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April 9, 2009

13 Reasons Why Wizards Want You to Buy a D&D Book Instead of a PDF


This one is for the RPG Blog Carnival on Humor and Gaming, hosted by A Butterfly Dreaming.

I think what Wizards did recently is a good thing. It's a sure way to boost sales of their print books and support your gaming community. Think about it, we most likely won't be having access to a PDF copy of Arcane Power by next week unless you went to get yourself a hardcopy from your FLGS, which makes it a win-win situation for Wizards, your FLGS and you.

How does it benefit you? Well, Wizards is probably convinced that buying PDFs is bad for you and here's a list of possible reasons why, so that you'll be convinced too.
  1. It's harder to read a PDF on a screen for long hours than a book.

  2. It's faster to just pull a book off a shelf than opening a PDF file on your desk/laptop.

  3. A PDF is as bulky and weights as much as your desk/laptop which might weight more or is bulkier than a book.

  4. It takes longer to purchase and download a PDF than just buying a book and take it out from the store

  5. A PDF doesn't smell or feels good holding in your hands than a book.

  6. It's easier to flip a book back and forth than click or press to the previous or next page (or key in a page number) on a PDF.

  7. You can clearly read 2 pages at once for a book while you can only clearly read one page on a PDF.

  8. You can pull out maps from a book while a map is split into four pages in a PDF.

  9. A beaten book shows that it is put to good use, a beaten PDF means it's broken.

  10. A PDF is more vulnerable to destruction (harddrive crash, corruption, virus etc.) than a book (fire, water, pets etc.).

  11. A PDF collection is less impressive to show off to your buddies/girlfriend/wife/guests than a bookshelf of books.

  12. Unlike a book, you can't put a bookmark on a PDF or read where you last stopped without remembering the page.

  13. A PDF comes with more wires and/or heatwaves than a book.

And here's a bonus reason why Wizards want you to buy a D&D book than a PDF.

A PDF GETS YANKED OFF THE SHELF OF ONLINE RETAILERS AND ALL YOUR MONEY WITH IT IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS!

For more reasons on why a book is better than PDF, I point you to the wisdom of Penny Arcade.

Anymore other reasons to share?

2 comments:

justin aquino said...

Sorry I'm pro-pdfs. Its cheaper for me to buy at e23 or Drive Thru RPGs and print out these books than to buy them at x2 or x1.5 the price here in the philippines.

Given the cost barrier, PDFs is the way to go in the Global market.

Jay said...

Great article! Nothing can ever replace a real book, and never should.

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