Free League Removes PDFs from Alchemy - Lazy RPG Talk Show

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  • Опубликовано: 14 дек 2024

Комментарии • 58

  • @benstephens8833
    @benstephens8833 3 месяца назад +33

    The bundle said right on it that you could download pdfs if you didn't use alchemy, and was the primary reason i bought the bundle. Thanks for posting this video, because otherwise i would not have gotten the news in time to download the PDFs before vacation. I would have felt very lied to if i came back next week and i could not download the PDFs.

    • @JayMcAllaster
      @JayMcAllaster 3 месяца назад +1

      Can you provide information or directions on how to download the pdf's?
      Thanks in advance

    • @benstephens8833
      @benstephens8833 3 месяца назад

      @@JayMcAllaster if you go to your content universes, go to any of the universes (for example forbidden lands), then click on the three dots and you should be able to select "Download PDF"

    • @benstephens8833
      @benstephens8833 3 месяца назад

      @@JayMcAllaster if you go to your content universes, you can click on one of them and see all of the different source books you own. Then if you click on the three dots, there's a "download PDF" button

    • @joyful
      @joyful 3 месяца назад

      @@JayMcAllaster content universes > select item > select specific pdf at top > hit meatballs > download. someone also made vid on it.

    • @Jason-96
      @Jason-96 3 месяца назад

      Wednesday 21 Aug 2024
      Am I too late to get the great deal on the PDF bundle???

  • @mattoliversd
    @mattoliversd 3 месяца назад +20

    I was a Kickstarter backer for Alchemy, and I can say that Free League was a partner of theirs from the start. I would find it highly unlikely that they didn't know that Alchemy provides the pdf along with the VTT version. We've been able to do this for a solid year now.

  • @corybanticfire
    @corybanticfire 3 месяца назад +1

    i didn't own any of the free league stuff until this bundle, it does make me more like to buy the physical material. now, i just have too many choices. i bought the bundle specifically because it said pdfs were available, but they were older versions.
    i love publishers that give you pdf free with the physical book .

  • @JookySeaCpt
    @JookySeaCpt 3 месяца назад +2

    Thank you for bringing the Humble Bundle and PDF issue to my attention! I’ve been looking at Fl and Alchemy so this was very timely.

  • @robinarmstrong685
    @robinarmstrong685 3 месяца назад +8

    My thought about the "buy once, use everywhere" model is that I doubt a lot of people are using multiple VTTs to play games. More likely, those that use multiple VTTs do so because the games they want to play are not available on certain VTTs and they have to swictch to play certain games. I think that if a publishing house allows for pdfs downloaded to be used on any VTT, they'll more often than not only be used on one VTT instead of multiples. Thus, the game is only used twice (pdf and one VTT) instead of multiple times. Hope that makes sense.
    Maybe publishers could allow you to buy whatever in a pdf AND one VTT of your choice (or more for a higher price), or even allow you to add a VTT as a less expensive "add-on" instead of paying full price more than once.

    • @johnmickey5017
      @johnmickey5017 3 месяца назад

      Someone has to pay for the conversion work, distribution, and ongoing maintenance. “Buy once play anywhere” is not realistic. A model that is friendly is Fantasy Grounds and Paizo. You can link your accounts and get discounts on the PDF or the FG version (depending on which you bought.)

    • @pheralanpathfinder4897
      @pheralanpathfinder4897 3 месяца назад

      As a player I go to the VTT the DM prefers. As a DM I run on two systems, but I'm running on the second because a DM offered to help me learn.

  • @claytongriffin3558
    @claytongriffin3558 3 месяца назад +3

    You get a free download of the Pathfinder PDFs when you buy the Fantasy Grounds version.

    • @slaapliedje
      @slaapliedje 3 месяца назад

      Or if you already own the PDF, you get a discount on Fantasy Grounds.

  • @jojozxc1234
    @jojozxc1234 3 месяца назад

    34:25 reminds me of the Verbs! video by Matt Colville. Lazy DM companion has some quest templates (10 i believe). Each entry starts with a clear verb.

  • @reserve161
    @reserve161 3 месяца назад +1

    Nice job. I'm working to learn clawhammer some, and have the basic bum-ditty down, but still working towards drop thumb. Enjoy your channel!

  • @lapislarka
    @lapislarka 3 месяца назад +5

    While I respect a business' autonomy to set their own prices and policies, this just feels bad as a customer. They permanently removed something due to a limited time deal, so the FL Alchemy modules are forever diminished in value.
    Do I understand they lost potential profit? Yes. However, the milk was already spilt and soon will no longer leak, and their physical offerings and unincluded products never lost anything. I'm a prime example of wanting physical books, which I still plan to get, over pdfs any day. If anything, I just got a reason to potentially spend more on games I never would have tried anyway like the Borgs or Corolius.
    Stuff like this is proof that digital is just to unreliable.

    • @johnmickey5017
      @johnmickey5017 3 месяца назад

      If you had downloaded PDFs, no one could take them away from you.
      Physical distributors pull product or fail to reprint all the time. This is not unique to digital goods.

    • @lapislarka
      @lapislarka 3 месяца назад +2

      @@johnmickey5017 But it is a lot easier to get a recalled physical product than a pdf. We are already seeing digital only goods disappearing completely, to the point that there are lists dedicated to the things lost. Meanwhile, I can go pick up original copies of say Camarilla 5e with the controversial Chechnya section.

    • @cojaadams
      @cojaadams 3 месяца назад +1

      If they had just kept quiet about this, then later announced that they're raising the Alchemy module purchase prices because they screwed up and didn't account for the included PDF when setting the price, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal. Instead, they chose a panic reaction of treating it like they lost nearly $7 million instead of realizing that most Humble Bundle purchasers wouldn't have paid anything close to the listed value. Just look at some of the other bundles, especially in the software category: multiple $1k and $2k values for less than $50 because they're relying on Humble impulse buyers who wouldn't otherwise give their products a second look.

  • @jamesbratten305
    @jamesbratten305 3 месяца назад

    I think Alchemy/FL situation is kind of a unique one as far as buying products on a VTT goes. When you purchase a universe on Alchemy, for the most part, they are selling you the PDF first and foremost, and they have then thrown in their work of converting it to the Alchemy platform as a part of that. The subscription fees paid by subscribers goes toward the cost of that labor, as well as the server maintenance, etc.

  • @svenk5221
    @svenk5221 3 месяца назад

    Thank you so much for informing me!

  • @Deep_Freeze_DF
    @Deep_Freeze_DF 3 месяца назад +1

    Really enjoyed hearing the detailed play report and self reflection of your City of Arches session. Would love to hear more segments like this!

  • @christopherblanchard890
    @christopherblanchard890 3 месяца назад

    I got the Free League Bundle because, Free League, and I already had an Alchemy account. When I got the email from Alchemy that PDFs were available, but only for a short time because Free League was taking them away, I didn't blame Free League. Like Mike said, I consider PDFs a separate product from the VTT version, and also Free League gives you a PDF whenever you purchase a physical copy of any of their games. I still plan on purchasing physical copies of many of these games (for the few I don't have already), but I'm pretty happy with just the Alchemy versions of all these games.

    • @pheralanpathfinder4897
      @pheralanpathfinder4897 3 месяца назад

      I don't think it was intended to be false marketing but many people will not get the PRFs they bought. It would have been better to stop selling but let those who bought already to keep what they bought.
      My guess is that one of the systems wasn't supposed to be in the bundle. That adds an innocent victim demanding the PDFs be pulled.
      But it's hard to guess

  • @kalas3132
    @kalas3132 3 месяца назад +2

    Hello, Mr. Sly. I rearly interact with content b/c English is my 2nd language, and I'm too lazy to write my thoughts down. But I will say, even though I agree that I am not owed all the different versions in one buy, I would argue that if I buy the phb, for example, that it comes with a discount code for dnd beyond (as a minimum). I would not expect that from independent publishers, but I would from corporations like WotC. I will even hear out arguments for said code to be a free version if I am paying for a subscription. I don't know what you think about it.
    Love your content and once I am a little more stable, I will definitely buy City of Arches. ✌️😎

  • @lonic123
    @lonic123 3 месяца назад

    Thanks

  • @5HT_Ronin
    @5HT_Ronin 3 месяца назад +1

    Let's not forget Alchemy are selling, at a premium, unfinished products like Twilight 2000 and their development.are making it out like they're finished. It's sketchy as hell

  • @lachrymalquietus
    @lachrymalquietus 3 месяца назад +4

    I don't mind paying for a product multiple times (print, pdf, vtt), but it would be nice if, like, I buy the physical 5e PHB at my FLGS, I could register the product with WotC and receive coupon codes for each of the licenses they issued so I can choose where or if I want to additional, discounted copies buy it. I get it though, because it would be challenging to stop people from selling or trading those coupon codes.

  • @skeleton-mage
    @skeleton-mage 3 месяца назад

    Reflecting on 00:49:55 I wonder if trying to keep supplements compatible with 5e 2024 and beyond will ultimately be impossible, anyway - if WotC's aim is to begin regularly releasing new content like they do for MtG (e.g., a quarterly rotation of features and spells, or something similar), then the power creep will ramp up because it will become the core commodity.

  • @RobertJohnsonPS3711
    @RobertJohnsonPS3711 3 месяца назад

    I bought the Alchemy bundle early. I didn’t know I could download pdfs from there until they sent the email! lol maybe they should of just silently let it go and fix it after the bundle was over

  • @pafvel
    @pafvel 3 месяца назад

    AFAIK Free League does not sell their games on Alchemy. Alchemy is doing that themselves in in their own store. Thus, it was Alchemy's bundle, not Free League's, and Alchemy basically gave away Free League's entire pdf catalog for almost nothing. Edit: Moreover, FL did not send the email - Alchemy did.

  • @Hallinwar
    @Hallinwar 3 месяца назад +1

    So Thrones and Bones + 2014 PHB can work?

    • @LouAnders1
      @LouAnders1 3 месяца назад +1

      The original campaign setting yes. And there's an earlier 5e version of the player's guide. The new player's guide is expanded and converted for Tales of the Valiant.

  • @williamatkins3465
    @williamatkins3465 3 месяца назад

    So is the Free League Humble Bundle only usable on Alchemy or can I use it on my in person game?

  • @kafka0622
    @kafka0622 3 месяца назад +9

    Well, OK Free League. I bought your Humble Bundle and I even paid you extra for it. It's a great deal and I really like your games. I plan to run them. On Alchemy. Now I can share the PDFs I just bought from you with my players and I will feel absolutely no shame in doing so.

  • @joyful
    @joyful 3 месяца назад

    Maybe I'm jaded but I think the Free League and Alchemy situation was a mild publicity stunt. If they didn't want people downloading their content, they would've stayed quiet. To prove I can see through their ploy, I will get the bundle, the downloads, and also go to the FL site to purchase something.

  • @Chardansearavitriol
    @Chardansearavitriol 3 месяца назад +1

    Someone made a whoopsie

  • @blindfreak01
    @blindfreak01 3 месяца назад

    I disagree with your proposal on changing the definition of the Encounter Benchmark as it will create more work for me. I subscribe to your school of thought on building encounters that make sense for the story then apply the deadly encounter benchmark; if it is below the benchmark, it’s good to go, otherwise I spend some time to investigate it and tweak as necessary (add foreshadowing, etc.). If you change the definition to hard/challenging, more encounters fall into this group, requiring more time to analyze if I’m (unknowingly) creating an un-fun situation which in turn makes it less useful as a Lazy DM tool.

    • @SlyFlourish
      @SlyFlourish  3 месяца назад

      You certainly don’t have to change it. I don’t want to. But if the definition no longer represents what’s actually happening, what should we do? Characters are simply more powerful
      In our latest 5e editions than they were.

    • @blindfreak01
      @blindfreak01 3 месяца назад +1

      @@SlyFlourish I would like for a new threshold to be calculated and tested but realistically with all the 5e variants plus the normal variables that affect challenge (party size, magic items, etc.) it may be time to retire the tool until we get a few years of experience running all the new content.

  • @TheCoachBrendan
    @TheCoachBrendan 3 месяца назад +1

    !marker

  • @kendallcarlson5502
    @kendallcarlson5502 3 месяца назад +2

    Does free league not get paid when someone purchases their game in Alchemy? Is alchemy just giving away illegal PDFs then?
    If yes, then it sounds like Alchemy is going to get sued.
    If no, it sounds like free league needs to do a better job at licensing their game.

    • @Galinarig
      @Galinarig 3 месяца назад +8

      Free League and Alchemy worked hand in hand in creating the bundle that sold the PDFs and the VTT content. So Alchemy had the rights to distribute the PDFs. Near the end of the bundle sale, however, Free League came to Alchemy with the removal information and, per contractual agreements, Alchemy negotiated a 7 day grace period for the community to continue downloading the PDFs from them in tandem with any Free League/Alchemy game module they have access to. So whatever the problem was, it happened on Free League's side. Some speculate that DrivethruRPG has exclusive rights to distribute Free League PDFs and that the publisher's permission for Alchemy caused all this problem, but this has not been confirmed.

  • @areeh.haecker9985
    @areeh.haecker9985 3 месяца назад +2

    I feel Free League needs to own up to its mistakes instead of punishing its customers. I don't know exactly what form that should take but I don't think their current corse of action is the right one

  • @aureliomanalo
    @aureliomanalo 3 месяца назад

    *takes "great eye for detail" off of resume*

  • @mAcChaosCh
    @mAcChaosCh 3 месяца назад

    People don't realize how much work goes into making the VTT version. If they knew they would understand charging for it.

  • @MrZupsky
    @MrZupsky 3 месяца назад +4

    I don't think they made a statement, that if you own a product, you are entitled to it on all the VTT platforms / formats. It's just the tool version + PDF. I think you're arguing with a statement that was not made.

  • @Shattered_Entertainment
    @Shattered_Entertainment 3 месяца назад +3

    its scummy of free league they should have done research into their deals this is thier fault exlusively and is anti consumer

    • @tubebobwil
      @tubebobwil 3 месяца назад +4

      I don't think it's scummy, I think it's a simple error. Perhaps there's an argument that the Humble Bumble should be allowed to run its course.