Will GW ever do a downloadable codex database?

[Levitas]

There are so many times at work when i am throwing a list around in my head, and cant recall the exact point costs etc. My codex at home, i am left to just ponder and probably do some work.

I wonder if GW will ever do full downloadable version of all the codices. I know, just google it. But just curious if they will ever do fully legit versions at a cut price, without the need to converse with a man wearing an eye patch and sporting a parrot.

I really wanted to get hold of the space wolf 2nd edition codex to sift through its fluff. If only they had a data base for such things, yes they get outdated with a new version but things like the fluff and painting techniques can remain fairly specific to that edition. My only option is ebay.

Thoughts on GW making strides into..the future...?

[BuFFo]

No reason to.

I think you know why :)

[eldargal]

I could see them making* a database of old codices for fluff/archival purposes, but not for current issue codices.


*Not that I think they will.

[david5th]

Not going to happen.

[whitestar333]

Some of the old unofficial codexes were available for download for a time (Harlequins and Kroot Mercenaries, for example) but they have since been removed. If they won't post up codexes which are outdated and unofficial, why would the bother putting up legit ones?

The only way I could see them doing it is if they go out of business but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

[RocketRollRebel]

I could see them making* a database of old codices for fluff/archival purposes, but not for current issue codices.


*Not that I think they will.

There are ways to find them as we all know but GW doing it would be great. I love flipping or scrolling through the old codex's for checking out the old minis and fluff.

[ColCorbane]

At some point they will, it's just the natural progression from print to digital media. I doubt it will happen anytime soon, but it will happen at some point.

[Denzark]

GW old and OOP codex database - isn't that in existence, can be found at www.ebay.co.uk/.com?

Cos sure as hell it will be cheaper there than what they would gouge you should they think it profitable...

[Sangre]

Nope, GW have repeatedly shown a disappointing tendency to act like an actual business.

[Old_Paladin]

*cough*bit-torrent*cough*
Wait... who said that... Buffo? Was it you?

I don't see it happening for quite some time. Once things are on-line there's not real way to control it. GW knows it's a problem, but they aren't going to help it out. Right now, if you show up to a tournie with printed pages, you tend to need are real rulebook too. If those printed pages were legal, how would anyone know if you bought it online or if it was illegal?

[Lerra]

I didn't buy my first GW printed product until I had been playing the game for about a year (a printed codex for my third army). I bought it for Adepticon but have yet to open it up. It could be written in Swahili for all I know.

I find the digital codices to be much more convenient, especially if they have a clickable table of contents. A stack of printed codices is clunky and heavy, too.

As it is now, I have no reason to pay for a less-convenient version of a codex.

[BuFFo]

If those printed pages were legal, how would anyone know if you bought it online or if it was illegal?

This. Massively. Massively This.

People in my store bring printed stuff occasionally, and by and by we are annoyed by it, but we don't say no. These people eventually buy the book, but ughhh.... I wouldn't be caught dead doing something so cheap.

If they tried to bring the printed crap in all the time for months, we eventually refuse to play them or tell them they can't use such printed materials.

Some people also bring in laptops with a codex on it. Not much we can do about that really, except not play them, which I myself do not do if I know they have been doing this for a long time without thinking of buying the book.

[Lerra]

I don't even bother to print out the codex. Why waste paper? ;)

I've never had people object to a digital copy of a codex. It's much quicker to look it up on a laptop than to flip through pages.

I don't mind buying the codex, but it seems silly to carry it around with me all the time. They tend to get beat up and lose pages quickly, too. I'd rather keep mine in good condition safely in the bookcase.

[BuFFo]

I don't even bother to print out the codex. Why waste paper? ;)

:p


I've never had people object to a digital copy of a codex. It's much quicker to look it up on a laptop than to flip through pages.

It isn't a matter of convenience for my local hobbyists, what it is, is respect. Respect to the our gaming store, which is a mom and pop store. People seen inside the store with stolen/downloaded books is simply seen as not giving moey to the store yet USING the store for FREE for its gaming space.

They are just simply seen as thieves who are to cheap to support their hobby store, to be blunt about it. Some of the hobbyists in my area, including me, are fanatical about helping out our struggling store stay afloat, and anyone seen as a common internet thief is quickly reminded to buy a book, eventually.


I don't mind buying the codex, but it seems silly to carry it around with me all the time.

I say this in jest, but, really? You can lug around your figures and gaming supplies, but a light weight, thin book is too much for you? Perish the thought!


They tend to get beat up and lose pages quickly, too.

I believe you, and I have seen a few beat up book in the store, but this is a phenomenon that I can never fathom. I have ROGUE TRADER books that are still in very good condition since I bought them 22 years ago. None of my codices are beat up or missing pages. I seriously do NOT know what the heck people are doing to their books to get them in this shape!


I'd rather keep mine in good condition safely in the bookcase.

If you had them :p :p

[Lerra]

Haha fair enough ;) I actually have a pretty good stack of codices, but I've only bought one of them. The others I got for free because the bindings were broken, they were missing pages, and a few are outdated/OOP. They don't leave the house, though.

Still, I'd buy digital copies of the codices if they were available, and especially if they were well-done (clickable links to wargear, etc.). It would mean less money for the FLGS, but they already get a lot of money from me via miniatures so I wouldn't feel too bad.

[DarkLink]

I'll admit I have pdfs of most of the codices that I don't own armies for. And seeing how Warmachine handles its rules (you never actually have to buy a "codex" for any reason), I would like it if GW got rid of printed codices and just published everything online.

Actually, GW could release printed books with a bunch of fluff and stuff, with the armylist attached. But then they could put the armylist online for free, with no fluff and similar extras. Kinda the best of both worlds.


Regardless, GW probably won't do that. Their current system probably makes them the most money.

[Ulag Grimskar]

OOOOOOOOOOOOH! But there ARE miracles happening....

On the Japanese GW site, there´s an actual database containing ALL codices (up until Space Wolves) in pdf format.
Alas, they´re in japanese....

[BuFFo]

Still, I'd buy digital copies of the codices if they were available, and especially if they were well-done (clickable links to wargear, etc.). It would mean less money for the FLGS, but they already get a lot of money from me via miniatures so I wouldn't feel too bad.

I would buy a codex online if it were available in a format in which I can prove somehow that the copy I printed out is legal.

I agree. I would buy online material if done right.

[Madness]

Although I could see the fluff parts, the illustrations, etc... published as a print-on-demand black library collection.

Also, invest in learning japanese.

[eldargal]

Apart from the fact that the progression from print to digital is a myth when you look at BOOK (as opposed to magazine and newspaper) sales, which have seen significant annual growth over the past decade*. White Dwarf might go digital along with many other magazines, but the codices and rule books will not.


At some point they will, it's just the natural progression from print to digital media. I doubt it will happen anytime soon, but it will happen at some point.


*There have been studies done, turns out the people who buy books like books and will continue buying books.

[lobster-overlord]

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

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

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

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



John M.

[DarkLink]

Yeah, that'd go over well;

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

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

[Madness]

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

[eldargal]

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


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

[Cedonuli]

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

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

[Melissia]

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

[Noxx]

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

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

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

[Gnoblar with Pointy Stick]

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

Short answer: NO.

Long answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...




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