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Paizo owned PDFs

I have the print versions of an awful lot of Paizo products. Because I like having print and PDF copies, I bought have everything I have in print in PDF as well. Then I bought quite a few more PDFs.

I bought almost all the resources to use with Hero Lab. I fully expected to buy again for Realms Works.

While I can understand those who don't own the PDFs being miffed that they now have to buy them to get RW content, they are different products. You'll find the PDFs useful where you can't access RW - personally, I keep them on my phone, where I can refer to them during lunch breaks, or to ensure I only have to carry my CRB around to run PFS scenarios, for which I don't use Realm Works.
 
Yeah, I understand you have to deal with the whole process of licensing. Its something we all have to deal with. Can't really fight it too much.

I appreciate you guys (and gals) communicating with us about the process. Just going to have to keep my eyes open for PDFs I need when things are available via the market. Keep my wallet open too! :)

We appreciate your understanding and support! :)


I have the print versions of an awful lot of Paizo products. Because I like having print and PDF copies, I bought have everything I have in print in PDF as well. Then I bought quite a few more PDFs.

I bought almost all the resources to use with Hero Lab. I fully expected to buy again for Realms Works.

While I can understand those who don't own the PDFs being miffed that they now have to buy them to get RW content, they are different products. You'll find the PDFs useful where you can't access RW - personally, I keep them on my phone, where I can refer to them during lunch breaks, or to ensure I only have to carry my CRB around to run PFS scenarios, for which I don't use Realm Works.

I keep several on my phone/tablet as well. I love physical books but phones laptops and tablets are a fantastic resource for traveling and space management!
 
Seems to me, this is a way to get a discount for material you already own in electronic form. I'm glad I don't have to pay as much for RW content if I already own the Paizo pdf.

Maybe other electronic retailers will come on board. It would be nice to link my DriveThruRPG and OpenGamingStore accounts, if it meant discounts on 3PP content for RW.
 
RealmWorks is geared at GMs.
Modules and Adventure Paths are geared at GMs.
Normal rulebooks are aimed at both GMs and Players.

Paizo makes some money by selling their PDFs. Money with which they pay their authors. If they have to share the cost of the PDFs with LWD (by having people only purchase adventures in RW) then the Paizo module writers get paid less (since they are only paid by Paizo).

Perhaps you should compare the price of a PDF + RW with the price of a hardback book from Paizo, since the cost of the hardback book includes printing and distribution costs which are not profit for Paizo (and so none of the money goes to the module writers). Although the RW would end up slightly higher due to the massively higher amount of work required to organise the data in RW compared to typeset and print books.
 
This is bloody interesting...

2017_02_10_08_01_44_Paizo_and_Smite_Works_sign_an.jpg
 
Yeah I agree that there are two sides to this issue. The digital crowd are being well looked after.

The price difference between RW+PDF and MSRP will probably not be too much different if Dragons Demand is a good example. With the added benefit of getting the PDF.

I really like the PDF, even though I don't usually use it while running a game, I can read it on my phone at lunch or on a plane (travel a lot for work), last I checked RW is not available for Android yet :)
 
For the three LWD previewed, the modules are a couple of dollars different between their RW+PDF price and the print price, and Emerald Spire is hard to judge because we don't know what will be included in the RW version and which PDFs you need to own. (For example: what do you get for maps, and does that force you to own the flip-mat PDFs?)

Physical only folks have to pay full costs either way, but at least you get the PDF along with your RW purchase. I don't think that's going to sway anyone who is already invested in using a specific campaign manager+VTT (if applicable), but it's another thing to consider.

Aside, FWIW: copy/pasting text and linking to the source is much better than screenshots, but if you must take screenshots of other forums you may want to narrow your browser window first.
 
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Since FG is routing through Steam, their material will be on sale periodically. And from what I could tell from forum discussions a year or so ago, they don't have a lot of control over when Steam discounts it or for how much those discounts will be.
 
Maybe not great for folks who only have the physical book or who have legitimate PDFs from outside Paizo's system, but it's better than nothing.

Just a piece of useful information: Paizo is the only legit source of pathfinder PDFs. There are no other sellers. Paizo does this on purpose so they can watermark all the PDFs purchased through their site. If someone claims to have a Pathfinder PDF that they didn't buy from Paizo, then it's a pirated copy. If someone has a PDF with the watermarks removed, then they either removed them or downloaded it from a torrent.

-Skeld
 
Just a piece of useful information: Paizo is the only legit source of pathfinder PDFs. There are no other sellers. Paizo does this on purpose so they can watermark all the PDFs purchased through their site. If someone claims to have a Pathfinder PDF that they didn't buy from Paizo, then it's a pirated copy. If someone has a PDF with the watermarks removed, then they either removed them or downloaded it from a torrent.

-Skeld

Yup.
Paizo has always kept a tight grip on the PDFs.

This is, in part, how they can make the new policy work. Since they know every legitimate PDF out there, they can validate them.
 
I am wondering... I bought a few hardcover outside of subscription, without the pdf, from paizo online store, would these books can be considered as a pdf in case they are released in RW ? I mean they have the proof I bought them from their store...
 
A physical book could have been a gift to someone else, even though you bought it yourself. In contrast, if you gift a PDF in Paizo's store, it is linked to the recipient's account... so they know who actually has the rights to the PDF.
 
It is a little silly though that the Hardcover books don't count. I totally see how you couldn't enforce it if bought from a B&M or Amazon, etc. But if I purchased it via Paizo.com, then there should be a record of it. Although I'm sure it's not in the right database, ie, not in the My Downloads. Not a complaint, more of a wish...

I would think physical book sales will eventually drop (and maybe this isn't a bad thing, i'm sure a pdf profits are way more). If I only have x $$ to spend, and I already plan to pay for the HL content and now I want the RW content...something has to give.

Maybe what Paizo/LW need is a "Link my account to my GM's account" and make it easy for players to toss money at the GM?. Something like, as a player, I can put 10$ in this account as do all the other players. The GM sees he now has 70$ to spend from his group, weee, he can now purchase that next Adventure Path content. Because lets face it, RW content is basically a cost to the GM only.
 
Can't say I'm terribly pleased with this and I own PDF's of all or almost all of the Paizo products I'm likely to want to buy for RW. One glaring exception is the CRB. I've stuck with my physical copy of that for years. Now I'll need to get a PDF for no reason at all.

FYI, the Pathfinder rulebook line is a different animal and does NOT have the PDF dependency. All the other lines do have the dependency.
 
I am wondering... I bought a few hardcover outside of subscription, without the pdf, from paizo online store, would these books can be considered as a pdf in case they are released in RW ? I mean they have the proof I bought them from their store...

The dependency is on the PDF. If you purchased the book from Paizo without the PDF, then it's unlikely that it would qualify. It's possible that Paizo could revise the requirement, as the determination is completely under their control, but I believe if would represent a change from the model that is in place.
 
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FYI, the Pathfinder rulebook line is a different animal and does NOT have the PDF dependency. All the other lines do have the dependency.
that's useful info. what specifically falls into that line? Is it what I'd get if I subscribed to the Pathfinder rpg line? or is it narrower? I guess my question comes down to are the Bestiaries covered by this as well?
 
The Pathfinder Rulebook line is pretty much anything that's available on the PRD through Paizo.com.

(The Technology Guide is an oddity.)

So the Bestiaries should fall under this "different animal", but actually only LWD and Paizo can say for sure.
 
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