looks absolutely marvelous, I'm sure I will add it to my collection. But I have a request is there any way that these kits could also come with the PDF, so if for example you wanted to make a room 12 x 12 you could print off the same floor tile three more times. One of the reasons I like world works is this ability to have the files and customize them to the gaming scenario.

I understand that these are preprinted I have a Terra clips sewers, but I still would like the ability to print off and customize, part of gaming enjoyment for me and many others is the hobby craft aspect of the game.

DungeonRise is exclusive to the TerraClips format. Funny enough, if you really break it down it's actually more cost effective to buy the complete, prebuilt kit than it is to pay for ink & supplies (and probably more importantly your time). Though I realize that isn't the answer everyone wants to hear (especially you modders out there). We've found that our PDF side of the business has been pretty badly beat up by file sharing in recent years, so we have to choose projects and formats more carefully these days. TerraClips is kind of a win-win all around.

it's always sad how the abuse of the few, creates policies that hurt the many, that people cannot understand that they hurt themselves by sharing files.

having built several projects I agree I usually spend hundreds of dollars in ink cartridges and building material. But again that's what I enjoy doing actually making and customizing the sets. Just putting together a prefab of someone else's work robs me of that modeling hobbyist joy. I do not think there is one of your products with the exception of the large sailing ship that I have printed out and built as stated, the joy of kit bashing and creating my own unique sets is why world work games continues to see me reordering product after product.

I think there could be a way that the purchasers of Terra clips having their product registered would be able to view edit and print the files that remain in the companies database. In other words they would not be able to download the files themselves but work with them. there is possibly other scenarios that could also work.

Thus WWG concerns can be met, and the hobbyist like myself would be encouraged to purchase Terra clip products .

I have now developed a completely different system where I simply print a flat wall, roof, floor and store it in my portable filing cabinet, then I have a system where I can construct any kind of building or structure and overlay the printed material to instantly create my set for the gaming night. I can carry entire cities in that filing cabinet, (with the exception of the props)

I am jealous yosefbender, of your portable files. My collection of WWG pieces are still small, but I find they are not portable at all, even though I don't have much. Though my Friar set is getting bigger all the time, I think more than half of the stuff I have built already. Maybe one day I will bother to get a system to portableize my stuff.

Denny, I am sorry to hear WWG is being pirated. Once had someone PM me to share files of my paper stuff. Told him I couldn't do that and he came back with similar words, but that he thought maybe he might try once. He say my photos of some of the stuff I built, much of it was stuff I found for free, but I have a bunch of WWG and a couple of others stuff I bought. Was kind of offended that he would ask me to go there. I am just hoping that I buy enough stuff from those whos work I enjoy, that they can afford to stay in business. Kind of like my mechanic, would hate for him to quit business.

When I buy from one site I noticed that my name and purchase number are printed on every page I print. That might be a tool to use to discourage pirating. Printing a file with someone elses name on it might remind someone not to share or remind someone that they have something stolen. I don't know how to make people not want to steal, though I do understand the being poor part.

The biggest problem we've faced over the last 10 years is that it isn't just "the few" it's the many (increasingly so over the past 3 years or so). Based on the data, by all rights WWG terrain is a fairly well known brand (in our niche market) but the ratio of sharers outweighs the ratio of supporters by a long shot. I think ultimately it comes down to a sense of worth and for a lot of people it's difficult to place true value on downloadable paper terrain. To many, this is a disposable quick fix for their game night. And its just too easy to share it with their pals without giving it much thought because that sense of value, ownership and wrongdoing are all heavily diluted by what are now generally accepted social norms. 1000 steps removed from white collar crime, file sharing on the internet is so commonplace that its almost a birthright of being part of a connected culture.

A substantial portion of the population simply doesn't care where the content comes from and or who's ultimately affected. It doesn't matter that WWG is a small business and that sharing has deep consequences to what we do. Everyone assumes the producers of the content have deep pockets and can weather the blows that come with piracy. They miss the context, they miss the hard work involved to do what we do, they miss the fact that we're just normal guys with families scrapping by and trying to earn a bare bones living while providing a service to gamers.

Over the years we've considered many options for safeguarding digital content against file-sharing but there's a cold hard truth involved there. All it takes is one particularly motivated individual to strip clean those safegaurds and the Genie is out of the bottle. And once it spreads, a small business such as WWG is simply incapable of plugging all the holes. To say nothing of the kind of resentment DRM schemes typically elicit from users. It's a battle that can't be won (where's the cardstock Spartan army when you need them ).

So what am I saying? I'm saying that after nearly a decade, we've realized that we have to choose our battles more carefully.

That sounds like a perfect opportunity for standees.

So depressing! Even having worked in software for so long and having to deal with the similar issues, I have never worked at a small enough organization where it cut nearly as deep. No matter what you do with a printed product, all it takes is someone printing to a PDF printer, and all of a sudden there's a free copy floating around the internet.

I hope the TCP line really helps you guys out, and I hope that some print-n-play kind of stuff continues to have a place in the lineup!

Any idea how much of the 'loss' of WWG digital business is due to piracy? And how much is due to the long build times for TLX Tiles?
(Don't get me wrong, I think TLX is a great system. It's just that the tiles take so damned long to build that personally I'd much rather build other things.)

Seems popular enough in file sharing land.

I have a related question so I might as well post it here.
How does WWG view posting kitbashes of custom TCP tiles that use custom textures or even shapes?

TCP is a partnered property, so there are specific legal limitations there on sharing anything template related. In other words; TCP is a physical product and we really need it to remain there for a whole host of reasons, some obvious, some not so.

I see.
I will keep my templates for myself then.

It is hard for me to understand stealing products ... that people can think it is their right or that it doesn't hurt anyone. It does seem you might be in a no win situation with the PDF stuff. It hurts even to think of WWG not producing PDF sets.

You do need a core army of subscribers that in essence commissions the work and makes it sustainable. Hmm ... how to structure it though ... something like your own kick start program. I just don't know.

Well, if you can identify anyone here in the Denver metro area, my cousin Vinnie still has his ball bat out in his garage collecting dust. He had to go into retirement when the Feds started sniffin around concerning several broken knee caps.

This is one of those Elephant in the room discussions that comes up almost yearly. Everyone vents (me included) and then we bear down and try to find constructive ways forward.

Until next year friends