I unfortunately was waiting for a retailer to tell me if they got the beta kit or not , since I prefer to support local gaming stores when possible.

Well I just found out that they had apparently waited too long to get the kit and now of course I cant get my copy. So I am out of luck (my fault for not just grabbing it from FFG immediately)

Is there any word on a PDF being sold ? I would be willing to buy one for $20-ish if it became available.

Unfortunately that is not going to happen, FFG do not have rights to publish PDF's and unless there is a dramatic turnaround they ever will. Keep an eye on your local and other game stores though as the retailer bundles are going out.

E

They really do need a sticky for this - there's about a dozen threads asking this question, since people don't seem to look around first.

That is too bad. Now that I have an e-reader, I prefer to to buy PDFs these days.

Did they actually make a PDF of Only War Beta or did they skip that too? I noticed that Drive Through has a page for the game, but nothing to sell yet (I don't know if they originally had one and just took it down now that the full game will be released soon)

They did have one up (I bought it), but since the full game is probably going to be out in the next month or two (certainly before the end of the year), I'd imagine they took it down because the full version will be out soon (though going by previous releases, it's usually a month or so prior to the physical book is released before the PDF is released - not sure if it's part of the licence with GW, or what).

I would suggest trying Ebay (you're prob gonna pay a wee bit more), if you really want it. A second option would be to call around and find a game store that "got it" and ships.

Don't know if these guys got it or not, but Games Plus in Chicago, is about the biggest, best stocked game store I have ever seen. I would try them. The number is on the website. (If you're military, there is a discount, or at least there used to be).

Hope it helps,

$hamrock

I did a check on eBay for a friend yesterday afternoon, and there were a few auctions for the book, averaging around $40 with $5 shipping/handling.

The buzz on EotE is still pretty hot, but as more weeks pass and people begin to form their opinion on whether they are going to stick with it or simply not bother, there may be more books showing up on eBay, although they may not have the sticker sheet and likely won't be in pristine condition.

Just to keep the elucidation going for anyone who reads this.

Lucas Arts considers PDFs of RPGs to be the same thing as any Electronic Game, not the same as a P&P game. So in order to be able to do PDFs, FFG would need to purchase the same license a Computer Game company would, which is likely not even available, and definitely far outside their ability to afford. This is the same reason Wizards didn't do one for SAGA stuff either. So anyone who wants to complain, go to Lucas Arts and complain, because there's nothing FFG can do.

And otherwise? If you want Star Wars TT games, you need the physical book.

Lucas Licensing, not LucasArts. Two totally different divisions in Lucasfilm, FFG only works with one of them. I believe LL's position has more to do with the inherent insecurity of PDFs and piracy, not perceived crossover with videogames. LL obviously, for instance, has no problem with the SW Dice Roller app.

Someday, if we're lucky and if FFG has interest and the market continues to develop, these books may be available in some format for tablets such as the iPad and the Kindle, but it won't be PDF for the same reason that most e-books aren't in that format.

rsaintjohn said:

I believe that someone from FFG already said back at Gencon that there wouldn't be any electronic copies of the game, due to them being considered 'electronic games', and therefore not being covered by their licence. What is covered are things like errata and free adventures, such as those that WotC released.

MILLANDSON said:

I haven't heard that, but note that the X-Wing rules are available as PDF. So that means that either FFG paid for or was granted that "electronic game" license by LL, or neither company is concerned about a loss in revenue from that. A minis game is useless without the minis, but for an RPG the rules are the product.

Well, the reasoning for WotC never releasing PDF copies of Saga was due to the RPG licence not covering electronic games, so I'm not sure what's going on with X-Wing. It could be that they have 2 different licences, one for RPGs (which doesn't cover PDFs), and boardgames/miniatures (which do allow PDFs, due to them still requiring physical models, and so the release of the PDF would count as supplementary, rather than a core product). Whilst it sounds silly, it's down to legal technicalities, which licences often have bucket-loads of.

That's just silly & backwards. PDFs are 100x more reliable than going to local provider if there is ever one.

rsaintjohn said:

MILLANDSON said:

I'd be willing to bet it comes down to selling vs giving away. You'll notice that all the PDFs for X-Wing and EotE are free - and they're not going to just give away the core rules for EtoE.

gribble said:

Possibly. BUT… The big difference is that a pdf for X-Wing won't let you play the game. Still need the minis and tokens and all that. Any pdf's released for Edge at this point have been minor references or char sheets that won't give you enough to actually "play".

GM Chris said:

Also true. I guess the real answer is - we'll probably never know.