Aplus
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 353
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Post by Aplus on Jan 17, 2013 14:19:01 GMT -6
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2013 14:49:18 GMT -6
This link takes me to an empty page.  |
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Post by kesher on Jan 17, 2013 15:06:10 GMT -6
Me, too!
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Post by talysman on Jan 17, 2013 15:26:18 GMT -6
Whoah. That domain name is not registered to WotC. It's registered to OneBookShelf. I'm guessing someone just opened himself up to a whole lot of hurt.
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Post by Falconer on Jan 17, 2013 15:49:26 GMT -6
OneBookShelf = drivethrurpg.com
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Post by stevemitchell on Jan 17, 2013 16:20:12 GMT -6
A dream, a hoax, an imaginary story!
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elf23
Level 1 Medium
Posts: 24
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Post by elf23 on Jan 17, 2013 16:47:06 GMT -6
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Post by talysman on Jan 17, 2013 16:49:08 GMT -6
OneBookShelf = drivethrurpg.com Yeah, but unless they've signed some kind of contract with WotC, they can't just start selling PDFs of old TSR modules. However, since the pic shows that that it was a test site, the pics may be placeholders. Drivethru/OneBookShelf maybe anticipating that WotC may bring back the classic line or something resembling it, based on recent commentary from Mike Mearls, so they're just setting up a site to sell it, should it happen. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2013 17:53:17 GMT -6
I think it's legit, which is great.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2013 17:59:21 GMT -6
I hope so, too ... but the page is still blank.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2013 18:54:28 GMT -6
Chatter elsewhere about files being uploaded to rpgnow/drivethru causing the database to send out e-mail notifications to featured reviewers about the new uploads.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Jan 18, 2013 0:05:55 GMT -6
1. Normal PDFs (no weird custom protected format). 2. Print on demand. Great news, if it comes true - then I'll be able to complain about the quality of the PDFs at last! ;D |
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Post by blackbarn on Jan 18, 2013 1:58:21 GMT -6
Surely they have made good quality PDFs if they are going this route. After the reprint rulebooks, they must be doing justice to the modules too.
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Post by Zenopus on Jan 18, 2013 8:34:42 GMT -6
My guess is that the first ones we'll see are the pdfs for the reprints that have already come out (AD&D PHB, DMG, MM, UA, etc). Wizards posted a poll yesterday asking what should be reprinted next: www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dmxp/20130117 (scroll to the bottom for the poll). I voted Other, and then R1-4 in the comments. These were only sold through the RPGA and are really expensive, so a reprint would make getting playable copies much more feasible. |
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Post by Falconer on Jan 18, 2013 10:29:18 GMT -6
Actually, I don’t think it tells us anything. It looks like the same FAQ used on all the drivethru sites, with the name “Dungeons & Dragons Shop” plugged in wherever the other names would be. |
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elf23
Level 1 Medium
Posts: 24
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Post by elf23 on Jan 19, 2013 3:06:14 GMT -6
Actually, I don’t think it tells us anything. It looks like the same FAQ used on all the drivethru sites, with the name “Dungeons & Dragons Shop” plugged in wherever the other names would be. Ha, good catch  Ah well, we'll just have to wait and see. |
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capheind
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 236
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Post by capheind on Jan 19, 2013 10:43:55 GMT -6
Maybe they will finally decommission the secret pre-hasbro old D&D download page and move it to dtrpg. I mean what are they risking simply uploading the books they have already given away for free.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2013 7:56:22 GMT -6
Oooohoooooo. This gets this lazy blackguard to unlurk.  I voted for the RC, obviously, because that will mean all editions are (as a principle) back in print. I am not too ideological about gaming, but I simply think it would be beautiful if my kids in some day could play the games I played. I own three RCs so far, but of course, they are not in the best shape any more, and pay a hundred bucks for a "fair" copy at amazon I will not. As to the PDF sale, I remain a sceptic - because at this point, we need Print-on-Demand. The PDFs, everybody got in the five-year-embargo by legally dubious sources already. (No, I don't advocate pirating, I am saying, NOW Wizbro is coming along?! A bit late, I'd wager.) |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Jan 20, 2013 8:38:37 GMT -6
I'm hoping this will mean good PDFs, eventually.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2013 6:58:18 GMT -6
^ That. Again, don't me wrong, but some of the pirated, private scans were more diligently done than stuff I bought at places like SVGames.
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Post by Sean Michael Kelly on Jan 22, 2013 8:00:35 GMT -6
Happy Birthday to me! I see these were released today. Has anybody purchased any of them yet? I see there are no OD&D offerings.
I'm wondering if these are better scans than the ones sold years ago. (because most of those were horrible, IMHO)
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Post by Zenopus on Jan 22, 2013 8:25:45 GMT -6
B1 (Moldvay version) is a free download this week; get it now. You need an account. www.dndclassics.com/product/17081/B1-In-Search-of-the-Unknown-%28Basic%29?it=1Updates: Francisa on K&KA got the following message from their customer support: "Our initial release includes over 80 titles, though we plan to release smaller batches of additional titles on a rolling basis after that. Needless to say the final catalog will be extensive." More good news: if you purchased a pdf previously, you can download the new version for free. I checked my account and was able to download the new version of B6 Veiled Society. It's a completely new scan, much better than the old one. They even scanned the map on the inside of the folder as one large page rather than two separate pages in the old pdf. Moldvay Basic is available on legal pdf for the first time now. |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Jan 22, 2013 9:34:14 GMT -6
It looks like they are new and better scans, with bookmarks. The B1 greyscale artwork seems to have survived the scans better than the old version.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2013 9:42:35 GMT -6
Yeah. This is nice. |
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Post by kesher on Jan 22, 2013 10:35:23 GMT -6
WIth bookmarks! Woot!
Slowly, slowly, the snowball begins to roll...
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Post by owlorbs on Jan 22, 2013 11:38:17 GMT -6
Wow, that scan is much improved. I'm getting tingly.
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Post by funkaoshi on Jan 22, 2013 11:47:15 GMT -6
I grabbed C1 and T1. The PDFs are much nicer than what they had put out before, but they are still scans of really old books. Apparently everything from 2e on is produced using digital files. The site is slammed right now. It's barely responsive. I guess there is more demand then they thought for this stuff.
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 22, 2013 12:10:45 GMT -6
I'll be very interested to see what effect this has on the retroclones. After all, the reason (or at least the main reason) why they appeared in the first place was to let people play and write adventures for an out-of-print system.
Of course, the whole "OSR" thing has expanded beyond that, with many games offering substantial variation on the D&D template, but still, there are a few games which will presumably largely be differentiated by price when compared to the once-more-in-print originals.
EDIT: Certainly looks as though there's a lot of initial interest in the D&D PDFs; the site keeps crashing :-)
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2013 13:26:03 GMT -6
I'll be very interested to see what effect this has on the retroclones. The selling of pdfs by WotC the first time around didn't affect the clones, despite some believing it would make them superfluous. In many online debates there were good reasons given at the time why people would still play/use the clones despite the original games being available - clones being free was just one of them. And of course when WotC pulled all sales of the pdfs in April 2009 the clones continued as if nothing had ever happened. I don't believe this will impact the clones drastically this time either. BF, OSRIC, LL & S&W have all had several years to build up a fan-base. Part of the attraction is having the old rules in a much clearer and useable presentation. And it's cheaper and easier to get multiple copies to players. The other issue is that the clones have been released under the OGL, which means they are here for good. Even if the publishers turn their back on them, other people can use the OGL to re-release them in another format. WotC found that there's no putting the genie back into the bottle with the OGL. It's no different with the clones. However, it looks like the WotC people have at last got smart. Perhaps they finally realise that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Now I just wish RPGNow wasn't closed for maintenance so I could have a look. |
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Post by stevemitchell on Jan 22, 2013 14:51:57 GMT -6
I've managed to get some items into my shopping cart at RPGNow, but their system keeps crashing when I try to go to checkout. Incidentally, both "The Maze of Nuromen" for Blueholme Prentice and "The Gibbering Tower" for Labyrinth Lord are available as freebies on the site now.
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Ah well, we'll just have to wait and see.
