When White Wolf made the decision to stop selling their RPGs through physical retail stores, I was devastated, since I owned a book store, but I didn't have a computer. I tried to keep up with the new releases for a while, but I stopped after a year or two, just as the White Wolf business was retired by the name's new owner. Many of the original developers formed a new company, Onyx Path Publishing (OPP), and moved from Atlanta to Pennsylvania. Sometime around 2017, or early 2018, I started to get back into my RPGs, mostly when I finally joined social media. I couldn't believe about everything that happened in my time away. I found out that Paradox, a Norwegian video company that now owned the IP for WOD, as well as COD and Exalted, was coming out with a fifth edition of V:tM, although through a different publisher. There were a few hiccups, including going through multiple publishers, but there is a flow of new WOD5 products, not that I am completely interested in them. I was much more interested in what OPP was doing with the 20th Anniversary editions of the old WOD game lines. In early 2019, I found out that OPPs partner in distributing the PDF and print-on-demand (POD) versions of their products, Drivethrurpg.com, was having a sale. Since I now had a computer, and a credit card (don't judge me), I decided to buy all six of the 20th editions of the core books that had been released (Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Mage: the Ascension, Wraith: the Oblivion, Changeling: the Dreaming, and Vampire: the Dark Ages). [V:tM, W:tA, M:tAs, W:tO,C:tD, and V:DA respectively] It felt a little naughty buying those PDFs, but it was worth it. It was also much cheaper than buying the PODs and having to wait a few weeks to have them delivered. Probably to my store, which would have been awkward. Strangely enough, the PODs would have been made by Lightning Source, which might just be the parent company of Drivethrurpg.com, as well as a possible division of Ingram at one time and maybe still. I glanced through the PDFs that night and the next day, but I never fully read them. I didn't have the time and reading digital screens too long hurts my eyes. However, I was hooked again. I would end up slowly buying PDFs of the "20s" books whenever a sale came on. Most of them were funded through crowdsourcing, including the core books. As bonuses, I could have gotten PDFs of many of the books I lost in the 2003 flood, if I had only known. I would later join in the campaigns for a few new books in the line. Unfortunately, the bonuses I got were mostly the new books. The older books I was able to add-on were either ones I was fortunate enough to get replacements for or ones I didn't get the first time around. I even almost joined the campaigns for special V5 supplements that OPP got the chance to publish, but I passed over on one and chickened out at the last minute on the other. Literally, there were only about ten minutes left when I decided not to do it. I just felt unsure about the process. I did start with the next available campaign in 2020 though. Now, I have just about bought all of the 20th Anniversary books that have been made, and I am starting on the older, original books that I lost in 2003. I might start going to books I missed out on after that, if I can make it that long. See, I am scared that another show is getting ready to drop. There are only three supplements scheduled to come out, and after that, nothing. There hasn't been anything announced for COD either for months, although Exalted still has plenty in the pipeline. (I'm not getting either line, as I was never as hot for them as I was for WOD.) I'm thinking that Paradox doesn't want the competition, especially since the new WOD5 material coming out is dividing the fanbase, with many older fans like myself not liking them so much. Plus, the changes Paradox has been forcing on the WOD20 material has been harsh at times. I'm afraid that they will stop allowing the products to be available, forcing people to pick up their fifth edition or else go without. I haven't been downloading all of my purchases, as I'm afraid that I won't have enough memory on my computer to hold everything. In fact, I think that memory drain helped kill my old one. I also don't have outside storage, or know how to use it. Printing off everything would be tricky as well, as the core books have hundreds of pages each. Still, I'm looking forward for my last three new books. One could be out by the end of the year. I just hope my new digital collection doesn't fade away any time soon.
[I should add that I've gotten other digital books from other sources. Some of the first V5 products had codes for the free PDF copies, but they were lost on my old computer, as well as some other free materials provided by Paradox. I have downloaded a few other new things, including wallpapers, but I don't really care for most of them, but they were free. I am currently contemplating purchasing a bundle of WOD5 products for a very low price. I don't want many of them, but the thought of getting some rarer products cheap might be too hard to pass up. The next products I get will push my past 350 total books, so I am considering things very tightly.]
Next week, I go over the other places where I have gotten books, just not in the sheer numbers as these first three spots. Every one was equally important.
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