about doing so) that what you think needs to happen will produce he result you assume will happen; considering that this is the same sort of thinking that WotC's been accused of with the DI, I find this amusingly ironic.

 

[Arnwyn]

Alternately, they could simply offer...nothing.

Woo-hoo! False dichotomy! (And a gem of one, too.)

And here, really, is where I think the truth of the thread lies - deprived of the opportunity to continue complaining about WotC being an evil conspiracy, we're down to people complaining because they have to take an extra step to open a file. Surely this is all part f the Grand Conspiracy to Destroy Tabletop and Move Everything Online, right? There's so much hyperbole

Ouch! The irony.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have a strong preference for the PDF option, personally.

Would you prefer all of WotC's previews go all-PDF instead of one page PDF and the rest HTML?

 

[Turjan]

I don't agree with the .zip on top of the PDF format - the size savings are minimal, and the extra effort is a waste - but not buying because of that is, frankly, petty. It's nitpicky. Seriously, man, don't you have better things to expend your energy on?

That's the point. I don't mind pdf's. They have been web standard now for many years. It's a professional way to handle previews. You can actually print the TOC out and put in in a folder with other TOC's. That's good for organizing your "library".

But to zip the pdf file is somewhat ludicrous. pdf is already a compressed format. Zipping the pdf yields only a tiny amount of additional file size savings. Zipping should be limited to cases where several files are contained in the same download, like a pdf file plus a few jpg's for maps.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

I have a strong preference for the PDF option, personally.

Same here, although I can see where the HTML D00d's are coming from.

 

[Umbran]

Folks, I see several of you trying to undermine the statements of others by taking a dig at the person, rather than the position. Please stop that.

Discuss the technical merits of format choices all you want, but don't make it personal.

 

[Jim Hague]

That's the point. I don't mind pdf's. They have been web standard now for many years. It's a professional way to handle previews. You can actually print the TOC out and put in in a folder with other TOC's. That's good for organizing your "library".

But to zip the pdf file is somewhat ludicrous. pdf is already a compressed format. Zipping the pdf yields only a tiny amount of additional file size savings. Zipping should be limited to cases where several files are contained in the same download, like a pdf file plus a few jpg's for maps.

Sure, and if you look earlier, I agree - to the extent that it's an annoyance. Nothing more. The amount of offense some are taking is way out of proportion to what's going on.

 

[IanB]

Would you prefer all of WotC's previews go all-PDF instead of one page PDF and the rest HTML?

Sure! Although I suspect they won't do that, given that things like prestige classes in books don't fit nicely starting at the beginning of a page, etc. The TOC is most convenient for them to do that with, I'm sure, because it is already conveniently separated out on discrete pages in the book's format.

 

[Jim Hague]

Would you prefer all of WotC's previews go all-PDF instead of one page PDF and the rest HTML?

Now, see, that's not a bad idea. HTML isn't nearly as cross-platform as some might think, at least not on the level that needs to support a professional website. Keep the front end pure Web content, and make the previews PDF. Better yet, release a series of previews in PDF, and offer a 'starter pack' PDF - either a single file, or a .zipped collection - before the product releases. Tease, then give a taste. That's good marketing.

 

[Jupp]

Methinks that writing the amount of posts I see here in this thread about this issue has used up enough time for the next 20 TOCs that come as zipped PDFs from WotC *snickers*

So go Wizards. You're good to go for the next few zips