Rulebooks Vs PDF's

[nonumber]

This is out of simple curiosity and I'm not specifically referring to any particular game or company, although I will use Games Workshop as a simple example.

I'm just wondering what the majority opinion is on purchasing hard copy rule books as opposed to downloading a PDF for free (I know PDF's aren't always free, but for the purpose of this poll let's assume they are).

Personally I don't mind paying for a book and prefer a hard copy (I'm not part of the tablet generation just yet). I suppose I'm one of those old fashioned "I like the feel/smell/taste of a real book" kind of people. Of course the quality of the book in question comes into it, for example the hardback Games Workshop codexeseses/army books these days are of outstanding quality. But then I understand their tablet apps have different features too.

Of course any reference to GW brings us onto a price, which would be another consideration and their books this days are about my ceiling when it comes to price. But, let's just say to make things simpler "the price is reasonable". Would you still be willing to pay it or just download it for free?

[Rolex]

I suppose I'm one of those old fashioned "I like the feel/smell/taste of a real book" kind of people.

I'm one of those, as well.

[Loki]

I prefer a PDF:

1) I am a Scot and therefore must conform to my racial sterotype of fiscal conservatisim.

2) I do not want people tasting my rulebook

[howlinggriffon]

If I buy / free download rules for a game I really want to play, I make a point of printing it out and having it ring bound. PDF's are cool for reading on your PC / tablet but hard copy rulebooks are what I game with.

[spubbbba]

Back when the army books were £10 or £12 for 40K and fantasy I used to get them all. They were an interesting read and it was useful to know the rules for all the armies I may face in tournaments.

But after they went hardback the costs were just too much to get several a year, especially as for certain races they bring out new books very quickly.

There is also a practical aspect, for Bloodbowl we’d only need the 1 rulebook. But if look at the fantasy 8th edition or 40K 6th edition books they are huge and really heavy. All the extra stuff is nice to look at but much of the artwork was from old books and the actual rules section is pretty small.

I do like those A5 rulebooks you get with the boxed sets though. Maybe that would be the ideal? A big hardback rulebook like the icepelt version but with more fluff, pictures and sections about painting, converting, and making your own pitch. Whilst the boxed set has the pitch, markers, 4 plastic teams and a mini book.

Pdf’s are fine as you can print out what you need or have it on a tablet if an awkward rule query comes up. After a while you don’t need to look at the rule book for most of the game if at all.

[lunchmoney]

I want both, for already mentioned reasons. I like to have a book for something I enjoy, and the PDF for use on mobile media. So I haven't clicked a vote as I want both

[Smurf]

I mix.

Got GURPS many decent hard backs and at much better prices than GW's.

Got PDFs from GURPS too.

I have a set of Silent Death in Dead Tree Format, but they have loads of PDF ships for free too.

GW's problem is the 4-5 year turn around, buy book, goes out of date. Rebuy game and repeat and rinse. So for many of us who have read countless badly written fluff could not give two hoots that most of any GW book is crass filler of the most turgid kind. Plus the price set at a mind boggling £23 for a product to go on top of the rules plus the cost of the minis. PDF's would be great and a lot cheaper too.

Wait a minute they are making them all for Apple stuff and leaving out all the Androids but the PDF adobes would cater for both. In short they are bonkers and what is in essence a Farming toy or bunch of toys I am not going to spend buckets of dosh for what is a toy (I have limits). Yes you can compare other hobbies for financial dedication but in this one with so much second hand about it is easy to get by.

PDFs would make more sense given their 'market' model is for gamers to rebuy their game again.

Yes you could argue that Football games for the consols do essentially the same thing. However the football fan is clearly more nuts than a gamer who wants to paint a really nice army and then spend more time buying and rebuying rules to play with it!

[Smurf]

If they charged for PDFs within in reason then they would do much better than what they do with DTFs.

[Winged_Human]

there are certain games that I prefer a HC book for, and those are games with a larger pagecount book. i.e. 40K, WM/H...

I do prefer the Clan books and smaller rulebooks (Like JudgeDredd, and Bloodbowl) in pdf formats for 2 reasons.

1) they usually change more often than the bigger books

2) easier to carry around in a 3 ring binder.

Regardless I prefer to PAY for my pdf's and support the developers.
Drivethruprg is my good friend, because I can usually get both.

[nonumber]

I didn't want people to get too hung up on GW, suppose that's my own fault for using them as my example but the point about regular changes is a good one. With a PDF you just download the latest edition, or even just the pages with updates if it was a minor thing. I get that it's much more convenient.

I suppose the "bottom line" question I was trying to ask was, would you pay for a rulebook you felt represented value for money or would you still download it for free anyway?

Not everyone is into the tactile joys of a book and I suppose that's increasingly so. I think it's pretty obvious that it would be pointless producing a book that had very little in the way of quality in comparison to a home-printed document and would really have to be something special in terms of production quality to compete.

[Winged_Human]

I think I understand the question you're getting at, and to that here's my answer.

the VALUE of a physical rulebook vs a pdf lies in the production value: Is it a hard cover/Soft? Are the pages bound with glue or staples? Good quality paper? Resistant to wear and tear? How long till pages start to fall out and fade?


As an example I would like to point out two different companies.

MGP produces a Hard cover book for their Babylon 5 ACTA line, the art was good, but the pages were flimsy, and the glue binding the pages was so weak that they started falling out within a week of use. this led to ALOT of unhappy consumers and basically a recall of the books so new ones could be produced. sure it was cheap ($15-20 IIRC) but not worth the buy IMO.

Now take a look at Battlefront and their Flames of War rulebook. this thing was BEAUTIFUL! Large Hardback book, with sturdy pages (not glossy) and it was bound so well that I only EVER had to buy one copy of the thing, and I loved it regardless of the price

[Darkson]

I want both, for already mentioned reasons. I like to have a book for something I enjoy, and the PDF for use on mobile media. So I haven't clicked a vote as I want both

This, but only if, as the OP said, the price is reasonable. I stopped playing 40k around the beginning of 3rd ed but still bought the videoed etc because I like the fluff, and I decided I got enough value for my money, but the newer, more expensive ones, I don't, so haven't bought any. For those, I'm happy with a PDF, legal or not.

So my answer is both, assuming the "real" version is reasonably priced.

[PapyHarzen]

For me the printed book if it's reasonably priced.

If somebody have an Icepelt book to sale...


Papy

[Xtreme]

I like to have a physical copy of all my books if possible, though I feel like the world will force me into ebooks and pdfs soon.

That said, I have no faith GW could stick to the reasonably priced part of this topic. $50 army codex, be damned them nerds will still buy it.

[Shteve0]

No idea what an icepelt is, or what an A5 version of it might look like.

In unrelated news, isn't Virral a nice guy? He's so friendly to coaches all over the world, not just in australasia. If you haven't been in touch recently, drop him a line, ask about his Koala.