GW digital products

[wittdooley]

As I write this post using my android powered xoom, I get angry that yet again GW has shot itself in the foot by only having this be available on the ipad. Get with the times GW. Android commands twice the marketshare of iOS globally. Twice! Apple is losing its death grip on the mobile world and you're still clinging onto that outdated model.

Not for tablets it doesn't.

[Feth]

here's a question, why not go the obvious rout and just release it for something like the kindle?

Because the license agreement for the "free" authoring tools for the IBook2 is unique on the planet and I doubt anyone at GW understood what they were signing.

Section 2 of the EULA:

B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows:

(i) if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means;

(ii) if your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.

No Droids, no Kindles, believe or not this prohibition includes Apple desktops and laptops since the authoring tools will output a product that can only be used by the IBook2 standard, aka iBooks® 2 for iPad, period.

This is bold faced in the next paragraph"

Apple will not be responsible for any costs, expenses, damages, losses (including
without limitation lost business opportunities or lost profits) or other liabilities you may incur as a result of your use of this Apple Software, including without limitation the fact that your Work may not be selected for distribution by Apple.

That means Apple may chose to not publish your product but since you signed it over to Apple they will not let you publish it anywhere else...

Apple also takes 30% of the App store price, that's why the price is what it is, GW passed it along.

Good job GW...


Apple has changed its iBooks Author End User License Agreement last night. Naturally I see it a little while after I post....



The new agreement’s Section 2:

B. Distribution of Works Generated Using the iBooks Author Software. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, works generated using iBooks Author may be distributed as follows:
(i) if the work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute it by any means;

(ii) if the work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service) and includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, the work may only be distributed through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary); provided, however, that this restriction will not apply to the content of the work when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author. You retain all your rights in the content of your works, and you may distribute such content by any means when it does not include files in the .ibooks format generated by iBooks Author.

The old agreement’s Section 2:

B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows:
(i) if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means;
(ii) if your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.

[wittdooley]

Yes. Leave out the fact that what they've done wouldn't even work on a kindle. IMO reading PDFs on a kindle is a poor experience.

[Gir]

To those complaining/wondering why it is only available on Apple, not Android, the answer is pretty simple. I asked my games designer mate this very question when he made his first app, only on Apple (I have an Android phone). Firstly, you need an entirely seperate development process for Android to Apple. In effect, you have to make your product twice (with associated time & costs). Secondly, and more importantly is people buying it. Whilst the number of devices carrying Android is significantly larger, most people do not buy stuff on there. The majority of apps have free trial versions or fulll versions which carry advertising, whereas people buy stuff on Apple. So, for a start up app (which this is) it makes perfect sense to release it on Apple first. If it proves successful there, you can justify the costs of developing for another platform safe in the knowledge that plenty of people will buy it. I don't know how much this has cost to develop, but to give you some context a top end app such as Angry Birds can easily set you back 100k. Even for a company as big as GW, that is signifcant investment in what is entirely new field for them and one in which they have no idea how successful they will be. In summary, if you want to see it on Android, encourage people to buy it on Apple!

That's because Apple use a horrendously poor and proprietary language (objective C), while Android can run native languages, much like Windows. They could have gotten a windows and android version going with very little code differences.

[Chuck777]

And again, even when it catches up, 3D printing I think is going to be a lot less useful than people seem to think it's going to be.

You forget how creative people are when there's no effort involved.

If all they have to do is scan an item and click a few buttons, it will become immensely popular. The only reason creating your own models isn't popular today is that it requires thought and effort - you have to buy the materials, use your hands create molds, pour resin... Way too much effort!

Plus, by the time 3-D printing hits the mainstream, GW will have raised their prices at least 3 or 4 more times.

At that point, we'll be paying like 70 bucks for a Tac Squad. People will be far more willing to learn how to print in 3-D to avoid the horrendous cost of GW models.

[Wildeybeast]

That's because Apple use a horrendously poor and proprietary language (objective C), while Android can run native languages, much like Windows. They could have gotten a windows and android version going with very little code differences.

They could indeed, but they would still have to pay the costs of developing for Apple somewhere down the line. If you are developing an app to make money like this one, far better to make it on Apple first where people pay for stuff rather than struggle in market where people expect free stuff. I'm not saying they shouldn't expand to other platforms, quite the opposite, but for their first foray into this market it makes good business sense to start with Apple and test the market that way. They do say on the website that this is just the first wave of stuff, I expect plenty more to come and other platforms if it sells well.

[Chuck777]

Do iPad's batteries even last long enough to see the end of a 2000 point game (2.5-3 hours)? I suppose they want us to just magically find an outlet some where in the store to use? Looks like my FLGS will have to be rewired!

[Kawauso]

You forget how creative people are when there's no effort involved.

If all they have to do is scan an item and click a few buttons, it will become immensely popular. The only reason creating your own models isn't popular today is that it requires thought and effort - you have to buy the materials, use your hands create molds, pour resin... Way too much effort!

Plus, by the time 3-D printing hits the mainstream, GW will have raised their prices at least 3 or 4 more times.

At that point, we'll be paying like 70 bucks for a Tac Squad. People will be far more willing to learn how to print in 3-D to avoid the horrendous cost of GW models.

3D scanning and 3D printing are not one and the same. That's 2 pieces of equipment you have to buy now, plus the software and knowledge to operate them.

The technology for both is likely to remain quite expensive for a long time because the practicality of having that technology in your home for everyday use isn't there the same way it is for, say, paper printers. This is opinion, of course, but I have a pretty hard time seeing 3D printing becoming mainstream in the same way.

What does the average person need a 3D printer for? Or a 3D scanner? Let alone both?

Like I said, there's very little effort involved in something like ordering a knock-off from a certain Chinese manufacturer, but it's not exactly taking the wargaming community by storm.

3D printing will (and has) make an impact on the hobby...to the extent you're saying, though? I doubt it, myself.

[Chaoschrist]

Is it just me who is excited and hopes that in the future GW might give us some awesome Warhammer themed ipad sleeve? If this digital codex thing sticks around that is.

I have mixed feelings about it because an ipad already is an expensive gadget as is. I don't own one, I'm saving up for one though. But that has nothing to do with a new product GW wants to sell me. I can just see how little kids, besides an army, now ask mom and dad for an ipad because... they need to play warhammer. And with that obviously comes the problem of "I can only spend my money once". If I'm shelling out for an ipad, I'm not spending money on GW plastics. Yes, priorities... but we're talking about both luxury items.

As for people complaining about the price; I think it's 1. Apple takes a cut and 2. GW price rise imminent, chances are paper codexes will cost just as much in the following weeks. So the "digital is more expensive" is probably not really justified until we compare that with a price rise next week.

Besides that... I feel that it's an awesome idea, having those interactive books with 360-view, a plethora of galleries and stuff like that. Though I can see how some people think it's a gimmick and just want a paper book without everything flashing.

Technically GW could update their codexes more often like this. New model coming out for army X... let's put out a new digital codex. It's cheaper in distribution and we don't have to pull everything from the shelves.

The mixed feeling I have with it, is that now GW has found a way to actually make a decent profit over something they don't physically have to make. But I'm not complaining about digital media either...

A thing, and it's something, someone adressed on this thread. Power and battery life. Bringing a codex to a game is fine, but I'm well aware of the fact that some people don't remember to charge their cellphones or ereaders frequently, so I can just see stuff happening like "oh... it's in my codex, but I can 't show you, my battery is empty".

[StarWarsDoug]

Wow! Lots of iPad Hate. If I may point out:

1. This is not a simple PDF of the C:SM. it is a interactive, cross linked, 360 degree model view, zoom in, instant reference, errata updated wonder piece!
2. No other format provided the digital rights protection level of iBooks.
3. Price will match or be cheaper than future paper codex. It's just sticker shock because the price hike and new style codex for 6th haven't started hitting yet.


And finally, unless you own and iPad and have downloaded a copy of the book, your statements against this make you look ignorant. I'm not saying to inflame, but I would like to see less zombified automatons repeating their opinions as fact, so please, if I am referring to you, do some of your own research.

Cheers!