Print products in electronic form...

The Sigil

Mr. 3000 (Words per post)
I may be in the minority here, but as a consumer, I know one thing I would REALLY love to see from d20 publishers is to offer their print products in electronic form... with the ability to select, copy, and paste text - I understand publishers may not want to do this due to copyright concerns, but at the very least an offering with all of the Open Game Content in a particular product would be nice.

This would not need to be done concurrent with a release, necessarily, as I understand that otherwise, a publisher would see sales plummet as the first couple of people to buy their works published them on the web, but perhaps 6 months to a year after the initial release, it would be nice to offer such things as "web enhancements" or somesuch - at a point when they are no longer cutting into sales, and possibly password-protected in some way.

This would serve several purposes, in my mind.

1.) It would allow MUCH easier access to OGC for other publishers and would probably increase the re-use of OGC in other products (a GOOD thing, in my mind).

2.) It would automatically comply with the OGL provision for making OGC clearly delineated (a provision which few publishers really bother comply with, unfortunately :( ).

3.) It would save bookshelf space for me. I prefer to have my products in electronic form - I have been converting my entire bookshelf of old D&D products (over 100 of the Basic D&D stuff alone) to PDF by purchasing the ESDs from WotC. My three shelves of stuff now fits nicely on three CDs. Plus, it's much more portable - I can browse it at work, too.

Any thoughts from publishers out there? I know, I know, I'm just an electronic publisher and don't understand the ramifications of print stuff, but it sure would be nice to see from a consumer point of view... at least this consumer's. My opinions represent me myself and nobody else.

BTW, if any publishers want to send me electronic copies of their stuff, I'll happily agree not to distribute it (with a signed document, if needed) and pay the full (print) price for the publication - though I will be picky and choosy about what I choose to "buy" in this fashion. :D

--The Sigil
 

log in or register to remove this ad

We will be releasing T20 (d20 Traveller) in PDF form around the same time we release the print edition (actually the PDF will probably arrive first).
 

As a consumer I agree with Sigil, I'd like to see more stuff electronically. In the last year I have bought more pdf d20 and WotC ESDs than print d20 material.

Being able to copy and paste for my personal campaign files and use is a big advantage/benefit. One of my players has a laptop that we use during the game, and I hate hauling around more than a half dozen books
 

I agree. One thing that I find frustrating is purchasing a print edition of a product, that gets pages of eratta published online. Now I have multiple references for a product that should only be one. If I purchase a PDF... it can "patched". I've also found more and more DMs are running their games off of laptops. Being able to carry a library on CD is far more convinent than have 3 other people help you lug your books into the house. :rolleyes:

Lastly... and though this is probably a good reason why more publisher aren't doing this, I like to us house rules a lot. I like it when I can print something that looks nice and offical out for others to reference. (Like totally swapping out the Ranger in the PHB). But... I'm not selling or giving this stuff away to others, so no laws broken. :D
 

We'll be releasing our products in electronic format after they've run their course in the retail and distribution channels (probably six months after we've gone out-of-stock on an item).

The real danger in publishers providing electronic PDFs of their print products is that it leaves retailers and distributors in a bad way. You don't want them deciding not to stock any more of your products because they're upset at you under-cutting their sales. It takes time to allow the market to clear through a particular product.
 

Jim & Hunter: That's good to hear. (Of course I already knew about T20 going PDF, but it's still good to hear. :) )

I often prepare games on my laptop, and a well organized PDF is less disruptive to refer to during play than flipping through a book. I still like hardcopies, especially if a player is going to refer to it, but I have a ton of books and anything that reduces the number of books I have to drag to the gaming table is welcome.
 

Wonderful news!

Jim Butler said:
We'll be releasing our products in electronic format after they've run their course in the retail and distribution channels (probably six months after we've gone out-of-stock on an item).
Wonderful news! :D IIRC, you were also the motivating force behind the WotC ESD program, too Jim. Bless you for figuring out the possibilities of the electronic medium!
The real danger in publishers providing electronic PDFs of their print products is that it leaves retailers and distributors in a bad way. You don't want them deciding not to stock any more of your products because they're upset at you under-cutting their sales. It takes time to allow the market to clear through a particular product.
That is quite understandable... I didn't know the exact time period needed, but I *DID* include such a provision in my initial post...
...but perhaps 6 months to a year after the initial release, <snip> - at a point when they are no longer cutting into sales, and possibly password-protected in some way.
It's a good point that you don't want to undercut your retailers, and I understand that. But as long as I know that the products are eventually coming in electronic form, I'm happy. :)

Looking forward to getting Bastion Press E-Products (though I've already bought most of their print products anyway). You folks do good stuff, Jim, and I love the fact that you seem to understand the marketplace better than most of the "marketing" divisions I know of. :)

--The Sigil
 

Ack, my post got toasted and I'm in too much of a rush to make the long post again.

In short I was saying that the online PDF market place is not the same market as the in-store retailers have. Selling PDF's at the same time you sell your print book has been proven (by a couple publishers now) not to noticably effect sales through normal distribution channels.

I also stated that more companies should consider releasing out of print products to continue to support their lines, like Atlas Games has started to do now for Ars Magic on RPGNow.com

James
http://www.RPGHost.com
 

I wish those FDP Counters were available in electronic form, with sheets and individual counters.

Right now I use the thumbnails on Mr. Pozas's site for OpenRPG. I'd much rather pay and get a larger selection. :)
 

You may get all the OGC from all Fiery Dragon books (with only Giant's Skull, Beyond all Reason and Queen of Lies missing) from my site. And those three will probably be up before I get the next Fiery Dragon product...
 

Remove ads

Top