Who ELSE buys PDFs?

[GMSkarka]

I'm a bit biased, as I publish PDFs and also do some work for RPGNow, but there is something I wanted to add:

In my opinion, the PDF market right now reminds me of period in the mid 80s when there were a wide variety of gaming magazines (Dragon, Pyramid, early White Dwarf, Different Worlds, etc.), all of which offered tons of usable gaming material. The way I see it, PDFs work best when they fill that role--usable gaming material that a consumer can purchase "a la carte."

 

[der_kluge]

I've bought numerous PDFs. I love 'em.

Like most, though, I look for value, and have no desire to pay full-price for a book-to-pdf.
And I won't use DRM. I like their watermarking system a lot better, though.


And, off-topic, Reddist, you need to check your email. You going to Gen Con this year?

 

[JoeGKushner]

Nope. If the price is too low, the customers will assume that it hasn't any worth, and dismiss it out of hand. While the price of a PDF shouldn't be too high so it doesn't scare away the customers, it shouldn't be too low either.

Sounds irrational, I know - but humans are prone to irrational buying decisions like that. There's a whole scientific field dedicated to studying these effects...

Must threadjack for a moment to agree.

Big article in the paper the other day mentioned how the big three US carmakers have been shooting themselves in the foot with all of their rebates and sales which have in effect weakened the brand name of the vehicles as many people associate sales and breaks with inferior product.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I know five people who do not frequent these boards and who have purchased PDFs.

Three purchase World Works paper terrain sets, so likely do not count from your standpoint.

The fourth was hooked on PDFs by me when he looked over Ambient's Librum Equitus Compiled. He has continued purchasing PDFs since.

The fifth has only purchased one as far as I know, though he is happy with his one purchase - Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe.

The Auld Grump

 

[Greatwyrm]

I like pdfs. I'm hoping more companies will follow WotC and Green Ronin and make current titles available in pdf.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I don't buy pdfs at all. I can get free ones But I do prefer the hardbound book as those I *can* take with me (I don't own a laptop). And I can look thru other player's books of those I don't have. But I usually get my own. One way or another.....

 

[barsoomcore]

The text of the PDFs of our Masters and Minions books is massively hyperlinked to our online SRD - see here - but presenting it in HTML instead (or as well) would have some advantages for active on-screen use.

Tav, how come you guys over at Behemoth3 are so incredibly freakin' cool? That's AWESOME.

I'll be dropping some change on your counter just because of that feature. I want ALL my gaming material like that, baby.

 

[Davelozzi]

I vastly prefer physical books to PDFs but buy PDFs occassionally (probably about 6-8 ever).

There are two basic reasons why I'd buy one:

1. buying out of print books that are too hard to find or too expensive in hard copy. For example, I've bought a few of the classic modules like B3, T1-4, etc. as PDFs to fill some notable holes in my collection.

2. buying PDFs that are reasonably priced and that fill an immediate need in my game that could not be served as efficiently by anything I'm aware of in print. For example, I bought the EN Press book about Tournaments & Fairs when I had a couple of days to prep for a big festival in my campaign, and I bought Mindscapes as a PDF when I was in the middle of reworking some psionics rules with a player and it was not yet out in physical form. I will likely also buy Hot Pursuit in the near future as I have need for some good chase rules within the next couple of sessions.

As for buying trends among non-EN Worlders, one person in my group has bought a PDF, and though he very rarely hangs out here or at other RPG sites, he is internet savy and heard about the PDF in question from me. One other player in my group prefers the SRD to a hard copy of the PHB and would likely buy a PDF if he was aware of one that would be useful to him. The rest of my players probably would not buy a PDF, and a few of them haven't even bought any game books at all, even the PHB.

 

[Davelozzi]

One other situation in which I could picture myself buying a PDF is that of Necromancer Games' Tome of Horrors v3.5. I already have the 3.0 version, and to my knowledge, they're only releasing the revision as a .PDF. I'd be hesitant to spend the full price on a revised hard copy anyway, but if the .PDF is cheap I'll pick it up. After all, I can still look through the 3.0 hard copy when I'm looking for ideas for monsters to use, and after I pick them out, I can just print the revised version of that particular monster out when I need it.

 

[Greylock]

I have yet to buy a PDF. Besides the cost issue, there is a browsing factor that I miss. I am not shy about spending money on RPG products I may never use (most of what I own), but I am hesitant to buy a product based only on reviews. And that's all you have to go on with a PDF. I don't care how much I trust or like a reviewer, I still need to crack the cover open and have a peek. The Complete Adventurer, for instance, has had almost nothing but good feedback, but when I skim through it I am left scratching my head. Never will buy it, I don't think. With many PDF's the best you have to go on is the equivilant of a jacket blurb.