D&D 5E Full D&D Adventurers League is for Americas only...

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip) Getting support from local shop owners here would be difficult because they are simply not bringing in D&D to their shelves, even though the shops usually gets horded by Magic: The Gathering players. One reason for this that I don't see being mentioned and realised on this thread that is a larger barrier to having having D&D products, at least in this part of Asia, is summarised in one word: piracy. (snip)

That's an interesting comment. I never realised piracy had had such an impact on the sale of RPGs in Malaysia.

Are there any consequences for piracy if you are caught in Malaysia? I live in the Philippines and there are essentially no consequences here. As many internet connections are completely anonymous - like mine - even tracking you down if you have done something illegal, especially also considering that - despite living in a relatively large city - we don't actually have addresses here. And even using the police to find someone is a problem because, if you have a halfway decent relationship with them, they will simply declare that you cannot be found. (In other cities, you can simply pay them not to find you.)

 

[questing gm]

While there are some criminal laws against piracy involving jail time and hefty fines, the enforcement of it is very much corrupted similar in the ways you've described for the Philippines. Crackdowns have so far been done on the physical medium to salvage the film and music industry (but the piracy for those is still going strong to this day), so I think preventing the theft of electronic property of a game they've never heard of would be far in the backburner.

That aside though, I still think Malaysians are willing to fork out some money to buy the books (even if they can be prohibitively expensive at times) if there is a reasonably sound 'support group' to keep the momentum going and building a market in demand. I thought I saw that potential in the upcoming OP (really, what better time to get the ball rolling than a new edition?), but alas seeing how we are deprived from the larger (and more attractive) events, it looks like we would have to start small (and stay that way) for a long time.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

While there are some criminal laws against piracy involving jail time and hefty fines, the enforcement of it is very much corrupted similar in the ways you've described for the Philippines. Crackdowns have so far been done on the physical medium to salvage the film and music industry (but the piracy for those is still going strong to this day), so I think preventing the theft of electronic property of a game they've never heard of would be far in the backburner. (snip)

A couple of years ago, one of the current Philippine president's senior advisors was busted by the media buying counterfeit DVDs and confronted about it. The whole situation was subsequently ignored and he is still there with cabinet rank. (Mind you, the current president is the most corrupt - and incompetent - since his mother was president so it wasn't expected that there would be any repercussions.)

(snip) That aside though, I still think Malaysians are willing to fork out some money to buy the books (even if they can be prohibitively expensive at times) if there is a reasonably sound 'support group' to keep the momentum going and building a market in demand. I thought I saw that potential in the upcoming OP (really, what better time to get the ball rolling than a new edition?), but alas seeing how we are deprived from the larger (and more attractive) events, it looks like we would have to start small (and stay that way) for a long time.

A few days ago, I started another thread about marketing D&D in Asia. Are you interested in posting some thoughts there?

 

[Mirtek]

So how can the rest of the world partake in these epic tales...

You are overestimating the value of the epics. Yes, it's a pity that they likely are going to be only available in the US, but even in the US the vast majority of AL players will never participat in one of them. Just like in LG the vast majority of LG players only played the standard modules and never travelled to attend the special battle interactives or special weekend adventures and were none the worse for it.

 

[Blackwarder]

You are overestimating the value of the epics. Yes, it's a pity that they likely are going to be only available in the US, but even in the US the vast majority of AL players will never participat in one of them. Just like in LG the vast majority of LG players only played the standard modules and never travelled to attend the special battle interactives or special weekend adventures and were none the worse for it.

Maybe, but just knowing that you have the option to participate in such a great community event can make a difference.
I plan to corner someone at GenCon and see how WotC can help me help them bring OP into my little corner of the world.

Warder