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

[Kwalish Kid]

Gamers, free preview? Kind of a package deal when you think about it.
'Course, not many people are silly enough to admit they'll out-right steal it, so it tends to skew the results.

To be fair, there is no stealing involved here. There is the violation, by the distributor, of the copyright that grants certain restrictions, ultimately backed by the use of force by the state, on distribution. (Of course, as Lord Tirian points out, much of the violation of distribution over the internet also involves also violating the restrictions on distribution.) No property is lost by the publishers, save perhaps the opportunity of the sale of a physical object (the associated book). The copyright holder also loses the opportunity to provide a service (access to a source of distribution) of which they, according to the power of the state, hold a monopoly. Said monopoly is provided to increase the price of goods associated with the creative work in order to provide incentive to produce creative works. Whether or not the trade-off in market inefficiency is worth the creative works produced on the whole is a matter for the state to decide. Insofar as all members of a state must obey the trade restrictions of the state, all members of the state must refrain from violating the restrictions on distribution granted by copyright.

 

[Yair]

I would download the files to take a look, but won't start playing until well after my (pre-ordered) books arrive - I'd prefer to read the hardcover, and won't have time to read them all and play before the pre-orders arrive anyway. (And of course I won't use downloaded files without paying for the content.)

 

[just__al]

I would download and have a read through or 3. It would help me get ready for a 4th edition game when the books ship.

I wouldn't play between now and then.

The new edition came at the perfect time. I needed a break, and needed, just for a few months anyway to stop buying gaming books.

I just wrapped up 3 of the 4 games I've been playing in and the other game only happens once a month so it's no big deal.


The last game I finished went to 19th level. Too much going on to effective run a game right now at that level....

Really looking forward to 4e

 

[kennew142]

I've got a set for me and one for the wife on preorder. If a pdf were leaked to the web, I would (in this order):

1) Download it
2) Read it ASAP
3) Smile smugly at how wrong all the worst-case musings about 4e actually were
4) Resist all temptation to make hundreds of I-told-you-so posts
5) Finish prep work on upcoming 4e setting
6) Await preorders with baited breath
7) Convert entirely to the new edition

Other than giving me a preview and letting me a jump on the mechanics of my upcoming setting, I don't see anything else changing.

 

[Flynn]

I can understand the drive to download the rules early and check them out. Truth be told, there was a time not long ago when I might have considered doing the same thing. But as it stands, I voted to not download but definitely read the spoilers. At this point, I'm okay with waiting the two more months for my pre-ordered books to ship out in hard cover. I'm interested enough in 4E to get the little tidbits, but not driven to know it all at this point.

Now, on the realistic side, I doubt anything like that is going to happen, simply because I'm sure WOTC is being pretty tight with the 4E content. After all, part of the problem with the GSL release is likely someone's fear of exactly this kind of thing happening (not the entire problem, mind you, but it could be a contributing factor). But even if it did, I wouldn't download the files. I just don't have the drive to know that I used to with 3E.

YMMV, Of Course,
Flynn

 

[WyzardWhately]

I'd download it and probably play it. It would only affect my decision to pre-order if it was very, very bad. Playing a game without physical copies of the books annoys the hell out of me, so I wouldn't be able to cancel my purchases if I intended to keep playing the game.


In all seriousness, I'd be deeply surprised if the game was so bad that it wasn't worth at least keeping on my shelf.

 

[Mercule]

Well, I still have a few months worth of play in my 3.5 campaign, so I'm not actually ready to play 4e.

That said, the intent is the same as "download + buy". I don't really like the idea of people replacing purchased copies with bootlegs, but I've never objected to the idea of bootlegs serving the same purpose as me walking into Barnes & Noble and spending a couple of hours reading through the book to preview it before purchase. In this case, I'm dying of curiosity about the full 4e package, which is close enough.

Having a bootleg for early perusal is unlikely to affect my purchase of either the dead-tree or DDI pdf version of the books, though. At least, no more than the afore mentioned stint at B&N would.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

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.

I don't know if anyone's corrected you yet, but the latest word is that it'll be an online repository that you cannot download for offline use. Unless that's changed and I didn't notice. They seem to have decided to give up on the idea of making the online products useful for people who DM from their laptops but aren't necessarily always on Wi-Fi.

 

[Rykaar]

I voted "download and play" but really mean "download and brew up a campaign, have the group buy multiple handbooks plus the MM and DMG in June and probably still not get rolling til July or August" but that didn't seem to be an option

Seriously, at this point I'd just like to know the framework of rules for characters above 1st level. Such as how many powers, what sort of damage curves are we looking at, etc.

But really, to be honest, I can still build the framework of the campaign around the PoL concept without knowing much else at all about 4e. I have no excuse to drag my feet.

 

[Grymar]

Currently I have no intention of buying 4e at all. My group tried the preview games and the 4e-lite book and our reaction was between disappointed and utterly horrified.

I would download and read them through to see if perhaps the full rule set has enough changes in it to earn my money.