Frostburn in PDF @ drivethrurpg!

[Roudi]

The Sigil, I want to thank you for elaborating and helping to verify the opinion I've held for a long time. Thank you.

 

[JustaPlayer]

Looking for Staffan

Hey Staffan, can you email me RoastSaddam AT hotmail DOT com with the info on how convert the file. I want to back up my file then rebuild my PC as well as use them on my laptop which I refuse to put 6.0 on.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Charles Ryan

The DRM Format: Sorry to be a little long-winded on the MSRP issue, but it’s a complex issue and there’s a lot to say. This one should be easier (and shorter).

There’s a lot of false information on the net about secure eBooks. Some people will tell you that you can’t use your DRM product unless you’re connected to the internet, or that you can’t print it, or that you can’t use it on more than one computer, or that you can’t make back ups of it, or that Adobe Reader is spyware, and on and on. Frankly, that’s a bunch of baloney, propogated mostly be people who’ve never actually tried a DRM eBook.

Here’s the scoop: If you have a copy of Adobe Reader (and who doesn’t?), you simply register it with Adobe. (Go to Tools-->eBook Web Services-->Adobe DRM Activator in Adobe Reader.) It takes three minutes, tops. Once you do that, you can use any DRM eBook you purchase just as if it were a regular PDF. You can read the eBook on other computers you own, as long as you register Adobe Reader on that machine too. Other people can’t read the eBooks you purchased, and you can’t read theirs, but other than that there’s no difference between a DRM eBook and any other PDF. If you don’t believe me, I invite to you go to DriveThruRPG.com, download one of their free products, and give it a spin. Doesn’t cost you a dime.

Interesting, after saying you don't need an internet connection he tells you to use a feature of Adobe that needs an internet connection.... So much for misinformation. You need to have an internet connection to register Adobe. The computers at work for example have very nice laser printers, and no internet connection (or even modems) at all.

If something shows up forfree that would interest me in print I will download it and look it over. If I like it I will buy it and keep the DRMed PDF to use on the computer, if I don't like it, away it goes... But I will never buy a DRMed file.

The Auld Grump

 

[Bagpuss]

Why would Monte continue to sell books as standard pdf? Well, when he didn't (and used DTRPG exclusively) he got a lot of angry customers that pretty well might have cost him a lot of lost sales. Not only on the pdf front, but also the print front. Monte's ebooks are available, shortly after they are released as an ebook, on 'pirate' channels.

And yet while I still check out books on PDF through pirate channels, I still buy Monte books that I want without DRM.

The problem probably is established business practice of the company, customers are generally very hesitant of change. As Monte started as a pdf only business, going to print only might very well result in a lot of alienated customers. But i would bet that his print sales would increase.

But would they increase enough to cover the loss of the PDF sales? Considering the additional overheads I doubt it. I know I own a number of Monte PDF's that I would not have bought if they were print only.

WotC books are high profile products, can the same be said for less well known publishers? Let's take another big publisher, AEG with the SpyCraft and SG-1 line. Of the entire line of 20-25 products, there are currently only 3 of those books circulating in the 'pirate' channels.

Why is that? Well, those quick and high quality scans destroy a source book. A source book costs money, and after destroying the binding often looses the utility to the owner. A 'cracked' pdf on the other hand doesn't loose it's initial utility to the owner, and as a result is far more likely to happen.

And yet pretty much the entire FFG Fantasy D20 Product line was available on pirate Channels before they went to DTRPG. Perhaps it has more to do with the popularity of the genre, than the fact its only available in hardcopy.

 

[Conaill]

Interesting, after saying you don't need an internet connection he tells you to use a feature of Adobe that needs an internet connection.... So much for misinformation.

To be fair, he never said you *don't* need an internet connection. He was simply responding to the claim that "you can’t use your DRM product unless you’re connected to the internet". I.e. some people were claiming you have to be online every time you use the pdf, he countered that you only need to register online once, after that you can use the pdf without internet connection.

 

[Cergorach]

Educate me: cergorach AT thehelix dot nl
If your able to do what you claim i'm very interested how, from both a technical perspective as wel as a practical perspective.

I'm educated! (Sorry that it took almost a month to get back to this thread)

With two free tools and notepad it's very easy to convert DRM pdfs into non-DRM pdfs. The filesize is a bit bigger, but not by much, depending on the file i've seen an increase of 10%-40%.

 

[JoeGKushner]

To be fair, he never said you *don't* need an internet connection. He was simply responding to the claim that "you can’t use your DRM product unless you’re connected to the internet". I.e. some people were claiming you have to be online every time you use the pdf, he countered that you only need to register online once, after that you can use the pdf without internet connection.

Perhaps you can answer this for me. I have no internet connection at home, but can get to the internet from a few places.

Can I buy this, put it on a USB keychain and take it home and read it?

 

[Cergorach]

Perhaps you can answer this for me. I have no internet connection at home, but can get to the internet from a few places.

Can I buy this, put it on a USB keychain and take it home and read it?

It depends.

If you first drag your home computer to a location where you can access the internet you can. (you register the computer you want to read your pdfs on)

If you can't register your home pc, you'll need some more work before you can open the files on your home pc. You would have to remove the DRM protection.

 

[Psion]

Dispensing with the DRM debate: A PDF is not worth as much to the average consumer as a hardcopy. It just isn't.

Certainly, there are things you can do with a PDF that you can't do with a hardcopy... like simply copy-and-paste from it and drop it into your notes. And it's easier to carry around.

But it seems obvious to me, as someone who does use a laptop, that having a copy of a product on the computer, is considered an inferior alternative to having a book. If transport isn't an issue (for example, if I have it on my laptop and if I have it on a shelf next to me), it seems to me the book is preferable. I can't flip open to the page and hand it to a player to read while I am doing something else on my computer. Likewise, if I am in bed and I want to read up on something I have planned for the game tomorrow, and I have a book I can pick up an read, or if I have to dig my laptop out of its case and start it up, I'm going to grab the book.

Books are more pleasant to look at and more comfortable to use.

Compound this with the fact that most arguments about printing and distribution costs vanish, charging full cover price for a PDF seems pretty dubious.

Now, throw DRM into the equation, which introduces more hassles, the possibility of volatility, and portability problems, it becomes even more dubious.


Also, someone mentioned Malhavoc earlier. I do agree that PDF has some benefits. If its a product that I like and use a lot, I will buy more version. (And I was surprised in a poll I posted here how many people felt likewise.)

 

[Sledge]

I was under the actual impression that the piracy issue has never been actually shown to decrease sales. The only tested results I've heard of are from Baen's free library. Has anyone seen any actual reports that genuinely showed that piracy has actually affected sales? The current attitude held by many seems to just be a kneejerk reaction. I'm not saying this is intentional, but if you are a publisher and you look online at the piracy groups and find a copy of your product you are not in an objective position.

By the way having a scanner I can copy and paste from my books on the fly. Scanners these days can be had for less than the price of certain Wotc hardcovers. So don't tell me that the value of a digital copy is anywhere close to that of a hardcopy. Also don't tell me that "development costs" are the real expense. If that was the case the price of books wouldn't be tied to the size of the books, but instead on the type of contents.