Gamers and Thieves

[drothgery]

Only if someone who would otherwise have bought the pdf doesn't. If there was no chance of that, no one has actually been hurt.

I have never, nor will I ever, buy a pdf. I've never accepted an illegal copy, but if I was to do so, it wouldn't hurt anyone. It would still be stealing, mind you.

That's just not true. Widespread illegal copying helps create an environment where people don't believe they have to pay for music/software/gaming books/etc. So the "buy threshhold" for many people is far higher than it would be if they didn't think it was "okay" to download something that they "had no intention of buying", even if they don't conciously realize it.

 

[EricNoah]

Ugh, do we have to have the piracy discussion again?

 

[Samothdm]

What city was that, Samothdm? I've been thinking about donating Masters and Minions books to my local public library, and trying to organize a donation drive for other companies to do the same. One of the hurdles will be convincing the library to start a RPG collection, so having other examples of cities that have done it might help. And yeah, books going missing will be one of the others.

This was when my dad had been transferred to Salt Lake City from Reno (talk about culture shock! I was going from 5th to 6th grade and didn't understand just how different the people in those two cities were going to be...). So, it was the Salt Lake City library.

 

[LeifVignirsson]

And finally there is the PDF stealing of scanned books that seems to be the biggest theft in the industry.

There are some people that do that for a living, I myself just get the ones I already own since I am too lazy to actually scan them myself with my scanner. Believe me or not, but I try to limit my PDF's to the ones I own since that is the legal way to go. It is the same with ROM's for the video game industry, you can keep it for 24 hours UNLESS you own the product and it is a back up.

As far as the theft goes, it is a mixed bag. I have heard people in the area who game crow about theft because it is too expensive for them, but then the FLGS keeps a pretty good eye on everyone. I was no angel in my day, but then I spend my hard earned money on at least 8 books a month... I have more disposable income though since I don't have to worry about car payments, house payments, etc.

 

[jester47]

EN is right folks, lets keep this one on the topic of gamers and the 5 finger discount.

One of the things I have noticed is there is a segment of "teenager" literature that some libraries refuse to carry. Noted are:

Jim Morrisons poetry (It keeps getting stolen)
Gaming Books (they keep getting stolen)
Books on Rock Bands (they keep getting stolen)
Arkham editions of HP Lovecraft (yes, again, they keep getting stolen)

Its interesting.

Aaron.

 

[drothgery]

Ugh, do we have to have the piracy discussion again?

Sorry about that; I've got this reflex action when I read something that sounds like an attempt to defend piracy.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

One of the things I have noticed is there is a segment of "teenager" literature that some libraries refuse to carry. Noted are:

Jim Morrisons poetry (It keeps getting stolen)
Gaming Books (they keep getting stolen)
Books on Rock Bands (they keep getting stolen)
Arkham editions of HP Lovecraft (yes, again, they keep getting stolen)

Also:

Neil Gaiman's Sandman books
The Anarchist's Cookbook

 

[Pseudonym]

I wonder if people still steal Hoffman's "Steal This Book", or has that gone out of fashion?

 

[DonaldRumsfeldsTofu]

Stealing things is fun, and I argue that all of the cool kids do it.

The same can be said about D&D.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

It's all about the price vs value. Have I ever bought a legal copy of Windows XP Professional? That costs $280. Hell no, you burn a copy from your friend. Have I every bought a pdf? Hell no. You get a copy from your friend. It's that simple. If I had the people resources that some of you guys had, I would definately be ripping pdf versions of books off. I'll be honest - if I had enough money to buy a decent scanner I would do it myself.

Lovely.