20 Unique Spells
- Thread starter Magistus
- Start date
sidkfjjteidlkkf
Mongoose
Don't know, but I have it and they are quite good.
reverend keith
Mongoose
Ah. A Seraphim Guard PDF. So, can you copy and paste the text in the document, or is it locked down for everything but printing like The Backstab Gang PDF?
reverend keith
Mongoose
That sucks for me. I guess I'll keep waiting until Spellbook is released in PDF format.cjh said:
gamesmeister
Banded Mongoose
Why do you copy protect the pdf's? Most people are willing to pay a couple of bucks for your products if they think they can get good use out of them - being unable to copy them would put me off to.
As already stated, people who really want to crack the document will quickly do so anyway, so all you're doing is scaring away valuable customers.
Just my couple of bolgs...
As already stated, people who really want to crack the document will quickly do so anyway, so all you're doing is scaring away valuable customers.
Just my couple of bolgs...
Lord High Munchkin
Mongoose
Dear All,
As has been stated, copy protection can easily be overcome by those who wish to do so.
However, copy protection is a real slap in the face for those who honestly, and in good faith, paid out money to buy a product - and says a lot about what e-publishers really think about their customers....
Regards
As has been stated, copy protection can easily be overcome by those who wish to do so.
However, copy protection is a real slap in the face for those who honestly, and in good faith, paid out money to buy a product - and says a lot about what e-publishers really think about their customers....
Regards
Folks,
I hate to burst any bubbles but, at least in our case, copy protection has absolutely nothing to do with the honesty of our customers. There are a couple of factors involved, but neither of them have anything to do with our customers or their honesty. Quite frankly the main reason for our processes (which started before I purchased Seraphim Guard) came out of unscrupulous publishers taking content and recycling it in their own product, often without the proper attribution and at times releasing non-open material as being open. This happens and it ends up impacting our bottom line. Unfortunately, all it takes is one bad apple to spoil things for everyone else.
It really has nothing to do with our consumers or their honesty. But the profit for RPG products, particularly PDFs that we offer as cheaply as our Runequest materials need to be protected in such a manner that we can continue to prodce them for people. Sometimes that means having to do things that aren't popular with everyone.
Chris Helton
Seraphim Guard[/list][/list]
I hate to burst any bubbles but, at least in our case, copy protection has absolutely nothing to do with the honesty of our customers. There are a couple of factors involved, but neither of them have anything to do with our customers or their honesty. Quite frankly the main reason for our processes (which started before I purchased Seraphim Guard) came out of unscrupulous publishers taking content and recycling it in their own product, often without the proper attribution and at times releasing non-open material as being open. This happens and it ends up impacting our bottom line. Unfortunately, all it takes is one bad apple to spoil things for everyone else.
It really has nothing to do with our consumers or their honesty. But the profit for RPG products, particularly PDFs that we offer as cheaply as our Runequest materials need to be protected in such a manner that we can continue to prodce them for people. Sometimes that means having to do things that aren't popular with everyone.
Chris Helton
Seraphim Guard[/list][/list]
I could understand the use of the security features of pdfs if they would actually work. Sadly, they are nothing more than a marketing ploy of adobe. They try to inspire some illusion of security in their custumors with 128-bit encryption and other features that are completely pointless. It's like selling high-security front doors that you can only lock when all the windows and the backdoors are open.
I am making the pdfs for a German rpg-site and we started with encrypted pdfs, too. We dropped it after realising that it is useless. Everyone who wants to steal the text, can do so, no experience or expert knowledge necessary. The security settings just take away some of the advantages of pdfs from the normal user.
I am making the pdfs for a German rpg-site and we started with encrypted pdfs, too. We dropped it after realising that it is useless. Everyone who wants to steal the text, can do so, no experience or expert knowledge necessary. The security settings just take away some of the advantages of pdfs from the normal user.
Lord High Munchkin
Mongoose
Dear All,
OK, I accept that you have been ripped off, and that you are trying to protect your IP.
However, you aren't.
Copy protection in PDF's is simply useless - it's an illusion (Adobe actually kindly puts the unlocking keywords in the document's own code).
At the very worst it could take a few minutes to dowload the softwre to bypass the protection, or longer for the low tech print-scan-n-OCR method.
Either way protection doesn't work.
All the best
OK, I accept that you have been ripped off, and that you are trying to protect your IP.
However, you aren't.
Copy protection in PDF's is simply useless - it's an illusion (Adobe actually kindly puts the unlocking keywords in the document's own code).
At the very worst it could take a few minutes to dowload the softwre to bypass the protection, or longer for the low tech print-scan-n-OCR method.
Either way protection doesn't work.
All the best
reverend keith
Mongoose
I'm not questioning the integrity or motives of Seraphim Guard or it's employees, but rather I just want to explain my personal purchasing habits. I don't buy copy protected PDFs and I'm irritated when I discover that I've unknowingly purchased one.cjh said:
I purchase supplements to have access to pre-canned stats for my games and copying information from gamebook PDFs is an invaluable feature for me. I don't like having a ton of printouts or books around me during a game, so I frequently consolidate important stats and mechanics on a few sheets to be placed in the inside of my game screen. (relevant NPC stats, rules, etc.) On top of that, material I harvest from gamebooks is frequently tweaked to match my specific campaign, so not being able to modify those stat-blocks seriously reduces their value. In the end, given the wealth of products out there competing for my dollar, locked PDFs are a deal killer for me.
I realize that I'm just one customer and you have to do what you have to do to run your company. I don't think you should change your policy to suit one potential customer. If selling locked PDFs is important to the running of your business, then I 'll wish you the best of luck and I'll just say that I'm dissapointed that your business practices exclude me from your customer base. If your PDF locking policy ever changes, I'll be here with credit card in hand.
Take care!
