Exclusive interview WotC President Greg Leeds

[Dire Bare]

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.

Yeah, except they DIDN'T screw people over who paid legitimately. It's been stated by WotC reps and store reps already that there was miscommunication, and files were pulled faster than WotC actually intended. The timeframe was still intended to be very short, but not as short as it was.

Leeds pointed out that the two vendors who used to sell WotC PDFs, Paizo and OneBookshelf (which is both Drivethru and RPGNOW), are able to work with customers to insure they aren't screwed. This has already been stated by both other WotC reps and by store reps.

 

[Dire Bare]

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.

Yup, you got it! Errrrr, or . . .

THIS!

(I'm behind on the posting trends . . . .

 

[Dice4Hire]

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!!!

Yes, but taht is just an assumption. Sure 10:1 is al ALARMINg, MASSIVE number, but what does it really mean? If it is 10:1 pdf sales, then it is a problem, but that raises the question of what the ratio of PDF sales to physical books has been all along? Now, we all know Wizards makes far more profit on pdf sales than physical books, because printing, shipping, and such are not a real cost.

Now, I would agree that if illegal downloads were 10:1 of ALL copies sold, including physical books, that is a massive massive number, and then WOTC would be justified in trying to stem that hemmohrage.

But personally I think it is hte first case, in which case it is an alarmist number quoted out of context.

 

[malraux]

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.

It means going forward 100% of phb1 and 2 pdfs will be acquired through piracy. I don't see that as an improvement, either for the fans or WotC.

 

[joethelawyer]

Not appropriate. - Morrus.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

reminds me of a song

....when I listen to him,
all I hear is blah blah blah

 

[The Black Kestrel]

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!

I'd hate it. I travel quite a bit and often for extended periods of time. The consequence of which I often lack access to the internet. I would be very much against an on-line only subscription service. Note I'm not interested in 4e materials, but only 3e and earlier so I may not be the target audience for the hypothetical initiative you describe.

With respect to the interview in general it it was not substantive enough for me. While the number of 10:1 for pirated vice purchased copies of the 4e PHB2 PDF is not entirely surprising I'm still shocked at the decision to pull PDFs completely with a pathetic grace period for securing downloads or an opportunity to buy books before they were gone forever.

On a separate note I wonder how many of those illegal downloads lead to the purchase of a physical PHB2 (I know its beeen discussed on other threads, the question is rhetorical) which could also be related to it selling out.

 

[Rani]

Link deleted.

This is full of Win!

 

[Dire Bare]

Yes, but taht is just an assumption. Sure 10:1 is al ALARMINg, MASSIVE number, but what does it really mean? If it is 10:1 pdf sales, then it is a problem, but that raises the question of what the ratio of PDF sales to physical books has been all along? Now, we all know Wizards makes far more profit on pdf sales than physical books, because printing, shipping, and such are not a real cost.

Now, I would agree that if illegal downloads were 10:1 of ALL copies sold, including physical books, that is a massive massive number, and then WOTC would be justified in trying to stem that hemmohrage.

But personally I think it is hte first case, in which case it is an alarmist number quoted out of context.

I used the word assumption, but I'm actually pretty sure I understood it correctly. 10 pirated PDFs to every legit copy, both digital and hardcopy, doesn't actually make sense. 10 pirated PDFs to every legal PDF makes much more sense. Which was my assumption, and unless I misunderstand, you're assumption too. Even given that, I think that a 10:1 ratio is HUGE and is perfect justification for taking action.

Now, I disagree with the specific action taken, as I feel (as many do) that restricting the legal downloads won't really help much. But I understand why they acted and I don't hold it against them.

Besides, they may have given up on the file format PDF, but they quite clearly have NOT given up on online digital distribution. WotC is far from the only publisher who is uncomfortable with how easy it is to pirate a PDF file.

 

[jensun]

Or Fail depending on your point of view.