<article>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#article09_10_18_1532228</id>
	<title><em>D&amp;D</em> Handbook Distribution Lawsuit Settled For $125,000</title>
	<author>Soulskill</author>
	<datestamp>1255881180000</datestamp>
	<htmltext><a href="mailto:dragonsaver@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">The Installer</a> writes <i>"Wizards of the Coast is in the process of settling its claim against several individuals for <a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/64658682.html">illegal distribution of its newest copyrighted handbook</a>. 'In one of three lawsuits brought by Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc., US District Judge Thomas S. Zilly on Friday accepted a settlement in which Thomas Patrick Nolan of Milton, Fla., agreed to a judgment against him of $125,000.' These were the lawsuits that went along with WotC's decision to <a href="//games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/08/1324213&amp;tid=61">stop selling the handbook</a> in .PDF format. 'According to court filings, more than 2,600 copies of the handbook were downloaded from Scribd.com, and more than 4,200 copies were viewed online before the material was pulled from the document-sharing site at Wizards' request.'"</i></htmltext>
<tokenext>The Installer writes " Wizards of the Coast is in the process of settling its claim against several individuals for illegal distribution of its newest copyrighted handbook .
'In one of three lawsuits brought by Wizards of the Coast LLC , a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc. , US District Judge Thomas S. Zilly on Friday accepted a settlement in which Thomas Patrick Nolan of Milton , Fla. , agreed to a judgment against him of $ 125,000 .
' These were the lawsuits that went along with WotC 's decision to stop selling the handbook in .PDF format .
'According to court filings , more than 2,600 copies of the handbook were downloaded from Scribd.com , and more than 4,200 copies were viewed online before the material was pulled from the document-sharing site at Wizards ' request .
' "</tokentext>
<sentencetext>The Installer writes "Wizards of the Coast is in the process of settling its claim against several individuals for illegal distribution of its newest copyrighted handbook.
'In one of three lawsuits brought by Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc., US District Judge Thomas S. Zilly on Friday accepted a settlement in which Thomas Patrick Nolan of Milton, Fla., agreed to a judgment against him of $125,000.
' These were the lawsuits that went along with WotC's decision to stop selling the handbook in .PDF format.
'According to court filings, more than 2,600 copies of the handbook were downloaded from Scribd.com, and more than 4,200 copies were viewed online before the material was pulled from the document-sharing site at Wizards' request.
'"</sentencetext>
</article>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29786825</id>
	<title>Re:Don't arrest me, jerkwads!</title>
	<author>mrmeval</author>
	<datestamp>1255859460000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Insightful</modclass>
	<modscore>2</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>They got their judgement. Now will they become for profit lawsuit machine or will they actually make something worth downloading? I suppose at some point I'll  have to play that version of D&amp;D but it sounds about as boring as some of the eternal leveling before the fun starts MMORGs.</p><p>And yes it's wrong but it is obligatory. It's one of the fascinating facets of the Streisand effect.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>They got their judgement .
Now will they become for profit lawsuit machine or will they actually make something worth downloading ?
I suppose at some point I 'll have to play that version of D&amp;D but it sounds about as boring as some of the eternal leveling before the fun starts MMORGs.And yes it 's wrong but it is obligatory .
It 's one of the fascinating facets of the Streisand effect .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>They got their judgement.
Now will they become for profit lawsuit machine or will they actually make something worth downloading?
I suppose at some point I'll  have to play that version of D&amp;D but it sounds about as boring as some of the eternal leveling before the fun starts MMORGs.And yes it's wrong but it is obligatory.
It's one of the fascinating facets of the Streisand effect.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784693</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784655</id>
	<title>Agreed?</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255884960000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Funny</modclass>
	<modscore>5</modscore>
	<htmltext><p><div class="quote"><p>agreed to a judgment against him of $125,000</p></div><p>So they didn't roll for damages?</p></div>
	</htmltext>
<tokenext>agreed to a judgment against him of $ 125,000So they did n't roll for damages ?</tokentext>
<sentencetext>agreed to a judgment against him of $125,000So they didn't roll for damages?
	</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29812413</id>
	<title>Re:D&amp;D</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1256068260000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>athas.org used to be home to a community created 3.x edition.</p><p>My rough understanding from my friend contributor that they were given blessing to make the 'official' Dark Sun stuff since the company wasn't planning on doing so.</p><p>Looks like the sight dried up.  A few years back we played the heck out of their version though; I'm sure the PDFs are still out there somewhere perhaps.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>athas.org used to be home to a community created 3.x edition.My rough understanding from my friend contributor that they were given blessing to make the 'official ' Dark Sun stuff since the company was n't planning on doing so.Looks like the sight dried up .
A few years back we played the heck out of their version though ; I 'm sure the PDFs are still out there somewhere perhaps .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>athas.org used to be home to a community created 3.x edition.My rough understanding from my friend contributor that they were given blessing to make the 'official' Dark Sun stuff since the company wasn't planning on doing so.Looks like the sight dried up.
A few years back we played the heck out of their version though; I'm sure the PDFs are still out there somewhere perhaps.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784955</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784829</id>
	<title>*shakes head*</title>
	<author>Ltap</author>
	<datestamp>1255886640000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Insightful</modclass>
	<modscore>5</modscore>
	<htmltext>I always knew Wizards of the Coast wasn't too great - they've cheapened tabletop gaming to an almost insane degree and discouraged many people from playing... but suing gamers?

From my experience, I've found that when most people start out, they aren't too sure about what to get and tend to borrow or download materials. Gamers who have been playing a long time will usually buy handbooks, custom dice sets, player figurines, etc. So basically, WotC is driving away NEW players with this - and people wonder why tabletop gaming is getting stale and too introverted for its own good?

To provide a comparison - imagine if there was a company from the mainframe days which created the first operating systems, and copyrighted the hell out of them. Now imagine that almost every other operating system was derivative from those original ones. This means that everyone would essentially be enslaved to that company, and to get freedom they would have to start from scratch, and couldn't use any of the ideas and refinements that that company had used.</htmltext>
<tokenext>I always knew Wizards of the Coast was n't too great - they 've cheapened tabletop gaming to an almost insane degree and discouraged many people from playing... but suing gamers ?
From my experience , I 've found that when most people start out , they are n't too sure about what to get and tend to borrow or download materials .
Gamers who have been playing a long time will usually buy handbooks , custom dice sets , player figurines , etc .
So basically , WotC is driving away NEW players with this - and people wonder why tabletop gaming is getting stale and too introverted for its own good ?
To provide a comparison - imagine if there was a company from the mainframe days which created the first operating systems , and copyrighted the hell out of them .
Now imagine that almost every other operating system was derivative from those original ones .
This means that everyone would essentially be enslaved to that company , and to get freedom they would have to start from scratch , and could n't use any of the ideas and refinements that that company had used .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>I always knew Wizards of the Coast wasn't too great - they've cheapened tabletop gaming to an almost insane degree and discouraged many people from playing... but suing gamers?
From my experience, I've found that when most people start out, they aren't too sure about what to get and tend to borrow or download materials.
Gamers who have been playing a long time will usually buy handbooks, custom dice sets, player figurines, etc.
So basically, WotC is driving away NEW players with this - and people wonder why tabletop gaming is getting stale and too introverted for its own good?
To provide a comparison - imagine if there was a company from the mainframe days which created the first operating systems, and copyrighted the hell out of them.
Now imagine that almost every other operating system was derivative from those original ones.
This means that everyone would essentially be enslaved to that company, and to get freedom they would have to start from scratch, and couldn't use any of the ideas and refinements that that company had used.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784955</id>
	<title>D&amp;D</title>
	<author>mqduck</author>
	<datestamp>1255887900000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Haven't played D&amp;D since middle school (AD&amp;D 2nd ed era), though I did buy the 3rd edition core books and never used them. Are Planescape and Dark Sun still out of print? Those were the shit, man.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Have n't played D&amp;D since middle school ( AD&amp;D 2nd ed era ) , though I did buy the 3rd edition core books and never used them .
Are Planescape and Dark Sun still out of print ?
Those were the shit , man .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Haven't played D&amp;D since middle school (AD&amp;D 2nd ed era), though I did buy the 3rd edition core books and never used them.
Are Planescape and Dark Sun still out of print?
Those were the shit, man.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784819</id>
	<title>Sigh.</title>
	<author>fooslacker</author>
	<datestamp>1255886580000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Interestin</modclass>
	<modscore>4</modscore>
	<htmltext>I'm tempted to just say "who cares 4th edition sucked" since I don't personally like it and think it is dumbed down MMO style mechanics made into a table top game.  In fact I think the fact that I bought the first set of books probably hurt Hasbro in the long term.  If I had previewed them somehow and didn't like them I probably would have continued to look at their products but since I bought them and didn't like them I haven't picked up another 4th edition product.  However, in the spirit of an actual discussion I'll give my 2 cents beyond just my dislike of 4th Edition.
<br> <br>
I think you're about to see Hasbro get all litigious on folks because they are not making what they think they ought to from the brand.  Whatever the reason I think when companies start worrying about this kind of nonsense rather than continually producing good content its a harbinger of hard times ahead.  Hopefully they'll sell of the brand or others like Pathfinder will take their place.  I think it was a bad sign when they nixed the d20 license from 3rd edition.  I don't know what Hasbro's numbers looked like but the industry as a whole was much better off when everyone was writing d20 products and the bookstores and cons were full of the stuff.  Today D&amp;D is almost irrelevant among the people that I know who still play RPGs. As a disclaimer, I'm just a sad creature who still reads through the books for entertainment value and writes a few pieces from time to time.</htmltext>
<tokenext>I 'm tempted to just say " who cares 4th edition sucked " since I do n't personally like it and think it is dumbed down MMO style mechanics made into a table top game .
In fact I think the fact that I bought the first set of books probably hurt Hasbro in the long term .
If I had previewed them somehow and did n't like them I probably would have continued to look at their products but since I bought them and did n't like them I have n't picked up another 4th edition product .
However , in the spirit of an actual discussion I 'll give my 2 cents beyond just my dislike of 4th Edition .
I think you 're about to see Hasbro get all litigious on folks because they are not making what they think they ought to from the brand .
Whatever the reason I think when companies start worrying about this kind of nonsense rather than continually producing good content its a harbinger of hard times ahead .
Hopefully they 'll sell of the brand or others like Pathfinder will take their place .
I think it was a bad sign when they nixed the d20 license from 3rd edition .
I do n't know what Hasbro 's numbers looked like but the industry as a whole was much better off when everyone was writing d20 products and the bookstores and cons were full of the stuff .
Today D&amp;D is almost irrelevant among the people that I know who still play RPGs .
As a disclaimer , I 'm just a sad creature who still reads through the books for entertainment value and writes a few pieces from time to time .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>I'm tempted to just say "who cares 4th edition sucked" since I don't personally like it and think it is dumbed down MMO style mechanics made into a table top game.
In fact I think the fact that I bought the first set of books probably hurt Hasbro in the long term.
If I had previewed them somehow and didn't like them I probably would have continued to look at their products but since I bought them and didn't like them I haven't picked up another 4th edition product.
However, in the spirit of an actual discussion I'll give my 2 cents beyond just my dislike of 4th Edition.
I think you're about to see Hasbro get all litigious on folks because they are not making what they think they ought to from the brand.
Whatever the reason I think when companies start worrying about this kind of nonsense rather than continually producing good content its a harbinger of hard times ahead.
Hopefully they'll sell of the brand or others like Pathfinder will take their place.
I think it was a bad sign when they nixed the d20 license from 3rd edition.
I don't know what Hasbro's numbers looked like but the industry as a whole was much better off when everyone was writing d20 products and the bookstores and cons were full of the stuff.
Today D&amp;D is almost irrelevant among the people that I know who still play RPGs.
As a disclaimer, I'm just a sad creature who still reads through the books for entertainment value and writes a few pieces from time to time.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785217</id>
	<title>Re:Sigh.</title>
	<author>Gothmolly</author>
	<datestamp>1255890120000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Funny</modclass>
	<modscore>5</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>4th edition does suck - simplified math, weird non-euclidean map geometry, nobody dies because everyone can heal, no usb, less space than a Nomad, no wireless, lame.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>4th edition does suck - simplified math , weird non-euclidean map geometry , nobody dies because everyone can heal , no usb , less space than a Nomad , no wireless , lame .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>4th edition does suck - simplified math, weird non-euclidean map geometry, nobody dies because everyone can heal, no usb, less space than a Nomad, no wireless, lame.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784819</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29795403</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>thedave</author>
	<datestamp>1255972560000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Does the acronym IANAL bug anybody else?</p><p>Because, while not a lawyer, I definitely not ANAL.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Does the acronym IANAL bug anybody else ? Because , while not a lawyer , I definitely not ANAL .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Does the acronym IANAL bug anybody else?Because, while not a lawyer, I definitely not ANAL.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784781</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29786355</id>
	<title>Re:D&amp;D</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255899420000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>I recommend you check out <a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG" title="paizo.com" rel="nofollow">Pathfinder</a> [paizo.com]. It is the d20 3.5 rules, redone and put into a gorgeous volume that is extremely well organized. And it is far better than anything from WotC. Some elements of Dark Sun are possible in it, although not really Planescape's, which is a shame.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>I recommend you check out Pathfinder [ paizo.com ] .
It is the d20 3.5 rules , redone and put into a gorgeous volume that is extremely well organized .
And it is far better than anything from WotC .
Some elements of Dark Sun are possible in it , although not really Planescape 's , which is a shame .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>I recommend you check out Pathfinder [paizo.com].
It is the d20 3.5 rules, redone and put into a gorgeous volume that is extremely well organized.
And it is far better than anything from WotC.
Some elements of Dark Sun are possible in it, although not really Planescape's, which is a shame.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784955</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784653</id>
	<title>Goatse Distribution</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255884900000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Troll</modclass>
	<modscore>-1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Eat a <a href="http://goatse.fr/" title="goatse.fr" rel="nofollow">niggerdick</a> [goatse.fr]. All your friends do.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Eat a niggerdick [ goatse.fr ] .
All your friends do .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Eat a niggerdick [goatse.fr].
All your friends do.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29788713</id>
	<title>Re:No Surprise</title>
	<author>bannable</author>
	<datestamp>1255876560000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p><div class="quote"><p>as the optimizers and vorthos' preferred the unique classes and avoided the player's handbook classes like the plague (save for dips, wizards and druids).</p></div><p>You forgot about clerics, and sorcerers.</p></div>
	</htmltext>
<tokenext>as the optimizers and vorthos ' preferred the unique classes and avoided the player 's handbook classes like the plague ( save for dips , wizards and druids ) .You forgot about clerics , and sorcerers .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>as the optimizers and vorthos' preferred the unique classes and avoided the player's handbook classes like the plague (save for dips, wizards and druids).You forgot about clerics, and sorcerers.
	</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785507</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29828913</id>
	<title>May I offer...</title>
	<author>DrWho520</author>
	<datestamp>1256120520000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GURPS" title="wikipedia.org">GURPS</a> [wikipedia.org]?</htmltext>
<tokenext>GURPS [ wikipedia.org ] ?</tokentext>
<sentencetext>GURPS [wikipedia.org]?</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784977</id>
	<title>Poor sales and it only contributed to piracy.</title>
	<author>Doug52392</author>
	<datestamp>1255888200000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>From what I understand, the digital distribution of the<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.PDFs did not sell very well, and the sales figures for digital distribution were very low when WoTC pulled the service (remember, they are a corporation, not a nerd-utopia). Combined with the fact that a majority of the PDFs available on torrent sites and file-sharing sites were the digitally disturbed<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.PDFs, it makes no sense, from a business perspective, to continue distributing products in a way that ended up costing a company more in lost sales figures than actual sales.</p><p>And yes, I know, you can't stop piracy. But they did cut off the main source of piracy.</p><p>Then again, I could never read e-books or role-playing game manuals on a computer screen, so whenever I'd pirate things like role-playing game manuals, I'd usually end up buying them if I liked them anyway (that included the 4th edition, which I purchased after reading the<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.PDFs, and I am satisfied with my purchase)...</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>From what I understand , the digital distribution of the .PDFs did not sell very well , and the sales figures for digital distribution were very low when WoTC pulled the service ( remember , they are a corporation , not a nerd-utopia ) .
Combined with the fact that a majority of the PDFs available on torrent sites and file-sharing sites were the digitally disturbed .PDFs , it makes no sense , from a business perspective , to continue distributing products in a way that ended up costing a company more in lost sales figures than actual sales.And yes , I know , you ca n't stop piracy .
But they did cut off the main source of piracy.Then again , I could never read e-books or role-playing game manuals on a computer screen , so whenever I 'd pirate things like role-playing game manuals , I 'd usually end up buying them if I liked them anyway ( that included the 4th edition , which I purchased after reading the .PDFs , and I am satisfied with my purchase ) .. .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>From what I understand, the digital distribution of the .PDFs did not sell very well, and the sales figures for digital distribution were very low when WoTC pulled the service (remember, they are a corporation, not a nerd-utopia).
Combined with the fact that a majority of the PDFs available on torrent sites and file-sharing sites were the digitally disturbed .PDFs, it makes no sense, from a business perspective, to continue distributing products in a way that ended up costing a company more in lost sales figures than actual sales.And yes, I know, you can't stop piracy.
But they did cut off the main source of piracy.Then again, I could never read e-books or role-playing game manuals on a computer screen, so whenever I'd pirate things like role-playing game manuals, I'd usually end up buying them if I liked them anyway (that included the 4th edition, which I purchased after reading the .PDFs, and I am satisfied with my purchase)...</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784657</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784817</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255886580000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Funny</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Damage: d20+124,990</p><p>So, $125,000 is about average.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Damage : d20 + 124,990So , $ 125,000 is about average .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Damage: d20+124,990So, $125,000 is about average.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784655</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29786791</id>
	<title>Re:for those who don't know</title>
	<author>Chris Mattern</author>
	<datestamp>1255859220000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>A card's rarity is usually describe as "chase" when you don't get a card of that rarity level in every booster pack.  Magic had settled down to a three-rarity level system: in each pack you got 11 commons, 3 uncommons and 1 rare.  Since the set would have the same number of distinct cards in each rarity class, there was three times as many of any given uncommon as any given rare, and 11 times as many of any given common as any given rare.  (I leave out the complicating factor of "foil" cards, since they made no difference if all you cared about was how the cards played).   However, they are now including very powerful cards in a rarity class where you find one only once in every X packs, randomly distributed (I don't know the exact figures).  Fortunately, there don't seem to be a large number of different cards in chase category.</p><p>Sometimes you'll see chase cards done as a "box topper" where there would be one of that rarity packed loose in each box of boosters.  Legend of the Five Rings used to do that, but they stopped a little while back.  If you bought boosters by the box (lots of mail order places give you good discounts for doing so), you'd get the box topper with your box.  If the box was opened for display and individual pack sale by a retailer, the retailer gets to dispose of the box topper as he sees fit (if he doesn't sell it as a single, he may put it up as a prize for a store tournament).</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>A card 's rarity is usually describe as " chase " when you do n't get a card of that rarity level in every booster pack .
Magic had settled down to a three-rarity level system : in each pack you got 11 commons , 3 uncommons and 1 rare .
Since the set would have the same number of distinct cards in each rarity class , there was three times as many of any given uncommon as any given rare , and 11 times as many of any given common as any given rare .
( I leave out the complicating factor of " foil " cards , since they made no difference if all you cared about was how the cards played ) .
However , they are now including very powerful cards in a rarity class where you find one only once in every X packs , randomly distributed ( I do n't know the exact figures ) .
Fortunately , there do n't seem to be a large number of different cards in chase category.Sometimes you 'll see chase cards done as a " box topper " where there would be one of that rarity packed loose in each box of boosters .
Legend of the Five Rings used to do that , but they stopped a little while back .
If you bought boosters by the box ( lots of mail order places give you good discounts for doing so ) , you 'd get the box topper with your box .
If the box was opened for display and individual pack sale by a retailer , the retailer gets to dispose of the box topper as he sees fit ( if he does n't sell it as a single , he may put it up as a prize for a store tournament ) .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>A card's rarity is usually describe as "chase" when you don't get a card of that rarity level in every booster pack.
Magic had settled down to a three-rarity level system: in each pack you got 11 commons, 3 uncommons and 1 rare.
Since the set would have the same number of distinct cards in each rarity class, there was three times as many of any given uncommon as any given rare, and 11 times as many of any given common as any given rare.
(I leave out the complicating factor of "foil" cards, since they made no difference if all you cared about was how the cards played).
However, they are now including very powerful cards in a rarity class where you find one only once in every X packs, randomly distributed (I don't know the exact figures).
Fortunately, there don't seem to be a large number of different cards in chase category.Sometimes you'll see chase cards done as a "box topper" where there would be one of that rarity packed loose in each box of boosters.
Legend of the Five Rings used to do that, but they stopped a little while back.
If you bought boosters by the box (lots of mail order places give you good discounts for doing so), you'd get the box topper with your box.
If the box was opened for display and individual pack sale by a retailer, the retailer gets to dispose of the box topper as he sees fit (if he doesn't sell it as a single, he may put it up as a prize for a store tournament).</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785483</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784943</id>
	<title>In other news...</title>
	<author>Sibko</author>
	<datestamp>1255887660000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Interestin</modclass>
	<modscore>2</modscore>
	<htmltext>Other gaming companies are embracing the idea of open source and digital distribution, for example: <a href="http://catalystgamelabs.com/" title="catalystgamelabs.com">Catalyst Game Labs</a> [catalystgamelabs.com]. More importantly, their <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent\_details/127612741/CreativeCommons?tab=summary" title="isohunt.com">open source release</a> [isohunt.com] of <a href="http://eclipsephase.com/" title="eclipsephase.com">Eclipse Phase</a> [eclipsephase.com], and perhaps even unofficial support for the fan-made <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MegaMek" title="wikipedia.org">MegaMek/MekWars</a> [wikipedia.org] for their Battletech line.
<br> <br>
Meanwhile companies like WizKids and Games Workshop <a href="http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=3900002" title="games-workshop.com">continue to show</a> [games-workshop.com] <a href="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg246/Dezartfox/scan0001copy-1.jpg" title="photobucket.com">their complete disdain</a> [photobucket.com] for their customers and the fans of their products as well as their utter inability to properly market their games. Which is especially evidenced by the utter failure of WizKids' "Mech Clix" line for Battletech, and arguably evidenced by Games Workshops' constant price increases for Warhammer 40k; Catalyst seems to be going in completely the opposite direction - embracing digital distribution and open source in ways essentially unheard of in this day and age.</htmltext>
<tokenext>Other gaming companies are embracing the idea of open source and digital distribution , for example : Catalyst Game Labs [ catalystgamelabs.com ] .
More importantly , their open source release [ isohunt.com ] of Eclipse Phase [ eclipsephase.com ] , and perhaps even unofficial support for the fan-made MegaMek/MekWars [ wikipedia.org ] for their Battletech line .
Meanwhile companies like WizKids and Games Workshop continue to show [ games-workshop.com ] their complete disdain [ photobucket.com ] for their customers and the fans of their products as well as their utter inability to properly market their games .
Which is especially evidenced by the utter failure of WizKids ' " Mech Clix " line for Battletech , and arguably evidenced by Games Workshops ' constant price increases for Warhammer 40k ; Catalyst seems to be going in completely the opposite direction - embracing digital distribution and open source in ways essentially unheard of in this day and age .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Other gaming companies are embracing the idea of open source and digital distribution, for example: Catalyst Game Labs [catalystgamelabs.com].
More importantly, their open source release [isohunt.com] of Eclipse Phase [eclipsephase.com], and perhaps even unofficial support for the fan-made MegaMek/MekWars [wikipedia.org] for their Battletech line.
Meanwhile companies like WizKids and Games Workshop continue to show [games-workshop.com] their complete disdain [photobucket.com] for their customers and the fans of their products as well as their utter inability to properly market their games.
Which is especially evidenced by the utter failure of WizKids' "Mech Clix" line for Battletech, and arguably evidenced by Games Workshops' constant price increases for Warhammer 40k; Catalyst seems to be going in completely the opposite direction - embracing digital distribution and open source in ways essentially unheard of in this day and age.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29789907</id>
	<title>Re:Sigh.</title>
	<author>Stormie</author>
	<datestamp>1255886460000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><blockquote><div><p>I'm tempted to just say "who cares 4th edition sucked" since I don't personally like it</p></div></blockquote><p>I'm personally reserving judgement on the 4th edition for the moment, since I haven't actually played or DM'ed a session, I've only read the books after torrenting PDFs of them via The Pirate Bay.</p></div>
	</htmltext>
<tokenext>I 'm tempted to just say " who cares 4th edition sucked " since I do n't personally like itI 'm personally reserving judgement on the 4th edition for the moment , since I have n't actually played or DM'ed a session , I 've only read the books after torrenting PDFs of them via The Pirate Bay .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>I'm tempted to just say "who cares 4th edition sucked" since I don't personally like itI'm personally reserving judgement on the 4th edition for the moment, since I haven't actually played or DM'ed a session, I've only read the books after torrenting PDFs of them via The Pirate Bay.
	</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784819</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784845</id>
	<title>Re:Nerds</title>
	<author>eldavojohn</author>
	<datestamp>1255886820000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Insightful</modclass>
	<modscore>3</modscore>
	<htmltext>It's not really clear what you're asking but this matters on non-nerd levels aside from beloved nerd game's mired history of legal action becoming even more mired.  In my opinion, something needs to be done about consumer awareness when purchasing digital editions of songs, movies, books, photographs and digital art in general.  All too frequently we purchase things without really understanding what exactly it is we are purchasing.  This court case may just be another case of piracy but what sparked it is -- again, in my opinion -- an omen of a landslide of similar digital rights revocation.  Because customers don't understand what their rights are and almost always wording is put into the agreement, terms of service or license text that gives the company complete authority to terminate your right to enjoy that piece of work whenever they want, even iTunes Music Service has this.  <br> <br>Basically what we're looking at is a future where if any of those content providers starts to do badly in the market and they're offering digital works of their cash cows, they will terminate those licenses.  They will blame piracy.  While it may never be clear why they started losing money, it won't matter.  They'll be sitting with their fingers on a reset switch that will only work once that will theoretically boost sales again.  Now, that's laughable when you look at how they can enforce that unless they have a draconian DRM scheme in place.  But the simple fact of the matter is that I want the same exact rights to digital content that I received with a good old fashion book or I'll pay the premium for the book.  Those rights are simple: lifetime rights for myself to enjoy that work digitally in an open fashion on a number of third party devices.  I have yet to see this in any of my perusals of online publishing.  Digital publishing licenses are a very sorry state of affairs right now which is sad because it has such liberating potential for the consumer.</htmltext>
<tokenext>It 's not really clear what you 're asking but this matters on non-nerd levels aside from beloved nerd game 's mired history of legal action becoming even more mired .
In my opinion , something needs to be done about consumer awareness when purchasing digital editions of songs , movies , books , photographs and digital art in general .
All too frequently we purchase things without really understanding what exactly it is we are purchasing .
This court case may just be another case of piracy but what sparked it is -- again , in my opinion -- an omen of a landslide of similar digital rights revocation .
Because customers do n't understand what their rights are and almost always wording is put into the agreement , terms of service or license text that gives the company complete authority to terminate your right to enjoy that piece of work whenever they want , even iTunes Music Service has this .
Basically what we 're looking at is a future where if any of those content providers starts to do badly in the market and they 're offering digital works of their cash cows , they will terminate those licenses .
They will blame piracy .
While it may never be clear why they started losing money , it wo n't matter .
They 'll be sitting with their fingers on a reset switch that will only work once that will theoretically boost sales again .
Now , that 's laughable when you look at how they can enforce that unless they have a draconian DRM scheme in place .
But the simple fact of the matter is that I want the same exact rights to digital content that I received with a good old fashion book or I 'll pay the premium for the book .
Those rights are simple : lifetime rights for myself to enjoy that work digitally in an open fashion on a number of third party devices .
I have yet to see this in any of my perusals of online publishing .
Digital publishing licenses are a very sorry state of affairs right now which is sad because it has such liberating potential for the consumer .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>It's not really clear what you're asking but this matters on non-nerd levels aside from beloved nerd game's mired history of legal action becoming even more mired.
In my opinion, something needs to be done about consumer awareness when purchasing digital editions of songs, movies, books, photographs and digital art in general.
All too frequently we purchase things without really understanding what exactly it is we are purchasing.
This court case may just be another case of piracy but what sparked it is -- again, in my opinion -- an omen of a landslide of similar digital rights revocation.
Because customers don't understand what their rights are and almost always wording is put into the agreement, terms of service or license text that gives the company complete authority to terminate your right to enjoy that piece of work whenever they want, even iTunes Music Service has this.
Basically what we're looking at is a future where if any of those content providers starts to do badly in the market and they're offering digital works of their cash cows, they will terminate those licenses.
They will blame piracy.
While it may never be clear why they started losing money, it won't matter.
They'll be sitting with their fingers on a reset switch that will only work once that will theoretically boost sales again.
Now, that's laughable when you look at how they can enforce that unless they have a draconian DRM scheme in place.
But the simple fact of the matter is that I want the same exact rights to digital content that I received with a good old fashion book or I'll pay the premium for the book.
Those rights are simple: lifetime rights for myself to enjoy that work digitally in an open fashion on a number of third party devices.
I have yet to see this in any of my perusals of online publishing.
Digital publishing licenses are a very sorry state of affairs right now which is sad because it has such liberating potential for the consumer.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784657</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784781</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255886160000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Insightful</modclass>
	<modscore>4</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Free advice: do not address Judge as Dungeon Master. IANAL.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Free advice : do not address Judge as Dungeon Master .
IANAL .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Free advice: do not address Judge as Dungeon Master.
IANAL.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784655</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29786015</id>
	<title>Re:for those who don't know</title>
	<author>SEE</author>
	<datestamp>1255896660000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Informativ</modclass>
	<modscore>4</modscore>
	<htmltext><p><div class="quote"><p>Can you give a little more information about the "chase rarity"?</p></div><p>Yeah.  Specifically, describing it that way is the sort of thing you see from people who can't do math.  What they did was make rares more common, then introduced the "mythic rare" at the approximate frequency ordinary rares used to be.</p><p>Odds of finding a specific <i>rare</i> card in the rare slot of your pack, older "large" sets:<br>Alpha: 0.86\%<br>Beta:  0.85\%<br>Unlimited:  0.85\%<br>Revised:  0.83\%<br>4th Edition:  0.83\%<br>5th Edition:  0.76\%<br>6th Edition:  0.91\%<br>7th Edition:  0.91\%<br>8th Edition:  0.91\%<br>9th Edition:  0.91\%<br>10th Edition:  0.83\%<br>Legends:  0.83\%<br>Ice Age:  0.83\%<br>Mirage:  0.91\%<br>Tempest:  0.91\%<br>Urza's Saga:  0.91\%<br>Mercadian Masques:  0.91\%<br>Invasion:  0.91\%<br>Odyssey:  0.91\%<br>Onslaught:  0.91\%</p><p>Odds of finding a specific <i>mythic rare</i> card in the rare slot of your pack, newer "large" sets:<br>Shards of Alara:  0.83\%<br>Magic 2010:  0.83\%<br>Zendikar:  0.83\%</p><p>Odds of finding a specific <i>rare</i> card in the rare slot of your pack, newer "large" sets:<br>Shards of Alara:  1.65\%<br>Magic 2010:  1.65\%<br>Zendikar:  1.65\%</p></div>
	</htmltext>
<tokenext>Can you give a little more information about the " chase rarity " ? Yeah .
Specifically , describing it that way is the sort of thing you see from people who ca n't do math .
What they did was make rares more common , then introduced the " mythic rare " at the approximate frequency ordinary rares used to be.Odds of finding a specific rare card in the rare slot of your pack , older " large " sets : Alpha : 0.86 \ % Beta : 0.85 \ % Unlimited : 0.85 \ % Revised : 0.83 \ % 4th Edition : 0.83 \ % 5th Edition : 0.76 \ % 6th Edition : 0.91 \ % 7th Edition : 0.91 \ % 8th Edition : 0.91 \ % 9th Edition : 0.91 \ % 10th Edition : 0.83 \ % Legends : 0.83 \ % Ice Age : 0.83 \ % Mirage : 0.91 \ % Tempest : 0.91 \ % Urza 's Saga : 0.91 \ % Mercadian Masques : 0.91 \ % Invasion : 0.91 \ % Odyssey : 0.91 \ % Onslaught : 0.91 \ % Odds of finding a specific mythic rare card in the rare slot of your pack , newer " large " sets : Shards of Alara : 0.83 \ % Magic 2010 : 0.83 \ % Zendikar : 0.83 \ % Odds of finding a specific rare card in the rare slot of your pack , newer " large " sets : Shards of Alara : 1.65 \ % Magic 2010 : 1.65 \ % Zendikar : 1.65 \ %</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Can you give a little more information about the "chase rarity"?Yeah.
Specifically, describing it that way is the sort of thing you see from people who can't do math.
What they did was make rares more common, then introduced the "mythic rare" at the approximate frequency ordinary rares used to be.Odds of finding a specific rare card in the rare slot of your pack, older "large" sets:Alpha: 0.86\%Beta:  0.85\%Unlimited:  0.85\%Revised:  0.83\%4th Edition:  0.83\%5th Edition:  0.76\%6th Edition:  0.91\%7th Edition:  0.91\%8th Edition:  0.91\%9th Edition:  0.91\%10th Edition:  0.83\%Legends:  0.83\%Ice Age:  0.83\%Mirage:  0.91\%Tempest:  0.91\%Urza's Saga:  0.91\%Mercadian Masques:  0.91\%Invasion:  0.91\%Odyssey:  0.91\%Onslaught:  0.91\%Odds of finding a specific mythic rare card in the rare slot of your pack, newer "large" sets:Shards of Alara:  0.83\%Magic 2010:  0.83\%Zendikar:  0.83\%Odds of finding a specific rare card in the rare slot of your pack, newer "large" sets:Shards of Alara:  1.65\%Magic 2010:  1.65\%Zendikar:  1.65\%
	</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785483</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29796145</id>
	<title>Re:for those who don't know</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255975680000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>4th ed, 'rare slot in booster packs', i'm sorry, I don't know when the change was made, but I remember back in the day there was no rare slot... I mean, yes, you could theoretically abstract one, but I think your just being sneaky.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>4th ed , 'rare slot in booster packs ' , i 'm sorry , I do n't know when the change was made , but I remember back in the day there was no rare slot... I mean , yes , you could theoretically abstract one , but I think your just being sneaky .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>4th ed, 'rare slot in booster packs', i'm sorry, I don't know when the change was made, but I remember back in the day there was no rare slot... I mean, yes, you could theoretically abstract one, but I think your just being sneaky.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29786015</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784693</id>
	<title>Don't arrest me, jerkwads!</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255885320000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Funny</modclass>
	<modscore>4</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Is it wrong that my first reaction was to flip over to a torrent site and snag my own copy of the PDFs? Purely for research purposes, of course.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Is it wrong that my first reaction was to flip over to a torrent site and snag my own copy of the PDFs ?
Purely for research purposes , of course .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Is it wrong that my first reaction was to flip over to a torrent site and snag my own copy of the PDFs?
Purely for research purposes, of course.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29804745</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1256069160000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p><div class="quote"><p><div class="quote"><p>agreed to a judgment against him of $125,000</p></div><p>So they didn't roll for damages?</p></div><p>No they didn't roll for damages because he failed his intelligence check against the Copyright Gods. This was plain and simple divine intervention. No saving throw allowed. Now question is can he find an Ancient Red Dragon to slay so he can get the 125,000 pieces of gold and platinum to pay the Piper.</p></div>
	</htmltext>
<tokenext>agreed to a judgment against him of $ 125,000So they did n't roll for damages ? No they did n't roll for damages because he failed his intelligence check against the Copyright Gods .
This was plain and simple divine intervention .
No saving throw allowed .
Now question is can he find an Ancient Red Dragon to slay so he can get the 125,000 pieces of gold and platinum to pay the Piper .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>agreed to a judgment against him of $125,000So they didn't roll for damages?No they didn't roll for damages because he failed his intelligence check against the Copyright Gods.
This was plain and simple divine intervention.
No saving throw allowed.
Now question is can he find an Ancient Red Dragon to slay so he can get the 125,000 pieces of gold and platinum to pay the Piper.
	</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784655</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785483</id>
	<title>Re:for those who don't know</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255892640000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Can you give a little more information about the "chase rarity"?  I assume it's a level above rare, and there aren't many cards in it.  I remember the Star Trek CCG did that a loooong time ago, and people didn't like it.  I haven't played Magic in many years, so I've lost track of this stuff.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Can you give a little more information about the " chase rarity " ?
I assume it 's a level above rare , and there are n't many cards in it .
I remember the Star Trek CCG did that a loooong time ago , and people did n't like it .
I have n't played Magic in many years , so I 've lost track of this stuff .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Can you give a little more information about the "chase rarity"?
I assume it's a level above rare, and there aren't many cards in it.
I remember the Star Trek CCG did that a loooong time ago, and people didn't like it.
I haven't played Magic in many years, so I've lost track of this stuff.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784887</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785009</id>
	<title>Re:Don't arrest me, jerkwads!</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255888560000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Interestin</modclass>
	<modscore>2</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>My first reaction was remembering that even though I own the 3.5 manual (which I paid $90 for some years back) I still don't have pdfs, and need to obtain them.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>My first reaction was remembering that even though I own the 3.5 manual ( which I paid $ 90 for some years back ) I still do n't have pdfs , and need to obtain them .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>My first reaction was remembering that even though I own the 3.5 manual (which I paid $90 for some years back) I still don't have pdfs, and need to obtain them.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784693</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784919</id>
	<title>networking</title>
	<author>NoYob</author>
	<datestamp>1255887480000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Interestin</modclass>
	<modscore>5</modscore>
	<htmltext>Do you realize what a networking opportunity those games are?!? Good God, man or woman or<nobr> <wbr></nobr>...nevermind!  <p>My, when the IT bubble burst in naught one, this D&amp;D nerd at work was canned and <i>that</i> night, at a D&amp;D game, he gets another job - for more money! Those games are what golf is to other professions!</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Do you realize what a networking opportunity those games are ? ! ?
Good God , man or woman or ...nevermind !
My , when the IT bubble burst in naught one , this D&amp;D nerd at work was canned and that night , at a D&amp;D game , he gets another job - for more money !
Those games are what golf is to other professions !</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Do you realize what a networking opportunity those games are?!?
Good God, man or woman or ...nevermind!
My, when the IT bubble burst in naught one, this D&amp;D nerd at work was canned and that night, at a D&amp;D game, he gets another job - for more money!
Those games are what golf is to other professions!</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784657</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29789213</id>
	<title>Re:D&amp;D</title>
	<author>Valdrax</author>
	<datestamp>1255881840000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p><div class="quote"><p>They are supposed to be bringing back Dark Sun, but it'd be best to have very low expectations, cause they just want something "gritty".</p></div><p>I can understand if you feel cynical after seeing how FR was treated, but I don't honestly see how you can read that article and just by its own contents imply that the people building the new product don't "get" Dark Sun.  It <em>was</em> an incredibly gritty setting.</p></div>
	</htmltext>
<tokenext>They are supposed to be bringing back Dark Sun , but it 'd be best to have very low expectations , cause they just want something " gritty " .I can understand if you feel cynical after seeing how FR was treated , but I do n't honestly see how you can read that article and just by its own contents imply that the people building the new product do n't " get " Dark Sun .
It was an incredibly gritty setting .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>They are supposed to be bringing back Dark Sun, but it'd be best to have very low expectations, cause they just want something "gritty".I can understand if you feel cynical after seeing how FR was treated, but I don't honestly see how you can read that article and just by its own contents imply that the people building the new product don't "get" Dark Sun.
It was an incredibly gritty setting.
	</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785233</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785125</id>
	<title>Re:Poor sales and it only contributed to piracy.</title>
	<author>ruemere</author>
	<datestamp>1255889460000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>One of the main reasons people griped about PDF being pulled off, was that numerous products of historical value, unavailable in print form, disappeared. People still cherished previous editions, even if the books were more than 10 years old.</p><p>It's like a library being closed down. Also, PDFs unless being downloaded, they hardly generate any costs (electronical storage is much cheaper than dust collecting specimens on forsaken magazine stalls).</p><p>regards,<br>Ruemere</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>One of the main reasons people griped about PDF being pulled off , was that numerous products of historical value , unavailable in print form , disappeared .
People still cherished previous editions , even if the books were more than 10 years old.It 's like a library being closed down .
Also , PDFs unless being downloaded , they hardly generate any costs ( electronical storage is much cheaper than dust collecting specimens on forsaken magazine stalls ) .regards,Ruemere</tokentext>
<sentencetext>One of the main reasons people griped about PDF being pulled off, was that numerous products of historical value, unavailable in print form, disappeared.
People still cherished previous editions, even if the books were more than 10 years old.It's like a library being closed down.
Also, PDFs unless being downloaded, they hardly generate any costs (electronical storage is much cheaper than dust collecting specimens on forsaken magazine stalls).regards,Ruemere</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784977</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29787303</id>
	<title>wait you mean...</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255862880000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>it's not for free like DDO now? WTF I want my money back! oh wait............</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>it 's not for free like DDO now ?
WTF I want my money back !
oh wait........... .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>it's not for free like DDO now?
WTF I want my money back!
oh wait............</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29791249</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>Skevin</author>
	<datestamp>1255945140000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Actually I think damages were 40000d6, for which a final roll of $125000 is slightly below statistical expectation.  In order to count the sheer number of dice, a roller rink had to temporarily be rented out as bean counters dumped the entire truckload of all 40K dice.</p><p>That's so many six sided dice, WotC has announced plans to buy out Chessex.</p><p>In other litigation news, GW is suing WotC for the usage of the term, "40K dice".</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Actually I think damages were 40000d6 , for which a final roll of $ 125000 is slightly below statistical expectation .
In order to count the sheer number of dice , a roller rink had to temporarily be rented out as bean counters dumped the entire truckload of all 40K dice.That 's so many six sided dice , WotC has announced plans to buy out Chessex.In other litigation news , GW is suing WotC for the usage of the term , " 40K dice " .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Actually I think damages were 40000d6, for which a final roll of $125000 is slightly below statistical expectation.
In order to count the sheer number of dice, a roller rink had to temporarily be rented out as bean counters dumped the entire truckload of all 40K dice.That's so many six sided dice, WotC has announced plans to buy out Chessex.In other litigation news, GW is suing WotC for the usage of the term, "40K dice".</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784817</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785225</id>
	<title>Re:for those who don't know</title>
	<author>CrashNBrn</author>
	<datestamp>1255890180000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext>Thanks. Interesting stuff. That was a cool Sunday foray.</htmltext>
<tokenext>Thanks .
Interesting stuff .
That was a cool Sunday foray .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Thanks.
Interesting stuff.
That was a cool Sunday foray.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784887</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784985</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255888260000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Funny</modclass>
	<modscore>5</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Unfortunately for the defendants, there is no saving throw against punitive damages.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Unfortunately for the defendants , there is no saving throw against punitive damages .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Unfortunately for the defendants, there is no saving throw against punitive damages.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784655</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785709</id>
	<title>I knew they were doomed...</title>
	<author>Chibi Merrow</author>
	<datestamp>1255894500000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Interestin</modclass>
	<modscore>2</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>I knew they were doomed when I ran into to WotC employees at GDC'06.</p><p>It was after hours, and a few of us working at the conference were getting together for the yearly D&amp;D game. We asked the two WotC people working the booth if they'd like to join us. "Oh... We don't play games, actually..."</p><p>Big difference from the old days of any random person at WotC (even <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn2BMbg5yLo&amp;feature=PlayList&amp;p=A4FEE0ADD120688F&amp;index=26&amp;playnext=2&amp;playnext\_from=PL" title="youtube.com">accounting</a> [youtube.com]!) being pulled in to playtest the latest</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>I knew they were doomed when I ran into to WotC employees at GDC'06.It was after hours , and a few of us working at the conference were getting together for the yearly D&amp;D game .
We asked the two WotC people working the booth if they 'd like to join us .
" Oh... We do n't play games , actually... " Big difference from the old days of any random person at WotC ( even accounting [ youtube.com ] !
) being pulled in to playtest the latest</tokentext>
<sentencetext>I knew they were doomed when I ran into to WotC employees at GDC'06.It was after hours, and a few of us working at the conference were getting together for the yearly D&amp;D game.
We asked the two WotC people working the booth if they'd like to join us.
"Oh... We don't play games, actually..."Big difference from the old days of any random person at WotC (even accounting [youtube.com]!
) being pulled in to playtest the latest</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784887</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785329</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>Tibia1</author>
	<datestamp>1255891320000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Funny</modclass>
	<modscore>4</modscore>
	<htmltext>Sometimes it just comes down to the lawyer's plus to charisma.</htmltext>
<tokenext>Sometimes it just comes down to the lawyer 's plus to charisma .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Sometimes it just comes down to the lawyer's plus to charisma.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784655</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784887</id>
	<title>for those who don't know</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255887180000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Interestin</modclass>
	<modscore>5</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Wizards of the Coast was bought out by Hasbro a while back and underwent a <a href="http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2001/03/23/wizards/index.html" title="salon.com">transformation from geek utopia to corporate cash machine</a> [salon.com].</p><p>The current dire state of the economy is forcing them to show their true nature to an unusual extent- for example, they've recently added a chase rarity to their flagship product, Magic: The Gathering, as well as releasing semi-monthly "collector's edition" products for same.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Wizards of the Coast was bought out by Hasbro a while back and underwent a transformation from geek utopia to corporate cash machine [ salon.com ] .The current dire state of the economy is forcing them to show their true nature to an unusual extent- for example , they 've recently added a chase rarity to their flagship product , Magic : The Gathering , as well as releasing semi-monthly " collector 's edition " products for same .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Wizards of the Coast was bought out by Hasbro a while back and underwent a transformation from geek utopia to corporate cash machine [salon.com].The current dire state of the economy is forcing them to show their true nature to an unusual extent- for example, they've recently added a chase rarity to their flagship product, Magic: The Gathering, as well as releasing semi-monthly "collector's edition" products for same.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784765</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255886100000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Natural 20.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Natural 20 .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Natural 20.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784655</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785331</id>
	<title>Err...</title>
	<author>Kranerian</author>
	<datestamp>1255891380000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext>Anybody else notice that there are still copies of the book up on the scribd website?</htmltext>
<tokenext>Anybody else notice that there are still copies of the book up on the scribd website ?</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Anybody else notice that there are still copies of the book up on the scribd website?</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784667</id>
	<title>Um... so...</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255885020000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Anyone have a bittorrent link?</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Anyone have a bittorrent link ?</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Anyone have a bittorrent link?</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785233</id>
	<title>Re:D&amp;D</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255890300000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Informativ</modclass>
	<modscore>3</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>They are supposed to be bringing back Dark Sun, but it'd be best to have very low expectations, cause they just want something "gritty".</p><p><a href="http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drfe/20090814" title="wizards.com">http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drfe/20090814</a> [wizards.com]</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>They are supposed to be bringing back Dark Sun , but it 'd be best to have very low expectations , cause they just want something " gritty " .http : //www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx ? x = dnd/drfe/20090814 [ wizards.com ]</tokentext>
<sentencetext>They are supposed to be bringing back Dark Sun, but it'd be best to have very low expectations, cause they just want something "gritty".http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drfe/20090814 [wizards.com]</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784955</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784939</id>
	<title>Re:Don't arrest me, jerkwads!</title>
	<author>mqduck</author>
	<datestamp>1255887660000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Several days ago, I downloaded 40 (I just checked) D&amp;D 4e books. Then I noticed their pulling of the PDFs from legal sites and was happy for being able to retroactively claim justification.<nobr> <wbr></nobr>:)</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Several days ago , I downloaded 40 ( I just checked ) D&amp;D 4e books .
Then I noticed their pulling of the PDFs from legal sites and was happy for being able to retroactively claim justification .
: )</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Several days ago, I downloaded 40 (I just checked) D&amp;D 4e books.
Then I noticed their pulling of the PDFs from legal sites and was happy for being able to retroactively claim justification.
:)</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784693</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784657</id>
	<title>Nerds</title>
	<author>sopssa</author>
	<datestamp>1255884960000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Flamebait</modclass>
	<modscore>-1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Could someone please explain wtf is the purpose for this and <a href="http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/08/1324213&amp;tid=61" title="slashdot.org" rel="nofollow">the earlier case of taking those PDF's off</a> [slashdot.org]. I cant find a reason for it.</p><p>Not that Wizards of the Coast and D&amp;D is extremely nerdy already, but then this kind of shit too. I am a nerd myself, but I always have to tell other people that I'm not <b>that</b> kind of nerd.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Could someone please explain wtf is the purpose for this and the earlier case of taking those PDF 's off [ slashdot.org ] .
I cant find a reason for it.Not that Wizards of the Coast and D&amp;D is extremely nerdy already , but then this kind of shit too .
I am a nerd myself , but I always have to tell other people that I 'm not that kind of nerd .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Could someone please explain wtf is the purpose for this and the earlier case of taking those PDF's off [slashdot.org].
I cant find a reason for it.Not that Wizards of the Coast and D&amp;D is extremely nerdy already, but then this kind of shit too.
I am a nerd myself, but I always have to tell other people that I'm not that kind of nerd.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29795433</id>
	<title>Re:Agreed?</title>
	<author>DrOct</author>
	<datestamp>1255972680000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>Of course Dungeon Masters were originally called "Judges..."</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>Of course Dungeon Masters were originally called " Judges... "</tokentext>
<sentencetext>Of course Dungeon Masters were originally called "Judges..."</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784781</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29795531</id>
	<title>Re:*shakes head*</title>
	<author>PerfectionLost</author>
	<datestamp>1255972980000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>1</modscore>
	<htmltext>That companies name is Oracle, and it is going to happen over the next 5-10 years as they integrate Sun's product line.</htmltext>
<tokenext>That companies name is Oracle , and it is going to happen over the next 5-10 years as they integrate Sun 's product line .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>That companies name is Oracle, and it is going to happen over the next 5-10 years as they integrate Sun's product line.</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29784829</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29790459</id>
	<title>Re:for those who don't know</title>
	<author>Anonymous</author>
	<datestamp>1255891020000</datestamp>
	<modclass>None</modclass>
	<modscore>0</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>rares more common my ass</p><p>mythic = less than 1 per pack average</p><p>wizards knows they can ticker with the percentages after we've accepted the new rarity level</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>rares more common my assmythic = less than 1 per pack averagewizards knows they can ticker with the percentages after we 've accepted the new rarity level</tokentext>
<sentencetext>rares more common my assmythic = less than 1 per pack averagewizards knows they can ticker with the percentages after we've accepted the new rarity level</sentencetext>
	<parent>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29786015</parent>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785507</id>
	<title>No Surprise</title>
	<author>kitsunewarlock</author>
	<datestamp>1255892940000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Insightful</modclass>
	<modscore>4</modscore>
	<htmltext>The main reason this was done was to protect the fact that Wizard's is spending most of its energy focusing on its online product.  Ebooks are a direct competitor to their fee-charging online service.
<br> <br>
When they only release a decent amount of content for players once every year, its no surprise they'd be more protective of their content.  Everyone I know who still is fortunate enough to have a 3.X DnD group has every WotC PDF on their computer and/or hard drive.  And the group collectively owns every book.  In my own group we have 5 copies of Lords of Madness, 2 of Draconomicon, 4 Complete Warriors, 3 Complete Arcanes and, of course, countless players handbooks, monster manuals and DMGs for 3.0 and 3.5.  And we still downloaded content.
<br> <br>
And we were happy to pay money for the books since we weren't given these official online resources that you pretty much need to use more than half the content 4.0 has to offer.  We liked paper and flipping through well printed books.  Ebooks were an ok substitute when our book was being loaned to a friend or something...but for the most part nothing beat paper since there were no advantages to using ebooks other than search features (which, really, isn't that good a feature since a lot of the times you'll forget the exact wording of something and are better off flipping through a book until you find the adjacent picture).
<br> <br>
Every other month Wizards would release some amazing module for players to get new ideas.  The complete and environmental series gave us feats, spells, items and classes.  Campaign modules gave us the same.  Monster Manuals gave players new races and summons.  Nearly every module until May 2007 (Complete Champion) (hey, a month after 4.0 was announced to be released; coincidence?).  Every month we'd also get a good dozen or so feats and a handful of prestige classes from a dragon magazine too.
<br> <br>
Flash forward to 4.0 where Wizards wants to make the game "easier" to attract a wider audience.  Now we get ~6 powers per dragon magazine, about 3 classes races every 6 months and most updates to the game are to make it "easier" (Monster Builder tools, character creation tools, etc...) and to promote their monthly subscription service with some new online trinket no one asked for.
<br> <br>
DnD was played like Magic the Gathering in many ways.  It was "collect the books/magazines/obscure article".  And players loved it.  It added a certain radical element to RPGs--the ability to have something no one player has or knows about without being substantially or necessarily stronger or weaker than them.  Where RPGs like WoW or tabletop RPGs like Shadowrun have such limited content that nothing a player has on his or her sheet is ever 'new' to someone who scans the modules/playguides or has played for over a year, DnD flooded the market with so much 1st and 3rd party material that players had the opportunity to 'feel special'.
<br> <br>
The other bonus element was the fact that players who didn't like scouring every source for obscure little classes or whatnot could feel like they are doing something new and special using the player's handbook, as the optimizers and vorthos' preferred the unique classes and avoided the player's handbook classes like the plague (save for dips, wizards and druids).
<br> <br>
Of course it doesn't matter how many classes you make for 4.0.  They all basically fill in the same 4 basic roles that ensure once you've played 4 different characters, you've done it all.</htmltext>
<tokenext>The main reason this was done was to protect the fact that Wizard 's is spending most of its energy focusing on its online product .
Ebooks are a direct competitor to their fee-charging online service .
When they only release a decent amount of content for players once every year , its no surprise they 'd be more protective of their content .
Everyone I know who still is fortunate enough to have a 3.X DnD group has every WotC PDF on their computer and/or hard drive .
And the group collectively owns every book .
In my own group we have 5 copies of Lords of Madness , 2 of Draconomicon , 4 Complete Warriors , 3 Complete Arcanes and , of course , countless players handbooks , monster manuals and DMGs for 3.0 and 3.5 .
And we still downloaded content .
And we were happy to pay money for the books since we were n't given these official online resources that you pretty much need to use more than half the content 4.0 has to offer .
We liked paper and flipping through well printed books .
Ebooks were an ok substitute when our book was being loaned to a friend or something...but for the most part nothing beat paper since there were no advantages to using ebooks other than search features ( which , really , is n't that good a feature since a lot of the times you 'll forget the exact wording of something and are better off flipping through a book until you find the adjacent picture ) .
Every other month Wizards would release some amazing module for players to get new ideas .
The complete and environmental series gave us feats , spells , items and classes .
Campaign modules gave us the same .
Monster Manuals gave players new races and summons .
Nearly every module until May 2007 ( Complete Champion ) ( hey , a month after 4.0 was announced to be released ; coincidence ? ) .
Every month we 'd also get a good dozen or so feats and a handful of prestige classes from a dragon magazine too .
Flash forward to 4.0 where Wizards wants to make the game " easier " to attract a wider audience .
Now we get ~ 6 powers per dragon magazine , about 3 classes races every 6 months and most updates to the game are to make it " easier " ( Monster Builder tools , character creation tools , etc... ) and to promote their monthly subscription service with some new online trinket no one asked for .
DnD was played like Magic the Gathering in many ways .
It was " collect the books/magazines/obscure article " .
And players loved it .
It added a certain radical element to RPGs--the ability to have something no one player has or knows about without being substantially or necessarily stronger or weaker than them .
Where RPGs like WoW or tabletop RPGs like Shadowrun have such limited content that nothing a player has on his or her sheet is ever 'new ' to someone who scans the modules/playguides or has played for over a year , DnD flooded the market with so much 1st and 3rd party material that players had the opportunity to 'feel special' .
The other bonus element was the fact that players who did n't like scouring every source for obscure little classes or whatnot could feel like they are doing something new and special using the player 's handbook , as the optimizers and vorthos ' preferred the unique classes and avoided the player 's handbook classes like the plague ( save for dips , wizards and druids ) .
Of course it does n't matter how many classes you make for 4.0 .
They all basically fill in the same 4 basic roles that ensure once you 've played 4 different characters , you 've done it all .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>The main reason this was done was to protect the fact that Wizard's is spending most of its energy focusing on its online product.
Ebooks are a direct competitor to their fee-charging online service.
When they only release a decent amount of content for players once every year, its no surprise they'd be more protective of their content.
Everyone I know who still is fortunate enough to have a 3.X DnD group has every WotC PDF on their computer and/or hard drive.
And the group collectively owns every book.
In my own group we have 5 copies of Lords of Madness, 2 of Draconomicon, 4 Complete Warriors, 3 Complete Arcanes and, of course, countless players handbooks, monster manuals and DMGs for 3.0 and 3.5.
And we still downloaded content.
And we were happy to pay money for the books since we weren't given these official online resources that you pretty much need to use more than half the content 4.0 has to offer.
We liked paper and flipping through well printed books.
Ebooks were an ok substitute when our book was being loaned to a friend or something...but for the most part nothing beat paper since there were no advantages to using ebooks other than search features (which, really, isn't that good a feature since a lot of the times you'll forget the exact wording of something and are better off flipping through a book until you find the adjacent picture).
Every other month Wizards would release some amazing module for players to get new ideas.
The complete and environmental series gave us feats, spells, items and classes.
Campaign modules gave us the same.
Monster Manuals gave players new races and summons.
Nearly every module until May 2007 (Complete Champion) (hey, a month after 4.0 was announced to be released; coincidence?).
Every month we'd also get a good dozen or so feats and a handful of prestige classes from a dragon magazine too.
Flash forward to 4.0 where Wizards wants to make the game "easier" to attract a wider audience.
Now we get ~6 powers per dragon magazine, about 3 classes races every 6 months and most updates to the game are to make it "easier" (Monster Builder tools, character creation tools, etc...) and to promote their monthly subscription service with some new online trinket no one asked for.
DnD was played like Magic the Gathering in many ways.
It was "collect the books/magazines/obscure article".
And players loved it.
It added a certain radical element to RPGs--the ability to have something no one player has or knows about without being substantially or necessarily stronger or weaker than them.
Where RPGs like WoW or tabletop RPGs like Shadowrun have such limited content that nothing a player has on his or her sheet is ever 'new' to someone who scans the modules/playguides or has played for over a year, DnD flooded the market with so much 1st and 3rd party material that players had the opportunity to 'feel special'.
The other bonus element was the fact that players who didn't like scouring every source for obscure little classes or whatnot could feel like they are doing something new and special using the player's handbook, as the optimizers and vorthos' preferred the unique classes and avoided the player's handbook classes like the plague (save for dips, wizards and druids).
Of course it doesn't matter how many classes you make for 4.0.
They all basically fill in the same 4 basic roles that ensure once you've played 4 different characters, you've done it all.</sentencetext>
</comment>
<comment>
	<id>http://www.semanticweb.org/ontologies/ConversationInstances.owl#comment09_10_18_1532228.29785145</id>
	<title>Re:Sigh.</title>
	<author>Chyeld</author>
	<datestamp>1255889640000</datestamp>
	<modclass>Insightful</modclass>
	<modscore>3</modscore>
	<htmltext><p>On one side of the coin, I understand and agree how you could come to your opinion RE: the direction Hasbro is taking.</p><p>On the other side of the coin, knowing the history of all the companies that have been behind D&amp;D since it started, I have to think this is simply a rinse and repeat cycle that's been happening since the first edition and spats between Gygax, Arneson, and the Blumes.</p><p>This is a franchise run by people that have always been willing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory whenever someone in charge wakes up and gets greedy. It just seems to be in genes.</p></htmltext>
<tokenext>On one side of the coin , I understand and agree how you could come to your opinion RE : the direction Hasbro is taking.On the other side of the coin , knowing the history of all the companies that have been behind D&amp;D since it started , I have to think this is simply a rinse and repeat cycle that 's been happening since the first edition and spats between Gygax , Arneson , and the Blumes.This is a franchise run by people that have always been willing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory whenever someone in charge wakes up and gets greedy .
It just seems to be in genes .</tokentext>
<sentencetext>On one side of the coin, I understand and agree how you could come to your opinion RE: the direction Hasbro is taking.On the other side of the coin, knowing the history of all the companies that have been behind D&amp;D since it started, I have to think this is simply a rinse and repeat cycle that's been happening since the first edition and spats between Gygax, Arneson, and the Blumes.This is a franchise run by people that have always been willing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory whenever someone in charge wakes up and gets greedy.
It just seems to be in genes.</sentencetext>
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