RPG Illegal File Sharing Hurts the Hobby

[philreed]

Some try to treat all thier customers like criminals which is stupid IMO. Or put in DRM methods that hamper usability.

I agree with you here. I don't use any copy protection because it would annoy me (and does when I encounter it).

To be honest, my best defense against piracy is the people that buy my PDFs. I really owe everyone that has helped me to track down illegal copies.

 

[SteveC]

I agree with Jim Hague's assessment of this situation.

Do you think that iTunes would be seeing this level of interest and activity if the RIAA lawsuits had not happened?

You betcha, 100%. Why do people use iTunes? Because it's simple, one-stop shopping where you can get exactly what you want, in high quality, immediately and with no hassle. That's the trick: give the people what they want, and make it simple, and you can sell a product. Don't, and you ultimately won't be around if someone else can. It's like the quote from Glengary Glen Ross:

Blake: first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize?
[Holds up prize]
Blake: Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired

The first company who figures out how to meet consumer demand in the new era of P2P downloads gets the Cadillac. The second, gets the steak knives. Everyone else...not so good.

As it relates to roleplaying games, I love what RPGObjects does: I buy something from them, I can download it from their server as much as I want. This is good. This makes me willing to pay more for a PDF than I normally would, actually. It sounds like ENWorld's downloads will do the same thing, which is also good.

To me, it's all about getting what I want, how I want it, and when I want it. That's something I'll pay for, and keep buying.

 

[Ferrix]

I never really liked it when my players got a class or feat off of a downloaded PDF. But that comic inspired me to really put my foot down. No illegal PDFs allowed when I DM. I don't even allow the SRD. You want to play something? Then you buy the book its in and bring it to the table.

What about legally purchased PDF's?

I think not allowing the SRD is a bit overkill, it's open for a reason. Sometimes I'm in such a pinch for money that I can't spend more than $20 for food that week, people who live on that sort of budget aren't going to drop $35 for a book.

The SRD is great for bringing people into the game without making them purchase books or borrowing and destroying your own.

 

[Gundark]

I don't even allow the SRD. You want to play something? Then you buy the book its in and bring it to the table.

Well while I agree with what your saying...you don't a FREE product? IMHO That's going overboard.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

That's 1 person, and it's still a fairly crappy thing to do. Whereas when a scan or PDF hits p2p, that's dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of skinflints who should be paying for a product and aren't. Plus, borrowing implies that the original owner could take it back at any time. False analogy.

Not all of us can afford to buy every book out there. So, we do alot of sharing of books that not all of us are willing to get just for one little tidbit. I didn't get Stormwrack as it didn't have anything of use to me. But, I'd be willing to borrow a friend's copy for something if I needed it. But I, personally, do get alot of books. Probably TOO many...

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Now you're fighting the time honored RPG tradition of having friends borrow books to use. Growing up, my first group was lucky if everyone had a PHB.

Maybe this rich executive with lots of disposable income should buy us all a copy of each book so he doesn't have anything to gripe about. Then he can't say we're stealing money from someone just because we all can't afford one of every D&D book out there. Not all of us are rich <bleep> like him to go out and get every book when it comes out.

I think someone needs to grow up and smell the coffee before he goes making gross accusations.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Personally, I try to run my RPG collection like a library- I have a lot of games that I have only for reference purposes, but I also try to have duplicates of certain books I expect to use a lot of, or for the use of neophytes and casual gamers. So, while I only have 1 copy of GURPS 3rd Ed, I have 2 D&D 3Ed and 2 3.5Ed PHBs, 2 HERO 5th tomes, and so forth...

The guys at Half-Price Books know me, you betcha!

 

[PetriWessman]

I agree with Jim Hague's assessment of this situation.

Do you think that iTunes would be seeing this level of interest and activity if the RIAA lawsuits had not happened?

Like others here, I'll answer with a "hell yes!".

The RIAA lawsuits haven't really had much effect in practice. If I look at any random p2p service, if anything I see more stuff available than before.

iTunes makes booming business because it's a convenient, well-designed, one-stop solution to digital music. Not because people are suddenly scared of the RIAA -- *lots* of online music startups tried and failed before iTunes and after the RIAA strong-arm tactics. It's about providing quality service and reasonable cost, and offering a huge selection.

I don't personally use iTunes because I don't buy DRM'ed stuff if I can help it (I'll just buy CDs and rip to format that suits me), but I do recognize it as a well-designed and appealing service.

Most people are basically honest, and are more than willing to pay for quality and convenience. History and market research has shown us this time and again.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

For comparing U.S. prices, the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics has a Consumer Price Index price generator:

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

To crunch some numbers:

A $12 1979 PH would cost $32.93 in 2005 -- and the 3.5 PHB has much better layout, paper, page count, etc.

A 19.95 Player's Handbook from 1994 would translate (in 2005 dollars) to $26.82, or a little less, but then consider the qualitative physical differences between the two books.

You know, aside from the colour, I actually prefer the construction on the old 1E books. So indestructible. I have to be careful with the WotC books. All the spines on my 3.0 stuff are broken, and it's only the slipcover for my 3.5 books that keeps them from sharing that fate. I could practically use my 1E PHB for hand-to-hand combat and the only thing that ever happened to it was that the corners got a bit crushed.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I have used my 1e books for hand to hand combat. I was victorious and the books still have perfect spines nearly 30 years after they were printed.