Will GW ever do a downloadable codex database?

[lobster-overlord]

People seen inside the store with stolen/downloaded books is simply seen as not giving moey to the store yet USING the store for FREE for its gaming space.

They are just simply seen as thieves who are to cheap to support their hobby store,

I agree with this as well, but I would counter that it's not just books that these people are getting online. These would be the same people that buy from online sites to get their armies at cut rate prices, and then also go and use the same store space as those like your self who are buying in store. I certainly support my FLGS as much as possible, but they know that OOP stuff I'm better off getting online. However, there are a number of players that buy all their stuff online that play at the same place, but they have legit books as well. I don't see it so much as getting stuff for free, as I do getting the same stuff at the lowest price possible because they're cheap (the people, not the items). You're going to have these people no matter what, like it or not. Just do your best to convert them to the ways of the FLGS for what they need.

Directly to the subject, I could see GW doing digital versions, but they would be full digital e-books, and not downloads for a pdf reader. You'd have to pay full price and own a kindle or sony reader to be able to use them.



John M.

[DarkLink]

Yeah, that'd go over well;

GW:
"In order to play the game, you must go and buy a $400 kindle just so you can read the rules. If you're lucky, you already own one."

Customer:
"Hey, what's this Warmachine I hear about? I heard you don't even have to buy a codex to get the rules for your faction."

[Madness]

The Ebook readers market will boom sooner than you'd expect. Trust me on this one. And I don't mean iPads or other tablet-like stuff, I mean e-ink devices.

[eldargal]

Quite, but it will not hurt book sales. Publishers have already found people like owning a paper copy and a digital copy (for travel and whatnot). The thing is that the people who buy books want books, not digital representations of text. Book sales have increased along side digital media sales, and all the market research indicates this will continue.

The Ebook readers market will boom sooner than you'd expect. Trust me on this one. And I don't mean iPads or other tablet-like stuff, I mean e-ink devices.

[Cedonuli]

I would have to agree with eldargal. I have huge volumes of books on my laptop from when I found out that you could download them. I haven't read a single one of them and have continued to buy books from the local bookstores, even going out of town to find the odd book that I couldn't find locally. There are people like me who enjoy reading, and they enjoy doing so with a book in their hand that they can feel (and in my case bend). I like reading books, and you know which ones I've read over and over by how beat up their spines look and I like that feeling of a wellworn book.

Just as how CDs never completely replaced the record player, digital media will never replace printed text.

[Melissia]

Similarly, I have three copies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A copy made before the Jackson movies, one made after, and a PDF file which I can easily search through to find stuff. I prefer reading the physical books, less eyestrain that way.

[Noxx]

Personally I'd take a subscription-based service for my rules, if it meant they were updated and balanced a little more often. I do like big print books, but with the number of them I now own, it's getting a little extreme... my flat is only small.

I'd take a phone or desktop or even web-based application for viewing the rules... fully searchable, configurable bookmarks and stuff, maybe incorporate an army builder into it too. I'd far sooner pay monthly for a full suite of rules that are being regularly checked and updated, maybe even added to, than just pick and choose between the much more static print books.

Ultimately, there's not that much wrong with the current system, I'd just like more effort to be made in terms of balancing the rules than the odd FAQ, and I see digital as the ideal means of doing that. Coupled with the whole "wave of the future" argument, it seems like an exciting prospect to me, but probably not one that will ever see the light of day.

[Gnoblar with Pointy Stick]

Will Games Workshop pass up an opportunity to make money from us hard working geeks?

Short answer: NO.

Long answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

I am the Faithful; the Light does not shine on me, it shines from Within.

Are you a Quaker? I go to a Quaker school and they're always going on about the "the light not shining from the outside, but from within." Unorthodox Quakers use "the light" interchangeably with "god".