Exclusive interview WotC President Greg Leeds

[fanboy2000]

However, I doubt you can track torrents, Limewire type services, and just plain old emailing or swapping on usb drives.

I can't belive I'm going to say this...

Joe, you're not paranoid enough.

I can't believe I just said that.

First, there's the general rule of the internet: there isn't really any anonymity on the internet.

I mean, sure, you don't know me from Adam and my name could just as easily be Kevin Smith. But if I did something really bad, use your imagination for examples, Morrus has my IP address which he could use to fine me in various ways.

It's the same thing with Gnutella, the network Limewire and it's siblings use, they all have to use IP address because the internet uses the TCP/IP protocol stack. Every computer sharing an illegal PDF has an IP address, and every computer downloading one has an IP address. Yes, WotC can track these things.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Assuming, arguendo, that they can even track such a figure. After all, these are the people responsible for Gleemax and DDI. Their technological skills are not the most stellar.

I think they're using ouija boards. Or maybe a magic 8-ball.

"Are we losing sales to piracy?"

*shake shake*

"Signs point to yes."

 

[guivre]

Colour me skeptical.

Javascript can be embedded in a pdf so that it phones home. If you are reading a pdf with Acrobat and have not disabled Javascript, then yes they can get get some rough numbers.

Since most computer users are fairly naive about the software they're using odds are pretty good that most of those pdfs were tracked. Downloader opens the file in Acrobat pdf phones home with identifying information. It's not perfect and false positives are more than likely, but it does work. You're not going to get exact numbers via that method but you're going to get decent estimates.

I haven't checked WotCs pdfs to see if they try to phone home, though I do disable Javascript in Acrobat when I use it for pdfs, which isn't often.

 

[JohnRTroy]

I have a feeling WoTC is doing what people keep telling them to do. "Adapt to new business models".

They are hoping to move to a DDI where the files are not saved but remain "in the cloud".

They also seem to be altering and simplifying the game. Reading 4e, I was stunned to see how things have changed. The way they've setup characters and monsters, all you'd really have to do is change the distribution model from rulebooks to a card set, similar to magic. While this is not happening yet, I eventually see the game turning into a more traditional "game" that Hasbro uses--cards, owning physical objects that aren't books, etc.

This seems to be the new wave of the future. Steam and iTunes are successful without DRM (and for those that say they are getting rid of the DRM for music, I suspect stuff like Subscription services might become more popular and cost-effective, plus like newspapers, if profits go down, things will change). I fully expect WoTC, the leader of the industry, to adapt to this change...

Even if the change isn't what people expected...

 

[mxyzplk]

Although the ratio of 10:1 sounds high, 10:0 is much worse.

I still think pullinf the extant files is unfortunate and not in WoTC's interest. Refusing to support the format with product going forward would have provided just as much protection to new bookjs (i.e. almost none) whilst allowing some revenue generation from the compromised set.

Now, the compromise continues, but the revenue is stopped. How is that better?

Yeah, really. Do they realize there was just as much pirating before their products were available in PDF? Enterprising folks would just scan and OCR them. The most you could say is that they didn't bother for crappy fringe or indie products. But when "PHB3" or whatever comes out - may take an additional 24 hours, but it'll be on as many sites making as many downloads.

 

[2WS-Steve]

I feel happy just to have asked one of the questions (#5) that was dodged.

REF 72 -- try again when you're 130th level!

 

[Wayside]

Want to know how many people have downloaded a torrent? Just go to the torrent's page or look at its tracker. You don't need Big Brother to find this information--it's right there for absolutely anyone to see. Other file-sharing methods can be traced with more or less difficulty, but all can be traced.

 

[DimitriX]

Was it just me or did it seem like he said a lot without really saying a damn thing?

 

[Shemeska]

Not quite approaching the level of this guy:
Political reference deleted. Dude, you know better. ~ PCat

"Do not believe any internet rumors! We are totally on top of all things on the internet and can stop piracy with our new policy! We have top people working on our digital products!"

But getting there. That was remarkably shallow on information, and won't help things at all. It's only going to cause more bad PR.

These are the same people who are close to a year past the promised release of the Character Visualizer, Dungeon Builder, and Virtual Tabletop, with no news for months, and a removal of most mention of them on the DDI website, but yet they can magically track the number of pirated downloads of their books' pdfs.

Sure they can. *pat pat*

That said, I would not be surprised if the ratio was much higher than 10:1 given WotC's pricing on 4e pdfs.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Although the ratio of 10:1 sounds high, 10:0 is much worse./QUOTE]That is the truth. 90% piracy ratio is the norm, like World of Goo etc without DRM. However it is also at about 90% with DRM, it is always cracked.
Now we will see people getting PDFs the only way they can, scanned books... grrrrrr