Will WOTC's Ending PDF Sales Because of Pirating Increase Pirating of their Stuff?

[fissionessence]

Now that pirates no longer have access to official PDFs, will Arcane Power hit the torrents before it hits the Compendium?

Place your bets!

And will it be a week after release? Or perhaps a leaked OEF for even earlier!

~

 

[aboyd]

And the strain on the company is really starting to show. I've been concerned about the state of affairs there since the whole debacle with the GSL. The recent layoffs gave me pause, and this whole mess...

How possible is it that some of the people that are still there are now pissed about the previous layoffs (of their friends) and are doing stuff like this to deliberately sabotage their own company?

I ask because I worked for a company that was in a downward spiral, and after the 3rd round of layoffs, the work conditions had deteriorated so much (mostly due to the few remaining people having to do so many jobs) that people got angry and started acting out. I saw a few people just start stealing stuff on the justification that the company had cut bonuses and such. I saw people sit on projects on the justification that the amount of work they had was overwhelming. But the most stunning thing I saw was people who actively "penalized" the company -- usually building something wrong or allowing bugs to creep into the software.

Probably really passive-aggressive, but nonetheless it happened.

I know you could dismiss my question by saying, "Wow, sounds like that company hired all the evil people!" However, I think the truth is more that when companies take advantage of a beleaguered work force, at some point those people get actually hurt (emotionally, physically from sleep deprivation or stress or whatever, and so on) and act out. They're not evil, they're just human.

And so I'm wondering, seeing these self-inflicted wounds that WotC keeps fostering, if some people there are not quietly and perhaps maliciously saying yes to stupid ideas (or suggesting them!) with the thinking that the stupid company that laid off their friend deserves it. Maybe it's not even actively malicious. I know a lot of employees who "survived" layoffs during the dot-com bust, and many of them simply stopped caring. If someone made a poor decision, these employees would just shrug and say, "Whatever." They used to have some care, some spark that would incite them to raise flags and debate poor decisions, and then at some point, they just gave up.

If that's WotC now, I almost feel bad for the execs who do not realize that their workforce is no longer covering for them. So poor leadership flourishes unfettered.

 

[Starfox]

I think the original question here is wrong. I do not think this is about fighting piracy at all. I think it is about making 3E products less available, thus concentrating the market on 4E products and fighting upstarts like Pathfinder.

 

[Fenes]

I think the original question here is wrong. I do not think this is about fighting piracy at all. I think it is about making 3E products less available, thus concentrating the market on 4E products and fighting upstarts like Pathfinder.

Then it's a rather stupid strategy. Instead of getting my money for their older works, they actively drive me to buy Pathfinder books by removing alternatives.

 

[Tuft]

Then it's a rather stupid strategy. Instead of getting my money for their older works, they actively drive me to buy Pathfinder books by removing alternatives.

Now that Starfox has pointed it out, it does kind of smell of scorched earth tactics.

 

[Bagpuss]

I think the original question here is wrong. I do not think this is about fighting piracy at all. I think it is about making 3E products less available, thus concentrating the market on 4E products and fighting upstarts like Pathfinder.

If that was true why not continue to sell 4th Edition PDFs?

Still the real question isn't will it increase piracy (the answer is obviously yes).

But will it increase their profits? Will they see a increase in sales of their books.

Why I don't understand is that supposedly this was prompted by the recent discovery of the PHB2 being pirated and pending court case http://ww2.wizards.com/Company/Press/?doc=20090406.

Yet by all accounts the PHB2 is selling above all expectations so can they really say that piracy is hurting their sales?

 

[Lord Sessadore]

A far more interesting question, I think, is "Now that pirates no longer have access to official PDFs, will Arcane Power hit the torrents before it hits the Compendium?"

Yes. Absolutely, definitely, 100% yes.

All it will take is one dude with $40, a scanner, and a free afternoon. (And as was pointed in the thread that this one came out of, he could even return the book when he's done.) On the internets, it is a statistical certainty that that dude exists. He will get Arcane Power in a torrent before it's been out for a week. Guaranteed.

*sigh* it makes me sad that companies are still doing this kind of garbage. You think they'd figure out that it doesn't work.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Is there any thing in these posts that hasn't already been covered in the main topic post?

 

[jgbrowning]

Is there any thing in these posts that hasn't already been covered in the main topic post?

The poll numbers?



joe b.

 

[DaveMage]

I wonder if some people out there will take it as a challenge...

Undoubtedly.