So everyone in your gaming group uses PCGen while you game? usually only the GM will need the files because they will be the one who is tracking the groups characters. I doubt that everyone in your gaming group needs all the files...and there is nothing forcing them to buy a copy each.
I can't speak for the original poster, but with my group, my players create and level up their characters at home, and email me the pcg file. If they don't have a copy of the PCGen files (and they won't, they're not
all going to pay for them) then it's also less useful to me, because I no longer have a handy electronic version of their characters.
Plus, the same logic goes for books...
not everyone in a gaming group NEEDS to own the PHb, yet usually everyone in a gaming group will own their own copy of said PHb. It is just as easy for the GM to own a PHb which the group shares. Does this mean WotC is raping you for money because everyone in the group wants their own copy of the PHb and pays the $30 for it, thus paying WotC about $180 for the same book? No, it is the player's desire to own their own copy of a product. I don't see that as exploitation, just supply and demand.
Except, that's ONLY true for the PHB, because it's used constantly at the gaming table. For the splatbooks, for instance, we only own one copy of each that everyone uses because it sees very little table use. We can pay $20 between the seven of us for us all to use it. But at $3, it'd be $21 for the group to use a product we already own in PCGen. Ugh.
You see, like PCGen, you only need a splatbook when leveling up your character and it's really easy to share for that purpose. Occasionally, you may need to look up exactly what a feat does in the middle of a game, but it's rare enough that multiple people don't ever need the splatbook. And PCGen can't even preform that last function, so it's less valuable. And yes, you charge less, but you charge per person, not per group. So, as a group, $20 for a splatbook is no problem. $21 to use that splatbook in PCGen is.
And that's before we even get into the fact that it's only guaranteed to work for one year. In my experiecne, PCGen breaks LST syntax about once every six months or so, so that "only one year" pricetag is a big deal. A very big deal. Over the corse of five years, myself alone could end up paying more to use a book in PCGen than to own the actual paper book! That's not even getting into what the entire group would pay!
To be blunt, I find that absolutely and completly unacceptable. I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm telling you flat-out that I will
not pay anything that resembles a "subscription" service for these LST files. Maybe others will, and it won't be a big deal for you, but
I won't.
If I buy a Sword and Fist, I get to use it forever, no additonal charges. If WotC erratas it two months later, or two years later, I can still download the errata from WotC's website for free. I expect the same from my data files that I purchased. It's not hard to do. You have a LST file converter in PCGen right now. All you have to do is keep it up to date.
Plenty of products will continue to come out that will put money in your coffers, and I have exactly
zero problems with paying you for your work. I realize PCGen is a big effort, I appreciate your work, which until now has been purely volunteer. I don't have any problem with paying.
But I won't continue to pay year after year to use the same stuff.
- Z a c h
Perhaps the problem is just me not understanding, but I just don't understand the protest against a publisher charging for what they are publishing.
