Will you be purchasing PDFs from DriveThruRPG?

[Teflon Billy]

I might sign up for the free books and possibly for access to pdfs that are not available anywhere else.

However the restrictions on copy and paste, number of copies, registration hassles, and no free recovery, means that I am not likely to jump into it anytime soon and that if it is available at rpgnow then I will go there first for things I can port, copy and paste, and recover if I lose them.

Voadam summed up my thoughts.

 

[Psion]

If I have any problems not being able to copy and use for my laptop (which isn't connected to the internet)

So, that's the third person (add Hellhound and myself) who are in this position.

It seems like a fair few people who are in this position.

 

[Turanil]

Now that I understand what it is all about my firm answer is NO I WON'T!

I will keep with rpgnow, provided they still operate the same as before. Otherwise: no more PDFs!!!

 

[Desdichado]

The main reason I buy PDF's is portability.

I need to be able to move the PDF's from one computer to the next depending on where I am. For example I start reading a PDf at home and want to continue reading it at work. I put it on a ZIP disk or other media and put it on one of my work PC's and read it on my lunch break.

When I'm putting together adventures and I want to use source material I need to be able to copy and paste from the PDF to the document that I'm creating for easy reference. If my PC's find a spell book in game with a new spell in it, I want to beable to HAND them a document with the new spell and what it does. The same with feats and other special abilities instead of having to hand copy them word for word. The same thing with Maps. PDF's are AWESOME for distributing maps and stuff. Import into Photoshop, get rid of the stuff that you dont want the PC's to see, print. The PC's buy a map in game, JUST HAND THEM A PHYSICAL COPY OF THE ALTERED MAP. The PC's appreciate the time and the work put in and they like having this stuff in thier hands.

Anything that makes it difficult for me to do these things will not be purchased by me in either format.

Yep. Same here. Not that I buy a lot of pdf products now, but I have absolutely no incentive to buy them if I can't cut and paste or copy the files. They'll be completely useless to me.

 

[drow]

bih

i'm not buying anything from them. i'll miss being able to pick up some malhavoc stuff, but oh well. companies have to learn to stop fearing the boogey-man of piracy, and indulging them in DRM games doesn't help anyone.

 

[darklight]

Making pdf's less userfriendly is not a good way to win over costumers IMO. If I can't copy/paste or bring it with me to use on a friends pc, I'm never ever going to buy it.

Honestly, I think it's just a bad business decission, since the people who really wants to steal/pirate it, will always be able to anyway, so the only thing it achieves is making it less likely that honest costumers will buy it.

darklight

 

[hexgrid]

Yes. It doesn't sound like the DRM will get in the way of how I use PDF products.

And the site says they love Mac users.

 

[d20Dwarf]

So, that's the third person (add Hellhound and myself) who are in this position.

It seems like a fair few people who are in this position.

Naw, you're just worthless low-techs, have fun in your backwards world without the pdfs all reasonable people can enjoy*.




[size=-3]*Actual enjoyment might be limited by technological inferiority.[/size]

 

[jtone]

I agree. Back when I bought a few ebooks with DRM. Big Mistake. My hard drive got trashed halfway through reading a book and it took me two months to convince them that I should be allowed to finish reading it. Since then, my rule has been that I won't buy anything with DRM. If you won't trust me with your product, then I won't trust you with my money. (Incidentally, I have bought a few hundred dollars worth of non-DRM ebooks from Baen since then.)

 

[wocky]

Just like Dren, I'll get Hyperconscious and check things out. The only reason I buy PDFs is to print them out anyway (it's cheaper for me that way for geographical reasons)... if I have any problems with the process I won't be buying any more PDFs from them. 7 or 10 U$S is still a lot of money to me because of currency exchange rates.

OTOH, I'll certainly be trying to break the DRM in order to backup my purchases in a CD without worries.