Digital Books - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Digital Books

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
thaelyn13
Jun 03, 2010 14:54:03 erdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I know they had some for a while, and they were pulled because of piracy problems. Have they made any announcments on making them available again at some point? I have a ton of books, from 2nd edition to 4th edition, almost all of them. I've been a subscriber to DDI since it started. I picked up an iPad and am enjoying the apps available on them. I even purchased the War of the Spider Queen series again using the Amazon Kindle app (I already owned the hardcover versions). They work wonderfully on there. I just want to be able to have my D&D books available to me whenever I want to look through them, without having to carry them around all the time (A. I'm not as young as I was, B. Seems like there are more and more books all the time, C. I work quite a bit, and it'd be nice to be able to have this with me if I'm traveling).
#2
bone_naga
Jun 29, 2010 7:00:48 Of course not. That would be progress.
#3
jedrious
Jun 29, 2010 15:55:54 I had an opportunity to ask Rich Baker about this (my FLGS was the "Pimp your Store" winner) and while he had no specifics could divulge, he did say that is is a topic that is discussed often and that a comprimise which will A.) not increase piracy and B.) will not harm the Brick and Mortar stores that keep the industry alive is the goal, now as I said, he had no specifics nor promises to make and it's not really his department, but the fact that ti's not a dead issue is promising.
#4
raleel
Jul 02, 2010 23:23:14 forgive me, but that doesn't sound particularly promising. It sounds like it won't be books in digital format Just sell the books on the ipad. It's already a good medium for it.

Of course, I'd be excited if buying a book got you an iBook code for free download, similar to the Starbucks promo with free weekly itunes songs.
#5
ChrisTheS
Jul 03, 2010 14:31:05
Well, they're never going to find a solution that satisfies point (a), and point (b) is really a non-issue because if they really wanted to push local store sales they wouldn't distribute through Amazon and Chapters. So I suspect they're not really trying.
#6
jedrious
Jul 03, 2010 15:05:13 The decision to sell through on-line outlets is actually more of a distributor's decision than a publisher's. In order to have full control of which stores can or cannot sell WotC products, WotC would need to expand into being their own distribution chain, which is not an insignificant undertaking. Also on-line outlets are invaluable to getting the product to more remote locations, I know my area was without an FLGS until about 3 years ago, and Borders/Barnes have a less than adequate supply of RPG products, so for a long while it was a choice between buying online or not buying at all.
#7
ChrisTheS
Jul 03, 2010 15:21:24 It still sounds like an excuse more than a justification.
#8
Jharii
Jul 04, 2010 4:39:52
It still sounds like an excuse more than a justification.

To me, it sounds like a contractual agreement that was made by Wizards with its distributors that does not permit Wizards to sell their published product (which would include PDFs) directly. It is a common arrangement that is made in the business world which allows Wizards to sell mass amounts of product (at a reduced rate) to these distributors.

I am sure that some of this parallels the DDI decisions that are made by Wizards and the long droughts of little information as well as perceived lack of progress. They have to make sure that nothing they are providing to us digitally breaches that contract, let alone the trust with those distributors.

I know that for the company I work for, we introduced an internet solution for our client/server product, and we had to jump through hoops to ensure to our distributors that we were not pulling the rug out from under them, and that the new product would not impact their company.

When you see websites with "Find a retailer" instead of "Buy Now" this is typically the biggest reason why.
#9
bone_naga
Jul 07, 2010 1:08:05 Increasing piracy is a moot point. Every single WotC book from both editions is available for download as a pdf. It's been this way for some time.

As for supporting brick and mortar stores, like someone else suggested when you buy a physical book you get a pdf for free. Now it has been brought up that people will open books in the store to steal the coupon or write down the code. This assumes the coupon is in the book. Instead, when you checkout the coupons are kept behind the counter and handed to the customer at checkout (or shipped with the book if ordered online). Sure some workers might steal coupons, but really that can happen with any piece of merchandise.

And yeah, I think Amazon does far more damage to brick and mortar stores than pdfs do. So until they do something about that, that's a pretty lame excuse. Besides, other companies like Goodman Games have found ways to support the FLGS while still selling pdfs.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 thaelyn13 Jun 03, 2010 14:54:03	erdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I know they had some for a while, and they were pulled because of piracy problems. Have they made any announcments on making them available again at some point? I have a ton of books, from 2nd edition to 4th edition, almost all of them. I've been a subscriber to DDI since it started. I picked up an iPad and am enjoying the apps available on them. I even purchased the War of the Spider Queen series again using the Amazon Kindle app (I already owned the hardcover versions). They work wonderfully on there. I just want to be able to have my D&D books available to me whenever I want to look through them, without having to carry them around all the time (A. I'm not as young as I was, B. Seems like there are more and more books all the time, C. I work quite a bit, and it'd be nice to be able to have this with me if I'm traveling).
#2 bone_naga Jun 29, 2010 7:00:48	Of course not. That would be progress.
#3 jedrious Jun 29, 2010 15:55:54	I had an opportunity to ask Rich Baker about this (my FLGS was the "Pimp your Store" winner) and while he had no specifics could divulge, he did say that is is a topic that is discussed often and that a comprimise which will A.) not increase piracy and B.) will not harm the Brick and Mortar stores that keep the industry alive is the goal, now as I said, he had no specifics nor promises to make and it's not really his department, but the fact that ti's not a dead issue is promising.
#4 raleel Jul 02, 2010 23:23:14	forgive me, but that doesn't sound particularly promising. It sounds like it won't be books in digital format Just sell the books on the ipad. It's already a good medium for it. Of course, I'd be excited if buying a book got you an iBook code for free download, similar to the Starbucks promo with free weekly itunes songs.
#5 ChrisTheS Jul 03, 2010 14:31:05	Well, they're never going to find a solution that satisfies point (a), and point (b) is really a non-issue because if they really wanted to push local store sales they wouldn't distribute through Amazon and Chapters. So I suspect they're not really trying.
#6 jedrious Jul 03, 2010 15:05:13	The decision to sell through on-line outlets is actually more of a distributor's decision than a publisher's. In order to have full control of which stores can or cannot sell WotC products, WotC would need to expand into being their own distribution chain, which is not an insignificant undertaking. Also on-line outlets are invaluable to getting the product to more remote locations, I know my area was without an FLGS until about 3 years ago, and Borders/Barnes have a less than adequate supply of RPG products, so for a long while it was a choice between buying online or not buying at all.
#7 ChrisTheS Jul 03, 2010 15:21:24	It still sounds like an excuse more than a justification.
#8 Jharii Jul 04, 2010 4:39:52	It still sounds like an excuse more than a justification. To me, it sounds like a contractual agreement that was made by Wizards with its distributors that does not permit Wizards to sell their published product (which would include PDFs) directly. It is a common arrangement that is made in the business world which allows Wizards to sell mass amounts of product (at a reduced rate) to these distributors. I am sure that some of this parallels the DDI decisions that are made by Wizards and the long droughts of little information as well as perceived lack of progress. They have to make sure that nothing they are providing to us digitally breaches that contract, let alone the trust with those distributors. I know that for the company I work for, we introduced an internet solution for our client/server product, and we had to jump through hoops to ensure to our distributors that we were not pulling the rug out from under them, and that the new product would not impact their company. When you see websites with "Find a retailer" instead of "Buy Now" this is typically the biggest reason why.
#9 bone_naga Jul 07, 2010 1:08:05	Increasing piracy is a moot point. Every single WotC book from both editions is available for download as a pdf. It's been this way for some time. As for supporting brick and mortar stores, like someone else suggested when you buy a physical book you get a pdf for free. Now it has been brought up that people will open books in the store to steal the coupon or write down the code. This assumes the coupon is in the book. Instead, when you checkout the coupons are kept behind the counter and handed to the customer at checkout (or shipped with the book if ordered online). Sure some workers might steal coupons, but really that can happen with any piece of merchandise. And yeah, I think Amazon does far more damage to brick and mortar stores than pdfs do. So until they do something about that, that's a pretty lame excuse. Besides, other companies like Goodman Games have found ways to support the FLGS while still selling pdfs.