I want to like them.
I bought many of them.
I printed some, and read some.

Then I forget them.

That´s why I hate them: I spent money, and there is no artifact sitting on my shelf reminding me of the awesome that´s betwixt those covers.

pdfs are great for the moment, but suck in the long run, because I forget I ever bought them.

I "wasted" at least a hundred € this way.

Is it just me?


Recent example: Tome of Horrors and Mother of all encounter tables.
I use them to great effect at the pc during Wilderlands prep-work.
But the other pdfs? Apart from adventures that I print out in order to run them, I don´t even know what I have besides that.

EDIT: I buy them on impulse, and then they vanish, if I don´t use them. And I have over thirty paizo downloads alone.

I hate them because they're a poor substitue for a print book in every conceivable way.

I hate them because the PDF format is awful, and was never really designed for what it's creators and publishers now insist on forcing it to do.

By and large, I basically find electronic publishing a poor substitute for print medium.

There are ways to improve an electronic representation in such a way as to reduce its weaknesses compared to print, like ease of reference, but by and large the vast majority of PDF publishers seem to prefer not to.

I have a folder packed full of pdfs.  They are a pox and a scourge.  I forget I own them, acrobat taxes my feeble machine far too much, eyestrain is almost instant...

This digital revolution sucks sour frog ass.

Toss in the fact that I personally know a pirate who has illegal copies of close to $1000 in RPG product, and I'm no great fan of the pdf.  

However, if certain companies that show a distinct inability to get their shit together WRT reprinting rare, cult-classic modules and supplements (Chaosium, GW, I'm looking at you) were to offer them in affordable pdf form, I would shatter my fingers with the force of my clicks.

I guess that makes me an ambivalent adopter.

I am just reminded, that I actually payed 20 bucks for a Spycraft 2.0 pdf, that is next to unusable. Too much shit to digest through electrons.

PDFs are tied to computers, which means having ubiquitous access to electricity and (often) the Internet.  Try that outside a city and see how well it works.  It also requires--as laptops are not in everyone's hands--access to either a lot of cash or a desktop PC.  (Try that amongst the working class or worse; try it out in the countryside.)  While PDFs have their uses, not one of them is worth so much as a cent; paying for products you can't hold in your hands is for fools.  Smart people always download for free.

I noticed at the con I was at recently how many people had laptops.

I was at the same con two years ago, and there weren't as many.

When will the form factor be right? When will you be able to quickly look up not only the rule you were thinking of, but search through all of your electronic rule books for the same term to see if there's text that contradicts it?

I'm not saying this is where gaming is headed, or even that it's desired. But it's not that far-fetched to imagine it. pdfs might not be the best format - but that certainly doesn't mean another won't take it's place...

You're out of place here, James. This is the thread where you bitch about not having a game in book form because it's not a book, which was good enough for Isaac and good enough for you, or state that you would never pay for electrons, because you can always find them for free, somewhere, hint hint. Away with your reasonable questions! They are not wanted here!



-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceYou're out of place here, James. This is the thread where you bitch about not having a game in book form because it's not a book, which was good enough for Isaac and good enough for you, or state that you would never pay for electrons, because you can always find them for free, somewhere, hint hint. Away with your reasonable questions! They are not wanted here!



-clash

Smarmy words from a guy who makes money off selling PDFs . . .

Quote from: James J SkachI noticed at the con I was at recently how many people had laptops.

I was at the same con two years ago, and there weren't as many.

When will the form factor be right? When will you be able to quickly look up not only the rule you were thinking of, but search through all of your electronic rule books for the same term to see if there's text that contradicts it?

I'm not saying this is where gaming is headed, or even that it's desired. But it's not that far-fetched to imagine it. pdfs might not be the best format - but that certainly doesn't mean another won't take it's place...

Dear God, I can only hope another takes it's place.  Something designed for the medium of computers and PDAs, and making referencing as well as contiguous readings equally convenient and easy.

We don't have that now, and it sucks.

You know, while reading [thread=5793]this thread[/thread] I was thinking the same thing. Even though I don't read Dragon or Dungeon anymore, I still have quite a few sitting on my bookshelf, there for me to pull down whenever I want. Now that Dungeon and Dragon are essentially moving to an online format, I would (theoretically) be stuck with .PDFs. Sure, I can print them myself, but that doesn't look nice on my bookshelf.

Quote from: J ArcaneSmarmy words from a guy who makes money off selling PDFs . . .

Mmmm. OK!

-clash

I like PDFs. I liked them even more when I had a laptop. I absolutely love them if they're searchable text instead of scans.

But at the end of the day I'd rather have a book most of the time. this wasn't as true when I had my laptop next to me at the sessions, but now that I'm siting on the other end of the room from the computer its a necessity to have the books. I also like the convenince of being able to take a book to the couch and lay down, which is one thing I couldn't do with the laptop.

I don't have the problem of buying pdfs I never use though. If I spend money on something I'm damn sure going to use it, at least until I feel I've gotten my money's worth.

I agree with Sett with regards to PDF d20 stuff.  I tend to buy them then not remember to use it.  But 0one's maps or S. John Ross's games?  Good stuff that's fine in PDF format.

Quote from: James McMurrayI also like the convenince of being able to take a book to the couch and lay down, which is one thing I couldn't do with the laptop.

You need better laptop-fu if you can't read it while on the couch...

I'm trying to rig it up right for walking on the treadmill and still being able to use the mouse without too much hassle, etc. I get it set up in front of me, and I can read it. But moving the mouse is still awkward.  It would save me from having to print out the stuff I want to read once (blogs, news, etc) saving paper, ink...money...

Smarmy makes me feel all warm a gooey inside..so thanks clash