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While I appreciate Paizo finally making some issues available in .pdf, i.e., those out of print, I think subscribers should be able to have access not only to hard copies, but .pdfs of each issue they receive as well. Hard copies are great to read and .pdfs are great to use in game. It'd be a great marriage.
As such, why not offer two things:
1. All issues available for .pdf at standard magazine list price. (So as to not sell short the hard copies, which are more expensive to produce, but provide people the opportunity to either (a) secure out of prints this way or (b) secure a .pdf of a hard copy that they already own.)
2. For subscribers, a nice discount on those available .pdfs of each issue to which the subscriber subscribed. I was thinking of allowing subscribers to pay an extra $12 per year to their subscription for this service, or $1 per issue. The extra cost would not be mandatory, but optional. The cost of making available for download such .pdfs would, IMO, be far outweighed by the revenue you could generate.
Moreover, for non-subscribers who might complain that this isn't fair, I would simply suggest that this would give additional incentive for people to subscribe, i.e., create a greater collection of "regulars."
What say you, Paizo?
Moreover, for non-subscribers who might complain that this isn't fair, I would simply suggest that this would give additional incentive for people to subscribe, i.e., create a greater collection of "regulars."What say you, Paizo?
I'm sure someone appropriate will come and reply soon, but a few comments...
It's my understanding that offering pdf copies is not done because it violates the terms of the license Paizo has to produce the magazine with WotC. My impression from Erik's posts has always been that the staff would be interested in some form of pdf delivery if the license allowed it.
In the specific case of out of print magazines, Paizo was able to secure permission to distribute pdf copies, but my understanding is that this is the only time their license allows them to do so.
Also, subscriber benefits like you discuss tend to be unpopular because many of us like to support our FLGS. Paizo has been very supportive of that, and the last time subscriber only benefits (outside of price) were introduced there was an uproar from loyal purchasers who lost out. The Friendly Local Gaming Store is an important resource for gamers... many barely stay afloat and the best ones act as community resources for gamers as well as storefronts.
I would also love to see the availability of pdf copies, and some method of providing them at a low cost for people who have already purchased the magazine, but I would be very against the idea of only providing that option to subscribers (even though it would apply to me, since my husband subscribes).
- Ashavan
I'm certain their first concern is going to be piracy which is unfortunate because PDFs are great. Anyone who has a Mac running 10.4.x knows that the Spolight Find feature of searching inside documents (including PDFs) is awesome. I dream of the day I can have my library of rule books, magazines, adventures, etc. on my laptop.
Not sure of a rule or the stats on a monster or whatever? Hit Cmd-Space. Type in a few words and the relevant data starts popping up in a list.
(Don't worry, you Windows folks will be able to do the same thing when Vista finally comes out in 2000-whenever. ;)
I would love to see them offer something like this. But I also understand if they're concerned about losing revenue.
We understand and appreciate how cool it would be to have a PDF copy of each issue.
However, it won't happen anytime soon for all the reasons already mentioned.
Best regards,
Rob
And for Jon... Tiger rules!
I'd love to be able to download current issues. Some things are just better done on a computer.
But then again, when you think about what those things are, most of them tend to involve maps, which are provided free as a PDF anyway...
(Don't worry, you Windows folks will be able to do the same thing when Vista finally comes out in 2000-whenever. ;)
Not to be a smart-arse, which of course means I'm gonna be, but I'm both a Windows AND a Mac user, and for either platform, Google Desktop Search does exactly the same thing.
And a zillion other search utils available for the PC via download from the Intarweb.
Sure, it doesn't have the fancy keystroke combo (which is not to say you couldn't program a hot-key for it), but for all intents and purposes, GDS does the same thing PLUS scans inside the Evil Empire's proprietary Office formats.
While I will agree that Apple does just about everything wonderfully, contrary to Tiger's P.R., they didn't pioneer desktop search.
-- tmw
While I will agree that Apple does just about everything wonderfully, contrary to Tiger's P.R., they didn't pioneer desktop search.
What are you saying?! Apple didn't invent EVERYTHING?! My life is shattered! ;)
Of course I realize that searching inside a document is hardly a new thing. It's just that's pretty spiffy when it's built in to the computer and you don't even have to think about it.
For an extra $1 an issue I'd just settle for the maps and the non-standard monsters and NPC's in .pdf files.
My credit union sends me a password protected pdf statement via e-mail every month....could Paizo do that and not violate the license with WotC?
I always put my monster stats and NPC's on 3x5 cards before each game and that would save me SO MUCH time!!!
To support the local gaming stores, why not put a coupon inside each magazine that allows the purchaser to get the same .pdf file for the same surcharge that subscribers would pay?
I guess this thread should have gone into the Dungeon magazine messageboards...oh well.
CEO
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I'm giving some thought to running Age of Worms as a PbP game. Having the adventure path issues in PDF would be great, because I could cut and paste some of the background and descriptive text about things the characters know directly into the game archives.
Of course, that's exactly what makes Paizo leery of doing it; that and peer to peer file sharing... :)
As it stands, I can always purchase a second copy, get Kinko's to cut the binding off, and run it through the scanner at work. It will email me a PDF. Then, I can OCR it and edit the result...
Yeah, a couple bucks for a PDF on top of my magazine is looking really good right now, between the $10 and unknown hours the alternative would take...
Brent:
As somebody mentioned earlier, our license with Wizards of the Coast doesn't allow us to make PDFs available for any products except ones that have been out of print. Thus, even though this sounds like a great idea, it isn't something we can enterain at all because of our legal responsbilities. Sorry guys!
Lisa Stevens
CEO
As for myself, I wasn't talking about whole issues as a PDF, I just want the maps and NPC stat blocks...and I'm still willing to pay $1 extra per issue for that.
You wouldn't take anything away from the regular subscription price and the store-buyers could get the enhancement for the same price as the "premium" subscription buyers.
I'll wait patiently....
I just want the maps and NPC stat blocks...and I'm still willing to pay $1 extra per issue for that.
As someone already pointed out, the maps are already available at:
http://paizo.com/dungeon/resources/downloadsAlong with player handouts, images of NPCs, etc.
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hey, i would just like to comment on the subscriber issue. When they brought that up last time (what was it 2-3 years ago?). I had always bought dragon, and dungeon from my local store, and wanted to continue supporting them. But i didn't want to miss out so i sent in the subscribtion slip.
Six months last still nothing, so i signed up to subscribe again, still nothing. I've been paying full price at my local store still to this day. and whenever i hear talks of subscriber only, it upsets me. first, i like to support the dieing stores. second, i don't like how poorly the magazine publishers were. i mean twice 6 month apart they ignored my request.
Robert,....I'm talking about the NPC STAT BLOCKS...the pictures are nice, but the STAT BLOCKS is what I would like to see in a pdf file. For me, that's a time saving feature. I prepare before each game by putting the stats on 3x5 cards and if I don't have to retype them, that would save me a lot of time...enough time for me to pay extra.
Wejarvis--could it be that you picked up an old Dungeon subscription card from before Paizo took over? Maybe it got lost in the mail. I have never had any problems.
While it isn't an ideal solution, I cut and paste a lot out of the SRD into my adventures so I don't have to look things up. I still have to type out a lot of things, but this cuts down on it considerably.
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Chief Technical Officer
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My credit union sends me a password protected pdf statement via e-mail every month
As others have said, document security is not the issue here. But if you're curious about what we do do to protect our PDFs, read on.
Password protection has two major flaws as far as the protection of intellectual property goes. The first is that it's easy for somebody to just share the password along with the file, and the second is that once you've unlocked it, it's possible to create a non-password-protected copy. Password protection is ideal for just the sort of thing your bank is using it for, where the data it's protecting is something the customer wants to keep protected.
All of the PDFs we sell at Paizo use watermarking - adding a visible element that identifies the purchaser on every page.
-Vic.
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...so I guess it's just a matter of whether or not you guys think this is worthwhile. Having the NPC stat blocks available in electronic form so I can print them out on 3x5 cards before running an adventure...that would be very much worth an extra $12 a year to me.
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All of the PDFs we sell at Paizo use watermarking - adding a visible element that identifies the purchaser on every page.
-Vic.
So, having .pdfs available only for the purchasers is doable. As mentioned prior - the issue boils down to whether you can get the copyright permission to do so.
As someone mentioned above - 'I hope it's open to renegotiation.'
I can imagine that whether Paizo is interested in even fighting for this right, Paizo likely needs to assess what the demand is for it.
So, that said, let me again offer that I would be willing to pay a reasonable extra amount for each subscription if it enabled me to have access to both hard copies and .pdfs.
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I'm giving some thought to running Age of Worms as a PbP game. Having the adventure path issues in PDF would be great, because I could cut and paste some of the background and descriptive text about things the characters know directly into the game archives.
Of course, that's exactly what makes Paizo leery of doing it; that and peer to peer file sharing... :)
As it stands, I can always purchase a second copy, get Kinko's to cut the binding off, and run it through the scanner at work. It will email me a PDF. Then, I can OCR it and edit the result...
Yeah, a couple bucks for a PDF on top of my magazine is looking really good right now, between the $10 and unknown hours the alternative would take...
Of course, a scanner can do this just as well off one magazine and save you the extra cash. Paizo, allowing for copying for gaming purposes, seems to open the door to allow for this ... but I'm not Paizo, so one of those noble figures might want to chime in. (I might add that I can't seem to finds the copyright permission language in my latest Dragon or Dungeon. Am I blind or did Paizo change their copyright standards?)
I would love to be able to have my subscription in pdf (ocr'ed) format. Having suggested this to Pazio several times over the past couple years, I'm still hopeful.
We are a mainly computer based group and use a few DM assistant programs. It would be rather nice to be able to easily enter this info into these programs.
Anyhow, I'm eager for CMP's RPGToolkit as a solid addition to our circle when its available. If Pazio doesn't go PDF format (for all issues) I would dearly hope they opt in and include thier data sets for RPGToolkit.