So what is the official word on SF: ACTA on PDF

[Jiraiya1969]

From what I have heard re: copious amounts of erratta in the rulebook (an unfortunate expectation from my experience with 'Goose publications) I am not willing to plunk coin down for dead tree rules when they are almost certain to be invalidated in short order.

Since PDFs can be easily updated. It's the only way I will buy the rules. I will just make do with the fleet box rules when they are released until (if?) the full rulebook is released in PDF format. I bet I am not the only one, either.

Best Regards,

J69

 

[H]

it was origionally due nowish, however the retailers apparantly asked matt to hold off, and it is now likely to be summer.
Not best pleased really as I wanted the PDF, for the same reason, that the books have too many errors. I was reading Nomads and it's got pencil all over it correcting things lol.

 

[deadshane]

This seems a little petty to me.

I bought the book and I'm actually quite happy with it. Sure It's got a folded 'errata/FAQ' page tucked in the back with some notes made next to some of the ship entries, but it's not really such a bad thing for a good game such as this.

At least they bothered to address problems within the ruleset at all!

This is a minor issue....really.

 

[Greg Smith]

Most of the errata is actually very small.

The ships have mostly been changed so they fit with the SF universe, and so a changes are very small and don't affect game play very much at all.

 

[H]

This seems a little petty to me.

I bought the book and I'm actually quite happy with it. Sure It's got a folded 'errata/FAQ' page tucked in the back with some notes made next to some of the ship entries, but it's not really such a bad thing for a good game such as this.

At least they bothered to address problems within the ruleset at all!

This is a minor issue....really.

why is it petty to want a ruleset you don't have to write on? I didn't get an errata with my flames of war books, nor do it have any for my dystopian war books? I'm well aware of the work that goes into the rules, and I know mistakes happen, but would you accept a car with 3 wheels, and another dispatched later as an Errata? Also, it's the modern age, I have hundreds of books, but I played B5 CTA off my PDA, with never a hardcopy rulebook.

 

[Iron Domokun]

"So what is the official worf on SF: ACTA on PDF"

Worf is outside ADB's license. :wink:

The official word is that it is delayed, it's on one of the threads round here somewhere...

 

[tneva82]

I didn't get an errata with my flames of war books,

Well if you want same thing you can simply opt to not download the ACTA errata. After all there's errata's to FOW books so you not getting them is therefore you not choosing to download them

Every book has errors. If some company doesn't publish errata to book it means they aren't interested in releasing errata but rather let the mistakes stay.

Myself I prefer errors getting fixed rather than left in place.

 

[deadshane]

This seems a little petty to me.

I bought the book and I'm actually quite happy with it. Sure It's got a folded 'errata/FAQ' page tucked in the back with some notes made next to some of the ship entries, but it's not really such a bad thing for a good game such as this.

At least they bothered to address problems within the ruleset at all!

This is a minor issue....really.

why is it petty to want a ruleset you don't have to write on? I didn't get an errata with my flames of war books, nor do it have any for my dystopian war books? I'm well aware of the work that goes into the rules, and I know mistakes happen, but would you accept a car with 3 wheels, and another dispatched later as an Errata? Also, it's the modern age, I have hundreds of books, but I played B5 CTA off my PDA, with never a hardcopy rulebook.

Yep, it is petty, because the fact is...technically....

You dont HAVE to write on anything? The book in and of itself stands just fine for casual play. As far as big time rules lawyering tournament-clean rules? Well, I don't see any SERIOUS tournaments yet around to get all bent out of shape about.

I'm also coming from other gaming companies. GW (who beats FOW and dystopian wars all to hell with sales and clientele) releases codexes that fans ravenously await FAQ for....EVERY TIME.

Clean rules? Nope, not with GW. It's hardly any sort of hindrence at all to your enjoyment of the game if you've gotta to just the smallest amount of footwork (like here with this new system) to be ready for some rules lawyer or tournament level event.

...and no I wouldnt accept a car with 3 wheels. Because, well, you cannot drive it out of the parking lot much less be legal on the street.

Would I buy a car without a radio with the promise of fixing it later? If I wanted the car...probably yea I would.

This game "drives" just fine without the errata/faq's. The book is a good value, and the models are (in my opinion coming from GW gaming) an excellent value for the money.

I'm happy with mongoose thus far. Being angry with them and foot stomping over this is...yes I've said it...petty.

Like I've also said, at least Mongoose cared enough to 'fix' the problems and actually released FAQ's and Errata in a timely manner. Peeps should be grateful for that.

 

[H]

This seems a little petty to me.

I bought the book and I'm actually quite happy with it. Sure It's got a folded 'errata/FAQ' page tucked in the back with some notes made next to some of the ship entries, but it's not really such a bad thing for a good game such as this.

At least they bothered to address problems within the ruleset at all!

This is a minor issue....really.

why is it petty to want a ruleset you don't have to write on? I didn't get an errata with my flames of war books, nor do it have any for my dystopian war books? I'm well aware of the work that goes into the rules, and I know mistakes happen, but would you accept a car with 3 wheels, and another dispatched later as an Errata? Also, it's the modern age, I have hundreds of books, but I played B5 CTA off my PDA, with never a hardcopy rulebook.

Yep, it is petty, because the fact is...technically....

You dont HAVE to write on anything? The book in and of itself stands just fine for casual play. As far as big time rules lawyering tournament-clean rules? Well, I don't see any SERIOUS tournaments yet around to get all bent out of shape about.

I'm also coming from other gaming companies. GW (who beats FOW and dystopian wars all to hell with sales and clientele) releases codexes that fans ravenously await FAQ for....EVERY TIME.

Clean rules? Nope, not with GW. It's hardly any sort of hindrence at all to your enjoyment of the game if you've gotta to just the smallest amount of footwork (like here with this new system) to be ready for some rules lawyer or tournament level event.

...and no I wouldnt accept a car with 3 wheels. Because, well, you cannot drive it out of the parking lot much less be legal on the street.

Would I buy a car without a radio with the promise of fixing it later? If I wanted the car...probably yea I would.

This game "drives" just fine without the errata/faq's. The book is a good value, and the models are (in my opinion coming from GW gaming) an excellent value for the money.

I'm happy with mongoose thus far. Being angry with them and foot stomping over this is...yes I've said it...petty.

Like I've also said, at least Mongoose cared enough to 'fix' the problems and actually released FAQ's and Errata in a timely manner. Peeps should be grateful for that.

never said i was angry, I am annoyed, that somethign was priomised, then delayed. are the people who expected their books and ships, that arte no delayed, petty for being angry?
some people pick the most curious fights.
and re errata, I could play with the rules as is, and loose to someone playing with the rules errata, not the best state of affairs as multiple ship stats are incorrect

also you seem to be wilfully ignoring the key point, this is the 21st century, people do want to use alternative media, why should we be penalised?

 

[deadshane]

I could play with the rules as is, and loose to someone playing with the rules errata, not the best state of affairs as multiple ship stats are incorrect

...and like I said, if you're that worried about losing in a game of toy ships rather than just sitting back and having fun with it....do the extra footwork.

I've done the extra footwork, not because I'm worried about losing, but because I'm ravenous for this game.

also you seem to be wilfully ignoring the key point, this is the 21st century, people do want to use alternative media, why should we be penalised?

Now this is just ridiculous. You're not being "penalised" just because something isnt availiable yet.

Cripes...when I go to the liquor store, I like to buy a 1.75 liter of flavored Vodka because when you buy the bigger bottle you get more for your money (more ounces per dollar). I like "Whipped" and "Cake" flavored Pinnacle Vodka.

Only the "Whipped" is availible in 1.75 litre. If I want "Cake" I have to buy the 750 bottle....which is in effect...more expensive to buy the same amout of Vodka.

Do I feel "penalised"....umm, no. It's just not availiable. I get over it and pick up what IS available.

People pick curious fights when other people complain about minutia. 8)

 

[H]

to be fair, i said i wasn't pleased at the delay, you are the one who decided my displeasure was petty. you won the escalation war.

 

[deadshane]

If you want the rules badly enough...you buy whats availiable.

If you're waiting for the pdf...you're not "penalised" you're waiting. You did say "penalised" right?

I live in the U.S. and didnt want to wait....I paid over 40 bucks for my rules ordering direct from mongoose rather than going thru the Warstore and paying only 29.

Am I mad I wouldve had to wait to get it cheaper? Nope. Am I angry that I have to copypaste in my more expensiver rulebook? Nope.

I bought my book, got the complete rules, and have played about 10-15 or so games, money well spent.

....I'll probably even get the PDF when it comes out.

I've also got enough knowledge in these gaming businesses to understand why they might WANT to delay a PDF from coming out for a brand spanking new game/ruleset...especially with sites like piratebay and such.

You're surprised that they're tryign to get some money out of the textbooks b4 people start illegally downloading the rules? :roll:

 

[H]

an implication I will illegally download too, oh my.

I feel an EP situation developing.

However, to sum up, I am displeased they delayed the promised PDF. I am not angry, and I have no intention of screwing over the company by illegally downloading it, and i don't see why it is petty to be displeased at a product delay, but thats fine, maybe the colonials have different cultural beliefs on these things. Well done on playing so many games already, and i'm glad you like your book.
Nuff said

 

[tneva82]

You're surprised that they're tryign to get some money out of the textbooks b4 people start illegally downloading the rules? :roll:

Ummm...What has this got to do with anything?

Fact is whether or not the book is released as PDF faster has no bearing on whether it's being put online pirated. Only thing matters is is there pirate who is interested enough doing that...

As it is I could search for the net and already probably find PDF of the rulebook if I wanted to do so...And the pdf sale has not even begun. If I can't find then there's nobody interested in providing that and that wouldn't change even with the PDF release.

PDF sales!=pdf version comes available for piracy. That happens in any case. Hell in more interesting products you can get the pirate PDF BEFORE the book even COMES TO SALE! There's not ANY copy of the book available for sale yet pirated versions already spreading. How sales of pdf then affect the situation?-)

...except possibly reducing by providing cheaper legal version which might tempt those who pirate rather than pay X but might pay X*0.Y for official PDF version.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Guys, just to chip in...

Let me look into offering the PDF to those with the hardback - we have an issue in that it is a BIG file and our only sensible delivery medium would be by email. Still... let me look into it, we would have no issues about offering the PDF to those who have bought the book.

 

[tneva82]

Guys, just to chip in...

Let me look into offering the PDF to those with the hardback - we have an issue in that it is a BIG file and our only sensible delivery medium would be by email. Still... let me look into it, we would have no issues about offering the PDF to those who have bought the book.

Incidentally I have always wished there to be bound version+PDF bundle(or even better yet PDF coming automatically as a bonus with the book). I can find use for having both versions(especially true in RPG's) but paying for both is too steep at least for me.

 

[H]

Guys, just to chip in...

Let me look into offering the PDF to those with the hardback - we have an issue in that it is a BIG file and our only sensible delivery medium would be by email. Still... let me look into it, we would have no issues about offering the PDF to those who have bought the book.

now if you had said this sooner.... ;-)
if we order from you, stick it on a CD? cheap memory stick?

heck i'll give you temprary access rights to my webspace and you could upload it for me to take off at my end, as and when i order the book

 

[Captain Jonah]

Guys, just to chip in...

Let me look into offering the PDF to those with the hardback - we have an issue in that it is a BIG file and our only sensible delivery medium would be by email. Still... let me look into it, we would have no issues about offering the PDF to those who have bought the book.

We have a winner and its us.

Put me down for a PDF then, I have a hardback bought (and speedily delivered) from yourselves :lol:

Though downloading or emailing means the latest version with any current changes is avaialble which is better than a CD or other hard copy which will become out of date. The books are for games and get held, worn, marked and have beer glass rings on them
The PDFs are for the laptop or PC for reference and refs :lol:

 

[tomrommel1]

I got a Book from you , too through mailorder Gould like a Pdf As well!

 

[Myrm]

Incidentally I have always wished there to be bound version+PDF bundle(or even better yet PDF coming automatically as a bonus with the book). I can find use for having both versions(especially true in RPG's) but paying for both is too steep at least for me.

There is, to a degree.

Buy the thing from a store on the Bits and Mortar scheme...I did that yesterday and already have my PDF (thanks to Mongoose and Leisure Games both joining the scheme from the two different ends). My print book is still inbound, but I have the rules in PDF and at the same cost as purchasing the print version from Mongoose

OK it requires you having access to a store on the Bits and Mortar scheme but they are increasing in numbers. Given Mongoose are on the scheme thats the important bit for anything from them.