Ebooks

[Ouroboros]

Does anybody know of a decent place to buy Traveller ebooks online other than DriveThruRPG? DriveThruRPG unfortunately doesn't have Psion yet and I am uncertain when they will start carrying it, so I was hopeful there might be a site out that is a bit more on top of Traveller.

Thanks.

 

[lastbesthope]

DTRPG is Mongoose's webstore of choice for distribution of their pdfs, when it's out, it's there and nowhere else. You'll just have to be patient or buy the hard copy I'm afraid.

Usually the pdf is scheduled for about 1 month after the hard copy release.

LBH

 

[DCAnsell]

Which is an evil policy, if ever I heard of one. Still, getting my pdfs a month later hasn't stopped me from buying up the MGT stuff as soon as money allowed, and I doubt it ever will. DTRPG has always offered excellent service, too.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Which is an evil policy, if ever I heard of one.

It keeps FLGS owners happy. The idea is that those wanting the book asap will have no other choice for a month but to goto a FLGS.

 

[DigitalMage]

It keeps FLGS owners happy. The idea is that those wanting the book asap will have no other choice for a month but to goto a FLGS.

And those who only buy the hardcopy after reading the PDF delay the purchase at the FLGS for a month :?

Personally I like it when the PDF is released first, the purchasers can spot errata and post it in a thread on the company's website, and the publisher can release a corrected hardcopy (and also update the PDF so noone is left with a product with loads of errata).

It is a scheme Green Ronin tend to do - Warrirors & Warlocks has been out in PDF for some time and I have read it and posted some errata, when the hardcopy does come out I will be buying it immediately.

Mind you I still find the fact that Mongoose don't put bookmarks in their pdfs annoying - apart from the initial read through the PDFs are not very useful as references because of it (I use the free Luxury RuneQuest SRD PDF rather than the official PDFs I own to prep my games!)

 

[Sturn]

I like the idea of releasing the PDF early so the hard copy will have more corrections, BUT, we must support our local game stores.

Ask any old gamer how many game shops there once was in there area compared to now. We must support these stores. Why? Imagine in 20 more years no more game stores, RPGs are only mmorpg's or indies you can purchase as PDFs on RPGNow. Perhaps only Wizards is still around producing d20 10th edition hard books. I don't want that to happen even though we are already moving in that direction.

We need gamer stores due to their nature as gamer recruiting stations. Please support them. I go out of my way to purchase my MGT books from a store that is an hour drive away when I could easily have them shipped to my door.

 

[BP]

...don't put bookmarks in their pdfs annoying...

I use search feature - and use table of contents text for best first match...

 

[DigitalMage]

...don't put bookmarks in their pdfs annoying...

I use search feature - and use table of contents text for best first match...

I use search too, but often it can be quicker with book marks (as it is only a couple of clicks, rather than typing in a word or phrase).

 

[hdrider67]

...don't put bookmarks in their pdfs annoying...

I use search feature - and use table of contents text for best first match...

I use search too, but often it can be quicker with book marks (as it is only a couple of clicks, rather than typing in a word or phrase).

I just got scouts and I was able to set my own bookmarks, so we're being allowed to set them now, at least.

Of course, I have Acrobat pro, so it pretty much only helps a small number of us.

 

[DigitalMage]

I just got scouts and I was able to set my own bookmarks, so we're being allowed to set them now, at least.

Of course, I have Acrobat pro, so it pretty much only helps a small number of us.

Unfortunately I only have PDF readers, so I am still stuck without

 

[dmccoy1693]

And those who only buy the hardcopy after reading the PDF delay the purchase at the FLGS for a month :?

After the whole Wizards stopping PDF debacle, its become very clear to publishers that didn't already know that FLGSs view PDFs as a threat. I understand why they feel that way but I do not necessarily agree with it.

FLGSs need to keep up with changing times. If RPGs alone cannot sustain their business and they have to diversify and add in Renn Faire costumes, comic books, and manga to keep their business going, how is that a bad thing? Not adapting is a lose, lose proposition.

 

[Sturn]

If RPGs alone cannot sustain their business and they have to diversify and add in Renn Faire costumes, comic books, and manga to keep their business going, how is that a bad thing?

They could diversify anyway without having the huge problem of competing with online sales which has closed most shops anyway over the past decade. I'm from Kansas City. 20 years ago there were about 10 gamer shops here. Now there are 2 of any quality left.

Less shops, means less and less new gamers, means less of a market, means less and less RPGs.

 

[DigitalMage]

Less shops, means less and less new gamers, means less of a market, means less and less RPGs.

Not sure about your neck of the woods, but I don't think I have met any gamer who started because he stumbled into a games shop - new gamers are instead brought into the hobby by other gamers. With forums, meetup groups and conventions such as UK Games Expo (which helps cross polinate between board games, rpgs and ccgs) I don't really see the LGS as the primary source for getting new players into the hobby.

Also, wasn't WotC's decision to pull PDFs related to their attempts to stem the tide of piracy rather than protect LGSs?

 

[dmccoy1693]

Also, wasn't WotC's decision to pull PDFs related to their attempts to stem the tide of piracy rather than protect LGSs?

Officially it was to help stop piracy and protect the industry. In response White Wolf, Paizo and Green Ronin had a sale on their PDFs. Two game store owners wrote very public responses to these companies sales. They said plenty, but it really did help see the prospective of the FLGS owners and their view of PDFs.

 

[EDG]

I like the idea of releasing the PDF early so the hard copy will have more corrections, BUT, we must support our local game stores.

Why? We don't need brick and mortar stores to be able to buy games. And they're more expensive to buy books from too - online stores like Amazon sells them for way cheaper most of the time. And paying the publisher directly by buying the product from their own online stores makes the publisher more profit per sale too.

I don't care about brick and mortar stores - I care about (a) getting the product for the lowest price possible (legally of course), and (b) the publishers. If the stores go under I'll still be able to buy the product I want direct from the publisher or from an online store and I'll be able to do it for cheaper than I would have bought it from a game store.

I don't see any reason to support brick and mortar FLGSes at all (and frankly if they're dumb enough to only sell RPGs and rely on those to survive then they deserve to close. Most of the successful game stores I've been to sell comics, cards, minis, posters, books, and a bunch of other stuff too).

 

[rust]

Over here FLGS are still important meeting points of the community, with
more than a few of them offering demonstration sessions of new RPGs and
other "events", and these shops are also often the only opportunity to ta-
ke a closer look at some of the recently published RPGs for those who do
not want to buy RPGs "blind" with the few informations found on websites.

 

[Sturn]

Why? We don't need brick and mortar stores to be able to buy games.

Would it make you happy if Waldenbooks, Barnes & Nobles, and every other mom & pop or chain bookstore also went under? We don't need them either, we can buy some books online as PDFs or any "hard" book through Amazon.

I don't want to be Captain Picard in 20 years fondly reading from an expensive relic from a past age - an actual book. The RPG industry may be the harbringer of this. First step is the move to online ordering of books (we're already there). Next step is no option to order a physical book at all, just a PDF. Google what's happening to newspapers across the US that are going out of business due to net news (even the NY Times our largest paper, is having severe financial problems).

Yes, yes, I know it's change. It doesn't mean I have to like it. As I grow older, I don't want to stare at a computer screen to read everything from novels and game books to the news. When I retire I would still like to be able to sit down and read actual books and newspapers without having to pay a premium price for a "special" old-fashioned hard copy or punish my ink cartridge printing out my own ugly copy of a PDF.

So for yet another reason, I'm raging against the new Dawn, and thus supporting my FLGS to help keep it open at least until I take a dirt nap.

 

[EDG]

Why? We don't need brick and mortar stores to be able to buy games.

Would it make you happy if Waldenbooks, Barnes & Nobles, and every other mom & pop or chain bookstore also went under? We don't need them either, we can buy some books online as PDFs or any "hard" book through Amazon.

It's no skin off my nose if they die. I want the product that the publishers put out, I don't care where I buy it from - what I do care about is getting the best price for it. And certainly, if anyone tries to get in my way when it comes to being able to buy a product that they sell for cheaper somewhere else, then that is 100% guaranteed to make me go to that cheaper place to buy it.

It should be my choice and my choice alone as to where I go to buy books or anything else. I'm not going to be emotionally blackmailed by anyone.

 

[tneva82]

I don't care about brick and mortar stores - I care about (a) getting the product for the lowest price possible (legally of course), and (b) the publishers. If the stores go under I'll still be able to buy the product I want direct from the publisher or from an online store and I'll be able to do it for cheaper than I would have bought it from a game store.

And when publisher goes out of business due to no new players due to no game stores how are you going to get your books then?-) Very shortsighted strategy that one. Let's buy them cheap now so we can not buy anything in the future.

 

[EDG]

And when publisher goes out of business due to no new players due to no game stores how are you going to get your books then?-) Very shortsighted strategy that one. Let's buy them cheap now so we can not buy anything in the future.

I've never seen any evidence that the survival of the RPG industry is dependent on gaming stores. You know what they play at game stores nowadays? Card games and Mini games. One of the ones around here has huge card and mini game tournaments every week. But I can't even remember the last time I saw anyone playing an RPG regularly at a store.

And while I've seen many a game store, I've never seen any being the social heart of the local gaming community. If anything, the university gaming club or local gaming clubs are vastly more important social venues for gaming.

Like I said, I really doubt that there are any game stores that JUST sell RPGs anymore. The ones that survive widen their stock to include board games, war games, comics, t-shirts, action figures, models, DVDs and other geeky paraphanalia. So even if publishers stopped selling RPGs through the stores I really doubt that the good stores would even really feel much of a pinch as a result. IMO if a store is only selling RPGs then it deserves to die out.

I really really doubt that any internet-savvy publishers nowadays would go out of business if they stop selling stuff at game stores. And I really really doubt that any decent game store would go out of business either if they stopped selling RPGs (or having RPGs to sell). Heck, a lot of small press publishers sell only through the internet anyway via places like DTRPG.