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

[Elf Witch]

This would make me violate my own rule about not downloading books I didn't pay for.

I would download the books to take a look at the rules because I am curious about them. I canceled my preorder a few weeks ago. The more I hear the less it appeals to me.

What I will end up doing is waiting to the books come to my local bookstore. I will grab them and spend a day reading them while enjoying a coffee in the bookstore cafe.

 

[I'm A Banana]

As cool as some people think file-sharing is, there is just no substitute for the actual hardcopy in my hands

Word.

This is why I think some of the paranoia around protecting books from online piracy is a bit overwrought. The formats are pretty incompatible -- it's a pain to read a book on a computer screen. Heck, even ebooks have difficulty crossing that barrier. The physical substance of a book is just too tenacious.

I'd definately download them and read them. The purchase would probably be based on whether or not I would plan on actually using the books to play the game. If yeah, then yeah, nothin' beats the book in hand at the table. If no, then no. If all it would do is sit on my shelf anyway, I've got better uses for shelf space.

This is something that books have over movies, music, art, photography...other things that routinely get pirated online. A book's physical substance is part of it's appeal in the way that a physical CD or a DVD isn't (though I'm sure some vinyl die-hards would argue that there's something inherent in that kind of format that can't be replicated).

Heck, with books, you even have things like the Creative Commons liscences. Giving your stuff away online for free often results in MORE sales of the end product, because you reach a bigger audience.

That might not work for D&D specifically, but whatever. The point is that some pdf file is no substitute for the physical book (but an mp3 file might be considered in most minds a viable substitute for a cd single).

 

[hargert]

As I have pre-ordered them already I would download them and most likly print them up and start playing. Once my real books come I would stick it on my self and most likly never touch it again. Is it technical wrong? Of course but I would still do it. Shame this is not an option as I have had to start a new game and now I have to run 3.5 and then try to talk the players into changing mid stream.

 

[Cadfan]

I admit, I'd download them if I didn't think there was a chance of getting caught.

I'd still buy them though. In fact, I'd feel guilty and definitely buy them if I had any intention of playing 4e at all (which right now I do). I might not buy them on the very day they hit the street, though. I wouldn't put effort into ensuring a first day purchase.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'd also like to add that, remember, via the DDI, ALL THE RULES will be available online.

Now, admittedly, that's for a monthly fee, but someone who was just interested in getting the rules could get away with never once buying a single book.

I don't think Wizards regards that as a true threat to their core business of book selling.

 

[Carnivorous_Bean]

I personally find digital copies of books to be a ghastly substitute for the actual thing. A lot of the classics that I enjoy are free online, their copyrights long expired or never having existed in the first place , and I will use the Internet when I'm looking for a quick, exact quotation from one of them. But I would never consider reading them online -- I'm a serious computer geek, but there's something about an electronic copy of a long text that repels my soul.

Nor would I download it, print it out, and play. A huge pile of printouts is almost as bad as a digital book.

I might download and print a few cogent passages that would let me start preparing material for adventures once the books were out, however. Mainly because I don't have a lot of prep time as it is, and getting a head start would be convenient.

 

[MaelStorm]

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.

Thanks for the info. No, I didn't know but I'm not surprised at all. This way they can stop information from leaking out. Anyway, I'm not going to use DDI, so it doesn't really matter. I'm buying the books, adventures, minis, that's enough! I'm not going to shelve 150$ per year on top of it for DDI.

 

[RandomCitizenX]

This discussion just reminded me of the people I knew who refused to buy the phb, since the SRD was free for 3.x. It always annoyed me that they were unwilling to spend the money to support the game line they spent so much time playing.

 

[Stormtalon]

As cool as some people think file-sharing is, there is just no substitute for the actual hardcopy in my hands. The glossy sheen of the paper, the smell of the ink, the soft whisper of each page as I turn it...

This. Hell, I've even preordered via my FLGS, as I don't wanna wait for Mister Postman to deliver it -- and yeah, I know it'd be delivered to my doorstep on release day, but why chance it? Besides, this way there'll be no risk of anyone looting the box as it sits forlornly on the porch. Now, if I can just get lucky enough to call in and get 2hrs off work the morning of June 6th so I can get to said FLGS about the time they open their doors....

 

[Pssthpok]

I don't know, if the puppies knew the complete 4E rules and you could gain their knowledge by eating them?

Fire up the grill.

You rule.