I picked up a nice copy of the 1st print in January and saw another on Ebay last December (that sold for about $16) so they are still out there to be found.

Unfortunately, this is probably the only thing I didn't PDF. I doubt there is, or ever will be, a PDF copy of this. You see, in order to PDF it, you need to cut off the spine. It'd perfect bound. I don't imagine anyone will destroy a copy just to make a PDF. They're not as mad as me.

Ah. Well maybe there is one out there. Someone here has (or had) the ear of the author.

Just a thought..
Maybe someone could hammer out a retro clone...

There is a pdf. I will not give it to anyone as both the author of the work, and the person who performed the pdfing gave instructions that it was not to be distributed. I never did hear back about the option to reprint, which is a shame since I am within a few months of being my own print house (well, sort of.)

serleran wrote:I never did hear back about the option to reprint, which is a shame since I am within a few months of being my own print house (well, sort of.)

I tracked down the guy who the author mentioned as someone who might have a bunch of copies but couldn't get in contact with the author.  My impression was that he was looking at either reprinting or revising and reprinting so distributing a pdf would probably be against his wishes.

teuzzo wrote:this is the way games die....

It's a real pity how an interesting game, albeit "old-fashioned" is doomed to disappear forever.

Games don't 'die' or 'disappear forever'. At most, they become rediculously epensive and disappear into the collections of those who can afford them. Until the guy who writes it is dead, and has been dead for seventy years, he has absolute right over what happens to, or does not happen to his personal work.

The only possible argement that can be had is one on the moral obligation a creator may have to the public to ensure that works 'survive', and I'm sure that steps have been taken to ensure that happens. If Serl has a PDF copy knowingly with the author's consent, then we know that the author and the creator also have copies, and the odds are very high that other select trusted individuals do too. So the author has taken steps to ensure his work survives. I am sure Serl, or some others, will make sure they maintain their electronic copies and keep them backed up, and come their 80th birthdays, when everyone has forgotten about these things, when most of those involved are with their makers, and when public opinion or current legistlation has changed, maybe they'll be ensuring their private and rare PDFs are passed along to other trusted individuals.

So these things WILL NOT die. It's just a matter of how much a person wished to invest to get access to something which is rare. That is the nature of collecting rare books. And believe me, $80 a copy is nothing compared to some of the rare unpublished manuscripts that we've seen pass through eBay and into private collections. And most of those have no safeguards (no digital backup).

Mars wrote:There is a copy on Amazon for $100.

Well, if it's in EX condition or above, it's probably a fair price. IIRC, there is also an eratta sheet which is more often than not missing, and a product called Geomorphic Wilderness Hexagons which is rediculously rare.

yes, but the benefit of sharing is that anyone in the world will get the opportunity of trying/enjoying this game again.

Sharing in this case may mean distributing a pdf copy or printing a real copy one more time.

What is the purpose of it all- if only a few person currently have this game in their hands in the entire world?

Each of us should be given the chance of enjoying such an experience.

Going by those rules, teuzzo, anytime an entity decides to stop producing a product, temporarily or permanently, it should become public domain. That doesn't work well.