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<blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 1058945" data-attributes="member: 2525">Given that I emailed you after your article complimenting you on it, and how you had persuaded me to perhaps make a pdf purchase I had previously decided against, I don't see how you came to that conclusion.&nbsp; I merely offered some additional cons.&nbsp; But I am not anti-pdf.&nbsp; I was just helping the guy collect some arguments. Maybe my saying &quot;There are a few more cons&quot; was vague.&nbsp; I meant to say &quot;There, you now have a few more cons&quot;.The backup and replacement point - I've never purchased a PDF off of rpgnow. I did buy several from montecook.com, and then lost all the files later.&nbsp; I mentioned this happened, and people asked for the exact dates I made the purchases (which I could not possibly recall).&nbsp; I'm sure if I had pushed further I could have gotten replacements, but it just wasn't worth it at that point.&nbsp; I bought the hardcopies instead.&nbsp; However, I have never once lost a hardcopy book (unless I gave it away to a friend, which would also happen with a PDF).&nbsp; I don't know a single person who hasn't had a hard drive crash.&nbsp; Nor do I know anyone, other than businesses, who backs up as often as they should.&nbsp; I'm sure there are plenty of people on this board who will say &quot;I lost a hardcopy book&quot; and &quot;I backup regularly&quot; and &quot;I've never lost a hard drive&quot;, I'm just saying the circle of friends I have all fit the pattern I just described.As for the stealing point...yes, the fact that people steal music is in fact resulting in less music overall.&nbsp; Fewer avant garde bands are being signed right now due to the industry drain of theft, and it ultimately means there is less music out there, and fewer genres of music being supported.&nbsp; It doesn't mean *I* stop listening to music or buying games, it means it isn't healthy for the music or gaming industry if people steal the stuff (in a long term way).&nbsp; The other way I feel PDFs can hurt the long term industry is by not marketing the industry through the product covers and shelf space at stores (which is one of the primary methods a niche industry has to bring in new people to the hobby).&nbsp; When people go to a store to look at a chess set or to buy a monopoly game, and they see a D&amp;D product (or an entire wall of D&amp;D products), there is a chance they will become interested and inquire further.&nbsp; PDFs do not bring in new people at the same level hardcopy products do.Since I like some PDFs, I think the solution to this is to offer products in both formats.&nbsp; That way, you still get the shelf space and marketing factor, but also the benefits of a PDF.&nbsp; This solution doesn't help with theft much.&nbsp; It may help that issue a little bit, however, when people can conceptualize a physical product in their game store as something they are stealing when they get the PDF for free.&nbsp; I think psychologically it is easier for people to justify downloading a PDF for free if that product only exists in electronic format, than it is for people to do the same thing if they have also seen the hardcopy book in their local game story.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mistwell, post: 1058945, member: 2525"] Given that I emailed you after your article complimenting you on it, and how you had persuaded me to perhaps make a pdf purchase I had previously decided against, I don't see how you came to that conclusion. I merely offered some additional cons. But I am not anti-pdf. I was just helping the guy collect some arguments. Maybe my saying "There are a few more cons" was vague. I meant to say "There, you now have a few more cons". The backup and replacement point - I've never purchased a PDF off of rpgnow. I did buy several from montecook.com, and then lost all the files later. I mentioned this happened, and people asked for the exact dates I made the purchases (which I could not possibly recall). I'm sure if I had pushed further I could have gotten replacements, but it just wasn't worth it at that point. I bought the hardcopies instead. However, I have never once lost a hardcopy book (unless I gave it away to a friend, which would also happen with a PDF). I don't know a single person who hasn't had a hard drive crash. Nor do I know anyone, other than businesses, who backs up as often as they should. I'm sure there are plenty of people on this board who will say "I lost a hardcopy book" and "I backup regularly" and "I've never lost a hard drive", I'm just saying the circle of friends I have all fit the pattern I just described. As for the stealing point...yes, the fact that people steal music is in fact resulting in less music overall. Fewer avant garde bands are being signed right now due to the industry drain of theft, and it ultimately means there is less music out there, and fewer genres of music being supported. It doesn't mean *I* stop listening to music or buying games, it means it isn't healthy for the music or gaming industry if people steal the stuff (in a long term way). The other way I feel PDFs can hurt the long term industry is by not marketing the industry through the product covers and shelf space at stores (which is one of the primary methods a niche industry has to bring in new people to the hobby). When people go to a store to look at a chess set or to buy a monopoly game, and they see a D&D product (or an entire wall of D&D products), there is a chance they will become interested and inquire further. PDFs do not bring in new people at the same level hardcopy products do. Since I like some PDFs, I think the solution to this is to offer products in both formats. That way, you still get the shelf space and marketing factor, but also the benefits of a PDF. This solution doesn't help with theft much. It may help that issue a little bit, however, when people can conceptualize a physical product in their game store as something they are stealing when they get the PDF for free. I think psychologically it is easier for people to justify downloading a PDF for free if that product only exists in electronic format, than it is for people to do the same thing if they have also seen the hardcopy book in their local game story. [/QUOTE]

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