The Hue And Cry Over Pdfs

According to various sources, I guess that today Wizards of the Coast forced everyone else that sells Dungeons & Dragons pdfs to stop. This means that you cant get digital copies of books from sites like Paizo and, well, others. They claim that they want to reduce piracy, while others are labeling them as (still) an evil corporation out to sell you shit and steal your money...

...or rather exchange it, since that's the whole point of a business and capitalism in general. One theory is that Wizards wants to roll out their own digital store so that you would have to get your pdfs from them. This isnt a bad thing, as it doesnt really matter where you get them from, so long as you get them. I think that the crapper is that people dont want to wait and see when/if Wizards will make them available.

This doesn't affect me, at all, since I buy my books through Amazon, Buy.com, or Knightfall Games (depending on who will get it to me the fastest). Given that the price for a pdf is basically the same as the real deal, I'm going to opt out for a hardcover any day of the week. I never understood the attraction to owning digital versions of the books, but I can appreciate the fact that you can transport them much more easily on a laptop or flash drive. Of course, having actually tried to use a laptop at the table, I think that going paper is a more elegant alternative.

I really have no issues with this. I dont play older Editions of D&D. I mean, I used to, but I've found each new edition far more rewarding to play than the last. If I cant pay for digital books of an old game that I'd likely never browse anyway, well...I just dont care. I dont think that Wizards is doing anything inherently wrong or evil, here. I play the game because I think its extremely well designed and a lot of fun, not because I'm friends with them or agree with all of their policies.

No comments

Powered by Blogger.