File-Sharing: Has it affected the RPG industry?

[JohnRTroy]

I do agree with Sigil about Copyright law, it has become bloated and a little too overbearing. In some ways, I think the Internet and Filesharing helped bring reforms. Music was overpriced. Use of electronic communication was overpriced--remember when message boards cost 3-12 bucks an hour of use? The new technology always brings some economic chaos, etc.

However--studying sociology, I've seen evidence that unless is violates an extreme moral point of view--murder--if you remove the consequences for stealing or theft, more people will do it. I think if piracy becomes too easy, people will copy stuff for free and not bother to pay for it--I think there are upstanding moral people who either buy the product or delete it, but I think unless there is the fear of punishment, more people will do it.

There's a software developer I like, the guy who created HomeSite and TopStyle. He presented his own case here--he actually setup the software to report how many people used it--he found out more people used the pirated version than legitimately subscribed to it--and that's only from his pseudo-crack, not people who actually hacked it as well. I've also seen companies copy software left and right--and this is a guy who charges a very reasonable price.

http://nick.typepad.com/blog/2004/01/on_piracy.html

I am also concerned about the new memetic warfare going on, mostly started by radical thinkers like Richard M. Stallman. While I accept a few things the Free Software Foundation want, there are some bothersome things involved. The whole copyright is not theft argument is a bit suspicious--at the very least, it is akin to shoplifiting--just because it can be physically copied doesn't mean it should be.

The cartoonist Sergio Aragones (sp?) once had somebody indignatly say why he should pay $100 for a sketch that took him 1/2 hour to draw. He put it this way--"You're not paying for the half-hour it took me to do the drawing. You're paying for the forty-one years it took me to learn how to do that." I see many people forgetting about that part of the equation.

What will eventually happen is one of two things:

1) DRM will become a reality--eventually hardware and software will be implemented. The only reason it hasn't worked now is because it's still in the infancy. Most people will accept this, as long as they don't become exploitive. I don't want to see fair use become eliminated, but I also don't want the current unprotected status quo to remain the same.

2) Piracy becomes overly rampant and all of industries suffer for it. The western countries end up going into economic chaos. This will be slow to start but it will be an eventual certainty unless we can stem the flow of piracy, reducing it to pre-Internet levels.

Here's the big reason why I think #1 will win. You will note in the last few years, the global trend towards outsourcing. Outside of service industries like McDonalds and dry-cleaning, the only place we can remain competitve is in the field of Intellectual Property. Whether it's software R&D, entertainment media, or coallated databases, it will be threatened if rampant piracy prevents a revenue stream. DRM will be implemented, just like anti-counterfeiting measures are added to money. Nobody complains that we should stop adding protections to Money, or to credit cards--why not electronic media?

 

[Kalanyr]

Because the protection on my credit card doesn't potentially allow someone to shutdown a computer I payed $7000 (or my bank account) for at a whim ?

DRM has a far higher potential to be abused than protection on credit cards/cash because it can shut down other things (than it should) when its implemented into the hardware. Its not like protecting money its like putting small bombs into money rigged to go off when its counterfeited, which I think is a trifle excessive.

Edit - Let me make it clear, no I do not think electronic filesharing abuse is a good thing, I do however have electronic copies of all the books I own because my laptop is lighter than the 3 ft stack of 3e books I own. I do not share them.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

I have yet to download any pirated material. Back in the day, I was willing to share material (e.g., computer games) among friends and family--still do, sort of. But I've yet to download anything pirated.

I'm tempted, I admit. I had an extensive collection, at one time. I've managed to regain over 300 D&D to 2E D&D books and boxed sets by legally buying them from RPG Now and SV Games. But that program has apparently been discontinued, since there hasn't been a "new" old game in a while. And the gaps are ridiculous (Encyclopedia Magica 1, 3, and 4, but no 2, for instance, with the paper versions going multiple times the cover price).

Plus, I don't want to be surrounded by boxes and boxes of books (twenty-eight before I started to sell 'em off--some of it, I only looked at once or twice every couple of years).

As for d20, oy!, but I have a collection. Not as much as before, since I'm much choosier now, but still enough that I have five boxes already (GURPS, D&D3.xE, d20). So at some point, I'll download some pirated stuff, just to either pick-and-choose content (maybe just the OGL stuff?), since I have very definite (but still vague ) ideas about what I'd want in a campaign world, and I'm tired of paying $30 for a book of which I only want 3 pages.

 

[Dana_Jorgensen]

Could I have used the $1200?
Yup. That's basically a months pay in my household. So I basically had a month's pay stolen from my household.

Only $1200?

Where on earth did you come up with that number?

By my reckoning, you tracked enough people willing to steal Crimson Contracts to account for a total of $35,850 worth of theft on that title alone.

(You tracked 3,000 people that willingly downloaded the file expecting a free copy of a PDF priced at $11.95)

 

[Kalanyr]

Dana, this is just my opinion but:
Blowing up the number to a false figure does not help Ralts, his estimate shows how much it HURTS without assuming that everyone who downloaded it would have bought it, which they wouldn't have, on top of that some of those who did download it may have bought it later, its impossible to tell, you cannot count every unique IP address as a lost sale, on top of that anyone using a dialup modem can contribute at least a unique IP address a day.

When Ralts says he lost a reasonable amount of money I feel sorry for him and he's been badly treated, when however you make the claim he lost far more than he actually did I start to look at it as deliberate obfuscation and that tends to make me dislike the people engaging in it.

Ralts however did not, and yes those who downloaded his product without paying for it and could have willingly paid the price he asked for it should be disgusted with themselves, it [Crimson Contracts] is an excellent book and looks to be well worth the money (Ralts gave me a copy of the 3e version and it really is a very good book).

 

[Sledge]

Having paid for numerous pdf's (including crimson contract's) I have to admit that I can see why people would pirate. The question is still whether it hurts the publisher, because as much as someone might want to look at the sheer number of people that seem to have "stolen" their product, I think that the publisher would have to admit that sales of that level are not realistic for their product. Most of the pdf books out there are good buys at 2-5 dollars. However I have yet to purchase a pdf I would have paid 11.95 for. If it wasn't around $5 it wasn't worth it. Even a book like Crimson Contracts is really only useable in a very small amount in a single campaign.
Rather than complaining about potential loss of sales, I would suggest being more positive. I honestly think the IP viral code in the pdf was a very big mistake. Any book you had permission from the author to release with that code is now a legitimate copy. The thing that should have really been done is some form of alteration to indicate the copy was not legitimate. I have use file sharing services as quick means to download netbook releases. In the process I have gotten many files of buyable pdfs. Some of these have been renamed even. In every case had I not known of the product, owned it already, or gone the extra mile and checked the website of the publisher I would never have known the product was not intentionally released as such. Put a price tag on the cover or a note on the first page. If you want to slow piracy down then motivate people to buy from you, don't just get grouchy. Remember also that the majority of people downloading may be UNABLE to buy your product in a convenient manner. To set up online payment and all that it entails is time consuming. For the people sharing the files it is usually much much easier to simply search and download.
There have to be many ways to positively influence people into supporting the authors that create the source of their pastime.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

What I've wondered for a long time now is why a lot of the companies that publish print products won't sell the hardcopy versions in pdf-format, allowing a price reduction for those customers who already bought the hardcopy and only want a pdf for laptop transport?

I mean, it can't be that hard...include a unique alphanumerical password in every hardcopy, set up a server with the pdf files that allows a one-time-only access for that specific password, and grant people who buy the pdf with that password a price reduction attractive enough to make it worth their while?

I'm sure a lot of people who posted in this thread with "I only download scans of the books I have for the purpose of laptop transportation" would have gladly paid $5 more for a pdf version of their books?

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

Giving away Open Content, selling added value

There have to be many ways to positively influence people into supporting the authors that create the source of their pastime.

One of these ways is for publishers to make sure that what they're selling is better than what people can take for free! Behemoth3 isn't going to tell you to stop gaming and get a job if you can't afford to support your gaming pastime/obsession/addiction. We know what it's like to have a boring job that's made tolerable only by having a cool PDF open on your desktop & hiding it every time the boss walks by. If the electronic version of Masters and Minions helps get you through the day, then you're one day closer to having the money to pay for it. We hope you'll agree it's worth the price!

Stealing a crust of bread if you're starving is the classic example of when it's justified to take something for free. Behemoth3 isn't going to begrudge anyone a crust of bread. As gamers, we've been in the situation of having to decide whether to spend money on food or a new RPG book; as publishers, we want our customers to live long, healthy, happy lives (so they can buy more books from us) so we encourage you to eat right!

Bread is a good metaphor because restaurants give it away for free. They trust that generally people won't come in and eat the bread off the table and leave; what they're actually selling is the chance to sit down with your friends in a nice, comfortable environment and share a meal together.

Check out our initial SwoRD release for an example of the bread Behemoth3 is giving away for free, and then salivate over the forthcoming Vorpal tools that will be available to paying customers.

I'm sure a lot of people who posted in this thread with "I only download scans of the books I have for the purpose of laptop transportation" would have gladly paid $5 more for a pdf version of their books?

Interesting; we were planning to give away the pdf version for free to people who bought the print version. Our reasoning is that it was better to use a sticker system such as you describe and try to increase the number of people who use PDF at all than to try to make a few bucks off the few who might pay for PDF versions.

I am also concerned about the new memetic warfare going on, mostly started by radical thinkers like Richard M. Stallman.

Ever since the Open Gaming License, our entire community has been in the forefront of the meme and culture wars! Long live the glorious revolution.

The discussion of copyright in this thread has missed the point that much of a d20/OGL release is actually operating under a copyleft system. For those who are calculating lost revenues: are you correcting for the percentage of your work that is Open Game Content & thus properly belongs to the community anyways?

 

[JohnRTroy]

Ever since the Open Gaming License, our entire community has been in the forefront of the meme and culture wars! Long live the glorious revolution.

The discussion of copyright in this thread has missed the point that much of a d20/OGL release is actually operating under a copyleft system. For those who are calculating lost revenues: are you correcting for the percentage of your work that is Open Game Content & thus properly belongs to the community anyways?

Revolutions don't always work though.

This thread was about the RPG industry, not the d20 industry. I see the OGL as an interesting experiment, that might either succeed or fail depending on what happens. If the industry collapses because the free content providers exploit it too much, then it's a failure.

As far as DRM goes--no, "shutting down" the computer is not the only option. I see it like the cable industry--in the beginning, it was a lot easier to get free cable, they didn't have the ability to detect siphons and feeds and didn't have a central management system. Newer cable boxes and connection systems allow a much tighter control on cable theft now. I would eventually see some sort of method being used for electronically distributed media.

 

[WizarDru]

Having paid for numerous pdf's (including crimson contract's) I have to admit that I can see why people would pirate. The question is still whether it hurts the publisher, because as much as someone might want to look at the sheer number of people that seem to have "stolen" their product, I think that the publisher would have to admit that sales of that level are not realistic for their product. Most of the pdf books out there are good buys at 2-5 dollars. However I have yet to purchase a pdf I would have paid 11.95 for. If it wasn't around $5 it wasn't worth it. Even a book like Crimson Contracts is really only useable in a very small amount in a single campaign.

[blinks]

Wow.

I can only assume I value money less than you do, if you considered titles like Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe, Three Arrows for the King and others to be barely worth $5, if at all. Either that, or you've just picked some really bad PDFs.

I guess I just don't get it. Seeing a new movie when it first comes out can be $8-11, depending on where you go. Factor in snacks, and a single person can spend $13-20 alone, for around 1.5-3 hours worth of entertainment. A matinee may drop that price by a couple of dollars. And yet RPG books are considered overpriced, despite the continual increase in paper costs...even though they generate a better value over time. The justification that "Oh, it's too expensive...they MAKE me steal it" is pretty silly, to me. Especially since piracy tends to cause the price of a product to be inflated, to ensure that they can turn in profit. I remember what it was like to buy computer games that were sold on cassette tapes, thankyouverymuch, and I remember what the market was like. I think the market for RPG books rather resembles that market, now. Ultimately, piracy was never stopped, just the product reached a large enough economy of scale that they could afford to lower the price.