Dear Whomever It Was,
Thank you for uploading the Burning Empires PDF to the IRC servers! Thank you for pirating small press publications! Lord knows, I can afford to give it away.
-L
Man that sucks! I can somehow understand pirating D&D and other major RPG books but pirating an indie game…
That said, I would think this doesn’t affect sales THAT much. IMHO, potential customers (gamers) will not be playing the game with just the PDF. I know I wouldn’t, now that the book is available. Though I have no idea how many people have bought just the PDF since the book became available, I would think the number is very low. If my reasoning is correct, it’s those customers only that will be reduced.
On the brighter side, reading the PDF may actually make some people want to buy the book (that otherwise wouldn’t have) and thus increase sales that way. Lord knows this has happened to me with video games…
The book is gorgeous, easier to use, and has multiple uses.
It can be used to play the game, as an exercise aid, and a murder weapon. Seriously. That thing is called the brick for a fucking reason.
I bought only the PDF during the pre-release thinking that I didn’t want to drop so much on the PDF/Book combo only to buy the book months later. IMO there’s no comparison between the PDF and the actual book. The book far outshines the electronic version.
That said, pirating BE really stinks. I can’t even imagine.
The shit is taken care of. Besides You can’t really use PDF for playing the game, unless you’re insane (and run a game referencing to your computer screen) or paid like 20$-30$ to get it printed out and binded…
The first attempt I had at playing BE happened before my precious (brick) came in the mail. We referenced the PDF on my laptop as well as a desktop computer in the other room.
Of course, we only got through one session with a single manuever before scheduling killed the game, but still.
Without debating all the myraid aspects of going PDF, and regardless of how you decide to proceed in the future, I just wanted to say that I really appriciated the PDF/book combo and the effort that went into producing the game.
I don’t have anything really eloquent to say. Just hang in there and keep fighting the good fight.
Thanks,
your fans