"Some random thoughts on hardcopy bersus e-copy" Topic

Hey all, I drop some thoughts on my blog about books, formats and availability, love to hear your thoughts as well

homebrewgamer.blogspot.com

Hi.
I have quite a good number of rule books on my iPad, most of which have been bought from wargames vault. I regularly Get emails telling me that there have been updates and can down load the new versions for free.
Most PDF versions are a lot cheaper and some not by much, a GB pound or less.
The only problem is lack of a searchable index, so finding a particular page or section can be time consuming. I am hoping that GW get their act together, they have already done it with there novels, and do the small rule only books that come with the starter sets as e-books.

Mick

It's sort of an interesting world out there. I still prefer print books but if a PDF is significantly cheaper, I'll sometimes get that instead.

I think the guys like Twohourwargames that give the PDF as a freebie with the book is a good way to go as well.

On a personal level, I do feel weird paying 20+ dollars for a PDF. I realize labour costs go into it, but when I am not getting a physical product, I tend to pass on the purchase.

I will not BUY an e-version of a rule set.
I will use e-versions of rules that I have downloaded for free.

Soft cover or hard cover are the only way to go if you're selling me a set of rules.

Interesting. I find I'm at the opposite position of The Tin Dictator. I don't see myself buying any more physical copies of rulebooks. I think Tomorrow's War is the last. Since I purchased a tablet, I can quickly organize and bookmark all of my comics, rules and ebooks. More room on the shelf for minis and, usually, I pay less for a PDF ruleset.

For me, I hate having a computer at the gaming table (and right now, it's not physically possible for me anyways), so I'll end up printing stuff out regardless.

I don't really buy physical rulebooks anymore. I have a good portable tablet type solution and have access to very cheap black & white printing, so it's all PDFs for me.

One thing I won't buy though, is any electronic file that has DRM, options locked down or contain any of my personal information in some sort of watermark. Companies need to learn that pirates are not their customers and doing things to make pirating harder just irritates their paying customers and doesn't stop any but the most casual of pirates. I don't buy from anyone who assumes I'm a criminal.

I prefer physical books. PDFs are fine, but I will usually print them out if I want to do anything with them.

I prefer having an e copy for reference when i'm at my local lgs or out and about. I do however still purchase some hard copies, if i think the rukes set is going to stick around a while. Mick, i use wargames vault and i appreciate sellers who give out free ecopies with hardcopies.

I don't buy Dead Tree Editions of rules any more. If I were to buy same, they would have to have the simplest presentation as possible in the most compact form.

Yes, the staple bound, digest sized rules are the perfect form of the art.

The $50 USD illuminated manuscript that has become many rules sets, that are superseded in the 12 months after release are monumental waste of time…. (heck the glossy clay coated paper they are made out of isn't even good TP, when you have those outhouse emergencies, But I could say the same about my tablet too.)

I will get a PDF if it is significantly cheaper. Otherwise, hardcopy only.

Owen

It takes so long to get rules over here. I often wait a foortnight for O/S copies. I've warmed to PDF copies. I'd still prefer the hard copies they are easier to read and don't drain my ink. Can't read them off the computer worth anything.

PRIDE 2nd edition will be out in a few weeks, and will be available in pdf download and in print. I agree that it is an unsettled market and the more format options the better.

I'm looking at a 22 inch monitor right now.
In fact I'm looking at two.
Admittedly this is a development set up.
(Debug on one, running app on the other or code on one and look up resources on the other.)
I can magnify pdfs pretty big on this screen so they are very easy to read.
It's a far superior solution.
Plus I can copy them onto my galaxy note and read on the train etc.
The sort of technical books I buy for programming come out in their droves and they weigh a ton. If you place some in your lap to read they dig into your legs enough to be pretty uncomfortable.
On a usb drive or a phone they weigh zip.
So I really like pdf and rule books are no exception.

However.
I particularly like the ring bound laminated format of the Impetus rules.
Ideally I would have any ruleset I play a lot in both formats.

GW are now bringing out WFB army books in hardback with pictures and colour. They look pretty but they're expensive, weigh more than softback and clearly part of the idea is to put people off scanning the things.
I find the new format annoying.

I like electronic rulebooks, but they're in a halfway place at the moment. They're usually PDFs generated from the publishing files for the physical books. Ideally they'd be in a proper ebook format so I can read them on something like a Kindle, with proper support for reflowing text, variable text size and the like.

E-books work really well when you out at a venue and the battery goes flat. Or even worse, some clod breaks your 'puter or it is stolen.

I do buy e-books, but usually only after I have the dead tree version. DRM is the work of the devil, I can live with digital watermarking of the file however.

DRM=Die Roll Modifier?

Some things are better on a computer, and some things are better in print. Given the choice of reading a set of game rules on a computer monitor or a hard copy, I would choose the hard copy.

I find that if I don't have the book for library reading I never get around to learning the rules to really play them and my wife has put her foot down about laptops and library reading ;)