There is still some lingering idea that it's not really official unless it's hard copy. A very interesting anachronism in this digital age.
It even goes beyond desire for official product: there has also been a sense that a product doesn't "count" unless it's a printed, hardcover book. I remember before Tales from the Yawning Portal came out, there were frequent complaints that WotC had not published any short, stand-alone adventures. Whenever I or someone else pointed out that WotC had published dozens of short, stand-alone adventures in the form of AL modules, it never seemed to make the complainers happy.
They do vary wildly in quality, although some of them are awesome. But that was never anyone's complaint on the board; the complaint was always "WotC doesn't make short adventures."Yeah but the AL modules kinda stink
Sure, it's an anachronism. OTOH, I run everything pencil-and-paper, and I've found that when I'm putting together adventures the stuff I've downloaded sits on my powered-off computer and falls out of my head, while the stuff in books goes in. If I have to print out all the PDFs I want to use, so I remember to use them, why wouldn't I prefer to purchase actual books?
That is partly due to the fact that high-quality movies and TV series are so expensive to make that those with the money to invest are reluctant to shell out for something that doesn't already have a proven, built-in audience. Which probably also applies to WotC and published books.It may also be worth bringing up how the current media landscape seems absolutely obsessed with nostalgia. The Marvel and Star Wars movies feature characters originally created in the 60s and 70s. When is the last time a hit new tv series wasn't based on a novel?
Just wanted to give the thumbs-up to the prime Coming To America reference....and if you go to McDowell's instead of McDonald's, you're going to miss out on the sesame seeds.