D&D 4E Piracy and 4e

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I seem to recall years ago, post-CD burners but pre-Napster, the RIAA was trying to outlaw used CD sales, saying that it was basically the same as making illegal copies or something. So in their eyes, you are indeed a thief.

While I generally would sympathize with the desires of artist and the music labels to make money with their work, there are areas where they go to far, and in the end, I somehow can't really bring myself to care what they would think of me.

They really need to find a distribution mechanismn that gets them the money and the customers the usability they deserve.

I don't see this as a problem in WotC case. I don't agree with their PDF prices, but at least they don't try to forbid me sharing my hardcover copies with my friends.

Random Anecdote: Occasionally and accidentally, after a long gaming night I would find the rulebooks of my friends in my bag - at least I am pretty sure I don't own two copies of the PHB,and such - sometimes noticing this only during a later session when the friend whose book I "stole" began to wonder where his book could be... Still, one of the funniest moments was when I wrote down my name in a book to indicate my ownership to avoid further confusion, only finding out that I already did write down my name in my real book...

To this day, whenever books are disappearing, I am the first to be accused and strip-searched for it. But as it turns out, I am not the only rulebook-kleptomaniac in my group, and others have been found guilty, too.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Smarter in the short run, maybe.

I once read an editorial in Scifi.ign.com (can't find it anymore, sadly) that really struck me. The editor was bemoaning the fact that scifi shows never seemed to last, and always got cancelled, while stuff like NASCAR just kept playing over and over.

He made the point that scifi/geek/gamer viewers think that they are smart, and take pride in downloading shows, skipping commercials, and sneering at commercial advertising. But we are left with cancelled show after cancelled show, while the NASCAR viewers watch the advertisements, drink their Pepsi, and enjoy their race.

All that proves is that there are more NASCAR fans than Sci-Fi fans. More fans = more viewers = less chance it will get cancelled. Also, the article is compairing a sport to a fictional show. I think that might have something to do with it, in that, sports don't really get cancelled all that much. It's like compairing NFL football with Stargate: Atlantis. Which do you think will get cancelled first?

 

[Brown Jenkin]

It's like compairing NFL football with Stargate: Atlantis. Which do you think will get cancelled first?

Unfortunately think and want are two different things.

 

[CleverNickName]

I seem to recall years ago, post-CD burners but pre-Napster, the RIAA was trying to outlaw used CD sales, saying that it was basically the same as making illegal copies or something. So in their eyes, you are indeed a thief.

In their eyes, the whole world is one giant scheme to rip them off. All things, from candy wrappers to baby seals, have been placed on this earth for the sole purpose of violating copyright laws. As soon as they find a willing attorney, those candy wrappers and baby seals are gonna pay.

I acknowledge that piracy is a rampant problem in the music industry, and I wish them the best of luck in their quest to stamp it out. They will just have to do it without my help. I can't tell them how to do business, but I can decide not to do business with them.

 

[Gizmoduck5000]

Now that I have a job and money, I don't need ... "free" PDFs to check if I want something. I trust a few reviews and go out and just buy it. A lot more satisfying.

It doesn't look good on either account, as far as I know.

I have a rather good job and make decent money and I still download PDF versions of splat books first. I also do that to try out new rules systems.

This, along with an open book sharing policy are within my gaming group what have kept me from sinking thousands and thousands of dollars into 3.5 Errata, having instead spent a meager few hundred on a modest stack of books for a system that I eventually grew to hate.

 

[WhatGravitas]

I acknowledge that piracy is a rampant problem in the music industry, and I wish them the best of luck in their quest to stamp it out. They will just have to do it without my help. I can't tell them how to do business, but I can decide not to do business with them.

Also: They resorted to perfidious methods - i.e. Sony Rootkit.

And that overzealous anti-copy trend affected the PDF business to a certain extent as well, i.e. DRM. The watermarking is much better way of handling it.

Cheers, LT.

 

[interwyrm]

I pirated everything in 3e because I didn't have any disposable income.

I've preordered 4e because I do have disposable income now. I know I'm not necessarily representative of the whole population, but my suspicion is that piracy will be exactly as much of a problem for 4e as it was for 3e.

In other words, not much. 3e obviously did well financially, otherwise there wouldn't be a 4e. There will be plenty of people who can't comfortably afford the books who will pirate it, and there will be plenty of people who are just unscrupulous who will pirate it, but there will also be a lot of people who will actually spend the money to have a nice hardcover copy in front of them.

In my experience, pdfs are great for planning your character before a session, and not so great to use as a reference during one. Computers are distracting.

As for 3rd party material, I don't think there was as much piracy. I know back in 3e, I had a hard time finding anything made by a company other than mongoose or green ronin. (or WOTC obviously.)

Edit: On Iron Fists.

Someone said earlier that anger at a company would cause people to pirate.

Maybe.

I think it's likely that companies that piss people off will at least receive less legitimate business, while their piracy will not decline. As a result the percentage of people pirating their product will rise. Either way, I like how Wizards has not made a big deal about pirating things. It's ultimately futile to do so. If they did, I'd probably go back to pirating their stuff, honestly.

 

[Evilhalfling]

So is a pirate best represented as its onwn class or a build choice for the ranger/rogue.
Is Pirate captain a paragon path that adds some more Warlord like powers?
what about a daily ability called "Rock the Boat" close burst 6 attack vs reflex or fall prone.

 

[Cirex]

I got the English version of the 3.5 books my friend and I own, mostly for two reasons:
-If I wanted to discuss something at Wizard forums, I needed to know the English term and description.
-Spanish version is filled with errata. Missing numbers on tables, wrong wording, random name change of abilities (different naming for Barbarian's rage, in example), etc.

 

[SSquirrel]

I seem to recall years ago, post-CD burners but pre-Napster, the RIAA was trying to outlaw used CD sales, saying that it was basically the same as making illegal copies or something. So in their eyes, you are indeed a thief.

Are you kidding, they are STILL trying to outlaw used cd sales.

As far as fixing the music industry, I think groups like Nine Inch Nails selling 36 track instrumental albums for 5 bucks and then giving away a 10 track album for free as a thank you goes a long way