[FDP] Big News!

[2WS-Steve]

The question is: IS there a limit?

I think Steve Wieck posted that you can register the PDF on an unlimited number of machines. That makes me feel quite a bit better.

Well I can understand your concern, what comfort could they give you? Any guarantee that they offer will be meaningless if they go out of business anyway.

Well, that's cold satisfaction for me, who just wants some assurance that I'll be able to read this eBook I bought two years from now.

However, I don't know how the whole system works and that's one of the reasons I'm asking.

Someone suggested on the OGF list that Adobe might be keeping the license on file--and I'm far more confidant that Adobe will be around for 10 years than a dot.com supplier of RPG eBooks. Still, don't know for sure since I haven't heard anything back.

Alternately, part of the purchase contract could include a promise on their part that they'll grant non-DRMed versions of PDFs to customers who've made purchases in case they go out of business and can't find someone else willing to honor the registrations.

I imagine there are other solutions as well, but they could at least put something in writing.

 

[Psion]

Well I can understand your concern, what comfort could they give you? Any guarantee that they offer will be meaningless if they go out of business anyway.

Precisely. This is a shortfall in the model. That it is not addressed is somewhat unsurprising. Adobe sells to publishers, not to customers. Just imagine sitting down with the Adobe marketer and having him tell you "and you can tell your customers that when your business tanks, they are still guaranteed to have their product!"

 

[froggie]

Why we did this

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.We are selling new books at basically the retail proice of the book, minus the print cost. Older books may very well be a lot less. The reason for this is simple. Necromancer is NOT a pdf publisher by design. We are a print publisher. We thought we would just offer this as a service to those who cannot obtain copies of our books in print. Like some dude in Saudi Arabis (yes, I got an email from one) who could not get any D&D books except as downloads.

I do not want to sell a bunch of pdfs and then have hundreds or thousands of hard copy books sitting in the warehouse. I could not care less if we make anything on the pdfs, or even if they sell...I want to sell hard copies of my books...but I also want our fans to have access to our material where none was present before.

Bill

 

[Psion]

*grins* Why bother with perfection uh... ;-)

Yeah, and WinME was SUCH a step up...

 

[Fiery James]

But that's what I'm getting at Monte, before Drive Thru RPG, you could have listed the stuff with RPG.now or some such vendor. Instead we now "Can't get them anywhere else", and the place we can get them is using a format that so hampers utility for gameplay that I can't see how this is supposed to be anything but a huge detriment for the consumer.

I'm all ears if I've misunderstood something.

Hey TB, some good points. Believe me, the publishers involved with DTRPG have different feelings about DRM as well! I imagine that some of them might be neutral or even negative on the DRM issue, but are waiting to see how things pan out.

As for holding stuff that isn't available anywhere else -- many of the NEW names you're seeing on DTRPG (in terms of PDF products) are only on there BECAUSE of DRM. Ever wonder why you didn't see FFG, WW, NECRO, FGU, GDW or others' stuff on RPGNow? DTRPG has these guys releasing PDFs for the first time -- most of them are very gun-shy about the whole process, and the DRM issue went a long way to convincing them. So, for now, you wouldn't find these guys anywhere else because control and protection is a huge concern of theirs.

I think that's what Monte's getting at.

I think the sales numbers will, in the end, determine how things play out. DRM may play a part in this, as may the speed of the site. I believe that, should sales be negatively affected or expectations not met, you may see changes. However, if it turns out that much of the DRM issue is really a non-issue to a quiet majority, than things may continue on as they are.

Let's see how things look in a month!

- JB

 

[isidorus]

Fiery James I am not sure you have a month, between here, rpg.net and Monte's forums, I say around 87% (a guess mostly using Enworld's poll). Anyway Drm will not do one thing for except make the people who are not pirates into pirates.

Did anyone actually do any research on any of this Drm?

I guess here since I have not travelled hacking sites for awhile, but you gave the pirates a challenge. More and more of your products will probably show up on Kazza, etc. Quite a few people just for spite and anger.

I am not into cracking things, just a PITA.

For your info My friends are so outraged, that anyone using DRM will not get one cent for the Pdf's or their print products. I did the same thing when the RIAA went wacko. An what scares the living H*** out of me is that under the USA's DMCA, you guys potentailly sue me for any infringement.

One last thought. The market is already small, how can someone justify this and make a living.

 

[Staffan]

What about this makes it customer unfriendly?

That you can't print it out at most printshops.
That you have limited copy/paste uses.
That you can't read the file on computers without internet connections (you can read it while offline, but when first activating the stuff you need to be online).

 

[Psion]

I think Steve Wieck posted that you can register the PDF on an unlimited number of machines. That makes me feel quite a bit better.

He did, but the adobe site contradicts this (I knew I wasn't hallucinating):

https://aractivate.adobe.com/eden/edenui.asp?command=showhelp&dialog=1

To quote the relevant section:

Q: How many computers or devices can I share a document among?
A: You may activate a maximum of 6 computers or mobile devices and share protected PDF files among them.

So is there really not a limit? I didn't think DTRPG had any control over this, and that the registered devices were an Adobe thing.

 

[trancejeremy]

Most of WW, FGU, GDW, etc, stuff has already been pirated. Long before DTRPG was even a gleem in WW's eye.

Probably the only company whose stuff on DTRPG who hasn't been pirated is Fast Forward, and that's because no one wants to.

(Cheap shot, but true)

 

[am181d]

My main concern is that you can't get these eBooks onto a computer that's not hooked up to the internet. I don't know if other people have this problem, but I don't connect my laptop to the internet (because I have a desktop for that). I transfer files over to the laptop as needed, and use it when I'm traveling or gaming. If I can't transfer the file to my laptop, these eBooks are useless to me...