IF a PDFs of the 3 core books were leaked, would you:

[Crothian]

I wouldn't even download them. I'm playing two games already and a PbP as a third. All of them are going well so I wouldn't want to just can one of them or more to start a new campaign. I have plenty of things to read now and am more then patient to read the books when they come out. Books are also just easier to read when I'm learning a game.

 

[jeffh]

I would definitely read them. I don't think I'd ever run a game where I only had PDFs of the rules, though (unless they were short and printer-friendly; this will probably be neither); there's really no substitute for having the book in hand. So unless it really stunk the place out, the PDF would have no impact on whether I bought the books, which is a practical certainty regardless. At most, it would affect when I did so, making it feel somewhat less urgent to grab them as soon as they come out. If having the PDF dissuaded me from buying, it would be because I intensely disliked the contents of that PDF, not because of the mere fact of having it.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I don't see the parallel here. Perhaps it would be more like eating the puppies, regurgitating them, and then raising them? The harm(eating the puppies), I would assume, would be that WotC would lose $ because you are downloading the rules without buying them. However, if you buy the books anyway, you may still be breaking the law, but you're hardly eating puppies. I could be wrong though. Emotional damage? That's hard to fix. I really don't like it when I don't get it.

Also, having bought the books, you can make copies for your own personal use under the rubric of "fair use". While nobody is currently able to pay for the books, and so the fair use argument wouldn't apply as a legal defence at this point, I think you'd have to do a lot of doubletalk in order to argue that someone who preordered the books and then downloaded a leaked PDF with no intention of cancelling the preorder is acting immorally. The bottom line is the bottom line: if you buy the books, and don't distribute copies, you're not doing any harm to the publisher, even if you also download a pirated version and print up a hundred copies and wallpaper your den with them.

Also, an "accidental" leak of part of the PHB would probably be an amazing marketing tool, getting thousands of people playing the game and champing at the bit for the full, hardback version. That seems to be the plan anyway, considering the amount of useable information that has been provided, rounded up, and published as the "PHB-lite". I have no doubt that they expected exactly that to happen. Now they've got an existing 4E market to sell to before the product even comes back from the printers.

Also: LOL at the suggestion that book piracy is morally equivalent to eating puppies. Oh, you crazy kids these days.

 

[catsclaw227]

I have already pre-ordered a set, as well as 4 additional PHBs for the gang in my group. So, yes I would look at them for a head start and to use in Keep on the Shadowfell.

They already have my money, and will get more, so I wouldn't feel bad about it.

 

[FallenTabris]

I voted for read spoilers but not download the thing myself. Isn't the RPG industry small enough of a profit source for companies that we should avoid piracy? I'll wait until I have some good ole hardbacks in my hand before I play.

 

[Zelgadas]

I voted for the "Check out spoilers, but do not download them" option, but I feel like I have to qualify that; in a perfect world, that's what I'd do. In reality, depending on how far before the release they came, I'd probably give in and download them eventually. I would still, however, buy the core rules box set, as I'd much rather have print copies that PDFs (having both, of course, is better), and I don't want to deprive Wizards of my money for what is going to be an undoubtedly cool game, at least in my opinion. I'd feel dirty pirating 4E rather than paying.

 

[Cirex]

"Download them and start playing, still buy official version".

I mean, I want to have the books physically, not just some downloaded&printed version, which, by the way, would be quite useless to me (I need the Spanish version).

Now, even after having the official version, I would keep them. If I need to discuss a feat or a spell, I need to know the English name, not the name the Spanish mighty translators gave it.

 

[Imperialus]

Download, play, buy official.

I actually really like PDF's as sourcebooks. I have almost my entire Shadowrun collection in PDF form (all paid for) as well as hardcopy. A well done PDF with bookmarks, searchability ect. is a pretty useful tool. Great for fast references and (though I don't have a laptop) I know of a lot of people who don't even bother bringing a stack of books to game night, just their laptop and acrobat reader. I don't know about anyone else but if WoTC did produce a PDF version of the rules and sell it at a reasonable price I'd buy it in addition to the hardcovers in a second.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Download, read, still buy, then look like a freaking rules genius at our first 4E session.

 

[MaelStorm]

Download, play, buy official.

I actually really like PDF's as sourcebooks. I have almost my entire Shadowrun collection in PDF form (all paid for) as well as hardcopy. A well done PDF with bookmarks, searchability ect. is a pretty useful tool. Great for fast references and (though I don't have a laptop) I know of a lot of people who don't even bother bringing a stack of books to game night, just their laptop and acrobat reader. I don't know about anyone else but if WoTC did produce a PDF version of the rules and sell it at a reasonable price I'd buy it in addition to the hardcovers in a second.

That will be a feature of DDI, you enter the code of your book and you can have it on electronic form, I presume it will be a PDF. I don't know if you can upload them to your computer, but usually a PDF you can always save on your hard disk.