Comments on: Wizards Yanks all PDF Products, Sues Copyright Infringers

By: Nadrakas

Nadrakas — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:08:10 +0000

While it may be WotC’s right to pull all of the PDFs, whether 4th or earlier editions, it was rather rude & crude to do it with minimal notice (1-day I believe).

Piracy being the cause of pulling ALL of the PDFs is just an excuse, as books can be (and were in the past) easily copied & distributed. As several here have already mentioned, I believe this a move to shore up the poor reception of the 4th Edition. I bought the first three books (Players, DMs, Monster) & found them…wanting. It reminded me too much of MMORGs (as has been mentioned), the system was “clunky” in it’s explanation , and while the art-work was well done the layout was not (sections and subsections were run together, making it difficult to find things). So, to me, the pulling of 4th Edition PDFs by WotC has no impact…I’ve already switched to Pathfinder for my “D&D” fix. As for the impact to WotC…well, only their sales figures and bottom line will tell if they did the right thing.

Oh…and if I want any other types of RPGs besides D&D, then I have somewhere in the range of $200,000 in game books to choose from (Been gaming since Chain Mail & one 7′x4′ foot book case is just D&D related). And if none of those fit the bill, then I’ve created two or three systems in the past for play with various groups, and I’ll do the same if I have to. So, no Game company, whether WotC or some other RPG Company, “end all, to be all” of gaming.

If you don’t what a company is doing, then don’t buy their products. If nobody is making something you like, then do it yourself (or get with others and make your own game). In short, step outside of the “Corporate created box” and do it yourself. I think you’ll find it’s a whole lot funner that way.

I’ll get off my soap box now.

Nadrakas…

By: Paul Fijma

Paul Fijma — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:28:08 +0000

I bought a full set of books from paizo’s pathfinder series because i couldnt find any wotc books.
i wont upgrade to 4th version because in my opnion it doesn’t add and with the pdf’s no longer on sale i need a little truck to take all my stuff with me. I have almost all 3.5 books complete on paper. sadly… pathfinder is pdf and more easy to use ebcasue it is pdf.
if they add DRM then they can keep it. I have had it up to somwhere way up with that stupid DRM crap.

By: Lifixs

Lifixs — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:33:14 +0000

Bah, Wizards is getting more greedy, its now financially insane to try and play type 2 Magic: The Gathering. I no longer buy boosters because of that, and there for awhile I was dumping 60$ on cards each paycheck.

By: Mark Question

Mark Question — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:43:06 +0000

Let’s whine together. Oh, the horror, there will be no LEGAL sources!
WAIT.
So, if someone scanned it and SELLS it, it’s somehow authomatically more “legal” than someone scanned it and dispenses it for free via p2p? Really? Why? Due to blessing by the Church of Holy Dollar or what?

At any rate, it’s spelled “Hasbro”, not “Wizards of the Coast”. Don’t shift blame on your spare mask, Spidey.

By: Ben Clark

Ben Clark — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:36:15 +0000

Ask the record companies how it turned out for them to prevent any legal means of downloading digital content. Last I heard, it didn’t go so well.

On the other hand, they have all the sales information. Maybe they tallied up the numbers and found that PDF sales were depressing hard copy sales enough to warrant the move. I doubt it, but it could happen.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:27:15 +0000

It’s funny how you talk about Wizards as if they were a company in their own right… I don’t know anyone inside, so I can’t be sure, but isn’t the problem here with Hasbro (who own Wizards of the Coast) and not Wizards itself?

But I’m with you on this one: if I was going to be reading paper RPG materials, I’d want the hardbound book as that’s the desirable thing to own. Removing legal access to the PDFs guarantees that they’re going to be pirated, as would DRM.

I suppose you could print your own copy from the PDF, though… wonder what the quality would be like?

By: Nowinki » Wizards Of The Coast Learning That Pissing Off Geeks Isn’t Such A Good Idea…

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:44:22 +0000

[...] Yet, D&D publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has fans of the game up in arms over the decision to stop a bunch of online retailers from selling PDF versions of its games and books, while also filing eight lawsuits claiming infringement for unauthorized distribution…. and I [...]

By: Web News Site » Blog Archive » Wizards Of The Coast Learning That Pissing Off Geeks Isn’t Such A Good Idea…

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:42:45 +0000