Exclusive interview WotC President Greg Leeds

[Morrus]

Thanks to you all for suggesting questions, and to Piratecat for gathering and compiling them!

The interview with Greg can be read on the news page.

Information contained therein:

• The decision was piracy related.
• Pirated copies outweight legally purchased copies by 10:1.
• WotC does not plan to resume sale of PDFs.
• WotC is exploring other ways of selling digital products. This includes older editions.
• Third-party online sellers of WotC's PDFs are, to WotC's understanding, working with customers to ensure everyone gets what they're entitled to.

A quick clarification from WotC:

The 10:1 ratio that Greg references is for PDFs only – it has nothing to do with the physical books. For every one PDF purchased legally, there were at least 10 downloaded illegally. And yes, we can track it.​

 

[Dice4Hire]

Well, Greg has CEO-speak down pretty well. Not a lot was said in that interview, unfortunately, and even less about what is coming up for the future.

I stand disappointed.

 

[jensun]

That is remarkably unenlightening. I predict the flames will continue.

Which is unfortunate.

 

[sjmiller]

I think I can say that this is one of the least informative interviews I have read in the gaming industry. It pretty much said nothing we already didn't know, and I think did little to comfort those who are upset by the goings on of late. There are so many unanswered questions that will probably never get answered.

 

[blalien]

Ninety one percent of PHB2 pdfs were acquired through piracy? If that figure is true then this debate is over. Wizards was completely justified in shutting down pdf sales. I do not forgive them, however, for giving less than 24 hours notice or for screwing over people who paid legitimately.

 

[Piratecat]

Yup. I was hoping we'd have an explanation for why this happened, what they expected to gain from it, and how it got implemented. That didn't really happen.

 

[Shroomy]

Its clearly not the most informative interview ever, but what did you guys expect? IMO, most of those questions concern subjects a CEO should not be conversing about on a public messageboard (sales figures and strategy). There were some nuggest of information: the 10:1 ratio, they will not be going back into the pdf market, and that the decision was made in-house.

 

[Dire Bare]

That is remarkably unenlightening. I predict the flames will continue.

Which is unfortunate.

Hmm, I disagree. I think it was cool that Leeds himself took time to address the issue rather than handing it down the chain. He gave well-reasoned responses to why WotC took the action it did, and what the shape of their future plans are.

I mean, 10:1 illegal PDF downloading to legitmate copies?!?!?! I'm assuming by "legitmate copies" he means legally downloaded rather than physical copies. But still, 10:1!!!! Holy Schnikes!!!

Did Leeds provide specific details of WotC's future digital distribution plan? Of course not, and he'd be a fool to do so! WotC quite rightly will keep the specifics under wraps until they have everything nailed down.

PDFs are not the only viable form of digital distribution, although they certainly dominate in the RPG field right now. It's been a while since I checked it out, but Marvel Comics has (or had?) an online subscription service where you could access hundreds of their titles (old and new) online for like $10/month. They weren't PDFs you could download, but rather you read them in a viewer on site. Nothing to download, nothing to pirate! I'd love to see WotC do something like this!

 

[Rani]

Yeah, Shroomy's right, this interview is mostly what I expected. Doesn't make it any less disappointing however.

 

[Ourph]

At least one question was answered. If they find a way to provide digital content, they plan to support out-of-print editions through that system. That, at least, is very good news.