D&D 5E PDFs and Next

[reanjr]

I was curious if WotC has dropped any information on whether they will be bringing back PDFs of their books. I completely stopped purchasing from WotC after they abandoned digital distribution. I don't understand how someone in this business can be so ignorant as to think stopping digital distribution helps fight piracy, but I can guarantee it kills legitimate revenue.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

We can only hope. I'd like to be able to buy a book and get a .pdf copy included.

 

[Dragoslav]

I strongly approve of this idea. I mean, it's 2012; that should be the only argument one has to make in favor of it.

 

[Kabluey]

I agree, but unfortunately it may not be up to wotc. It might be the best business decision, but I work for a company that is owned by a parent company, and sometimes the wrong decision is made just because the parent company doesn't really understand our business. I think it's the same with Hasbro. They probably don't really understand the rpg market, so to them I suspect having PDF's which can be easily copied and distributed would be like handing out Monopoly boards on the street corner, and since they probably don't deal with PDF's, they may not understand that they can generate a lot of income as well.

Our best hope is that their top competitor in this market, i.e., Paizo, has done very well with PDF's, so hopefully wotc can make the case, "Look, it's working for them, it can work for us."

 

[dmccoy1693]

We can only hope. I'd like to be able to buy a book and get a .pdf copy included.

Well all Jon Brazer Enterprises Pathfinder books include a free PDF, no matter where you purchase them. Assuming there is a license, and the license is good and the system turns out to be AWESOME!!!, and there is sufficient interest in third party material for D&DNext, we will continue that practice here as well.

 

[billd91]

If WotC doesn't come up with an effective method of digitally distributing the game so that people can run the game on an iPad or other hand-held device without being connected to the internet, they might as well stick a fork in 5e and their RPG division. They're done.

 

[Agamon]

If WotC doesn't come up with an effective method of digitally distributing the game so that people can run the game on an iPad or other hand-held device without being connected to the internet, they might as well stick a fork in 5e and their RPG division. They're done.

No kidding. I've been reading a lot of new RPGs on my tablet. It almost seems odd to think the new D&D game would be the one exception. In fact, odd is the very polite way of putting it.

 

[TrippyHippy]

To be honest, this is by far more of a 'dealbreaker' than anything yet suggested about the rules.

If there isn't the capacity for me to download and utilise the D&D game on my IPad I simply won't buy the game.

 

[Jester David]

I agree, but unfortunately it may not be up to wotc. It might be the best business decision, but I work for a company that is owned by a parent company, and sometimes the wrong decision is made just because the parent company doesn't really understand our business. I think it's the same with Hasbro. They probably don't really understand the rpg market, so to them I suspect having PDF's which can be easily copied and distributed would be like handing out Monopoly boards on the street corner, and since they probably don't deal with PDF's, they may not understand that they can generate a lot of income as well.

I doubt very, very much Hasbro is that involved with D&D. Hasbro managers have their own company to manage, with its billion dollar brands. D&D is forgettable and likely something they leave entirely to WotC, only dealing with reports and summaries and generalities. Day-to-day and month-to-month is likely all WotC.

So PDFs seem like upper WotC management. With the death of 4e it's easy to see what happened now.
4e underperformed and PHB2 sold poorly. And digital sales were low. They blamed piracy first (couldn't have been the product after all, or the disgustingly high price of PDFs) and axed PDFs. Sales didn't increase so it must be a lack of new players. Cue Essentials. Sales dropped still, so change the later Essentials books back to the old style and start planning 5e.

Of course, they can't easily restore PDFs without admitting yanking them was a mistake. And they're still worried about piracy.

If they do bring back PDFs I want them to be (much) cheaper than physical books, but also with more features. Bookmarks and hyerlinks are a must. The earlier PDFs were amateurish. And the competition (especially the many PDF-only 3rd party publishers) really know what they're doing now.

 

[billd91]

I doubt very, very much Hasbro is that involved with D&D. Hasbro managers have their own company to manage, with its billion dollar brands. D&D is forgettable and likely something they leave entirely to WotC, only dealing with reports and summaries and generalities. Day-to-day and month-to-month is likely all WotC.

In a sense, Hasbro has been very much involved with WotC. The CEO of WotC is an experienced Hasbro man. He probably got his current job because Hasbro could count on him to have his views aligned with the parent company's. It's possible he could have gone native after being exposed to WotC's culture, but my understanding is that WotC's culture is what shifted to be in more accord with Hasbro's since the acquisition. So, little chance of that.

D&D may be forgettable to most Hasbro execs, but one is in charge of WotC and I'm sure it's not forgettable to him.

 

[Leatherhead]

PDFs are great for copying info to a character sheet, but I would like some kind of phone app to look up the rules.


Even if my group would hate me for using a phone in mid session after yelling at them for doing the same.

 

[Dice4Hire]

D&D may be forgettable to most Hasbro execs, but one is in charge of WotC and I'm sure it's not forgettable to him.

You're just a stepping stone ?

 

[Stormonu]

If 5E doesn't have PDFs, it won't be a dealbreaker for me, but it will be extremely annoying. DDI just isn't a real replacement.

Besides, I always can fall back to my Printer/Scanner/Copier at home - even if there are PDF versions, I always like to have a paper copy for those places where lugging an electronic copy isn't feasible or desirable. Most especially since I tend to run my game from my iPad while my laptop plays mood music.

 

[Jester David]

In a sense, Hasbro has been very much involved with WotC. The CEO of WotC is an experienced Hasbro man. He probably got his current job because Hasbro could count on him to have his views aligned with the parent company's. It's possible he could have gone native after being exposed to WotC's culture, but my understanding is that WotC's culture is what shifted to be in more accord with Hasbro's since the acquisition. So, little chance of that.

D&D may be forgettable to most Hasbro execs, but one is in charge of WotC and I'm sure it's not forgettable to him.

I hadn't known Greg Leeds' background with Hasbro before but checking a couple websites you're right. As the previous 2 or so CEOs of WOtC had been old players I had assumed he was as well, but he really has no history with the game or the industry.
Unsettling.
Looking at his history, he was in marketing before becoming the General Manager of Hasbro's Boys Toys Division. Aka the General Manager of Hasbro's biggest seller, a very plum position. From there he was made CEO of his own company, but he was made CEO of WotC, a fairly small subsidiary with some under-performing brands at a time when Hasbro's stock was dipping. I wonder if this was a demotion disguised as a promotion.

I always felt he didn't sound like he knew or cared about the game in interviews. I didn't know it was just a job to him.
This really might explain the reluctance to embrace tech.

 

[Umbran]

From there he was made CEO of his own company, but he was made CEO of WotC, a fairly small subsidiary with some under-performing brands at a time when Hasbro's stock was dipping. I wonder if this was a demotion disguised as a promotion.

WotC may have some under-performing brands, but my understanding is that Magic: the Gathering still sells extraordinarily well - sales apparently hit an all-time high in 2011.

You think they'd "promote" a man into a position where he could ruin a major cash cow?

 

[am181d]

If there are no PDFs, the odds of me buying the core books drops to about 50% and the odds of me buying anything past that drop to 0%.

 

[Jester David]

WotC may have some under-performing brands, but my understanding is that Magic: the Gathering still sells extraordinarily well - sales apparently hit an all-time high in 2011.

You think they'd "promote" a man into a position where he could ruin a major cash cow?

I am likely drifting into speculation and he is much more active regarding Magic.
But he was transferred away from the Boy Division, which includes Trasformers, GIJoe, and the like. Transformers alone is a billion dollar brand.
M:tG might be doing very well, but Hasbro owns such big subsidiaries as Tonka, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Playskool, and Kenner. WotC is small potatoes in comparison.

Still, it's better to rule in hell, and CEO positions likely don't open up every day.

 

[BobTheNob]

PDF is pretty important for me.

Honestly, being able to access the rules on a tablet with proper indexing and searching facilities is just priceless.

The whole idea of not distributing PDF's is a bit rediculous to me. If they dont distribute PDF's, someone is just going to torrent a scanned version of the doc's anyway. They are better off distributing PDF's and finding a way to turn that into a profitable distribution model.

 

[drothgery]

PDF is pretty important for me.

An electronic version of the rules is important to me. PDF -- which is a print format and therefore not very well suited to electronic devices with vary widely in resolution (not to mention having problems with e-ink devices) -- is not.

 

[El Mahdi]

I was curious if WotC has dropped any information on whether they will be bringing back PDFs of their books. I completely stopped purchasing from WotC after they abandoned digital distribution. I don't understand how someone in this business can be so ignorant as to think stopping digital distribution helps fight piracy, but I can guarantee it kills legitimate revenue.

I did too, and I vowed to never again buy a WotC product until downloadable and ownable versions of all WotC products (previous and current editions) were made available again. (Doesn't have to be pdf's for me; but it does need to be ownable-not just rented or available to read only on DDI, use a common software reader, be usable on iPad, and be cut-and-paste-able.)

I'm liking what I'm seeing and hearing so far with 5E. And I am participating in the playtest to be a part of making it a game I will like. But I still won't buy it or any other WotC product (minis, cards, accessories, etc.) until ownable electronic versions of their books are made available again. Period.