Update: Malhavoc PDFs no longer available at RPGnow (merged)

[francisca]

Yes. And another

The software industry has been dealing with both open source, ie, freely available and copyable, software, and with pirating of popular products, for decades. And doing quite well. If the publishing industry hasn't figured it out yet, it's not because solutions don't exist. It's because they're clinging to their outdated models of product development and marketing, and rather than adapting to reality, they're going down blind allies like this crippleware DRM to keep their old reality. It's comfortable. They understand it. And it's dead on its feat, it just hasn't realized it yet.

Spot on. As Microsoft's Steve Balmer says, (paraphrasing) if there is piracy going on, you want them to pirate your stuff, because if the notion ever enters their heads to actually pay for software, you want them to be hooked on your's.

 

[WizarDru]

You obviously didn't grasp my point about copyright - the author is not *supposed* to be rewarded for his or her work - the work is the reward in and of itself. Copyrights, despite modern laws, *still* exist to foster innovation, not to make someone an income.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but could you clarify this point? I don't think I'm following you, here. How do copyrights, in general, foster innnovation? Are you saying that, by preventing blantant plagarism, copyright law forces artists to create less derivative works? As a side to that, do you feel there should be no professional artists, or are you just saying that the law was not intended to get involved in the process of income at all?

 

[johnsemlak]

I do not feel like spending my money on a product, yet still be treated as a criminal.

I think that's a bit of harsh exaggeration. I don't like the new format (from what I know about it so far), but come on, they're not treating you like a criminal.

 

[Dimwhit]

Well, DRM doesn't bother me. I'll just bitch to them if it doesn't work right. But I've been meaning to buy some MP products, so I went to drivethrurpg to check it out. When the page finally partially loaded, I found the prices on Monty's stuff to be very good. But the freakin' site is slower than cold tar!! (And yes, it looks terrible.)

So if I can ever get it to load, I'll try grabbing a pdf or two and seeing how it works. But I think that's a big "if" at this point.

 

[BradfordFerguson]

...I also wonder if this new scheme will really bring in the rest of the industry into the pdf market. I guess I'll have to keep on wondering

I'm not taking credit AT ALL for companies starting to sell PDFs online who hadn't previously (Mongoose), but shortly after my Interview with Chris Davis of RPG Objects, we saw Mongoose offer its first PDFs on RPGNow.com along with Bastion offering Oathbound: Domains of the Forge for PDF download. I think the print-only publishers are coming to realize that they are missing out on an excellent medium through which to sell their products. The products sell year round and while a year's worth of sales has been said to be less than month's worth of print sales, costs and hassles are much lower, and if you release a new product and someone wants to buy back stock (or back "issues") they can do it with the click of a mouse. You don't have to hassle with distributors, etc.

 

[Zaukrie]

Well, I'd love to comment on the site, but I've been trying to load it for 8 minutes. Clearly, they weren't ready technically for any kind of volume. During this time, I've opened and closed numerous sites, i'm sure my employer is thrilled.

Monte, my main use for .pdf files is to copy and paste the rules I'll be using, and make them available to players. If this new technology limits my ability to do that, I'll be likely to buy a lot less of your excellent product.

I also have no interest in MS and others knowing when I'm using what software on my computer. Once I buy it, it's my business, not anyone else's what I do with it.

Also, i'm not keen on having to buy another copy of the software if I lose my hard drive or something else happens and my backup doesn't work. That is one of the advantages of files over hard copy. If the hard copy is damaged, you are out of luck.

I'll be happy to try this, i have nothing against change. But, as a "professional" company, they maybe should have invested in more/better technology. (as an employee of a company that hosts web sites for hundreds of clients, I do know that many companies underestimate their needs, or are too cheap to buy what they really need.....)

 

[3catcircus]

I think I'd better leave this well alone or else I'm going to get beaten with the moderator stick again.

T'wasn't intended as an insult - probably came across as such due to differences between the printed word and a spoken conversation.

 

[Tsyr]

I think that's a bit of harsh exaggeration. I don't like the new format (from what I know about it so far), but come on, they're not treating you like a criminal.

It's an extension of the phrase, "If you outlaw a thing, the only people doing a thing will be outlaws."

The people who are going to care enough to respect the DRM encryption aren't the problem, and yet they are getting the (extremely) short end of (the extremely sharp) stick (in the eye).

The people who don't care, still wont.

For what it's worth, any company that goes this route has lost me as a customer too. Sorry Monte.

1) I don't like registering products just to give a bajillion more corporations information that is none of their bloody buisness and inevitably that information will find some way to wind as spam or needless headache for me.

2) I don't use windows exclusivly on my desktop, and I don't use windows *at all* on my laptop, which as pointed out, has no Adobe Acrobat 6.

3) Further, neither my laptop nor the computer in my gaming room has any form of an internet connection, so I have to transfer things via CD to them (Well, I can trasfer via network to my laptop, but thats a pain to set up for a single file). Which as I understand it is going to shaft me even if there WAS a working DRM-enabled reader for linux.

4) I refuse to jump through hoops in terms of registering for a new service, following all the 'simple procedures' for getting the stuff to work, only to have a product that doesn't work right (I consider having features disabled to 'not work right').

5) It adds *no value* to the customer, it actually *subtracts value*, as you are getting a feature-limited, track-able, registration-required, limited-portability (if you exist outside of the Wintel framework) product.

Hopefully this service will die swiftly, the company doing this will go bankrupt and never be heard from again, and things will go back to the way they were soon.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but this really irks me. I was just starting to grow to like PDF publishing.

 

[Voadam]

Well, I'll have to edit the thread title.

I am glad I bought the 3.5 updates last night when I did. I hope I was able to warn someone in time to grab some of their favorite titles in "non-PITA" format.

Damn, I'm too late. At least I already had a bunch from the 30% off sale at the Malhavok anniversary.

 

[francisca]

I'm not taking credit AT ALL for companies starting to sell PDFs online who hadn't previously (Mongoose), but shortly after my Interview with Chris Davis of RPG Objects, we saw Mongoose offer its first PDFs on RPGNow.com along with Bastion offering Oathbound: Domains of the Forge for PDF download. I think the print-only publishers are coming to realize that they are missing out on an excellent medium through which to sell their products. The products sell year round and while a year's worth of sales has been said to be less than month's worth of print sales, costs and hassles are much lower, and if you release a new product and someone wants to buy back stock (or back "issues") they can do it with the click of a mouse. You don't have to hassle with distributors, etc.

Yeah, despite all the gnashing and stomping, this is a pretty low-risk venture for the print-only crowd. I am sure that fear of losing revenue kept them out of pdf for a long time. Now they feel they have a low risk method of making some extra money on backlist stuff.

I mean think about it, some joker can go out and get a crappilly scanned pdf copy of <insert fave print only product> for free already, why not try to rake in a few bucks by selling a good clean copy? Even if the DRM copy is broken and distributed via P2P the day it comes out, formerly print-only outfits are likely to realize revenue they would not have brought in if they stayed on the sidelines.

I think it is a given that illicit copies of print products will be distributed, whether the company offers it in pdf or not. They might as well. People who are going to buy a hardcopy are going to buy a hardcopy regardless. (ok, that's speculation)

So this makes me wonder if some companies are getting desparate for revenue, and are starting to clutch whatever straws are within reach, before completely jumping the shark.