| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 26 Jul 2010 : 14:13:34
Mod Edit: Altered the scroll's title somewhat, to more appropriately reflect it's content, and added some adhesive as well.
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Okay... I had some time today, betwixt calls, and prepped up this list. I just downloaded every single one of the files, so I know they're all there.
Note, however, that all I had was the FR stuff. I don't have links for the other stuff that was on that page.
I organized it all by alphabetical order. All the links but the one for The North lead directly to the files on the WotC site. The North's link leads to a still-extant page on the WotC site, from where the boxed set can be downloaded.
Arcane Age: Netheril--Empire of Magic
Calimport
Castle Spulzeer
City of Gold
City of Ravens Bluff
Cormanthyr
Cult of the Dragon
Dungeon Crawl: Undermountain--Maddgoth's Castle
Dungeon Crawl: Undermountain--Stardock
Dungeon Crawl: Undermountain--The Lost Level
Elminster's Ecologies, Appendix 1
Elminster's Ecologies, Appendix 2
Endless Armies
Fires of Zatal
For Duty and Deity
Four From Cormyr
Gold and Glory
How the Mighty Are Fallen
Lands of Intrigue
Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw
Marco Volo: Arrival
Marco Volo: Departure
Marco Volo: Journey
Maztica
Ronin Challenge
Savage Frontier
Test of the Samurai
The Fall of Myth Drannor
The Horde
The North
Vilhon Reach
Villain's Lorebook
Volo's Guide to All Things Magical
Volo's Guide to Cormyr
Volo's Guide to the Dalelands
Volo's Guide to the North
Adding Wooly's links to the first post. Thanks Wooly.
Wooly edit: Couple links were out of order. Fixed. 
Brimstone Edit 09-01-2010
Needed to add this link.
BRIMSTONE EDIT 10-09-2010
Add quote with more Links.
quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
Okay, before you panic, what exactly are you looking for?
I can still get to the Realmslore, the Retired, Waterdeep News, Return to Undermountain, Class Chronicles, Border Kingdoms, and News articles.
BRIMSTONE EDIT 11-16-2010
Add some missing links. Someone will find them useful. Realmslore is always useful!
The Wailing Dwarf
The Tribes of Thar
The Cavern of Death
Ironfang Keep
The Purple Halls
Tomb of the Astronomer
|
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| The Sage |
Posted - 10 Sep 2011 : 02:07:34
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'm thinking we should de-sticky this thread, since it looks like WotC did indeed remove the files. Any thoughts for or against doing that?
I'm inclined to agree. Most of our current scribes know either the name or location of this scroll by now, so any new details which can be added later, will still be easily contributed. |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 09 Sep 2011 : 20:42:27
What happened was Silversword posted that link in the "Off Topic Tavern." Someone asked what had happened to them. Well the Tavern has or had a rather zealous poster that likes to report certain posters posts, and get them banned.
There was some threads in the Community Business forums asking what was going on...
Thanks Wooly. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 09 Sep 2011 : 17:44:39
I would think that if Wizbro finds links to old D&D archives offensive they would address the sources; ie, the archive sites and the search engines. I personally don't think we should unsticky this useful thread unless Wizbro announces such a request here (or, more likely, directs us to more extensive commentary on their own site). FWIW, there are other fansites (which appear reputable enough to me) with these downloads archived onto their own servers to ensure their visitors always have access to these free materials ... I have little doubt that WotC is well aware of them all yet they have not had the materials removed. I can't speak for Wizbro, but I suspect they just "cleaned up" their Wizards.com site and will leave ancient D&D downloads at that, unless pressed into action by some particularly intolerable legal trespass.
Having said that, I do think it would be good to edit the OP, near the top, to append the Wayback archive directly. I know that my personal habit is to disregard old pages whenever the first one or two links I click on them are dead, it would be a shame to lose this valuable resource.
I also repeat my above advice: download these (and all other) Wizbro freebies while you can, because it seems inevitable that one day they'll be gone forever. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Sep 2011 : 17:17:20
I'm thinking we should de-sticky this thread, since it looks like WotC did indeed remove the files. Any thoughts for or against doing that? |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Sep 2011 : 17:16:52
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
quote:
Originally posted by bladeinAmn
http://web.archive.org/web/20050403143759/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads
Copy & paste it into your brownser heading.
Cool. I think there was some issues going on the wizards site as to whether these PDF's are still legal. People were getting banned for posting that link.
Banned? Wow... Maybe they did take those files down, then... Though I'm still curious as to why they'd wait so long after the inexplicable cancelling of sales of existing pdfs...
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
I have been busy. Moved. This is the first internet access I have had from home, and not at work. Then my mother died on monday, and had all of that stuff going on.
Been one hell of a week.
My sympathies to you and your family.
|
| Brimstone |
Posted - 09 Sep 2011 : 16:32:58
quote:
Originally posted by bladeinAmn
http://web.archive.org/web/20050403143759/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads
Copy & paste it into your brownser heading.
Cool. I think there was some issues going on the wizards site as to whether these PDF's are still legal. People were getting banned for posting that link.
I have been busy. Moved. This is the first internet access I have had from home, and not at work. Then my mother died on monday, and had all of that stuff going on.
Been one hell of a week. |
| Thieran |
Posted - 08 Sep 2011 : 15:24:21
I concur with Ayrik, as I made a similar experience recently. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 08 Sep 2011 : 05:30:39
You may be right, Wooly, but I strongly suspect this time you aren't. If Wizards still has ye olde 2E material (for example) anywhere on their site they have very explicitly instructed the google bots to avoid and unlist it. A specific example might be a complex google search for Volo's Guide to All Things Magical ... if the search engines cannot index the material then it might as well not exist. I have of course tried it with other documents I know once existed, I have of course tried it with several other search engines I trust, I happily invite you to look deeper and wish you luck in finding any cryptic new links which might exist. These explicit search parameters have never failed before, but now they strongly hint that the material is quite simply removed from public domain. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 08 Sep 2011 : 04:59:48
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
I would suggest downloading every link in this scroll while you still can. Even the Wayback Machine must conform to legal demands (and polite requests) made by copyright holders ... Wizbro has removed all this material from their site (which would've required very deliberate and methodical effort on their part), and one never knows when Wizbro will decide to politely ask/threaten archive sites to remove all non-current non-DDI material from public domain forever.
I'm not convinced it's gone from their site... I've mentioned more than once files that were posted on the Wizards site back in 2000, that no longer have links -- or even references to them! -- anywhere on the Wizards site, but that are still out there. Wizards has a long history of shuffling stuff around without bothering to update anything, and I think that's what's happened here. Seriously, if this stuff was going to be taken down, it should have happened at the same time as the inexplicable decision to suspend all legal pdf sales. |
| Thelonius |
Posted - 07 Sep 2011 : 22:31:39
I already downloaded everything when I saw some of the material gone. you never know when you are gonna need some Realms extra material |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 07 Sep 2011 : 22:11:20
I would suggest downloading every link in this scroll while you still can. Even the Wayback Machine must conform to legal demands (and polite requests) made by copyright holders ... Wizbro has removed all this material from their site (which would've required very deliberate and methodical effort on their part), and one never knows when Wizbro will decide to politely ask/threaten archive sites to remove all non-current non-DDI material from public domain forever. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 07 Sep 2011 : 21:56:16
Anyone remember "Terrible Trouble at Tragidore?" My first adventure :) |
| bladeinAmn |
Posted - 07 Sep 2011 : 20:35:49
http://web.archive.org/web/20050403143759/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads
Copy & paste it into your brownser heading. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 20 Aug 2011 : 02:07:00
This scroll is stickied, so it's not really necessary to bump it. |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 08:29:30
Bump! |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 01 Jan 2011 : 07:25:19
I recently discovered the Wizards Adventure Archive. Tons of modules, old and new(er), official free downloads. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 23 Dec 2010 : 05:51:38
Well, there is a legal recourse - they can purchase the physical old-edition copies from eBay/etc. Transfer of ownership, private sales, perfectly legal (even where products, like software, have eula/disclaimers which claim otherwise, which aren't legally enforceable most places in North America, btw). Your proposed copyright revisions aren't workable, Jakk (which is to say that although the MPAA/RIAA would love to write such stuff into their DMCA, it's probably "too unfair" for the consumers to accept without a lot of sugar-coated lobbying).
Of course obtaining a full set of lost edition rulebooks is not cheap. Especially since the grognards and collectors are always hunting for 'em as well. Besides, the kids want the snazzy artwork, better organization, and easy-to-digest text windows of the newer editions*; old Gygax books are stuffy and convoluted and impossibly arbitrary in comparison, and aren't going to draw in new players.
* I'd almost be willing to bet that the way to finally kill piracy of old D&D stuff would be to actually provide free official downloads of the material - ugly plaintext; stripped of all illustration, formatting, and nicety. Nobody's going to bother to scan and distribute or download stuff that's already officially available, yet the "market" will still want to buy the latest/greatest print edition they can get.
Hmphf, edition police. Bah.
They can have my 1E Dungeon Master's Guide when they pry it from my cold, undead hands. |
| Jakk |
Posted - 23 Dec 2010 : 05:14:00
And in my opinion, it's why we need a revision of copyright law to account for the ease of distribution of digital media. If a publisher isn't going to keep a product "in print" in some form (including PDF or even just an electronic plain-text file), then their copyright should expire immediately. This should apply to previous versions of revised publications as well, of course, such as (in this case) previous editions. Keeping publications electronically available for a nominal fee is easy to do, and maybe it would be taken more seriously if it meant the survival of the copyright on said publications. But then, I'm a left-wing pseudo-anarchist, so maybe my politics are affecting my perspective on copyright law here.
Edit: Either way, until the Edition Police kick down my door and repossess my hard copy library, I'm content to simply ignore the new product being turned out. In the event of such a thing happening, it would probably motivate me to take up a more Machiavellian hobby.  The unfortunate thing is that, for newer players who missed out on the older products, there is no legal recourse.  |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 22 Dec 2010 : 11:55:14
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
And now the trickier question. Candlekeep obviously does not condone links to pirated material. But what of material that was once *free official downloads* and has since been culled away without any official comment or response? Both from TSR/Wizards and from third parties? Does Candlekeep assert an official position on posting links to archives of such material?
So far as I know, the only legal free source I know of for old TSR/WotC downloads is the WotC site itself.
That's one of the points that not everyone seems to get: it doesn't matter if something is free or not, what matters is whether or not someone was given the rights to distribute the material. If they weren't licensed to distribute TSR/WotC's material, then they cannot legally do so, and we can not condone sending people to the site. Even with no money changing hands, if they aren't licensed to distribute the material, it's piracy. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 22 Dec 2010 : 11:44:41
I'd just assume that we avoid posting such links... just to play it safe, or until official confirmation can be obtained. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 22 Dec 2010 : 09:19:33
And now the trickier question. Candlekeep obviously does not condone links to pirated material. But what of material that was once *free official downloads* and has since been culled away without any official comment or response? Both from TSR/Wizards and from third parties? Does Candlekeep assert an official position on posting links to archives of such material? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 22 Dec 2010 : 09:04:03
So long as it's still available from Wizards, and we've had no "cease and desist" -styled orders, it's all still legal. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 22 Dec 2010 : 08:50:45
I'm under the impression that everything from the www.wizards.com website is still legal?
It seems to me that if a decision was made to discontinue the official downloads or make them "illegal" then they would be entirely removed from the webserver, or require some sort of password to access/unlock/decrypt them. The content itself is still there - where the public and the search engines can easily retrieve it - even if the links which lead to it are bad, dead, or simply gone. True or false? |
| Matt James |
Posted - 10 Dec 2010 : 19:20:56
quote:
Originally posted by Fellfire
We would never do anything without the approval of the Senate
Sorry, this literally made me laugh out loud. I love CK :) |
| The Sage |
Posted - 10 Dec 2010 : 06:09:43
"I will make it legal."  |
| Fellfire |
Posted - 10 Dec 2010 : 04:57:11
We would never do anything without the approval of the Senate |
| The Sage |
Posted - 29 Nov 2010 : 23:32:27
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by UkplayerX
If you know where to look you can get nearly all the 1,2 and 3e FRCS stuff!! The_Silversword knows what i mean!!
I hope you're only referring to legally available material, because we neither encourage nor condone discussions of illegal downloads.
Seconded. Let's try to adhere to the dictates of the Candlekeep Code of Conduct in this matter. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 29 Nov 2010 : 18:34:51
quote:
Originally posted by UkplayerX
If you know where to look you can get nearly all the 1,2 and 3e FRCS stuff!! The_Silversword knows what i mean!!
I hope you're only referring to legally available material, because we neither encourage nor condone discussions of illegal downloads. |
| UkplayerX |
Posted - 29 Nov 2010 : 16:34:06
If you know where to look you can get nearly all the 1,2 and 3e FRCS stuff!! The_Silversword knows what i mean!! |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 21 Nov 2010 : 21:12:28
PM sent.
Thanks guys. |
