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I remember the good 'ol days of WOTC- when the CEO was a single guy who created a company that could move the entire RPG world forward- who helped to innovate the 3rd edition, and dared to draft the OGL.
Then Hasbro bought it. Suddenly, ALL support that isn't bought via an electronic subscription is revoked, comapnies like Paizo are rolyaly *deleted*, a new edition (rushed, unwanted, and completly incompatable with 3rd, which WOTC\Hasbro promised) comes out that is really just a collection of powers that make the game into some sort of WOW\Harry Potter wargame, the online content is so poorly organized that is is almost impossible to use, not to mention the utter lack of real role-playing content, and then they screw people by saying that you can't buy from a 3rd party.
And let's not forget that they dropped just about everything that could be linked to Gygax- names, settings, terms...
I think they hurried this editon because they thought sales would be boosted if they published before he was even interred.
Does every corperation assume that the consumer is so mindless that we'll just eat whatever offal they serve us?
To WOTC\Hasbro's polices and attitudes, "I say thee NAY!"
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Bold edited to clarify the original message....
...Paizo isn't a way to help WotC. Its a way to hurt it.
People need to understand my opinion that 4E should be the only choice available.
Those companies aren't helping WotC at all. They are too good of competitors.
These people remind me of when I frequented the MacrossWorld (www.macrossworld.com, if you're a fan of the show :) ) message boards. We used to get these Robotech defenders who had this asinine idea that if Harmony Gold (sadly, the rights-holder for the series in America, and the reason I'll never get to see a R1 release of Do You Remember Love [thank God for Blu-Ray!]) acknolwdged and started releasing the original three series that made up Robotech in their original format, that Robotech would vanish, that some Gestapo would come and rip the Robotech tapes/discs out of their hands. It degenerated into flame wars and the exact kind of name-calling that Titanium Dragon is exhibiting.
"Wah, wah, there's not enough room in the RPG industry for us, therefore if Pathfinder thrives, then 4E is doomed!"
I've clashed with this guy often on the WoTC boards; he mostly bases his arguments on purely subjective opinions and vehemently sticks to his so-called "proof" regardless of what sources you cite.
I say we send Jackin' Ape (or SKR) to deal with him! ;P
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I disagree with the conjecture that this is a business decision made by those that are not in the know of how PDFs/digital media works. Quite the contrary, this decision makes perfect sense for WOTCs current business model.
By eliminating the PDF availability they have focused their current customer base onto DDI, through which I am sure, they will offer PDFs for 4E.
They have eliminated support for competing editions, thus strengthening the market position of 4E.
And by understanding that the market place is moving to digital media, and focusing on making the DDI subscribtion based model the core revenue focus, they have placed themselves at the front line of the cutting edge market for RPGs. Ultimately, $10-$15 a month for a year or more, from subscribers, is a lot more profitable than selling hard cover books ever will be.
Jackin Ape sorry too...
Mere mention of poo flinging make him forget :(
Let's not talk about posters on other messageboards here, please.I'm sorry; I forgot.
My apologies as well, 'twas the nerdrage talking. Back to more relaxing persuits like pirate killin' :)
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Their reaction makes me wonder if they even understand how digital stuff works -- at all. Do they think that the pirated copies are PDFs that were sold off the sites, and that there is therefore a finite number of them -- that, like actual books, it's impossible to make a copy without a huge printing infrastructure, and that stopping sales here will actually deprive the pirates of the ability to sell/distribute more pirated copies?
I hope that's not their reasoning, but it seems to fit with their actions. I wonder if they know that it's possible to type a letter in Word, say, and then make infinite copies of it? That stopping sales of PDFs will not prevent some scoundrel somewhere from scanning the book and distributing effectively-infinite copies thereof?
In short, is this entire hoopla because of a failure to grasp the way information can be copied and distributed in an electronic format?
If it is, then that would really alarming.
(It also inclines me to support Pathfinder more -- I wish my customer would hurry up and pay for his latest commission so that I can preorder a copy now.)
Nah TD and a few others over on the WOTC boards have just always been pricks to anyone who has anything to say about WOTC that may be considered less than glowingly positive hole lickery, or happens to like other game companies even. He is the worst sort of poster, and I am astounded that he still has an account there after all the venom he has put forth over the last two years.
It is not just in that topic. If you search his name, I think you will see the what he spends his time doing over there.
As far as the PDF bit from WOTC. It pretty much ended my relationship with them as a customer. Which is OK with me, I really only stuck on with 4e because it was new and shiny, and out of strange sense of loyalty that has developed over the years. But it really just boils down to the fact that the folks over there just aren't receptive or accessible o those they want to collect money from. And as a consumer and a fan I like to feel like I have more value to publisher then just a measure of how deep they can dig their claws into my wallet. The art of customer interaction seems lost over that way, and I have been feeling like a statistic on some balance sheet for a too long with them.
I have been hanging out over at www.dungeonaday.com and here reading the forums and checking out the interactions with the customers and those that are selling products to them, and it is just amazing how well the folks at both sites interact with their fans/customers.
I know I haven't bought any subscriptions here yet but I am a fan of Paizo's work. I recently bought the Rise of the Runelords series off of amazon (tried to get it from my local FLGS first but they could not get number 1 for some reason, and I saw that I could not get all of the books new here either, amazon had them all in stock so I grabbed them there)and I have been picking up Paizo products in my local game sore which has really started to carry a lot more of your stuff recently(I LOVE the printed fold out battlemats).I will be subscribing to your AP starting with the council of thieves. I think what Paizo and some of the other 3pps are doing is fantastic and I intend to support it as much as I am able to.
In many ways I am a little relieved to no longer be a customer of the wotsy. I never felt happy when hanging in their forum communities due to the level of negativity rampant there, and the new game just did not resonate with me. I felt like I was just going through the motions hoping for this 4e movement thing to hit me on the head, or for some light to turn on, and it just never happened. Montes's new site actually reopened my eyes to what had been left behind when D&D got all streamlined and boardgame-like. I started branching out and looking at a lot of 3pp stuff after really enjoying the content there, and I was surprised to find that D&D is alive and well supported, in just the sort of communities that I thought were extinct. And that there is in fact a lot of really great content to be had for fantasy gaming from publishers and communities that are a lot more positive and have a lot more interaction with the publisher than what is available in the "official" D&D venue. It has been a real eye opening experience for me.
I would not be worried about the fanatics over on the WOTC official forums. I think they negativity the froth with is almost a Pavlonian response by now. It's nothing new, and it is certainly not anything to worry about.
love,
malkav
Then Hasbro bought it. Suddenly,
Not to disagree too much, but Hasbro owned WotC through a good chunk of the 3E era as well. It's not like the culture changed overnight when Hasbro showed up.
Let's not talk about posters on other messageboards here, please.
Sorry, Gary.
Thanks to Turin the Mad for the link to WizardsDDI email. Here is the short email I just sent to them:
I think your decision to remove ALL PDF's form being supported through legal purchase and download has done nothing but increase the decision of many people to obtain these PDF's through less than legal means. I believe your decision is foolhardy at best. I also believe that you have done serious damage to any loyalty your older fan base had toward your company.
Just my 2 cp.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012
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I am truly amazed there has been absolutely no attempt at damage control by WotC (Wazi?). I have a DDI subscription that is going to end soon, and I haven't seen anything about this decision. Obviously, I shouldn't care about previous versions of the game or desire to purchase 4E products as PDFs exclusively. What I do know is that their handling of this is going to drive me to not resubscribe or buy any more 4E products.
Fine by me, actually. I can catch up on some of the Paizo products I've got in my "to read" pile. :)
As far as the PDF bit from WOTC. It pretty much ended my relationship with them as a customer. Which is OK with me, I really only stuck on with 4e because it was new and shiny, and out of strange sense of loyalty that has developed over the years. But it really just boils down to the fact that the folks over there just aren't receptive or accessible o those they want to collect...
You know, it really doesn't take a brain surgeon/toy company corporate executive to understand malkav666's response. He's a customer. He wants to feel like the company appreciates that he has a choice and that by giving his money to them, he's aligning himself with a "tribe" if I may borrow David Fryer's theme.
If you support the tribe, the tribe should support you.
Let's not talk about posters on other messageboards here, please.
Sorry, I may have started that. I was only trying to direct people to specific comments.
Well, it sounds to me like it amounts to this:
Malkav, welcome to the tribe.
The truly outrageous response this particular business decision has received from the fan base has convinced me never to involve myself in the tabletop publishing profession. While some of the fans are respectful, thoughtful and level-headed, a significant portion of the fanbase appears to be anything but. I would not wish to spend my life working on quality products for a bunch of people who display an attitude like that seen online over the past few days.
But really, shall we parse the facts out?
1) WotC releases the Player's Handbook 2 to a very positive reception. Piracy of the new book is very high.
2) In response to the sudden spike of pirate activity, WotC decides to reign in PDF distribution until it can come up with a solution where its business is not being harmed.
3) RPGNow and DriveThruRPG misunderstand the intent of WotC's decision and immediately remove all WotC products instead of allowing a period of time for customers to download products before removing them.
4) The particularly vocal amongst the fanbase go nuts, accusing WotC of stealing from its customers, not giving them any warning, and being big, mean bullies.
5) The RPGNow/DriveThruRPG guys say "Whoops, we didn't get the message quite right, we were supposed to let you guys have some time to finish downloading your stuff."
6) The vocal portion of the fanbase, already frothing with comedic rage, glosses over this and just keeps on spewing vitriol. The lesson that they should have waited for the details of the decision to emerge before jumping to embarrassing conclusions is completely lost on them.
So:
WotC decided that to protect itself it needs to figure out a new way to distribute its catalog digitally. That's their prerogative, whether it ends up being effective or not. It's true that attempts to stop piracy like this are generally fruitless, but that's WotC's lesson to learn.
Yes, if you're slowly trying to build a collection of older material you'll have to wait for them to restore a digital distribution service. Oh no.
Yes, if you don't make use of physical copies of books you'll have to wait until WotC comes up with a new way to protect its products before you buy new material. Oh no.
But the rest of you (which is quite a few of you) are not even mildly inconvenienced by this decision.
I suspect that a pretty significant number of those venting here don't actually care about the situation. They just see WotC doing something they perceive as dumb and feel like they can't miss an opportunity to jump on the internet hate machine bandwagon.
I can't stop thinking about how silly this is.
The error is thinking that PDF distribution and PDF piracy are in ANY WAY related. In fact, as the music companies have slowly learned, PDF distribution fights piracy, because I'm often willing to pay for organization, speed and safety in my downloads.
I've been hesitant in lauding Paizo as some kind of replacement for WotC — I'm content to think of it as Linux-esque in its market share. But this pdf thing is such a massive blunder... I begin to wonder if we won't look back on this as the moment the tables turned.
Paizo knows that pdfs sell paper, and they proved it with Pathfinder RPG beta. Wizards doesn't seem to understand that pdf offers a utility that doesn't compete with paper but augments it.
This is going to boost piracy so much. How could they be this naive? It is shocking. WotC has undoubtedly lost money on this gambit already, because people who would have paid for the convenience of a legal download are now going to take the small leap to bittorrent. The combination of resentment and convenience will be like a field day for piracy.
Meanwhile, Paizo probably posted amazing numbers in data sales in the last 24 hours. They're making money on out-of-print stuff ($8 Classic Monsters Revisited anybody?) I'm developing a reflex ... every time WotC drops the ball I give Paizo money.
Hasten the day that Hasbro decides to jettison the D&D IP into Paizo's waiting arms. I'm sure they could even keep 4e around and make it better.
But this pdf thing is such a massive blunder.
Explain this. Why is deciding to suspend PDF sales is the "massive blunder" you describe it as?
The truly outrageous response this particular business decision has received from the fan base has convinced me never to involve myself in the tabletop publishing profession. While some of the fans are respectful, thoughtful and level-headed, a significant portion of the fanbase appears to be anything but. I would not wish to spend my life working on quality products for a bunch of people who display an attitude like that seen online over the past few days.
Yet, you spend so much time involved in telling them how wrong they are for free.
Interesting.
Yet, you spend so much time
A couple of minutes, yes.
More importantly, I think it would do some good for a lot of people to stop and give some serious thought to the way they've decided to act and respond to this.
But this pdf thing is such a massive blunder.Explain this. Why is deciding to suspend PDF sales is the "massive blunder" you describe it as?
Um, read the threads. :)
Regardless of the circumstances, the overall vitriol and negative feelings thrown at WotC over this would certainly constitute a massive blunder - in PR if nothing else.
But this pdf thing is such a massive blunder.Explain this. Why is deciding to suspend PDF sales is the "massive blunder" you describe it as?
Now the only way to get pdfs is via piracy. There are more torrents for wizards IPs now than there were 48 hours ago. Many, many more.
Wizards has increased their piracy problem by removing a legitimate channel of distribution. It won't even slow the pirates down, in fact, it just created more demand, which means more seeds, and it is harder to catch them.
They would have done much better to just leave the status quo in place and open their own PDF store. That would have given people a centralized download location, fast, and safe, which is my number one concern when downloading. That's why I use iTunes instead of torrenting. They could even reward players who buy from their site over other sites.
Shutting down legal distribution does absolutely nothing to piracy. They aren't connected.
Bad press. More piracy. Inconvenienced consumers. Exploitable by the competition. Looks like a blunder to me.
More importantly, I think it would do some good for a lot of people to stop and give some serious thought to the way they've decided to act and respond to this.
I thought very seriously.
About which pdf to buy from paizo.
I settled on Classic Monsters Revisited for $8.
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It's not exactly that I don't care, even though I kinda don't. It's like I've gotten nothing but crapped on from them for so long, that that's all I expect from them anyway. So, the nonchalance is really a nonreaction to what amounts to a match being put out on scar tissue.
I can smell it burning, but I can't feel it, so f@%+ it.
And, wrt "wa wa wa what a bunch of ungrateful bastards?" Welcome to customer service, baby.
Yet, you spend so much timeA couple of minutes, yes.
More importantly, I think it would do some good for a lot of people to stop and give some serious thought to the way they've decided to act and respond to this.
~shrugs~ On one level, all of this is silly. So is playing games when I am almost 40. On the other hand, WotC needs to realize that every time they don't think (and IMHO that is what they are doing) they drive me further and further away from them. I am a paying customer and the PDFs that are being sold here and elsewhere are doing them little damage. I was thinking about buying more of the 4e books, but now I am not EVER going to buy them, if only because a part of MY gaming history is no longer available. I will not steal any PDFs, but several of the items I want can only be gotten in PDF form. For example, the old Mystar Gazaters in print form are going for $40 on up. I will not pay that price if I can help it. Thus, PDFs are the only viable way to get them. ~shrugs~ But whatever. In the long run, none of this matters. For the near and far future, Paizo has my money.
P.S. - I also have not gotten involved in the hate except for an outburst or two.
Oh and I'm a fired customer anyway, so nobody gives a s#@! what I think. PHB II is doing gangbusters on Amazon, so who cares what I say?
I care about you Heathy!
The real question is, who is this who? And I think we all know who who is, and who who is not.
Edit: Awesome, Sharoth. A real Luke moment, though with some unnecessary words.
I thought very seriously.
About which pdf to buy from paizo.
I settled on Classic Monsters Revisited for $8.
Yeah, see, this is not the sort of introspection that I'm advising here.
The real question is, who is this who? And I think we all know who who is, and who who is not.
Edit: Awesome, Sharoth. A real Luke moment, though with some unnecessary words.
~shrugs and grins~ What can I say? Nothing other than us Dragons are a bit wordy when a few words would do. You do understand, don't you?
More importantly, I think it would do some good for a lot of people to stop and give some serious thought to the way they've decided to act and respond to this.
I do understand that RPGNow and DriveThru misunderstood and took down their downloads faster than they could/should have, but the base problem of VERY little lead time is a fact you are ignoring. Paizo has told us they were told all of one hour before the news hit the boards, and you can read for yourself when that started by going to the start of this thread. And the deadline was originally for midnight the same day for both purchases and downloads -- Paizo was able to get downloads extended to noon the following day, probably based on the fact of the short notice and to try and give people a true 24 hours to get their merchandise. But, despite that, several people from locations outside of the United States were still unable to act in time.
This is and was a blunder by WotC in the eyes of many folks that WERE supporting them, were buying their PDFs legally, and were giving 4e a chance ... but now are turning their collective backs on a company that has shown many times that it does not care about the gaming community that was built up over so many years.
You can try to spin-doctor* that any way you like, Mr. Betts, but your words are not going to change the opinions of the well-informed that frequent these boards.
*Spin-doctor, in my own opinion, is trying to tell me what someone really said rather than admitting I have a brain and can read and hear and understand and interpret very well, thank you, without your help.
Scott, I do respect you opinion and am glad that you are being poilite on how you are responding. Thank you!
Yeah, see, this is not the sort of introspection that I'm advising here.I thought very seriously.
About which pdf to buy from paizo.
I settled on Classic Monsters Revisited for $8.
I admire the voice of reason, I really do...
but you may want to check the URL your browser is on.
If you don't expect to see fervent paizo supporters on Paizo.com...
... well anyway I've seen plenty of non-partisan forums where people are quite upset also. Especially the maptool forums, since PDFs and virtual table tops go hand in hand.
Scott Betts, I have to ask - what value do you see in preventing people from ranting harmlessly and venting their displeasure in a harmless fashion?
None. If I felt that the conduct exhibited here and elsewhere on the internet was harmless, I wouldn't get involved.
It is far from harmless, though.
What's interesting is to compare the "extreme irrational outrage" over here to the...whatever one wants to call it from the other thread. If there's a place crying out for a voice pleading calm and rationality, it is surely there, not here.
Yet, you spend so much timeA couple of minutes, yes.
More importantly, I think it would do some good for a lot of people to stop and give some serious thought to the way they've decided to act and respond to this.
~shrugs~ On one level, all of this is silly. So is playing games when I am almost 40. On the other hand, WotC needs to realize that every time they don't think (and IMHO that is what they are doing) they drive me further and further away from them. I am a paying customer and the PDFs that are being sold here and elsewhere are doing them little damage. I was thinking about buying more of the 4e books, but now I am not EVER going to buy them, if only because a part of MY gaming history is no longer available. I will not steal any PDFs, but several of the items I want can only be gotten in PDF form. For example, the old Mystar Gazaters in print form are going for $40 on up. I will not pay that price if I can help it. Thus, PDFs are the only viable way to get them. ~shrugs~ But whatever. In the long run, none of this matters. For the near and far future, Paizo has my money.
P.S. - I also have not gotten involved in the hate except for an outburst or two.
So, presumably, when WotC eventually provides a way for you to continue your collection of digital materials you'll come right back, wallet in hand? Because that would be completely reasonable.
Oh and I'm a fired customer anyway, so nobody gives a s~*@ what I think. PHB II is doing gangbusters on Amazon, so who cares what I say?
Actually, it really isn't anymore.
It *was* at #12 only three weeks ago.
But now it's fallen all the way to #243, so it doesn't look like people are "telling their friends."
I believe reports of its sales figures can best be described as "premature escalation."
;)
Yeah, see, this is not the sort of introspection that I'm advising here.I thought very seriously.
About which pdf to buy from paizo.
I settled on Classic Monsters Revisited for $8.
I admire the voice of reason, I really do...
but you may want to check the URL your browser is on.
If you don't expect to see fervent paizo supporters on Paizo.com...
... well anyway I've seen plenty of non-partisan forums where people are quite upset also. Especially the maptool forums, since PDFs and virtual table tops go hand in hand.
I expect to see fervent Paizo supporters here. I'm a fervent Paizo supporter, so I'm among good company in that sense.
What I shouldn't expect to see here, but what I do see here quite often regardless, is an unrestrained, unmitigated river of vitriol directed at WotC, quite often by people who are completely unaffected by the issue they're complaining about.
If you want to give Paizo money because they're discounting their products, that's a fantastic idea! If you want to give money to Paizo because you think you're "sticking it to the man", you need to take a good hard look at yourself.
So, presumably, when WotC eventually provides a way for you to continue your collection of digital materials you'll come right back, wallet in hand? Because that would be completely reasonable.Yet, you spend so much timeA couple of minutes, yes.
More importantly, I think it would do some good for a lot of people to stop and give some serious thought to the way they've decided to act and respond to this.
~shrugs~ On one level, all of this is silly. So is playing games when I am almost 40. On the other hand, WotC needs to realize that every time they don't think (and IMHO that is what they are doing) they drive me further and further away from them. I am a paying customer and the PDFs that are being sold here and elsewhere are doing them little damage. I was thinking about buying more of the 4e books, but now I am not EVER going to buy them, if only because a part of MY gaming history is no longer available. I will not steal any PDFs, but several of the items I want can only be gotten in PDF form. For example, the old Mystar Gazaters in print form are going for $40 on up. I will not pay that price if I can help it. Thus, PDFs are the only viable way to get them. ~shrugs~ But whatever. In the long run, none of this matters. For the near and far future, Paizo has my money.
P.S. - I also have not gotten involved in the hate except for an outburst or two.
~thinks for a minute~ I will leave that as a maybe. There is MUCH more to this at this point than JUST re-enabling us to get the PDFs. It is also a matter of trust. I no longer trust WotC. If WotC were to regain my trust then I would make that a YES. Otherwise I would have to think long and hard on that.
Yeah, see, this is not the sort of introspection that I'm advising here.I thought very seriously.
About which pdf to buy from paizo.
I settled on Classic Monsters Revisited for $8.
Umm, you're saying that because he can no longer legitimately buy PDFs of WotC origin anywhere he should not (because he wants something to read) instead buy a PDF of a product made by Paizo, from Paizo, instead?
Uhh, are you advocating that he should go out and pirate a WotC PDF instead? I do hope not.... ;)
No. I was saying that I was asking people to take a good hard look at the way they are responding (verbally) to this decision. How much money you decide to spend on gaming materials has nothing to do with it. By all means, buy everything Paizo has to offer. Nothing would please me more.
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Oh and I'm a fired customer anyway, so nobody gives a s!*# what I think. PHB II is doing gangbusters on Amazon, so who cares what I say?
Actually, not anymore - it was 24 or something for about 3 days - now it's #243.
EDIT: Ninja'd by DaveMage, serves me right for walking away from the keyboard during a reply.
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Scott Betts, I have to ask - what value do you see in preventing people from ranting harmlessly and venting their displeasure in a harmless fashion?None. If I felt that the conduct exhibited here and elsewhere on the internet was harmless, I wouldn't get involved.
It is far from harmless, though.
How, then, do you think it is harmful?
Oh and I'm a fired customer anyway, so nobody gives a s~*@ what I think. PHB II is doing gangbusters on Amazon, so who cares what I say?Actually, it really isn't anymore.
It *was* at #12 only three weeks ago.
But now it's fallen all the way to #243, so it doesn't look like people are "telling their friends."
I believe reports of its sales figures can best be described as "premature escalation."
;)
This kind of quick drop-off is something we've seen for multiple editions now. Its peak position was notable, since its the highest a D&D supplemental product has reached that I'm aware of.
Yeah, see, this is not the sort of introspection that I'm advising here.I thought very seriously.
About which pdf to buy from paizo.
I settled on Classic Monsters Revisited for $8.
I admire the voice of reason, I really do...
but you may want to check the URL your browser is on.
If you don't expect to see fervent paizo supporters on Paizo.com...
... well anyway I've seen plenty of non-partisan forums where people are quite upset also. Especially the maptool forums, since PDFs and virtual table tops go hand in hand.
I expect to see fervent Paizo supporters here. I'm a fervent Paizo supporter, so I'm among good company in that sense.
What I shouldn't expect to see here, but what I do see here quite often regardless, is an unrestrained, unmitigated river of vitriol directed at WotC, quite often by people who are completely unaffected by the issue they're complaining about.
If you want to give Paizo money because they're discounting their products, that's a fantastic idea! If you want to give money to Paizo because you think you're "sticking it to the man", you need to take a good hard look at yourself.
~grins~ I buy Paizo Products because I like their work, I like the people who work with them, and I am proud of what they do. OTOH, WotC has done both some amazing things and some very foolish things. At this point I am entrenched with Paizo and not interested in what WotC is doing. It is not out of spite (or at least not much out of spite) but out of trust and the lack or respect that WotC has shown me. ~shrugs~ If they change those things then they might get me back as a customer. However, I only have so much money to spend on RPG stuff. The longer WotC takes to get their act together the less likely I am to go back to them.
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So, presumably, when WotC eventually provides a way for you to continue your collection of digital materials you'll come right back, wallet in hand? Because that would be completely reasonable.
I'd say it would be reasonable to wait and see if whatever new method WotC uses to put that material out is as valuable as the now forfeit pdf method.
And there's plenty of reason for anger over this.
The short notice given by WotC.
The decision to pull pdfs off the market to begin with, which is futile in that pirates don't tend to proliferate watermarked pdfs, but those manually scanned from physical copies. It has also removed the only legal means for legitimate customers to get what they're looking for that isn't time and cost prohibitive.
The harm this has done to the stores that depend on their pdf sales. That in turn leads to worries for those small publishers who can only put out pdfs.
This has been gone over repeatedly. It all shows that someone in the ranks doesn't understand the economy of piracy, something they should be savvy to after seeing the same scenes playing out time and time again in the music, software, and videogame industries.