An Open Letter to Dragon and Dungeon Readers

[Keith F Strohm]

I'm sure these changes will appeal to a much wider customer base and hopefully generate better revenues and return customers for you, and I truly do wish you luck, but I will have to stick by my lament for the death of things that do not fit within the status quo of the average D&D fanbase or the marketing-focus-de jour of WotC.

You certainly can't make all of the people happy all of the time (many RPG companies and mags have died trying), and sometimes you can't make someone happy at all. No hard feelings.

Ledded,

Thank you for your own candor. We really do believe that these decisions will help insure that Dragon and Dungeon thrive in the coming years. I hope to see you perusing the pages of our magazines in the future.

Keith Strohm
Vice President
Paizo Publishing, LLC

 

[rowport]

Hey, Paizo folks!

First off, thanks for the update posts here on ENWorld- it is great that you folks see some of your core audience (with loud praise or complaints!) and are responding in kind on-line. I was also happy to note an ENWorld post in your recent letters column- smart.

Keeping my thoughts brief:
Dragon: I initially shared the nervousness of some of the other posters here about CRPG and mini articles, but feel lots better after Matt Sernett's clarification. I can handle a couple of new articles, just not a fundamental shift away from the D&D RPG. Since I think the current Dragon is darn near perfect right now- my most awaited monthy mag- I might be nervous about any change! Regarding miniatures, the only articles that I wish would return are mini painting, which I realize runs counter to the pre-painted plastic ones...

Dungeon: Hmm. I was a Polyhedron/Mini-Game guy, so I am really not thrilled about this. If you were going to eliminate any section, I would have voted for RPGA, which is a waste of space IMO. I guess I can see it for business reasons, but am disappointed. Oh, well...

Thanks again for sharing the plans.

 

[JeffB]

I let my Dragon sub lapse a couple of months ago (for the second time). Looks like I won't be re-subbing there. More crunch.

However I *may* re-sub to Dungeon. It sounds like it will be more useful, and although I liked some extra D20 content, other than the pulp game, I thought the mini-games were wasted space. So thats a good think killing them AFAIC.

If the adventure quality goes up, I'll spring for the sub.

How much emphasis in Dungeon will there be on Realms, Greyhawk, and Eberron specific adventures Keith? or Matt ? or Erik?

 

[d20Dwarf]

*Suspiciously active avatar*.

What the heck is your avatar doing??!?

 

[milotha]

Cool, sounds like I'll be resubscribing to Dungeon if all this is true. :

 

[Dark Jezter]

The “New” Dragon

Starting with Issue #323, Dragon Magazine opens its pages to a new era of utility and excitement. In addition to its usual complement of material that provides D&D players with the tools they need to raise the level of their play experience, the new Dragon provides more information about all aspects of the D&D brand. Whether you knock down dungeon doors in the tabletop RPG, command warbands with the D&D Miniatures game, invade the Underdark online with your closest friends, or enjoy reading about the exploits of your favorite characters, the new Dragon is THE source for information about and content for Dungeons & Dragons. Also, starting with issue #323, the new Dragon presents a bonus quarterly catalog giving you the scoop on upcoming D&D releases from Wizards of the Coast, all gathered in one place.

I don't mind this at all. It could be nice to expand Dragon's coverage to D&D products other than the P&P RPG.

And lest you think we’re skimping on RPG content, our plans for the new dragon include having articles that present new spells, feats, magic items, rules advice, player tactics, a single prestige class, a new PC race, and an ecology of a monster in every issue--something for everyone, no matter what character they play! With features like the new Class Acts—which provides content for each of the eleven Player’s Handbook classes—and Coup de Grace—the last word in gaming, this column lets you hear from the people behind every aspect of D&D, from designers and developers to members of the marketing team—Dragon continues its tradition of providing the best D&D RPG content to its readers.

Sounds good. More races, feats, classes, etc. Are always good, just so long as too many of those new races aren't elf subraces. There are enough of those as is.

The “New” Dungeon

Beginning with issue #114, Dungeon magazine becomes the ultimate resource for Dungeon Masters. Each issue will contain three adventures, one each for low-, medium-, and high-level play. So, no matter the experience level of your party, DUNGEON’S got you covered every single month. In addition to the high-quality adventures you’ve come to expect from the magazine, Dungeon will expand its offerings to include articles and other content written specifically to help DMs take their game to the next level. From old favorites like the ever-popular Dungeoncraft by Monte Cook, to new features like the Campaign Workbook—a section devoted to providing tools specifically designed to enhance a DM’s ability to create lively and adventurous campaigns—the “new” Dungeon offers experienced DMs and players interested in taking up the reigns of Dungeon Mastering everything they need to be successful.

In order to provide this in-depth offering, Dungeon will now focus exclusively on Dungeons & Dragons—delivering even more high-quality D&D coverage. We listened to your feedback, and it was clear that by trying to serve D&D fans, the d20 market, Star Wars fans, and the RPGA, our magazine wasn’t completely succeeding at delivering the highest quality experience for any of those groups. We know that many of you subscribed to Dungeon for the complete mini-games and articles about Star Wars d20 and D&D Modern. Unfortunately, there weren't enough of you to offset those who left the magazine due to the decrease in the D&D content each issue. The D&D players felt we weren't giving them enough D&D content, and the Polyhedron readers felt that we shorted the d20 stuff. For this reason, after careful thought and some soul searching, we’ve decided to end the long run of Polyhedron Magazine and focus on being the best resource for Dungeon Masters. Regular RPGA updates will transfer to Dragon magazine to reach the largest number of D&D gamers around the world, and we’ll continue to include RPGA Player Reward adventure codes for each Dungeon adventure. With Network material in both magazines, Dragon and Dungeon will support the RPGA like never before.

I agree with all the changes here. Good job!

 

[Cassander]

Well, I'll certainly give Dungeon a look again. On the one hand, I'd wish it would focus just on adventures like it used to. I don't mind the occasional adventure from a setting or game I don't play (one of the best was a Chris Perkins Alternity, actually, and I never have played Alternity), but the minigames weren't adventures and they took up way too much space. I never have and never will play d20 modern, so they were almost totally useless anyway. Quite happy to see the new Poly go.

But if the non adventure DM info is good (like the original Dungeoncraft, rather than Monte's version), and the adventures are interesting, plentiful, and useful, then I'll probably resubscribe.

Btw, I don't mind adventures that tie in with new products or settings that Wizards puts out, as it sometimes gives a nice sampling of the product that lets me know whether I'll like it. Just make sure its usable without hte product

Oh, and well-written adventures with cool twists are a plus too. Ailamere's Lair stands out cause it was so open-ended and the goal of the adventure was so completely different from any other adventure, as does the aforementioned Alternity adventure cause you could actually fail without a tpk. I'd love to see more adventures like those.

More recent favs include Natural Selection and Mysterious Ways.

 

[Minicol]

We'll continue to support the Living Greyhawk campaign in Dungeon with "Living Greyhawk Approved" articles similar to the City of Hardby we ran in #109. Dungeon #114 also has an adventure usable as an introduction to the LG campaign, set in the city of Greyhawk. Dungeons #117, 118, 119, and 120 will contain a massive four-part poster map of the World of Greyhawk similar to the FR map published in Dragon a couple years ago. Wolf Baur's got a module on tap set in the Land of Black Ice, and I've also got Sean Reynolds at work on a Greyhawk adventure. Greyhawk fans will have lots to like about the new Dungeon (as will Eberron and Forgotten Realms fans--lots of exciting stuff for those settings coming up as well).

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon Magazine

Oh Joy, Oh happiness ! How about a little bit of Living Arcanis on top of that to send us completely to the heavens ?

 

[Felon]

Some random thoughts:

• More Dungeons in Dungeon--Fantastic! A no-brainer! One subscription renewed right here!
• No More Poly--Too bad, but it was not a very elegant fusion to begin with.
• Mixing RPG with Minis & Console Games--So you're streamling Dungeon just to turn around and muddle up Dragon? I think you'll find yourself in the same position too, with you losing more core readers than you gain by pandering to other facets of D&D. After all, what can you really offer computer gamers besides news and advice columns, which they already get from fan websites for free?
• Porting Dragon Content to Dungeon--Of course Dungeoncraft belongs in Dungeon! Good move. Another no-brainer. Y'know what? IMO the monster ecology articles belong there too.
• Will Wheaton Articles--What's the big deal? Why should anyone care? I mean, we're talking about a guy who was in a sci-fi show for a few seasons, got written out, and then really hasn't done much since. That I even remember this guy's name is kinda sad. And this isn't even a sci-fi mag. Let's get some articles by Marc Singer or Shawn Wayans or the who played Ralph Malph and the voice of Eric the Cavalier on the old D&D cartoon.
• More Elven Subraces, Please--I'll buy two copies of any issue that features a new elven subrace...no, three. OK, four tops.

 

[Sernett]

I let my Dragon sub lapse a couple of months ago (for the second time). Looks like I won't be re-subbing there. More crunch.

Just to echo something Keith said in an earlier post: The letter doesn't describe all of the changes to Dragon. The regular articles that we plan to have in every issue of the new Dragon include plenty of flavor or "fluff." Each issue should have an ecology artilcle describing the culture and nature of a D&D monster, the Class Acts articles (not prestige classes) that offer roleplaying advice and new ideas for each core class, Player Tips article that help you have more fun by providing roleplaying and play advice, and the new PC race articles that will offer an in-depth veiw into a new monster for your D&D game (which just happens to be a playable PC race). Of course, we plan a more balanced flavor-crunch ratio in all articles, and the new features should include things of interest to you too.

We'd love it if you'd take a look at the first couple of issues and let us know what you think of the new format: what works and what doesn't. That goes for anyone who hasn't checked out Dragon in a while or who has been dissatisfied with what we've been doing. We made these changes to the magazines with our consumers desires in mind, and we want to hear from you about the new magazines.