It could have been useful Sunday, well, anyway, here it is…
Yay!
yay for that. 
We did fine even without the rulebook.
Good job Simon…some of those torrents can take a while to finish, right?
Hm, I like the printed versions myself, I find it easier to navigate and more comfortable to read. Plus I don’t have one of you kid’s newfangled eepod, so, a paper version is easier to take to the gaming table…
I think at a table, it’s required to have one paper copy. And the paper ones are handier when you are flipping back and forth building a character and shopping.
Yep, having wrote ten or so characters for last week game (not to mention the NPCs) I can attest that it would have been easier, plus, you can insert sheets of papers to mark the pages from one character to the others…
In that case, why buy it when it’s free online? and I really don’t mean to sound like a dick when I say that Franz, because I still want to meet you one day!.
Slightly off-topic but the amount of stuff I’ve bought because of “free versions” available online is proof that not all “pirates” are scum.
Core Rulebook and Gamemastery Guide are two things I torrented and then went on to buy the hardbacks, they’re sitting on my shelf right now. Trail of Cthulhu. Torrented, then bought. there’s tons of stuff that I’ve torrented and never bought though, granted. Usually because it’s shite. But there’s stuff that I’ve bought BECAUSE I torrented it. Would never have heard of it otherwise.
This could open up a can of worms here, but I’d like to hear other peoples opinions on torrenting etc…We’re all friends! 
Considering the many analyses that have been done that show “pirating” INCREASES sales of music/games/videos, etc., it blows my mind that at least the music industry (which benefits the MOST) are fighting it so hard.
It’s for the exact reasons Neil said: people try it for free, and if they like it, the majority of people will go on to buy the official version.
I prefer the paper book format for RPG’s. I can’t afford them all, especially not all at once. If I hadn’t torrented the Pathfinder manual, I wouldn’t be playing, and would not eventually be buying the manual (when I have the cash, soon, I hope).
The music industry are shitting themselves and its only a matter of time before the whole thing is reduced to rubble and gets back to grassroots. I studied Music Tech at uni and it’s no secret that the billions generated from CD sales are the only thing keeping the “industry” alive.
Bands only make money through live concerts. They get jack from recordings or record contracts. The record labels are scum bags. Complete scum bags. When you sign a deal you’re given an “advance” sometimes it’s quite a lot of money. The only thing is, it’s a loan. If your CD sales don’t cover the loan, you never see any profits. Only when you pay the label back and that could take MILLIONS of CD sales. But that’s the only thing the labels have. they don’t take a cut from live concerts but they take almost everything from CD sales. That’s why they’ve got such a problem with pirating and they pass on this delusion to other bands such as Metallica who were so outspoken about Napster back in the day.
I’ll never buy another CD as long as this situation continues. But, I have paid to see bands live who I never would have heard of if it wasn’t for “piracy” (I hate that word. ARRRRRR! takes off me eyepatch!)
Forget the advance/loan thing… The record industry is actually famous for just not paying out the royalties owed. That’s one reason Jimmy Buffet and Ani DiFranco started their own companies.
I guess this would be best for another topic.
But if you want to hear my opinion:
I’m with you. I like to try things out for free, if possible. But I don’t like to have to resort to gray-zone sources to do so.
Yes I got pdf’s of rulebooks and MP3s from friends in the past. And like you, I bought what I liked. (unlike Siobhan I doubt that the majority buys after trying. Some do, but I think most don’t.)
I’ve grown up (partly) in a small town in croatia, where the only source of new stuff was your local pirate.
After many years I’ve started to collect the old games by buying the original, because now I had the access and the money to get them.
@Siobhan: I could only read the first and second article, but they seem to make the same point I did: Some people (calculated 60 in the first article) buy what they torrented. Most don’t.
ah, I see. The point they also make though (and my point), is that without torrenting, none of those people would buy. “Piracy” increases legitimate sales.
Right with you there.
Still: Let’s say Piracy is like going into a museum without paying entree fee.
Now this museum (Paizo) has an online showroom that shows all exhibits (the PRD).
Why would you still smuggle yourself in (torrent the pdf)?
I you don’t always have an internet connection?
You can read the Pdf on your unconnected computer, or print them out and bring alongside with you…
A while ago, I did illegally download quite a few books. Partly because I didn’t not have the money to afford them, partly because I was going to move transcontinetally soon and that I had already too much book to bring back and did not want to add heavy tomes.
Since then, I got a real job and I too have started buying quite a few books and material…