Crusader available in PDF ?
Crusader available in PDF ?
I have read that Crusader magazine is to become (if I understand well) the C&C version of what Dragon Magazine* was for AD&D; now that James Ward will be its editor in chief. If this is so, it's really cool, and I can't wait to see that improved Crusader magazine. However, there is a problem: I live in France, so getting the magazine there in print form might be improbable (and costly). As such, this is my request that the new Crusader would also be sold in PDF, so those who live far away can easily get it.
(* BTW: it could be great if the new Crusader was both to C&C like Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine, meaning there would be also one or two modules in each, maybe submitted by fans as was the case with the old Dungeon Mag.)
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(* BTW: it could be great if the new Crusader was both to C&C like Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine, meaning there would be also one or two modules in each, maybe submitted by fans as was the case with the old Dungeon Mag.)
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- moriarty777
- Renegade Mage
- Posts: 3739
- Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:00 am
- Location: Montreal, Canada
Good news... it is available in PDF (roughly one issue behind the current one available).
RPGNow has those and other TLG products in PDF form.
http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters ... rers_id=86
M
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RPGNow has those and other TLG products in PDF form.
http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters ... rers_id=86
M
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"You face Death itself in the form of... 1d4 Tarrasques!"
Partner to Brave Halfling Publishing
http://www.arcanacreations.com
Wow, that's good news !!
Being another Froggie in here, i was just browsing the forum to ask exactly the same question !
So now i can peacefully drool waiting for the next issues (and there's something about a peek on StarSIEGE announced in one of the upcoming issues) !
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People, i'm a German living in France, so please be forgiving about my English...
Being another Froggie in here, i was just browsing the forum to ask exactly the same question !
So now i can peacefully drool waiting for the next issues (and there's something about a peek on StarSIEGE announced in one of the upcoming issues) !
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People, i'm a German living in France, so please be forgiving about my English...
- Fiffergrund
- Lore Drake
- Posts: 1118
- Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:00 am
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
Jerm wrote:
It's nice to know that they also exist in PDF, but I find it a bit sad that a pdf version is as expensive as the printed format and there doesn't seem to be the option to subscribe to the pdf.
This is pretty typical. Pricing print and PDF the same prevents the PDF sales from undercutting the print sales. If PDFs were cheaper simply because they are electronic, then the incentive to purchase the hardcopy decreases.
Some may look at it this way, too: you're paying for the content, not the wrapper. The PDF has the same content, so why should you pay less for it?
As far as a subscription to a PDF, that's probably not a bad idea, but I wouldn't know how to handle it logistically.
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Sir Fiffergrund, Lord Marshal of the Castle and Crusade Society.
He Who Hides Behind The Elephant's Back
Marshal Fiffergrund, Knight-Errant of the Castle and Crusade Society
I could buy that argument if I saw issues of Crusader on books shelves, but I don't. So I will never buy the PDF's, or PDF's of any company, that charges more than 50% of retail.
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/
My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
The reason that I want the PDF is that I live in Belgium and here I don't know where to buy it in print. To buy them overseas would make them rather expensive.
I personally prefer print versions than PDF as they look better on the shelve than a CD containing all PDF's + a print version is easier to look through than a PDF version (where you need a running computer).
All in all a PDF is more cumbersome in my eyes, but it beats the fact of not having it at all. But I won't pay as much for a PDF as for a print version.
Cause if you look at it pure in costs, a PDF is cheap if you already have a print version: no extra stock costs, no printing cost, no shipping cost.
I personally prefer print versions than PDF as they look better on the shelve than a CD containing all PDF's + a print version is easier to look through than a PDF version (where you need a running computer).
All in all a PDF is more cumbersome in my eyes, but it beats the fact of not having it at all. But I won't pay as much for a PDF as for a print version.
Cause if you look at it pure in costs, a PDF is cheap if you already have a print version: no extra stock costs, no printing cost, no shipping cost.
Jerm,
Exactly why I won't pay higher than 50%. Anyone who charges more than 50% is being purely too greedy. Creating the book/magazine is not the biggest single cost, printing it is. Then dividing the profits of the retail price.
Book companies, and I mean those who publish novels, get just below $3.00 of each paperback book. Everything else gets divided amongst the other tiers of sellers. Which is why Amazon can give 30 to 45% discounts and still make money. They get everything above that $3.00 on paperback novels.
Plus the author of those novels get $.30, usually less, of that $3.00 the publisher gets.
So yes, charging over 50% for a PDF is simply too much, and smacks of greed in my book.
However I also understand the publishing business to know that small print runs can alter those percentages 10% or so, so in the case of Crusader I could accept 60% of retail, but I still won't buy a Crusader PDF until it is lowered to the 50 to 60% range.
Unless you can convince me a higher cost is actually justified in your case. Since I am given to understand you publish with your own machines, you would have a tough sell to convince me.
I have to say, with how well you price everything else, I have been rather mystified with your Crusader PDF pricing. Very contradictory to your over all pricing scheme.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/
My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames
Exactly why I won't pay higher than 50%. Anyone who charges more than 50% is being purely too greedy. Creating the book/magazine is not the biggest single cost, printing it is. Then dividing the profits of the retail price.
Book companies, and I mean those who publish novels, get just below $3.00 of each paperback book. Everything else gets divided amongst the other tiers of sellers. Which is why Amazon can give 30 to 45% discounts and still make money. They get everything above that $3.00 on paperback novels.
Plus the author of those novels get $.30, usually less, of that $3.00 the publisher gets.
So yes, charging over 50% for a PDF is simply too much, and smacks of greed in my book.
However I also understand the publishing business to know that small print runs can alter those percentages 10% or so, so in the case of Crusader I could accept 60% of retail, but I still won't buy a Crusader PDF until it is lowered to the 50 to 60% range.
Unless you can convince me a higher cost is actually justified in your case. Since I am given to understand you publish with your own machines, you would have a tough sell to convince me.
I have to say, with how well you price everything else, I have been rather mystified with your Crusader PDF pricing. Very contradictory to your over all pricing scheme.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/
My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
- Fiffergrund
- Lore Drake
- Posts: 1118
- Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:00 am
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
I think claiming this price point must mean TLG is "being greedy" is rather harsh and unreasonable. There is an excellent reason for this price point that I touched on before, but I'll elaborate.
Pricing isn't just about covering costs and making a profit. It's also about encouraging market behavior in a way that is favorable to the business or longevity of the product.
Crusader is a print magazine, not a PDF magazine. Pricing to encourage PDF sales discourages print sales. It's not about covering costs, necessarily. It's about maintaining the character of the magazine.
As I said before, people are essentially paying for the content. If they can get the same content at 60% of the price, I guarantee most people would avoid subscribing or ordering single copies and they'd just download the PDF at a deep discount. Save for a few stalwarts purchasing hardcopy on principle, most people are interested in saving a buck. The further you go in one direction, the more the other direction suffers. Eventually, there aren't enough stalwarts to justify print costs. The magazine goes fully PDF, losing the support of the stalwarts who stuck with it, and gaining the less valuable transient support of those more interested in saving money. (This is not a criticism, it's an observation of reality.)
A 50-60% price point for new releases would kill the print magazine before it even got off the ground. Crusader would be forced to go PDF and then eventually fold. More people, even today, prefer a book in their hands over PDF. Once you get past a certain amount of savings, however, you peel off the fringes of those people, leaving fewer interested in paying the premium for the printed goods. It kills the magazine, deader than dead, within months.
I could *possibly* see that price point for issues that are 3-4 months old, when released on a monthly schedule. It'd be foolish to do this with new releases. It's common sense - when trying to make a print periodical viable, it is foolish to offer a far cheaper, easily distributed electronic alternative with exactly the same content.
Let's say I own a movie studio. My studio has a new movie coming out, and it seems like the public has a healthy anticipation for it. I want to encourage people to see it in the theater. A good theater draw provides many tangible benefits that might make the film more profitable in the long run. Why would I offer the DVD release, or worse yet, an internet download, on the same day it hits theaters?
I personally think the Trolls shouldn't even offer PDF until the issue is several months old...but since they are, they are doing the right thing setting it to the same price.
Just a disclaimer: I don't have anything to do with the business aspect of this. I just write for the book, and this is just my opinion. I also have not checked the prices for back issues to see if they grade downwards over time. This I can agree with. I can't agree with the idea that the price point should be 50 to 60% of print upon release.
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Sir Fiffergrund, Lord Marshal of the Castle and Crusade Society.
He Who Hides Behind The Elephant's Back
Pricing isn't just about covering costs and making a profit. It's also about encouraging market behavior in a way that is favorable to the business or longevity of the product.
Crusader is a print magazine, not a PDF magazine. Pricing to encourage PDF sales discourages print sales. It's not about covering costs, necessarily. It's about maintaining the character of the magazine.
As I said before, people are essentially paying for the content. If they can get the same content at 60% of the price, I guarantee most people would avoid subscribing or ordering single copies and they'd just download the PDF at a deep discount. Save for a few stalwarts purchasing hardcopy on principle, most people are interested in saving a buck. The further you go in one direction, the more the other direction suffers. Eventually, there aren't enough stalwarts to justify print costs. The magazine goes fully PDF, losing the support of the stalwarts who stuck with it, and gaining the less valuable transient support of those more interested in saving money. (This is not a criticism, it's an observation of reality.)
A 50-60% price point for new releases would kill the print magazine before it even got off the ground. Crusader would be forced to go PDF and then eventually fold. More people, even today, prefer a book in their hands over PDF. Once you get past a certain amount of savings, however, you peel off the fringes of those people, leaving fewer interested in paying the premium for the printed goods. It kills the magazine, deader than dead, within months.
I could *possibly* see that price point for issues that are 3-4 months old, when released on a monthly schedule. It'd be foolish to do this with new releases. It's common sense - when trying to make a print periodical viable, it is foolish to offer a far cheaper, easily distributed electronic alternative with exactly the same content.
Let's say I own a movie studio. My studio has a new movie coming out, and it seems like the public has a healthy anticipation for it. I want to encourage people to see it in the theater. A good theater draw provides many tangible benefits that might make the film more profitable in the long run. Why would I offer the DVD release, or worse yet, an internet download, on the same day it hits theaters?
I personally think the Trolls shouldn't even offer PDF until the issue is several months old...but since they are, they are doing the right thing setting it to the same price.
Just a disclaimer: I don't have anything to do with the business aspect of this. I just write for the book, and this is just my opinion. I also have not checked the prices for back issues to see if they grade downwards over time. This I can agree with. I can't agree with the idea that the price point should be 50 to 60% of print upon release.
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Sir Fiffergrund, Lord Marshal of the Castle and Crusade Society.
He Who Hides Behind The Elephant's Back
Marshal Fiffergrund, Knight-Errant of the Castle and Crusade Society
The problem is I know of no data that support such claims. I see such things posted a lot, but I don't see it happen.
Plus, everything I hear says print is still preferred 10 to 1. Even though I have bought a fair number of PDF's (50+), I still prefer the print by a large margin. Reading on the computer is just too funky, and studies still show that trying to read and learn from a PDF on a computer causes an average 15% decrease in learning ability.
Something I found substantiated for me when doing a recent playtest. The rules were very confusing to me. Then I printed them out and the confusion dropped a very noticeable degree. At least one other in the playtest group agreed.
So until reading PDF's from a computer are greatly improved I'll be buying the print version and only want the PDF for the convenience of printing out useful bits and pieces.
Still, I don't agree with high PDF pricing, for any reason. So if its the Trolls goal to keep me from buying PDF its working. However, its keeping them from making more money on the same product, by keeping me from buying the print AND PDF copies.
Which is what most of us still do according to the market research studies I recently came across. Which is where I also read about the 15% loss in learning effectiveness.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/
My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames
Plus, everything I hear says print is still preferred 10 to 1. Even though I have bought a fair number of PDF's (50+), I still prefer the print by a large margin. Reading on the computer is just too funky, and studies still show that trying to read and learn from a PDF on a computer causes an average 15% decrease in learning ability.
Something I found substantiated for me when doing a recent playtest. The rules were very confusing to me. Then I printed them out and the confusion dropped a very noticeable degree. At least one other in the playtest group agreed.
So until reading PDF's from a computer are greatly improved I'll be buying the print version and only want the PDF for the convenience of printing out useful bits and pieces.
Still, I don't agree with high PDF pricing, for any reason. So if its the Trolls goal to keep me from buying PDF its working. However, its keeping them from making more money on the same product, by keeping me from buying the print AND PDF copies.
Which is what most of us still do according to the market research studies I recently came across. Which is where I also read about the 15% loss in learning effectiveness.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/
My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
I follow you that they want to sell more print than PDF, but I won't buy a PDF if it's as expensive as a print => no money earned from me, since I won't buy the print due to shipping costs.
Your solution of discount on PDF a couple of months after the print has been published is I think the best method. Normally magazines don't sell well after they are a couple of months old (except for the collectors).
But know with the $10 sale I might buy the print since it's cheaper than the PDF and I'll have it shipped with other things thus reducing the overall shipping cost.
Your solution of discount on PDF a couple of months after the print has been published is I think the best method. Normally magazines don't sell well after they are a couple of months old (except for the collectors).
But know with the $10 sale I might buy the print since it's cheaper than the PDF and I'll have it shipped with other things thus reducing the overall shipping cost.