The RPG world is in an uproar over Wizards of the Coast pulling their digital content. Some of this is laughably feigned, a dogpile on the 500 pound gorilla, but a lot of the antipathy is well placed. I personally own all the 4E books and have never bought a digital WOTC product (although lots of Malhavoc). However, I know those who do, and for them, their library is either entirely digital or it duplicates their print library. For them, they'll either abandon their game, or more likely, continue to obtain digital copies, only illegally. 4E has had high quality digital copies available from before the release date. That's unlikely to change. So everyone will still get what they want, but WOTC makes no money from it and law abiding customers are now the enemy. It seems rather shortsighted on the part of Wizards.
Although I own all the print books, I would greatly appreciate the inclusion of more book related digital content in some form, other than a duplicate purchase. Here, I think WOTC should leverage their Dungeons & Dragons Insider application to broaden available content. For example, last night I didn't need the full text of the Monster Manual, but I did need a long encounter block that was listed after a monsters stats. Include this stuff in database format that's not easy to copy wholesale, and you've solved a lot of the need for digital content. Instead, you've got me, the owner of every book, a DDI subscriber, debating whether to take the ten minutes to download the book illegally or spend 30 minutes typing.
Then again, the digital content seems to walk a razors edge, almost to where a DDI subscription obsoletes print materials. Perhaps they've decided their core competency lies in stuff, in printing books and related physical items. If they can hold off the digital tide a while longer, they can preserve their business model and ramp up their digital competency over time. Or maybe a Hasbro executive noticed his son downloading a Draconomicon torrent and called a meeting.
