I thought I'd throw this out here...
I'm buying Pathfinder from my local gaming shop, which needs all the support it can get. Annoyingly, that means I get my copies later than online subscribers, but much worse, I don't get a PDF of it.
The PDF is extremely useful, especially for printing off player handouts and maps.
Now, I understand that having people subscribe directly from Paizo gives them a much better idea of popularity, and gives them a bigger share of the profit, and I'm all for that.
But I wish there were a way for people like me, who keep their local gaming store alive, to get a PDF version of Pathfinder too, without having to shell out twice, or least without having to shell out quite so much. I simply can't afford to buy the book locally, and then pay another $13.99 for the PDF.
Perhaps a unique code in the book could entitle one to the PDF, or a PDF for less?
There's not much in it for Paizo, other than a warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside, but you can't put a price on that! :)
I, too, wish there was some way to accomplish this. My FLGS is having a pretty bad year, with WotC not publishing anything substantive. Plus, they've started carrying a few Pathfinder and Gamemastery products, but not very many, and I think those products would move better if I were buying them locally, and showing them off thereafter.
Supposedly, once WotC's (annoying) DI gets launched, and assuming they've been telling the truth, they'll be providing us with codes to get e-versions of the 4E books we buy. And hopefully, whatever mechanism they use is something that Paizo could also use.
'Cause this is still my biggest problem with throwing a large portion of my gaming dollars Paizo's way - that the extra value of the free PDF in the subscription means I can't justify buying the products from my FLGS. Anything that "fixes" this would be wonderful.
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Perhaps a unique code in the book could entitle one to the PDF, or a PDF for less?
Problem being, either the code in the book is accessible to anyone who wants to copy it out of the book at the store, or you have to shrink wrap the book. Then people can't flip through it, and less people will likely buy it.
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This is something the they have discussed multiple times, but have not come up with a good solution. If they put one use codes in the books, they would have to shrink wrap them to avoid people copying/using the codes for free and locking the person who does buy the product from using it. But this eliminates the ability to thumb through the book at the store, and for those not familier with the company/brand this creates unease in many people who have seen beautiful covers, but awful black and white interior art.
I believe Lisa and Vic have both said that if you can think of a way to eliminate the abuse while allowing FLGS buys to get PDF access. to propose it, but until they find a cost effective way, its a no-go.
If they put one use codes in the books, they would have to shrink wrap them to avoid people copying/using the codes for free and locking the person who does buy the product from using it.
How about printing the code on an insert, which the shop owner can remove and hand over on purchase?
There could be a note in/on the book saying something like "Please remember to ask for your insert from the shopkeeper". It's a little clunky, I know, and wouldn't scale terribly well to huge shops with lots of staff, but I expect it would be doable.
(Frank Reding aka RunelordDM, trying to sort out his message board settings. :)
Yeah, I know that these ideas haven't panned out - yet. But if someone re-examines this issue every once in a while, maybe something can be done eventually.
I think WotC said their method was that the code allowed the book-buyer access to purchase the PDF, for a nomimal fee (a couple of dollars). The idea being that in order to buy the reduced-price PDF online, you have to provide real information about who you are (in order to make a credit card payment), so people would be less likely to steal the codes.
No idea yet if their idea would work to reduce copying of the codes, particularly since it sounds like their codes are not going to be hidden/sealed, at least the way they initially described it. Hopefully they're re-think that and seal/cover the codes somehow.
Another option would be to seal the code into a sealed plastic sleeve (rather than sealing the entire book).
And in either case, I think a "nomimal fee" of several dollars to purchase the item's PDF would be completely reasonable. If you think about it, the fee offsets the fact that buying from the local store carries no shipping cost.
Paizo - Once we see what WotC ends up doing as their method (assuming they live up to this promise), and how well it works, I expect we'll end up bringing this up again to see if their method would also work for Paizo. Fair enough?
They could always go the way of the old "gold box" and have a password by way of "refer to page 13, second paragraph, third sentence, first word is:___" Just a thought. It would have to be semi-random otherwise one could just go online and find out the secret question and then look for it in the store.
Well I agree with the consensus that I'd like to be able to support my FLGS and get the PDF. Maybe a CD insert with the PDF on it.
You guys are missing the point. The PDF is free to subscribers because WE do business with Paizo, not the FLGS. If you choose to go the FLGS, that's your choice. The PDF free is their way of competing with the FLGS instead of offering discounts on the price of books.
Not only are we doing business directly with Paizo but also:
1) We are subscribing which helps tremendously with figuring out print runs.
2) We are paying shipping instead of the the middle men paying it.
So, getting the free PDF is our reward. As far as my FLGS, they are into trading cards, collectibles, and paintball mainly. While they do carry DnD material, I haven't seen any Paizo stuff there yet.
-- david
Papa-DRB
Grognard