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Will you be buying GW's digital rules products?

Hopefully, some simpler versions will be available on the kindle platform.

I would be interested if they were cheaper and available on Kindle.

I am no longer interested in large, heavy, expensive colour rulebooks full of fluff and modelling that I don't need.

I appreciate the hyperlinking as shown in the iPad version in your review. That is potentially a huge advantage of digital formats.

I'm hopeful that GW will get that aspect right but I think it will take them a few years to get to grips with it. (At the same time, if they organised the paper rules better there would be less need for hyperlinking anyway.)

Yea nothing says healthy eyes like reading on a monitor.

yeah if they brought it out on more platforms (android, kindle, iphone etc) they would sell more

Simply far too expensive. With distribution, printing, packaging I can see the reason why physical Codexes are expensive, (although far too expensive in my view) the benefits of having an electronic Format for GW is huge, quick editing, fast redistribution, ability to update on the fly and re-release, cheap hosting etc etc.

None of these advantages will be capitalised on, because they are keeping the cost and at a Premium and not planning on constant through life document upgrades (Data as a Service DaaS) so it will have few benefits and alot of draw backs. If it was half the cost I would buy it, otherwise no. The direct sales model will net more money in the long run because they are effectively cutting out the resellers (with the exception of the Retail arm), but if they don't embrace it they won't see the benefit.

It's the same with their retail arm, if they allowed "Click & Collect" for FW products in a Retail store, alot of us would use it. I like FW stuff alot, I don't mind paying, I find the P&P a closed business model and rampant profiteering. Where else do you need to order £250 to get Free P&P???

i would straight away if they release it on something other than £400 medium then i have to spend £27 for each book, let me acess it from my laptop and its sold

I will buy every codex, but if I can't get the digital versions at a steep discount (50%), I will not buy them.

I have a strong dislike of PDF rules in all their forms. I even have to print out FAQs to read them.

I have no real idea why, but this overwhelming aversion to them persists.

So, no, I would not get them.

I would, but I don't have an iPad nor any intention of getting one in the future. I have an Android, if they released it for that then I'd buy it, however as the screen is small I doubt they'd do a good job. Perhaps if they released it on Kindle I'd get one of those...
Some version for the computer would be nice, although they'd need to figure a way to stop illegal file sharing and all that stuff.

I'm a simple guy with simple needs, the iPad books try to do to much at once. The rules book and codexes are needed for rule clarification and army building. I have no intention to get the digital books untill they simplify them and make them available on the Nook. I don't need the how to paint this or that army guides since I have other more detailed books to do that, and my own color schemes for my Marines and Tau.

I would buy it for cheaper maybe, but they need to edit it so it is a reference manual not a catalog.

I love the 5th edition mini book, fits in your pocket and boom all the rules you need to know.

Just got the 6th edition book and man was I disappointed. A digital copy of just the new changes, or the summary of all the rules in detail, that's what I need. It could fit in a cigarette carton like the Magic the Gathering rule book.

Also with the codex, and all other books, digital copies are not even cool, but a cool book versos an easy reference to the numbers we need for the game. There should be a price difference for sure.

I don't want an iPad, but I'd probably buy another format that I could use on my PC and phone, were it available.

here are the problems for me:

I lack an ipad or any kind of frmat that would run the softwear
even if I did, the prices are worse than a real codex and the content is limited and in most cases unnecessary
I also wouldnt want to carry an ipad everywhere and leave it sitting aroun in a public place :/

I already have an iPad so that part isn't that big of a deal to me. Personally I don't like the cost. Sure you want to turn a profit, but if you go for selling more at less then I think they would make more money in the end. At those prices...I'll just keep my current print version. If they updated them for free so lets say I got the Space Marine Codex and then they update it with FAQs and new releases then sure it would be worth the cost now, but I don't see that happening so pass.

I find humor whenever GW gets all excited about releasing something that is several years out of date. ebooks are not new or exciting, don't pretend they are.

I'd consider the books if the prices weren't eye watering. Good god, they cost more than a print codex. Also, what about updates? Will they be doing free updates? Paid for? What about those who bought the Space Marine Codex - what happens when the new 6th Edition version is released? "Oh Sorry, its now out of date. But that's alright, you can purchase the new one here - £25 please" No Ta...

(Same goes for black library books and I agree with the poster above around FW P&P)

They're just, so expensive. At those prices I'd prefer to pay the little extra for a physical book.

I'd pay for a digital copy of the codexes (codii? codexi?) or rule book if they were EITHER:

Significantly discounted over the hard copy, and available in a format for my laptop (I have a macbook pro but I'm still not sure if I can read the current digital releases on it? Not sure I want to risk the cash if it doesn't work because my apple product is not iOS, but in fact a more expensive, and better, product (Mac OS))

OR:

Significantly interactive, i.e: a digital Codex with a smart Army Roster sheet builder so you could drag and drop or click through building your list, and it would automatically show you available upgrades, conflicts between choices and rules or illegal choices, (i.e: flag them but not disallow them altogether, some of my Apoc lists aren't 100% legal because I play converted models as WYSYWIG and pull the relevant rules and upgrades to suit) count up your points tally as you built the list etc.

That would be a much more useful and meaningful way of splitting between the two different editions and the different generations of gamers. Hard copy for the guys who still like to sit down with a book and a pad and pen and write out a list by hand, Digital copy for the digital generation who like to do everything on a screen and don't actually know how to use a pen any more.

Also, digital copies need to be updated. So if you buy the new CSM Codex which is expected in the next few months, you should automatically get every FAQ and Errata update for free, until the next CSM Codex gets released in a few years time, at which point you have to pay for the new one.

Those codexes are like half a gig aren't they? Take up some space on an iPhone

If they cost less than the physical book and were available in basic PDF format, then yes. In a heartbeat. I’d buy them over the physical books. I don’t need fancy pictures or touch-scroll paint guides or all that other nonsense. Just a simple PDF reproduction will do.

Personally the model I like is the way Catalyst does it with their BTech/Shadowrun releases. They release the full PDF, they’re anywhere up to 80 megs in size, and whenever there’s an update you get a prompt telling you to re-download the updated version (and this is free). And you can buy either the PDF, or a combo-deal with the book and PDF. The PDF is always cheaper than the book.

The paid rules addons like the Ork bomba and stuff just feel like nickel’n’dime DLC, which I don’t like.

Yes I'll be buying their digital products once I get an iPad (or other device that might carry them). I doubt I'd use them during games... still gonna rely on hard copies for those occasions. But if I'm just kicking back on the couch with some Vodka and cranberry juice, it would be nice to have an assortment of rules and stuff to look through on one handy device. Plus I'm a GW-ophile... or a lunatic... one of the two.

I'm interested, but I'm not planning on buying an iPad anytime soon...

But on Kindle or Android, I definitely would !

I'd buy them, but most of my games are in school, in a club i run, so i cant really be wandering round school with an ipad or my phone. I also like the codexes as they are (but not the new csm one).

Plus has anyone actually tried reading books on a phone, because its really annoying having to zoom in to see the writing, then zoom out to switch pages

 Nuclear Mekanik wrote:
I'd pay for a digital copy of the codexes (codii? codexi?) or rule book if they were EITHER:

Significantly discounted over the hard copy, and available in a format for my laptop (I have a macbook pro but I'm still not sure if I can read the current digital releases on it? Not sure I want to risk the cash if it doesn't work because my apple product is not iOS, but in fact a more expensive, and better, product (Mac OS))

OR:

Significantly interactive, i.e: a digital Codex with a smart Army Roster sheet builder so you could drag and drop or click through building your list, and it would automatically show you available upgrades, conflicts between choices and rules or illegal choices, (i.e: flag them but not disallow them altogether, some of my Apoc lists aren't 100% legal because I play converted models as WYSYWIG and pull the relevant rules and upgrades to suit) count up your points tally as you built the list etc.

That would be a much more useful and meaningful way of splitting between the two different editions and the different generations of gamers. Hard copy for the guys who still like to sit down with a book and a pad and pen and write out a list by hand, Digital copy for the digital generation who like to do everything on a screen and don't actually know how to use a pen any more.

Also, digital copies need to be updated. So if you buy the new CSM Codex which is expected in the next few months, you should automatically get every FAQ and Errata update for free, until the next CSM Codex gets released in a few years time, at which point you have to pay for the new one.

I have a Kindle and GW and BL have nothing available on that format. I would probably get a BL book here or there and a codex or two if it was for a different platform than just Ipad. But I totally am in agreement with Nuclear above. If the digital version included an army builder that would be so awesome. Of course the question is would they actually keep it up to date like Lone Wolf does with theirs?

I'm going to screenshot this poll for the work on my University Publishing Course. Thank you!

But to answer the question. I already have, but I don't plan on doing it too frequently. In the time that it takes me to go to town and pick up an iTunes voucher I could have walked 100 yards less and just got it from my GW.

I've only bought my Empire Army Book Digitally so far, and that had its drawbacks. Started downloading at 2:00pm and it still hadn't finished in time for me to take my Empire army to my local club at 6:00, although that probably says more about my computer than the half a gigabyte sized eBook.

I won't buy them for three reasons:
I dislike the ipad (and I own one) so if they put them out on PC I would consider it BUT
They are too expensive for a digital product

AND LASTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME

I prefer having a physical book in my hand. Now I like the idea of ebooks but what I dislike is the idea that the user agreements on most ebooks mean you don't actually own the product but are just "renting" it.

With a physical book I own it, I can give it away or resell it. In 10 years if I take care of it I can look at it again or maybe get nostalgic and play an old version of the game.

If I download a copy I might not be able to do that again in 10 years.

What I would prefer is when you buy the physical book you get a code for a download of the e-version too.

I have bought Space Marines/Dark Angels and Necrons. My brother has Codex Chaos Marines. While the cost of them is somewhat galling, it has saved me a lot of hassle as the FAQ updates would result in masses of paper being tucked in the codex. Now they just download to iBooks automatically and job done.
It also saves a lot of messing about flitting through the book for 5mins to find rules for x, y or z. My brother and I have played a few games using the digital editions and it makes for a better pace of gaming.

They only need to release the rules, war gear, and summary in digital format, I would have thought. As a companion to the book. No need for all the fluff ect. This way people will be inclined to buy both products as they both will have there uses and compliment each other.

If they were cheaper pdf files, or simplier apps for PC and Android, I would buy them. This shiny all in one iOS thingy is not exactly my favourite. For fluff and such I'd rather have the phisical books.