Do you like PDFs? Even if you prefer print, will you buy them if there is no way to get the book in print? What about pricing? Should they be half the cost of the print book(if there is one), or even cheaper?
I will only buy them if I have no way of getting the print book.
I am very much a print guy. I REALLY like Precis Intermedia's set-up of buying the PDF and upgrading to the print, because for me, a PDF really isn't good for much other than reviews or deciding if I want to spring for a print copy, unless it is EXTREMELY printer friendly...
Quote from: Galeros;331693Do you like PDFs? Even if you prefer print, will you buy them if there is no way to get the book in print? What about pricing? Should they be half the cost of the print book(if there is one), or even cheaper?
I will only buy them if I have no way of getting the print book.
PDFs are an alternate medium when compared to print books, to me.
They are not a replacement, unless the print book is long out of print and impossible to find without dishing out a crapload of money.
I will always prefer a print copy to a PDF. It's way harder for me to read off a PDF (I will need to print it out for a full read through of more than a few pages), and reading on a screen does not replace the sensations linked with reading the printed word. The touch, the feel of the pages, the smell of the binding, the manipulation of the item, flipping through its pages manually, et cetera.
Now, I often buy BOTH print and PDF of games I run, when they are available. The PDF allows me to refer to the rules online, quote from the text itself, saves a lot of trouble searching for a precise reference when the search function is enabled (if it isn't in a professional RPG PDF, honestly, I'm hugely disappointed, much like bookmarks now), and allows me to print selected passages for player use (like a writeup of the class and race of the character, key feats, spells, character abilities, merits and flaws, whatever).
When me and the players got such printed writeups and a print copy of the book on the table, we're as set as we possibly can be.
Quote from: Benoist;331701They are not a replacement, unless the print book is long out of print and impossible to find without dishing out a crapload of money.
Yeah, I was looking around and I noticed that the BESM 3E book tends to go for ridiculous prices online. Which is why I am considering the PDF.
Quote from: Galeros;331693Do you like PDFs? Even if you prefer print, will you buy them if there is no way to get the book in print? What about pricing? Should they be half the cost of the print book(if there is one), or even cheaper?
I will only buy them if I have no way of getting the print book.
I prefer PDF formatted for 5.5x8.5"... these are easiest to read on my Sony PRS-505. (Actually, the 4x6" T&T 7 rulebooks look GREAT on the 505. Hoping to get a 600 soon)
I'll buy PDF over dead tree when I can... mostly since I can make working dead-tree if I need to from the PDF if I need to.
My preference is for no or low density background images. Speeds up render times, reduces memory footprint.
I'm hoping Sony announces a 10" or larger PRS-series reader... the 2121 isn't big enough for 8.5x11" books with it's 7" screen. I may wind up migrating to the Plastic Logic reader.
I intensely dislike DRM PDFs... my DRM PDFs from DTRPG's first year of op are all unreadable; I had to hack them with 3rd party software to render them readable. I'm glad those were all freebies.
I don't mind watermarked.
Only a couple RPG's are getting dead tree purchases: L5R, Dark Heresy, T&T.
Recent PDF purchases (2009):
2 GAZ (Dwarves of Rockhome and the 5 Shires)
Houses of the Blooded
T&T 7.5 (already had dead tree)
Dragon Warriors, DW Bestiary, & one adventure book
Mongoose Traveller Mercenary
Mongoose Traveller High Guard
Mongoose Traveller Traders and Gunboats
Tha5 (domino-driven RPG)
Land and Home Guide (generic RPG supplement)
Village Book 1 (Judges Guild)
Vorkosigan Saga RPG (SJG)
Brute Squad RPG
Barbarians of Lemuria
Enemy Gods (John Wick)
15+ free non-pirate PDFs
Dead Tree, same time frame:
2 books for L5R 3e
3 books for Dark Heresy
1 used copy of Shatterzone Ships Book ($2)
Starfaring RPG (T&T derivative)
Gamma-Trollworld (T&T7 setting book)
I don't like PDFs. I buy them once in a great while to pick up something that has been long out of print. Even when a free PDF is an option, I usually go for buying the print edition, for example, Witchcraft by Eden Studios and Keep on the Shadowfell by WotC.
I don't like using laptops at the game table and absolutely can't stand actually trying to read a book on the computer screen.
If I already have a print version, sometimes a PDF makes a nice quick reference when designing scenarios, which I do at the computer, but I need an actual book to read through to enjoy a game and to have available at the table.
I can't imagine actually buying a .pdf (no offense to anyone who can). I only get free pdfs for personal review; if I really want a game, I buy the print copy. Easier on the eyes, portable, doesn't run out of power.
PDFs are a nice resource, much more portable than a stack of books, but I'd rather have a dead tree version in my hands every time I'm reading the product. PDFs are also cool in that finding things is a simple search away.
My ideal purchase is a dead tree with a PDF included. Can't beat that!
I do personally prefer print.
RPGPundit
Quote from: The Worid;331738I only get free pdfs for personal review; if I really want a game, I buy the print copy. Easier on the eyes, portable, doesn't run out of power.
This.
But, I have bought PDFs as well. During the end-of-d20 sale I bought a lot of Goodman's Dungeon Crawl Classics. But so far I haven't used one of them.
When I am in need of an adventure I can flick through my copies of Dungeon, Tortured Souls, White Dwarf, and other print resources I have (and haven't used yet). It's such a hassle to fire up the PC to browse PDFs...
Quote from: Galeros;331693Do you like PDFs? Even if you prefer print, will you buy them if there is no way to get the book in print? What about pricing? Should they be half the cost of the print book(if there is one), or even cheaper?
I will only buy them if I have no way of getting the print book.
I do like PDFs. I do expect them to be half or less the print MSRP unless the MSRP was cheap to begin with. If it's priced more than that, I really start to reconsider how much I want the product. Physical books have added value AFAIAC.
I do generally prefer to nab a pdf before I get a print product. My shelves are littered with books that weren't as useful as I hoped. Buying a PDF gives me a cheaper preview that doesn't consume my shelf space.
If I am going to play with a book frequently, I'll usually want both a print version and a PDF. I do appreciate that the PDF lets you extract text for game prep, and print pages from it to prepare handouts and the like.
.pdfs are ok if they are designed to be Free, it's very unlikely I would actually buy one and then have to incur the cost of printing it out so I can actually use it...
I can't stand pdfs except to see if I want to buy the print version of something, from a quick-start usually. I prefer to flip through a printed copy of something rather than scroll around with a computer screen.