WOTC switch to watermarking, finally...

[Ranger REG]

I'll take a book I can hold in my hands and flip through, but that's just me. ymmv

QFT.

 

[Glyfair]

Days of Wonder (a great board game publisher) has "webcodes" in each of its boardgames that provide (normally) 6 months free subscription to its online website. Upper Deck does a similar thing with its TCGs - normally for reward points.

Obviously, the implementation of such a system with a D&D book would require a tamper-proof seal - and that's not entirely welcome, especially if you want people to browse books first. However, it would allow the purchase of a pdf at a reduced rate.

I think a reasonable way for this to be done is to seal it in an opaque envelope attached to the cover (sort of like the CD-ROM with the first printing of the 3E PHB). The issue is that there are people who will open the book and rip out/open the envelope to get the coupon. I'm not sure that would be common enough to be an issue.

The main obstacle would be the cost of doing this. Depending on WotC's approach, they might want a unique ID number per "coupon" that can only be used once (to prevent giving the code to your friends). This might add enough of an obstacle for WotC to consider not worthwhile.

Still, I consider this the most likely way to get a secure, but approachable method for giving owner of a product a discount on the PDF rate (assuming you don't use a single code that's passed around the internet).

 

[CharlesRyan]

Again, I said these problems are not insurmountable--just that solving them takes effort and money that might not make it worth it.

Believe me, after 20 years of marketing experience in the game industry, I can tell you that acheiving a reasonable level of compliance across the entire realm of game distribution with even a simple program is iffy at best. Implementing a vaguely complex program--especially one where real money is at stake--is a nightmare.

On a slightly different issue:

So what I am getting at is that most (I'll wager 95% or more) consumers are like me, they prefer print. So if WOTC wants to sell pdf's to people like me they need to make it financially pretty enough for me to buy both.

Which begs the question: Does WotC want to sell PDFs to people like you? My guess is the answer is "no," especially not at the expense of retailers and channels that are strategically much more important than the direct-to-consumer PDF model.

So perhaps the total current market for this product is only 5% of all D&D consumers. Maybe WotC is just fine with that. Maybe they're looking ahead to a day when a greater percentage of consumers value PDFs equal to or above hardcovers. Either way, they aren't motivated to undervalue their products for the benefit of people who aren't their target market.

 

[Ghendar]

WotC have indeed chosen not to sell a paperback PH or DMG, so as not to devalue the hard cover versions.

/M

Well, there is that softcover PH that came with the new DDM basic game.

 

[Maggan]

Well, there is that softcover PH that came with the new DDM basic game.

I guess you mean that there is a softcover PH included in the boxed Player's Kit. I haven't seen one included in a DDM product yet.

WotC has stated that the reson that the softcover PH is not sold as a seperate product is that it would instantly kill sales of the hardbacks as the book trade would return the hardbacks.

Selling it in a box makes it a different product than the hard back PH, and thus it can exist as long as it is sold in a box.

/M

 

[Mercule]

WotC has stated that the reson that the softcover PH is not sold as a seperate product is that it would instantly kill sales of the hardbacks as the book trade would return the hardbacks.

Wow. I can't imagine wanting a softbound PHB or DMG. I'll give you $10 extra to hardbound a book. I guess I'm not the "typical consumer" by a long shot.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Wow. I can't imagine wanting a softbound PHB or DMG. I'll give you $10 extra to hardbound a book. I guess I'm not the "typical consumer" by a long shot.

I'm the opposite. I'd love to be able to grab a 20 dollar softback B&W PH. I have a color copy and extras don't need the bells and whistles. Hell I'm going to buy a PH for my bro tonight for his Bday and I'd gladly save the 10 bucks, he's a cheap bastard too.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Wow. I can't imagine wanting a softbound PHB or DMG. I'll give you $10 extra to hardbound a book. I guess I'm not the "typical consumer" by a long shot.

I bought the Player's Kit specifically for the softcover PHB. It's lighter and easier to carry around and serves as my table book. Meaning that it's the book that gets passed around at the table during the game. I dont care if it gets the crap kicked out of it, I'm a little more protective of my hardcovers, but not by much.

Then again I tend to view my gaming books as utilites to be used than to go an shelf and be looked at or read as prose, so I place a different value on them.

 

[Ranger REG]

Do you really think PDFs will catch on that well by July?

That depends on whether FLGS can sell PDFs like Starbucks selling digital music.

 

[Ranger REG]

Do you really think PDFs will catch on that well by July?

That depends on whether FLGS can sell PDFs like Starbucks selling digital music.