This is really just cut from a longer post, because it was only slightly relevant. So, we’re gonna start this off with this little gem from the Oatmeal.

In 2008, I was unemployed, facing foreclosure, and looking forward to fatherhood when 4e came out, and rather than shell out the gobs of money I’d thrown at 3.5e I torrented the (really nice, btw) PDFs. Once I was employed again and ready to pay WotC for the PDFs I’d downloaded, they weren’t selling them any more. Now I do pay for DDi, and I bought a Rules Compendium. That’s really all I need to play.

I tell you what though, those pirates are pretty dedicated. Even after WotC stopped selling PDFs, the torrent PDFs simply became scans, and took all of a whole extra day to show up. With OCR. And bookmarks. So basically, pirates get extra features paying customers don’t. As a result, pulling the PDFs off the market didn’t stop piracy, it just cut off that revenue source. Dumb. WotC, don’t do that again.

And – on a similar note – even if I picked up the hilariously inflated SWSE books off eBay, none of that money goes to WotC or the designers at this point. That kinda pisses me off actually. I’d love to have those books on my shelf, and not with the plasticoil binding they have now. I’m seriously considering just getting a hold of the designers and Paypalling or sending checks directly, now that it’s within my budget.

I’m not saying I don’t buy PDFs. All my Malhavoc Press stuff is legitimately purchased, and I have a fair amount of other 3rd party stuff from DriveThru RPG and the like. If I liked Pathfinder, I’d be all over buying those incredibly reasonably priced PDFs ($10 against the $50 hardback price?), especially since they’re hyperlinked like wow! Hyperlinks are pretty much the one thing you don’t get with scans.

But WotC seems to have a strange business model with PDFs. I kind of understand why they never made SWSE PDFs. LucasArts has the license for Star Wars “video games”, and for some reason that shuts out digital versions of the RPG. But the decision to pull the D&D material from PDF distribution? Puzzling. Utterly puzzling.