Digital rules that cannot be printed

[Major_Gilbear]

I sometimes buy the electronic rules (especially if there is no hardcopy that's easily available), but it depends on whether I print them or not.

- Full book is available, and a small rules-only small-format book as well > no electronic copy gets bought.

- Full book is available, but no small rules-only small-format book as well > electronic copy gets bought if the ruleset is complicated and has no index (the keyword-search feature is actually a very quick way to find scattered rules in electronic documents).

- Full book is available, but is prohibitively expensive/huge or the rules are quite out of date > electronic copy gets bought and printed.

- Ruleset looks fun, but isn't a priority to play > electronic copy gets bought and would be printed when (or if) I get around to playing the game.

- If the electronic rules are available cheaply enough (talking a couple of pounds here, or free with a hardcopy book purchase), then I do normally buy them anyway.

Would I buy a locked or heavily-secured PDF ruleset? Er, probably not, no. Even if I don't intend to ever print any part of it, keeping things open helps for readability in future (and easy long-term archival is a key selling point of electronic rulesets).

[Emir of Askaristan]

I've bought kindle editions of a couple of the recent osprey sets and then bought paper copies too. I've also bought and printed TFL sets and others. Usually I print them, if I end up playing them. Even with an iPad mini flicking thru the electronic pages is difficult.

[FionaWhite]

My only digital "rules" as such are a bunch of Pathfinder RPG books I got from a Humble Bundle offer for convenience as my physical books usually are
with whoever's DMing at the moment. 

Actual wargaming rules that I'm interested in I always get in physical book form even if it means paying for overseas postage.
The shelves demand new content and I am their servant...

[zemjw]

If it's available locally without stupidly expensive p&p then I'll probably pick up the pyhsical copy.

I do buy some rulesets from rpgnow and wargames now, and those are all pdf. If they look interesting enough then I'll print them. If they look interesting, but have page backgrounds or other features that will waste a huge amount of ink then they get added to the bit mountain.

For the few games I ever get around to playing, it has to be paper.

@Elbows - have you looked at Lulu.com for handling printed copies of your rules. It's pretty much print on demand, so may be of interest. I have bought a couple of rulesets from there over the years and the quality of the output is very good.

[MartinR]

Electronic only copies of rules are as much use for  playing a game as a chocolate teapot.

As with some of the responses above, it is fine to read them on a device, but for actual playing, you need paper. The finest random access storage medium ever invented.

So I either print them out,  or write my own playsheet (as good a way of learning a set of rules as any)

[matakishi]

I find electronic rules infinitely more useful than books and I don't care if you can print them out or not since I don't.
Having said that, not allowing printing as an 'anti-piracy' measure is asinine.

[Chris Abbey]

I like to buy electronic copy of rules, but would never buy a set I could not print out, and would certainly ask for a refund if I found out that I could not print them out.

I like to highlight, write notes, underline, add index tabs etc which is easy with a printed out and bound copy.

[Mr. Peabody]

I appreciate that a digital copy makes searching for things a breeze, but ultimately my friends and I need hardcopy of the critical elements of any ruleset we play. Whether that may be a QRS, army list or some crunchy detail, printing out a page or two becomes a necessary part of playing the game.

....not allowing printing as an 'anti-piracy' measure is asinine.

If as a publisher / author you want us to play your game then let us get to it, please.

[grant]

Break out the Underwood typewriter and hand-type those rules. Looks vintage, and then they can be mimeographed ad nauseam. Ha! Beat you, pdf only publishers!

[AndrewBeasley]

Break out the Underwood typewriter and hand-type those rules. Looks vintage, and then they can be mimeographed ad nauseam. Ha! Beat you, pdf only publishers....

I'm of an age when rules came like that sometimes!

Any one else remember Underworld Oracle and its typed out pages?

[dadlamassu]

Break out the Underwood typewriter and hand-type those rules. Looks vintage, and then they can be mimeographed ad nauseam. Ha! Beat you, pdf only publishers!

We still use WW2, Naploenic naval, ACW, medieval and ancient rules that look like that.

[grant]

We still use WW2, Naploenic naval, ACW, medieval and ancient rules that look like that.

I love the smell of a fresh mimeograph. I too remember the good days when people passed rules around, there was none of this digital tomfoolery and shenanigans. Harrumph.