Will you be purchasing PDFs from DriveThruRPG?

[Trainz]

Won't buy either.

I think that those publishers who do use it are making a mistake, and will go back to regular PDF eventually as their sales figures dwindle away.

That said, I'm disapointed by many ENworlders who became hostile and vulgar about the subject. It's your right to not buy them (as I do). It's your right to express why you don't (as I do).

It makes you look like an arse when you behave like a moron. I guess that's your right too.

FYI, I didn't read this thread (only the main non-poll one), so any hurt feelings is purely coincidental, not aimed.

 

[Berandor]

Just wanted to say that I originally voted "YES", but after careful consideration and study, will in fact NOT buy.

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

I voted no.

See here for reasons: http://www.enworld.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1587636&postcount=277

 

[Krypter]

No, won't buy anything that takes away my legal right to do whatever the heck I want with a product I legitimately bought.

I don't see why I have to jump through umpteen hoops and experience hassles and additional technical problems purely for the benefit of the publisher, who thinks that DRM will miraculously reduce/prevent piracy. n00bs.

 

[tauton_ikhnos]

RPGNow works. What does DTRPG offer?

Oh. Nothing, really. Well, unless you count making PDFs even MORE awkward and unusable.

 

[Ace]

No I won't be downloading anything free or otherwise from Drivethru

 

[Ace]

Deleted

 

[Zappo]

If it is true that you have to activate MS Passport, then I am 99% sure I won't be buying this type of PDF. I am not a huge PDF buyer in general; this takes it at least one step further away from buying a given PDF.

No, you don't have to. I have a MS passport which I was forced to make some time ago, and I (wrongly) assumed that it would have taken less time to use it rather than manually registering on the adobe site. I could have only registered with adobe instead. On the DRM activation page at adobe, you have a lot of BIG and SHINY links prompting you to log in to passport in three different ways, and a small link leading you to a page where you can just register.

Let's just say that getting passport to work took more time than cracking the PDF...

 

[Breakdaddy]

I will not buy from them. My primary machine is a linux box, and so I will be unable to view their products. I am saddened by Malhavoc's apparent decision to go DRM, thus cutting me out of their customer base permanently.

 

[RCanning]

DRM files don't work on multiple machines.

OK.

I signed up with DriveThru and downloaded a free product.

I was able to use it and back it up for use on my Powerbook without a problem. It worked almost like a normal PDF.

I then got my wife to take the PDF to her work and try to open it to see if she could print it (my work does not use Acrobat Reader 6, hers does). When trying to open it there were problems with the Adobe ID authentication, but we eventaully got through that and had Adobe reporting that I was logged in.

We then tried to open the PDF, and no matter what we did, it kept reporting "Bad Encypt Dictionary". Basically, even when logged in to Adobe, the PDF did not work.

My wife is a print specialist and trained to use Adobe Acrobat, and with 15 minutes of playing around, she could not get the thing to open. She is using WinXP and Acrobat Reader 6. It just does not work.

I can easily break the DRM on the Powerbook using the "Save as PDF" feature, but I would prefer not to have to do this in order to print any material I might purchase. There is a quality drop and that is just plain bad.

The limits to copy are annoying, and I personally think that they should be able to unlock any material in the PDF that is OGC; but I can live with that.

Not being able to put the file onto another machine, even when I am logged in, is just plain wrong.

DRM does not work the way they indicate. You can not open the file on another computer when you have logged in. Tried twice on two different machines running two different OSes (Win XP and OS X), it failed both times.

Richard Canning

Update: I have sent them a message using their Contact form asking for them to explain what is going on. Adobe has no mention of this problem, and I know it is logging into Adobe correctly because the machines are being re-directed to DriveThruRPG when we try to open the file. It looks like DriveThru are the cause of the problem.

Update 2: In responce to my query about this Adobe pointed me to the statement on their eBook FAQ page which states...

Q: How many devices can I activate?
A: For Adobe PDF eBooks, you can activate one PC or Mac and one PDA for each user.

I was told flat out that if I download DRM protected files on one computer, I will not be able to load them on another. I know this contradicts what DriveThru are saying, and what other people have stated, but this is according to Adobe.

They also pointed out that...

Q: How do I de-activate a device?
A: You cannot de-activate a device.

So someone is flat out lying about DRM. I wonder who.