Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Feb 12, 2004 6:49:05	Anyone know where I could get text versions of these products? OCR is such a pain and I need to be able to give my players some excerpts before we start play so they can familiarize with the setting and locales and politics, etc.
#2 heretic_apostate Feb 12, 2004 11:46:27	From the Ashes: http://store.yahoo.com/svgames-store/tsr1064esd.html The Marklands: http://store.yahoo.com/svgames-store/tsr9398esd.html Each of them $4.74, and you get the whole book. I'm afraid these aren't one of the freebies given out by WOTC...
#3 cwslyclgh Feb 12, 2004 15:13:02	and they are PDF's not text files, which are a damn it all.... lets just say difficult... to cut and paste... but it can be done.
#4 zombiegleemax Feb 12, 2004 18:57:07	Err... I said TEXT, ie. text. I have the PDF's. So what cwyswyggawichythingy said.
#5 heretic_apostate Feb 14, 2004 2:11:57	It's not generally considered polite to ask for copyrighted material in a non-approved format... In other words, are you sure it's a good idea to come on WOTC's message boards, asking people to violate copyright law on their products? (Yes, I know, you say you have them in PDF format. But it's still wrong...)
#6 zombiegleemax Feb 14, 2004 7:25:36	My most humble of apologies to you, sir. If I had realized I was posting in Noddy-Land, I would've been more respectful of your perfect world. Next time I wish to pass on some text from a book that's been out of print for twelve years, to one of my players so that he can make up a character with a decent background that is integrated into the setting, I'll make sure to hunt for a copy of it on ebay, purchase it for the standard $100 USD that it goes for, and diligintly photocopy the relevant pages... all 44 of them, since I'm fairly certain I'm able to do that under the law of copyright; fair use I think it's called. But don't worry, I shan't do anything until consulting you, Mr. Nod.
#7 heretic_apostate Feb 14, 2004 12:35:28	If you have the PDF versions, just use the Select Text tool. How hard is that? If you're only copying out portions of text, that's fair use, and it's quite simple with the Select Text tool. If you're copying out huge chunks of the document (say, more than a couple pages, combined), you're in violation of copyright law, and asking for help to do that on WOTC's board probably subjects you to the termination of your account. Seriously, feel free to be as sarcastic as you like. I didn't make the rules, so don't blame me for them.
#8 zombiegleemax Feb 14, 2004 14:15:12	If you own a copy, regardless of format, you can copy / paste the whole thing as long as it's for personal use which is obviously the intentions of the original poster.
#9 heretic_apostate Feb 14, 2004 14:47:47	Originally posted by abysslin If you own a copy, regardless of format, you can copy / paste the whole thing as long as it's for personal use which is obviously the intentions of the original poster. I kind of doubt that personal use includes sharing the whole thing with someone else. You can share excerpts. You can quote whole passages, if you're doing a review. But sharing the whole thing with someone else is about as legitimate as copying a movie or computer game, to give to a friend. It's not legal, and it's not generally a good idea to advertise on the manufacturer's website that you're doing it. Not my problem, though.
#10 zombiegleemax Feb 14, 2004 15:10:46	He didn't ask for FREE copies. You simply assumed that is what he was looking for. The thought had occured to me that he was willing to pay for the products from a legal source if they existed, excluding ebay which seems to be against his personal preferences, which he is entirely entitled to. After said purchase had been made he could legally copy as much as he liked for use within his game to enhance his players knowledge.
#11 zombiegleemax Feb 14, 2004 16:42:51	This is why IP attorneys make $200 an hour. Wish I were one.
#12 zombiegleemax Feb 14, 2004 17:59:14	It's people like you who give the net a bad reputation. Ignorance, arrogance, self-righteousness, and the distinct inability to actually READ what it is you're replying to. Or did you just choose to ignore the bit where I said OCR is a pain, so as to cause trouble and be the centre of attention? I'll tell you what, I'll be nice and give you the benefit of the doubt that you don't know what OCR is, even though I'm 99% sure that you do and you're just being a prig for the fun of it. That, or you were just born that way and can't help it. Either way, you'd be doing everyone a favour if you just shut up and kept your opinions to yourself.
#13 heretic_apostate Feb 14, 2004 19:17:54	Okay, let's start from the beginning. You asked if there were text versions of the files available. The answer is "no." The reason the answer is no is because there are only two authorized sellers of the electronic versions of the scanned versions of the supplements: svgames and rpgnow. That is the only answer I can give. The fact that you don't like the OCR (optical character recognition, I know the phrase) is sad, but understandable. Unfortunately, that was the only method that is commercially viable. Having someone go through the document after it being scanned to correct the errors (and there are many, I know, I own about 200 of the ESDs and wince at times as I read) would have increased the cost considerably. Some worthy fan might have gone through and copied the documents into a text file, then corrected the entries. They might have this text document sitting, unused, on their hard drive. But they are not authorized to share the document, even with others who might own the ESD or print version of the supplement. Does WOTC care about what happens with these ESD files? You bet they do. Just look at the flap that came up when people started doing 3.0 conversions, importing the text from the ESDs. WOTC must defend their intellectual property. ****************** Why all this venom directed at me, by the way? The answer I gave might not have been to your liking, but it is the truth. You cannot, legally, ask someone to send you a .txt version of the document. Sure, you can get away with it, but it still isn't legal. And trying to do it out in the open, on WOTC's message boards, with your Internet Protocol address being recorded, generally isn't the best idea. Don't shoot the messenger if you don't like the message.
#14 zombiegleemax Feb 15, 2004 17:27:39	Heteric is correct. There is no legal place one can get the information you want in the format you require. On these forums that's the same as saying you can't get them at all.