Wizards' DnD Downloads Dead?

[jonesy]

...add links to the materials being discussed if you actually have a real legal source. Thank you.

Sorry Mark, but Project Gutenberg is 100% legal. And totally awesome.

Online Book Catalog - Overview - Project Gutenberg

 

[Maggan]

Massive leaps to conclusions, completely bypassing anything resembling actual thought.

It could be a simple misunderstanding. When I first read your post my thought was "huh, is Project Gutenberg putting up classic D&D modules now?".

Then I grokked what you meant after checking out the link to the thread.

/M

 

[jonesy]

It could be a simple misunderstanding. When I first read your post my thought was "huh, is Project Gutenberg putting up classic D&D modules now?".

I just had to try searching for Gygax. Sadly, nothing.

 

[IronWolf]

Wow, I had no idea that Wizards even hosted these. I mean, there's only FIFTEEN THOUSAND different places you can get the same books. Guttenberg project is your friend, as well as a bajillion other places to get OOP epubs.

I am reading this as Guttenberg is hosting the PDFs that the links for have gone missing off the Wizard's site. After seeing some of the later posts, I am thinking that is not what you meant. I was certainly confused (or maybe my search skills on the Guttenberg site are weak).

But, WOTC drops links that are easily available in a bunch of other places and suddenly they're going to draw "more bad PR with previous edition junkies"?

They certainly would draw bad PR to drop the links. It is certainly within their right to pull those links if they were so inclined. But it would not be a good PR move.

You mention these are available in a bunch of other places. Are they consolidated or do I find them just by using Google searches and picking up what I can find?

It could be a simple misunderstanding. When I first read your post my thought was "huh, is Project Gutenberg putting up classic D&D modules now?".

Yeah, I don't think Hussar's initial post was as clear as it could be, as I think I misunderstood it as well.

 

[Hussar]

It could be a simple misunderstanding. When I first read your post my thought was "huh, is Project Gutenberg putting up classic D&D modules now?".

Then I grokked what you meant after checking out the link to the thread.

/M

Y'know what? Two years ago, I'd totally agree with you. Completely give people the benefit of the doubt.

Now? Not so much. After two or three years of people CONSTANTLY pissing and moaning about how bad old WOTC is out to screw the gamer, I find myself with zero tolerance for it. Every single time WOTC so much as burps in public, there are a group of posters who feel that it is there duty to cry it from the mountaintops. To make absolutely, positively sure that everyone knows how bad WOTC is.

People wonder why we don't see any WOTC presence on the En World boards? Gee, what a shock. Any time someone does make the mistake of dropping by, the wolves are out and the knives are being sharpened. Unless, of course, someone just had the misfortune of being laid off, then, it's a big pity party and proof positive of the perfidy of WOTC.

And then, to top it off, these self-same posters have the gall to complain about how En World is pro-WOTC and their voices are being silenced. I'm just totally sick of it and it needs to be called out every single time it happens.

In this thread alone, we've had passive agressive comments about how they are going to screw over the old time gamer by putting ten year old downloads behind the paywall. Comments about how anti-old school gamer WOTC is for breaking links to books that are available legally for free in any number of locations. But, of course, the assumption must be leapt to that I meant illegal downloads.

If you're going to start castigating me for suggesting illegal activities, at least have the decency to spend thirty seconds educating yourself on the topic first.



This is probably a good time to go re-read the PM I just sent you. ~ PCat

 

[Hussar]

I am reading this as Guttenberg is hosting the PDFs that the links for have gone missing off the Wizard's site. After seeing some of the later posts, I am thinking that is not what you meant. I was certainly confused (or maybe my search skills on the Guttenberg site are weak).



They certainly would draw bad PR to drop the links. It is certainly within their right to pull those links if they were so inclined. But it would not be a good PR move.

You mention these are available in a bunch of other places. Are they consolidated or do I find them just by using Google searches and picking up what I can find?



Yeah, I don't think Hussar's initial post was as clear as it could be, as I think I misunderstood it as well.

My point is that pretty much every book on that list in the link MarkCMG provided is available as a free, legal download in any number of sources - Project Gutenberg, Munseys, Feedbooks just to name three. Are they in a single consolidated list? No, probably not. But, that was not the complaint. The complaint was that these books will no longer be available.

With the added spin that this was done to spite a certain group of gamers.

The books are certainly available, in a number of formats, all over the Internet. There is nothing to support the idea (as usual) that this was done to spite anyone.

Heck, we don't even know how long these links have been down do we? It could easily be that these links have been down for weeks, and no one noticed. But, again, as usual, this is going to get spun into this massive conspiracy theory that WOTC is out to screw people yet again.

 

[IronWolf]

My point is that pretty much every book on that list in the link MarkCMG provided is available as a free, legal download in any number of sources - Project Gutenberg, Munseys, Feedbooks just to name three.

Are we looking at the same list? I think you are looking at the Classic Fantasy list and I am referencing the list that started this thread which led to folks finding the direct links:

RPG List

I am having a horrible time finding any of the RPG related books on either of the three sites you listed - I was looking for Volo's Guide to the North. My search-fu may be weak. Or we've had a misunderstanding and you are talking specifically about the Classic Fantasy list whereas I am talking about the RPG related downloads.

The books are certainly available, in a number of formats, all over the Internet.

Let's make sure we are talking about the same list of books before we go further.

 

[Oldtimer]

The books in the WOTC catalogue are all public domain.
<snip>
The Hobbit took me 15 seconds to find. I'd go through the rest, but why bother?

I don't want to be pouring gasoline on the proverbial fire, but I am genuinely curious. J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, so even in the most permissive legislations his works will not become public domain until Jan 1, 2024. Or has Tolkien Estate specifically put The Hobbit into public domain?

 

[Marius Delphus]

The books in the WOTC catalogue are all public domain.

Nothing created and published by TSR or WOTC is in the public domain. The copyrights are still in force.

 

[Marius Delphus]

I don't want to be pouring gasoline on the proverbial fire, but I am genuinely curious. J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, so even in the most permissive legislations his works will not become public domain until Jan 1, 2024. Or has Tolkien Estate specifically put The Hobbit into public domain?

I found some references to the idea that the copyright might have expired in a couple of countries prior to the adoption of the Berne Convention. But I don't think anything written by Tolkien is in the public domain (in a Berne convention country), either.