DriveThruRPG.com

[Matt]

DriveThruRPG.com has been discussed multiple times in the past, but does anyone here actually purchase books from them? If so then how often do you look for ebooks there?

[Dawn OOC]

I've bought 2 books from there in the last year or so. If I really want something but can't get it locally, that's my stop. I do like having hard-cover books, to be honest but having the PDF is better than nothing.

[jameson (ST)]

I use them for PDFs. I don't TT game anymore (), so having a hardcover is a luxury that is rarely worth double the price for most books (core books being the exception). I find that they have a good setup but I don't think they are alone in the marketplace either. I also suspect that if I had an iTampon ... err, iPad, I might rethink my rule on Core books ...

[Matt]

The reason that I ask is that I am trying to create some new contests around here and am looking at ways to help fund the prizes. If people are already spending money there then it is a great way to fund the contests. I am probably going to create a store element to the site with 100% of the profit going into contests.

I think a conversion to tablet computers will really change the way RPG products are developed and sold in the future.

[jameson (ST)]

Originally Posted By: Chosen

I think a conversion to tablet computers will really change the way RPG products are developed and sold in the future.

Given how the PDF environment has changed self publishing, especially in regards to RPGs, I tend to agree whole heartedly.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Chosen

DriveThruRPG.com has been discussed multiple times in the past, but does anyone here actually purchase books from them? If so then how often do you look for ebooks there?

That's the only place I go for rpg ebooks. However I'm with Dawn, I like the physical books and if I'm going to buy something I make an effort to shop locally for it. This is especially true for WW stuff just because I end up having to put stickies in the books and their indexes often need work.

[BlueNinja]

I have purchased a few PDFs from drivethru. I like PDFs for reference outside of game, and occasionally searching a point in a hurry while in-game. I don't have an ipad, but I do have the Sony reader, and pdfs just aren't formatted for those screens, which makes the PDFs of somewhat limited utility for me. (I love my reader, just not for gaming books.)

[Dawn OOC]

Originally Posted By: Courier

That's the only place I go for rpg ebooks. However I'm with Dawn, I like the physical books and if I'm going to buy something I make an effort to shop locally for it. This is especially true for WW stuff just because I end up having to put stickies in the books and their indexes often need work.

Just as a note, Courier, the newer PDFs are text searchable. So that can be really handy sometimes.

[jameson (ST)]

Originally Posted By: Dawn, OOC

Originally Posted By: Courier

That's the only place I go for rpg ebooks. However I'm with Dawn, I like the physical books and if I'm going to buy something I make an effort to shop locally for it. This is especially true for WW stuff just because I end up having to put stickies in the books and their indexes often need work.

Just as a note, Courier, the newer PDFs are text searchable. So that can be really handy sometimes.

It largely depends on if the PDF is generated via a scan of a hardcopy or from the original digital files.

[Courier]

Thank you Dawn. That makes a difference in my evaluation.

[Kazuo]

DriveThruRPG is where I've purchased the majority of my RPG books over the past few years. Hardcopy books are definitely easier to search through, and generally more satisfying to read just for the sake of reading, but since I moved away from where I used to live in California I haven't found any particularly good comic/RPG shops around. So rather than hunting high and low for some specific book I just get it off of DriveThru.

All of my Scion, BESM, and M&M books were purchased from there.

[Mr Fox]

I've made maybe 10 purchases from there since they opened. That's probably double the amount of hard copies I've purchased in the same time period.

If it's a game I'm really going to play a lot or that I am really impressed with I'll get a hard copy, but I also like to have pdf's so I can do a little reading at work sometimes. (Not that I have a lot of free time these days.)