The guy who leaked the Core Books was a:

[xechnao]

No, what I found idiotic (and I'll try to say it slowly) is that you would imply that it could be an inside job AND that an alpha-promo was part of that inside job a week before the book is released. Not to mention that it's already printed and in stores (or on the way).

So, if it were an alpha version, it certainly wasn't a promotion from WotC. They would have done that long ago, in order to get feedback from people regarding said alpha.

I understand that some people need their conspiracy theories to help them sleep better at night and if you want to think that it was a WotC-promoted activity, whatever (NOTE: I'm not stating where you stand on this, but that your post did imply it), but to suggest that it was some sort of alpha-promotion at this stage is ridiculous.

If it was an alpha version, then the thief took the wrong copy...

I do not get you. How do you find reason that he should need to do all these stuff you mentioned if it were going to have better results in a different way? It is a psychologic game marketing you now. Not that simple.

EDIT: I do not believe it atm but I do not exclude it and find it unreasonable either. As someone with propably more experience than me said:
http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=4259556&postcount=58

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

I do not get you. How do you find reason that he should need to do all these stuff you mentioned if it were going to have better results in a different way? It is a psychologic game marketing you now. Not that simple.

Note my edit above. I'm not sure what you believe and what you're putting forth as a possibility, so I don't know whether I should be arguing with you or just the idea. EDIT: I just saw your edit, so I see where you're coming from, but we'll just have to disagree on the reasonableness.

Anyway, I'm only saying that they have the actually print-version available, so I can't see a reason that they would leak an error-filled version at this stage. That is all. I'm not saying that putting forth alpha-versions is a bad approach. Only that it doesn't seem like a feasible explanation for this leak. This one doesn't appear to be a WotC-supported leak, that is all...

 

[xechnao]

Note my edit above. I'm not sure what you believe and what you're putting forth as a possibility, so I don't know whether I should be arguing with you or just the idea.

Anyway, I'm only saying that they have the actually print-version available, so I can't see a reason that they would leak an error-filled version at this stage. That is all. I'm not saying that putting forth alpha-versions is a bad approach. Only that it doesn't seem like a feasible explanation for this leak. This one doesn't appear to be a WotC-supported leak, that is all...

The reason is for whatever people want to play the game, did not want to buy the books due to psychological reasons of thinking of managing to outwin Wotc. And perhaps for giving the impression to some people that it was unwanted the leak at this point -people that might think if Wotc did it for a promotion they still do not need to buy the books -stimulus of fear working here probably.

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

The reason is for whatever people want to play the game, did not want to buy the books due to psychological reasons of thinking of managing to outwin Wotc. And perhaps for giving the impression to some people that it was unwanted the leak at this point -people that might think if Wotc did it for a promotion they still do not need to buy the books -stimulus of fear working here probably.

Gotchya. I don't buy it, but I see what you mean.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

Besides PDFs generally are "alphas" in a certain degree by terms of usability. You still need the books if you want to play.

Not really. There's plenty of folks like myself that are perfectly capable of playing and running a game without a physical book. We might not be the _majority_ out there, but claiming that you have to have a physical book in order to use the game is just wrong. _YOU_ might not like pdfs, but that's a personal preference not some sort of universal truth.

As for the whole poll:

You need more options. If the world really looks that simple to folks... I dunno. In lieu of anything else, I'll settle for: "Just one more element of 4E drama".

 

[xechnao]

Not really. There's plenty of folks like myself that are perfectly capable of playing and running a game without a physical book. We might not be the _majority_ out there, but claiming that you have to have a physical book in order to use the game is just wrong. _YOU_ might not like pdfs, but that's a personal preference not some sort of universal truth.

More power to you then. I believe, PDFs might be ok for low page page products one time reference. But for full time reference around the table and for a group of people PDFs drain more time and fatigue (in my experience).

 

[jdrakeh]

You spelled "douche bag" wrong.

 

[abeattie]

Not really. There's plenty of folks like myself that are perfectly capable of playing and running a game without a physical book. We might not be the _majority_ out there, but claiming that you have to have a physical book in order to use the game is just wrong. _YOU_ might not like pdfs, but that's a personal preference not some sort of universal truth.

That assumes that everyone else at the table won't shoot you for using a laptop instead of a book. I don't allow PDFs at my table.

I also don't allow binders.

 

[Tervin]

I'm amazed at the level of hyperbole being displayed by people who want to justify not being patient enough to wait a week. So, calling the leaker a thief is wrong and is somehow similar to calling him/her a pedophile or terrorist, but calling him a hero is okay?

A hero? I know that the poll isn't very granular and doesn't offer a lot of choices, but even the most self-justified parasite amongst you must see that he's still closer to the douchebag side of the scale than the hero side, even if you don't consider him a douchebag.

I would say hero fits better than douchebag. And that has nothing to do with justifying something that I would never recommend doing. Hero is not the best word, but the hyperbole is in the poll choices - not mine.

Why? Simply because the leak has led to more press, more Internet buzz and more people being a lot more excited about the books. Illegal PDFs show up on the torrent sites for every official D&D book. What is unusual about these PDFs is that they are early and of a high quality, both of which in fact help market the product. Helping market D&D 4 is a good thing. Thus Hero fits better than Douchebag.

The reason it is wrong to call people thieves who have downloaded illegal copies (which is at least what I meant in my earlier post) is simply because they have not stolen anything. Stealing means taking something away from somebody, not copying their thing without permission.

 

[abeattie]

Why? Simply because the leak has led to more press, more Internet buzz and more people being a lot more excited about the books. Illegal PDFs show up on the torrent sites for every official D&D book. What is unusual about these PDFs is that they are early and of a high quality, both of which in fact help market the product. Helping market D&D 4 is a good thing. Thus Hero fits better than Douchebag.

While I doubt they'll ever share this with us -- only the Amazon (and other) cancelations and pre-orders for the past week could tell us the truth about this. I believe, based on my local anecdotal evidence, that these things are selling books, but I doubt the people that canceled their pre-order are flocking here to brag about it.