I can't read that much information off a screen, so anything that's going to cost a lot as a pdf is going to be useless to me as it's invariably too long. I don't own an ipad or whatever.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;431169I can't read that much information off a screen, so anything that's going to cost a lot as a pdf is going to be useless to me as it's invariably too long. I don't own an ipad or whatever.

I feel the exact same way. I bought the Haiti bundle but everything I got down from that  is just gathering virtual dust on my computer. I don't own an ipad or something simliar, so I don't know if such a tool would change that. But reading on pdfs on computer screens has little appeal to me.

Quote from: DKChannelBoredom;431175I feel the exact same way. I bought the Haiti bundle but everything I got down from that  is just gathering virtual dust on my computer. I don't own an ipad or something simliar, so I don't know if such a tool would change that. But reading on pdfs on computer screens has little appeal to me.

Reading PDFs on computer screens is very close to being actively unpleasant, IMHO.

Quote from: Thanlis;431187Reading PDFs on computer screens is very close to being actively unpleasant, IMHO.

Too true.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Thanlis;431187Reading PDFs on computer screens is very close to being actively unpleasant, IMHO.

It is a different story on a landscape oriented monitor. But I vastly prefer my Kindle Screen for causal reading.

I think they're researching screens now that use colored oils instead of LCs.  Eventually they're hoping to get it to print-quality type display without the backlight fatigue issues.

As far as normal screens go, the best thing you can do is use a widescreen and actually adjust it when you're only doing PDF reading.  Most screens have different modes you can pre-program and change by clicking a single button on the display.  Helps prevent eye fatigue and makes it much more comfortable when you're doing a lot of reading.

$1 is way way way TOO MUCH for electronic ephemera.

I don't want to print the damn book myself.

I'd rather pay 50 or 60 bucks for a hardcover, then at least I wouldn't suck for having PDFs I have to actually use.

Quote from: Caesar Slaad;429639That's more or less my thumbrule. I'd have more Mongoose Traveller books now if they didn't tend to price them closer to 60% of hardcopy cover price.

But I don't really have a hard limit. More a limit of the ratio of dollars to page count (or similar measure of perceived value.)

Most of MGP books are like 109 pages for $32+ dollars for print I have seen and they still want like $24 for a damn PDF, they have to be outta their freakin' minds.  I like Traveller too but I wont pay those kinda prices print or pdf.

Quote from: flyingcircus;431429Most of MGP books are like 109 pages for $32+ dollars for print I have seen and they still want like $24 for a damn PDF, they have to be outta their freakin' minds.  I like Traveller too but I wont pay those kinda prices print or pdf.

What else they going to do? The price for editing, writing, and arts hasn't changed between PDF and Print. And if you are a publisher using offset for your print runs then the printing cost per book is only a few buck. The problem for us small press guys i that you need to print hundreds and thousands of copies to get that type of per unit price.

But is the $32 for print and $24 for PDF a fair difference? In an ideal world the price for a PDF should be the wholesale cost - the cost of the per unit print run. I think it is foolish for a publisher to try to make more profit per PDF than they do per print in this age of internet. Too many people know roughly how the distribution system work and will feel ripped off by excessive pricing.

However one thing that will drive everybody crazy in a digital publishing world is the idea of a price for time. That publishers and authors will charge more to a book on the day a release and gradually reduce it down to an evergreen price.  The trick of course is finding the right prices. Because if you get too greedy then you have a fall off as everybody waits for the price to come down. But it is known for popular works fans will pay a premium to be the first to have it.

Quote from: estar;431442But is the $32 for print and $24 for PDF a fair difference? In an ideal world the price for a PDF should be the wholesale cost - the cost of the per unit print run.

But isn't that considerably less for a PDF than Print?  I mean, for a PDF at the most your "cost" is what it cost you in terms of time (or possibly money if you didn't do it yourself) for the writing, editing and art.  And if that cost is also being factored into the print cost, then aren't you basically double-dipping?  If you are doing a print run, or even PoD, shouldn't that make your PDF cost essentially zero?

QuoteHowever one thing that will drive everybody crazy in a digital publishing world is the idea of a price for time. That publishers and authors will charge more to a book on the day a release and gradually reduce it down to an evergreen price.  The trick of course is finding the right prices. Because if you get too greedy then you have a fall off as everybody waits for the price to come down. But it is known for popular works fans will pay a premium to be the first to have it.

Hmm, interesting point.

Quote from: RPGPundit;431579But isn't that considerably less for a PDF than Print?  I mean, for a PDF at the most your "cost" is what it cost you in terms of time (or possibly money if you didn't do it yourself) for the writing, editing and art.  And if that cost is also being factored into the print cost, then aren't you basically double-dipping?  If you are doing a print run, or even PoD, shouldn't that make your PDF cost essentially zero?

By that line of reasoning, if someone wants to license your game for translation, you should give it to them for free. Likewise, second printings of the game should be sold at cost.

Quote from: estar;431442What else they going to do? The price for editing, writing, and arts hasn't changed between PDF and Print. And if you are a publisher using offset for your print runs then the printing cost per book is only a few buck. The problem for us small press guys i that you need to print hundreds and thousands of copies to get that type of per unit price.

But is the $32 for print and $24 for PDF a fair difference? In an ideal world the price for a PDF should be the wholesale cost - the cost of the per unit print run. I think it is foolish for a publisher to try to make more profit per PDF than they do per print in this age of internet. Too many people know roughly how the distribution system work and will feel ripped off by excessive pricing.

However one thing that will drive everybody crazy in a digital publishing world is the idea of a price for time. That publishers and authors will charge more to a book on the day a release and gradually reduce it down to an evergreen price.  The trick of course is finding the right prices. Because if you get too greedy then you have a fall off as everybody waits for the price to come down. But it is known for popular works fans will pay a premium to be the first to have it.

What are they going to do, well for starters add more pages or lower the cost a bit, I can't see $32.00 for 109 pages in paperback, it just doesn't fly, it's greed, nothing more and don't feed me the line of BS that it's not, I know better.  A paperback 109 page book isn't worth more than say $20.00 at most.

Quote from: Thanlis;431187Reading PDFs on computer screens is very close to being actively unpleasant, IMHO.

an effective anti-piracy tool

I'd pay a £1 for a pdf. Whether I will buy anythign from Adamant I don't know. perhaps others will follow suit. But size is important.

Quote from: estar;431442What else they going to do? The price for editing, writing, and arts hasn't changed between PDF and Print.

That may be true, but I think the mistake is in designing an rpg as a book first (at least) and then porting that over to a 200+ page pdf, in all it's RAM chugging full colour glory.

Quote from: estar;431442What else they going to do? The price for editing, writing, and arts hasn't changed between PDF and Print.

Is that really that much cost, though?  

I mean, isn't the standard scale wage for RPG writing like 2 cents a word or something?

As for art, surely it must be practically free?  The average Mongoose Traveller book couldn't have more than $50 total worth of art in them, if that.

And editing?  Please - this is Mongoose we're talking about.  Does Mongoose even use an editor?  If they do and he makes more than minimum wage, he's being overpaid.