Difficulty matters. It doesn't need to be impossible to pirate, just difficult enough so that 90% of the people who type "D&D player's handbook PDF" don't come up with what they want after five minutes of effort.

Quote from: fearsomepirate;1036334Difficulty matters. It doesn't need to be impossible to pirate, just difficult enough so that 90% of the people who type "D&D player's handbook PDF" don't come up with what they want after five minutes of effort.

I just checked - took about 15 seconds to type the search term into Google and have the scanned pdf download from some Russian* site. I think 5 minutes actually would deter a lot of people.

*Clearly part of their conspiracy to destroy the West and pollute our precious bodily fluids.

Quote from: estar;1036117There is no economic reason that justifies this. Only emotional reasons.

Does anyone know who made this decision in the first place? I tried Googling but I can't find a definitive answer. I wonder if executive meddling, possible from Hasbro, could be a factor?

Quote from: S'mon;1036343I just checked - took about 15 seconds to type the search term into Google and have the scanned pdf download from some Russian* site. I think 5 minutes actually would deter a lot of people.

*Clearly part of their conspiracy to destroy the West and pollute our precious bodily fluids.

"Only available at allofwarez.nomalware.wepromise.ru" is deterrent enough for me!

Quote from: Krimson;1036365Does anyone know who made this decision in the first place? I tried Googling but I can't find a definitive answer. I wonder if executive meddling, possible from Hasbro, could be a factor?

Mind you it just reading in between the lines, but I think it wrapped up in the politics of the premature release of 4e and the antipathy one faction has towards the d20 SRD and open game license. I get the feeling Mearls is walking a bit of tightrope in that regard.

Keep in mind the main issue with anything involving D&D RPGs is that it is a niche within a company devoted to mass marketing toys and similar leisure products. The only reason is that Hasbro is involved is that Magic the Gathering put Wizards on Habro's radar. So D&D is very much subjected to the whims of a handful of people. Unlike Magic where decisions are probably sliced and diced into the thinnest layers through numerous meetings.

Something like this

Boss: So what happening with D&D?

Staffer with an axe to grind: We have serious issue with piracy. (Note Everybody has serious issues with piracy).

Boss: What we can do about.

Staffer with an axe to grind: launches into a semi-detailed presentation that amount to recommending a total lockdown of all D&D digital content and throw in magic branding buzzwords.

Other Staffer who more savvy: Tries to explain that piracy it always a problem but we gain more from having digital content readily available. Sounds weak and insecure compared to the branding strategy and lockdown proposal.

Boss to Staffer with axe to grind: OK pull the PDFs, implement the branding strategy for digital content.

(Many years later)

Boss to Staff with axe to grind: Why are revenues and traffic so shitty from your program.
Staff with axe to grind: Well urrm, you see...
Other Staffer jumps in: Well if you see five years ago our revenue from OBS PDF sales were X and the revenue we get from the branding strategy doesn't begin to compare.
Staff with axe to grind: But wait VTTs are a thing and and  I got this other group who can pull off a digital D&D site (DnD Beyond). We don't want our latest stuff (5e) out there.
Boss: OK re-release the older products as PDF, we will go with the VTTs and Beyond for the current edition.
Boss; What are we doing for Magic this quarter (and spend the next two hours on that).

Quote from: AsenRG;1035938Well, for once we agree:D!
Are you thinking about crowdfunding as a solution to this problem as well?

Ultimately, yes.

Quote from: estar;1036631Mind you it just reading in between the lines, but I think it wrapped up in the politics of the premature release of 4e and the antipathy one faction has towards the d20 SRD and open game license. I get the feeling Mearls is walking a bit of tightrope in that regard.

Keep in mind the main issue with anything involving D&D RPGs is that it is a niche within a company devoted to mass marketing toys and similar leisure products. The only reason is that Hasbro is involved is that Magic the Gathering put Wizards on Habro's radar. So D&D is very much subjected to the whims of a handful of people. Unlike Magic where decisions are probably sliced and diced into the thinnest layers through numerous meetings.

Something like this

Boss: So what happening with D&D?

Staffer with an axe to grind: We have serious issue with piracy. (Note Everybody has serious issues with piracy).

Boss: What we can do about.

Staffer with an axe to grind: launches into a semi-detailed presentation that amount to recommending a total lockdown of all D&D digital content and throw in magic branding buzzwords.

Other Staffer who more savvy: Tries to explain that piracy it always a problem but we gain more from having digital content readily available. Sounds weak and insecure compared to the branding strategy and lockdown proposal.

Boss to Staffer with axe to grind: OK pull the PDFs, implement the branding strategy for digital content.

(Many years later)

Boss to Staff with axe to grind: Why are revenues and traffic so shitty from your program.
Staff with axe to grind: Well urrm, you see...
Other Staffer jumps in: Well if you see five years ago our revenue from OBS PDF sales were X and the revenue we get from the branding strategy doesn't begin to compare.
Staff with axe to grind: But wait VTTs are a thing and and  I got this other group who can pull off a digital D&D site (DnD Beyond). We don't want our latest stuff (5e) out there.
Boss: OK re-release the older products as PDF, we will go with the VTTs and Beyond for the current edition.
Boss; What are we doing for Magic this quarter (and spend the next two hours on that).

Boss: Okay, let's forget about penny ante D&D for a moment. Guess who owns Power Rangers now?

Are we expecting a Power Rangers RPG?

Quote from: RPGPundit;1037464Are we expecting a Power Rangers RPG?

Renegade games studios got a license from Saban to make Power Ranges "tabletop games" of an undisclosed nature for the 25th anniversary this year. There is speculation that it might be an RPG because there was a "cryptic tweet from [a power rangers RPG Twitch live stream called Power Rangers Hyperforce] parent company, Hyper RPG, announcing a Power Rangers partnership with Renegade Game Studios."

Here's a link to the article: https://www.powerrangersnow.com/power-rangers-tabletop-games-announced/

Of course, Renegade games studios isn't Hasbro, so take of that what you will.

Quote from: Hastur-The-Unnameable;1037477Renegade games studios got a license from Saban to make Power Ranges "tabletop games" of an undisclosed nature for the 25th anniversary this year. There is speculation that it might be an RPG because there was a "cryptic tweet from [a power rangers RPG Twitch live stream called Power Rangers Hyperforce] parent company, Hyper RPG, announcing a Power Rangers partnership with Renegade Game Studios."

Here's a link to the article: https://www.powerrangersnow.com/power-rangers-tabletop-games-announced/

Of course, Renegade games studios isn't Hasbro, so take of that what you will.

I was referencing Hasbro outright buying the property. LINK

It would be pretty odd if Hasbro ended up with the IP but someone other than WoTC ended up making the RPG.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1037845It would be pretty odd if Hasbro ended up with the IP but someone other than WoTC ended up making the RPG.

Hasbro owns My Little Pony and the RPG was made by Shinobi 7. I wouldn't be surprised if a future Power Rangers RPG was produced by Shinobi 7. At this time there is no impending Power Rangers RPG because I think the purchase of the property is less than a week old. I was never a fan, having only watched the show on mornings I was up early in the morning getting ready for work. That said, if Hasbro did enlist WoTC to make a Power Rangers RPG which used some sort of D&D/5e mechanic, I would likely buy it as soon as I saw it.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1037845It would be pretty odd if Hasbro ended up with the IP but someone other than WoTC ended up making the RPG.

Something like this can happen if they thought the project would offend a segment of their customers if they made it and branded it themselves.

An extreme example of this are companies that make a lot of money off of the porn industry. They don't want to market to the porn industry because the appearance of doing so can come back to bite them.

A much funnier one are famous actors that began doing TV commercials in Japan - they thought those TV commercials would never come back to 'bite' them later, like so many did when Youtube came along.

Also, a small company can also get a license for X # of years, take the risk, and prove the market. If it ends up being a success without much effort, then the IP owner can later kill it off and launch their own.

Yes, I guess I could see that happening.