Do you have an independent source of information that contradicts your position? Or is it all just guesstimating or what you feel should be right? Do you merely have an anecdote to tell us?
Do we have actual sales number? Do we have a peer reviewed study on piracy or sales? Do we have technical details on the processes used to track sales, download numbers or piracy? Do we have contradicting data to anything of what WotC says?
It's okay to disbelieve something if you have evidence to the contrary, or at least demand further elaboration. But we don't have this kind of information, or if we have, no one ever presented it.
Either we accept the information source we have and discuss it based on that data, or we ignore it and make it clear that we are speculating. A lot of speculation sounds good on paper or electronic bulletin boards if you don't have any data to check it against. You can formulate a lot of hypothesises, but unless you can check them against data or make predictions based on them, they are just an entertaining past-time and hold no further weight.
And what's the alternative?
"We retracted all PDF sales, because we don't want anyone to download any AD&D or D&D 3.x material and instead buy our 4E products. And we also decided to no longer offer any 4E material to cover it up. We rather lose money by not offering PDFs then have anyone in the world not playing 4E.
Piracy is of no concern to us, that's why we just filed a court case against a few uploaders. We don't really know how the download figures are, that's why we give you a made-up number*.
4E is doing terribly bad, that's why we are still investing in new supplements and already showing off material for the next years releases."
Did anyone of you participate in the latest marketing surveys (one was DDI, the latest - a few days ago - was regarding DMG). Either survey definitely focused on looking on expanding what they already got (especially DMG) an what they should target next (especially DDI). There was nothing of the kind "What we did before sucked, you say, so please tell us what we should do instead?" No, they ask what to do next or where to expand upon.
Their surveys are definitely targeting on strengthening what they have, not figuring out what they did wrong in the past or why we no longer buy their products.
Of course we could theorize and claim that just shows that they have no clue about how to fix the supposed mess they are in, but Occams Razor suggests that the simplest solution of several possible ones is the preferable one - and the simplest solution is:
D&D 4 is doing well. WotC wants to know how to build on what 4E does and continue attracting gamers by giving them what they want out of it.
And the same applied to this interview:
Piracy was one of the two major issues (but not the only!) why they stopped the PDFs, even if they are aware that this won't stop it all together, they feel it will help them in the future. They don't have yet a clear plan what to do next, except that they are apparently no longer seeing PDFs as the way to distribute digital rulebooks and look at a "safer" route (which will probably means it is not as convenient as PDF, too, unless they surprise me.)
They are also still considering how to release older, pre 4E content (so they don't fear themselves as competition and are quite willing to make money out of people that don't play the 4th Edition of D&D).
Oh, and regarding the "leader" position: It seems they see themselves still as very important for the purposes of "The Hobby". Depending on your view, that might be hybris, a sad truth of market power, wishful thinking, a nice ideal or the truth, but that's how Leeds presented it.
). However, I would prefer to understand the rationale and provide considered feedback to WOTC, as I have done on DDI for other things.
