Keeper, I know that it's frustrating (and as a player for several years who was just excited to get the totally and originally free Player's Guide for the new Adventure Path that came out today, I share your pain), but you are literally complaining about a potential 20 second wait. I realize that this is not a good first impression, but the scale of this thing is, as several of Paizo's staff has said, UNPRECEDENTED, and I really think if you just take a moment and think about that calmly, and grit your teeth, you'll have a great experience with this game.
It seems like the only big mistake here was Paizo not guessing just how popular their game/deal would in fact turn out to be. So let's reel back the visceral desire for "punishment," ok?
My goodness you have a great vocabulary. But please don't twist words:
It's not a desire for punishment at all. I never said I wanted to see someone punished; quite the opposite. I want to see the users not feeling the pinch. I was SO excited when i saw this bundle, as i'd not owned any TTRPG books since highschool (a depressingly long time ago) that was clear back when the nice hardback 3.5 ed D&D books first came to be. I took a history test the day the GM manual made to our gaming store shelves :P
I'm not complaining about a 20 second wait- I'm complaining that I've been unable to receive any of the goods i paid for in 3 days. If it came back down to it, I'd be fine with it. annoyed? sure a little, but yea 20 seconds isn't a huge deal even in the face of having to do it 40+ times to get all the books i just got in the bundle. It would make a lot more sense to do a bulk download but logistically I can see that being a problem for permanent storage regardless of how big these pdfs get (i imagine quite large with the amount of imagery in them is anything like the covers).
I still look forward to some day, ideally within a day or so sitting down to see what pathfinder is all about- but who knows, if it takes them a longer time to deal with an "unprecedented" boost in popularity, then that's just how it goes. The one thing that doesn't change is my annoyance that I was excited about something that has since turned into another disappointment, and source of frustration rather than joy. It's perfectly reasonable to pay for something and, regardless of the cost, expect to receive what you paid for. I understand in an age of rampant piracy there's a need to protect digital assets, and for the convenience of not looking like an encyclopedia salesman hauling around 30 physical books, protecting them from idiot friends spilling coffee on them (true story, sad day), im perfectly willing to compromise on their form of DRM.
You even agreed with what i said, and echoed that they themselves agree, that IT dropped the ball. I didn't say they should answer for it, or even that i wanted a reply. This is a forum that (ideally) their staff reads, and I'm just using the provided tools and my right to voice discontent with the situation. I want these books because they seem awesome, and its been a really poor welcome to the community for myself, and im sure many others being met with nonstop technical difficulties and and endless supply of lip from loyal people who've not been on shorter end of this particular stick. It's not a good impression for the company, its not a good impression of the community. It's exactly what i said, just a bad situation. One i hope gets resolved before this becomes more than $20 worth of trouble to bother 'bearing' with.