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

[BryonD]

My feeling (and I can play the computer professional as well as anyone, should I choose), is that this is much ado over very little to make ado over. I'm not seeing any arguments that alter that opinion.

RPG pdfs really don't have much chance to be anything more than a very small teacup. So you are certainly correct.

However, this is a really big tempest if this teacup is important to you.

 

[BryonD]

I have seen this, I know that it can be done, but that is not the same as saying that it will have no impact.

So this generalization doesn't count because of some exceptions, but......

Yes, there are a number of people saying that this is *making* them steal pdf's, but I, for one, have some doubt whether or not this is anything but a rationalization for what they were going to do anyway.

.... the exceptions don't count because of your generaliztion.

 

[Dr. Harry]

I have seen this, I know that it can be done, but that is not the same as saying that it will have no impact.

So this generalization doesn't count because of some exceptions, but......

This is not a generalization. This is a statement that simply saying that DRM can be broken is not the same as saying that it will automatically lead to more piracy, or that it will not reduce casual piracy.

It seems to be reducing casual use to a greater or lesser degree, as even some posters who are not "they are forcing me to steal stuff" or "I'm boycotting the whole company for getting into the pdf market in a way I don't like" people are not getting DRM'ed pdfs due to features of the system.

Mere personal attacks do not constitute support for an opposing position to my first paragraph.

Yes, there are a number of people saying that this is *making* them steal pdf's, but I, for one, have some doubt whether or not this is anything but a rationalization for what they were going to do anyway.

.... the exceptions don't count because of your generaliztion.

This, at least, is a statement of personal opinion, but I made no attempt to hide that or pass it off as something else. Since you didn't actually respond to anything, I see nothing to make me change that opinion. The "I'd better change my tune or you'll be mean to me" approach is not very effective.

Sigh. If you're bound and determined to make a cheap attack, could you at least try and do it off of something I actually wrote?

Just a thought.

 

[BryonD]

Sigh. If you're bound and determined to make a cheap attack, could you at least try and do it off of something I actually wrote?

Just a thought.

That actually made me laugh.
That is twice you've failed to keep track of the meaning of your own words.
That is sufficient in my book.
Bye, enjoy your reality.

 

[Power_Word_Wedgie]

Personally, if there's anything that I decide I "must have", I plan on getting a pirate copy and paypalling the asking price to the publisher, along with a snarky little note saying what I've done.

Seriously, I'm not sure you want to do this. It is like if I wrote MicroSoft telling them that I bought Windows on the black market but here is the money for the license. I'm not a layer, but I still think I would be in some serious legal trouble.

eidt: I don't mean anything personal by my comments. I just don't want to see anyone get in trouble.

 

[Umbran]

My feeling (and I can play the computer professional as well as anyone, should I choose), is that this is much ado over very little to make ado over. I'm not seeing any arguments that alter that opinion.

Well, how's this for an argument - while this particular incident may not be particularly important in the Grand Scheme of Things, the issue as a whole is a rather important one. Our society is still trying to figure out how to deal with the abilities that computers give us. Finding a proper solution takes a lot of little scraps, pushing and pulling to see where the balance lies. This is only one little skirmish in a much grander conflict. But that doesn't make it meaningless.

 

[Trainz]

Stop the personal attacks !

Gee guys, some of these posts feel like a darn IRC flamefest, only with proper punctuation.

 

[Dr. Harry]

I don't think it is a matter of *rationalization* so much as *motivation*. There are people who are perfectly happy buying PDFs that they are confident will be around for years to come and will work on their systems. You take away that option, they will seek other options.

A number of the postings on this have seemed to start from the assumption that they would have to have the product. I don't have any animosity towards the companies involved, but if I'm not able to use the format, then I won't get it.

I suspect that those who blatantly steal PDFs aren't much affected. I also believe that some who have ethical concerns but beleive that DRM is ethically questionable and impractical but still beleive that the author deserves compensation may crack their own fairly purchased PDFs.

There may or may not be less of the casual passing around of pdf's. I think the best hope is that once more companies have entered the market, a more workable format can be advanced.

 

[PetriWessman]

A number of the postings on this have seemed to start from the assumption that they would have to have the product. I don't have any animosity towards the companies involved, but if I'm not able to use the format, then I won't get it.

Same here. There's no real *need* to own any one gaming book.

*However*, making buying the honest version a bad deal lowers the barrier towards turning to piracy. I wouldn't do it myself, but I can easily see someone else saying "screw this" and turning to the pirate p2p channels, when they would normally have bought the book had it been sold in a proper format. And once you do that once, it's oh so easy to do it again.

At the moment, nobody in the world knows how piracy *really* affects sales. I personally suspect it doesn't make all that much difference, but arguments can and have been made for both extremes of the spectrum. We simply don't know.

We do know the ways in which a DRM PDF is inferior to a normal PDF. We do know that this will affect sales, to some extent.

What will the balance be? I suspect DTRPG will see it in their sales records in the months to come, and the publishers who previously sold PDFs through other outlets will have hard data to compare. If DRM really does help against piracy more than it stops sales, there should be a nice, steady rise in incoming revenue as the people who previously (supposedly) pirated the PDFs turn to buying them.

I would be very much suprised to see something like that, but hey, you never know. Malhavoc and others will know, in a few months.

That's the only hard data we will have on the situation, and on whether the DRM was a good business move.

 

[Dr. Harry]

What will the balance be? I suspect DTRPG will see it in their sales records in the months to come, and the publishers who previously sold PDFs through other outlets will have hard data to compare. If DRM really does help against piracy more than it stops sales, there should be a nice, steady rise in incoming revenue as the people who previously (supposedly) pirated the PDFs turn to buying them.

I would be very much suprised to see something like that, but hey, you never know. Malhavoc and others will know, in a few months.

That's the only hard data we will have on the situation, and on whether the DRM was a good business move.

I agree with your post. My idea of the best case scenario to come out of all this is that new publishers enter the pdf field, and market pressures push them into developing a new system that can be used. The larger companies will probably always want to use something, but I hope they find something better.