I don't miss the magazines (/ducks)

[Keefe the Thief]

I have stacks and stacks of old Dragon and Dungeon magazines sitting about 3 feet from me (about 13 magazine boxes worth). I collected them for years and years (going back to the 80s). When it was announced that Dragon and Dungeon were going the way of the Dodo (at least as far as print magazines are concerned), I had a heavy heart. I was maybe even what you’d call angry for a time.

Now, I’m much happier.

Let me say that I don’t think of Dragon or Dungeon as a magazine anymore. In my mind, I replaced the magazines with the DDI. Even notwithstanding the use of any of the “tools” (e.g. Character Builder), and just looking at the articles released under the Dragon or Dungeon label, I have to admit, the material is more useful than what the printed magazines offered me.

There was never an easy way to categorize the printed magazines and as a result I almost never (in over twenty years of D&D gaming glory) actually used any of the content. Now, however, with the ease of printing a PDF and slapping it in a folder (or just being able to save them in an easily accessible manner on my computer), I find that I actually get a ton of use out of the articles.

Am I unique (or in a small demographic) this way? Have those of you who subscribe to DDI and used to collect/subscribe to the magazines (at least Dragon) found that your actual content use has gone up?

In retrospect, I’m surprised to hear myself say that I’m glad for the DDI and even if I was presented with the alternative of having the magazines in print, I’d decline. For me, there is more value in the current format.

DDI is better for my game than Dragon or Dungeon magazine ever was.

You are not alone. Especially the organizational thing is a win. I always have one or two articles sitting on my desktop, waiting to be read. I can categorize them and still download the full issue. And i don´t have to sweat the crunch they bring - all that is done for me by DDI. In this regard, Dungeon&Dragon are heaven.

 

[Olli]

Well, I miss them a lot. I don´t play 4e, I don´t like a lot of the new fluff so the new digital editions don´t matter to me. To be honest, printed magazines with the content they have at that time won´t matter to me, too.

But even if the content were to my liking, I still like to take my magazines to the bin (as a father to a 4 year old one of the only places to sneak in a read),
so I think this digital nonsense don´t cut it.

As for organizing, I know it´s a little backwards, but you can copy pages from a magazine and put them in a binder. (Believe me, thats how we done it in the 80).

Olli

 

[amethal]

I was always going to miss out on Dragon, digital or print. Since I don't play 4th edition, Dragon would have moved on and left me behind. Its just the way things are.

I'd have continued to buy a print version of Dungeon. I love reading print adventures, for any version of D&D. Reading a PDF just isn't the same, somehow.

Pathfinder is great, but it still isn't Dungeon. I miss that magazine.

 

[delericho]

For me, both Dragon and Dungeon were at a high point when they got cancelled. So, I do miss that.

However, most of the quality of the print magazines came from the writing staff, which has now been redirected to Pathfinder, so that fills much of the same role. At the same time, since I don't play 4e, I wouldn't be reading the magazines as they stand now.

So, I miss what they were, but probably wouldn't be at all interested in them now even if there was a print offering. Does that make sense?

 

[wedgeski]

I have a stack of both magazines and enjoyed them a lot, but I don't find myself missing them. For pure content DDI does exactly the same thing, to the same or similar standard, by and large... adventure paths not withstanding.

I would prefer more than two adventures in Dungeon (who wouldn't?) but the ones that are there are massive and more than worth the money I'm paying. Plus the filtering of all the crunch into the Compendium is just... well, let's just say if the price of getting that functionality was the permanent loss of one adventure per month, I would still think it was worth it.

 

[Maggan]

I miss Dragon and Dungeon. The Dragon and Dungeon from my youth, that is. While I think that Paizo did a top notch job with the magazines, they never evoked the same enthusiasm with me as did Dragon, Dungeon and White Dwarf during the 80's.

But that's nostalgia on my part. I think that the magazines got better, but never managed to capture me when everything was new and exciting.

So, I don't really miss Dragon and Dungeon, because I couldn't get the same thrill out of them as I once did. And so, the DDI is far more interesting and useful to me.

/M

 

[MichaelK]

I miss them.

Which is funny, because I've never ever used a single thing out of dragon and I ran a single adventure out of dungeon once.

I would sit outside and read through them with a cup of tea and just think about D&D inspired by the pretty pictures and tone of the magazine. It would get me in the D&D mood, and while I'm in that mood I'd think up ideas of my own.

 

[MarcR]

I miss them a great deal actually. An online only magazine really isn't worth much to me. I want t a print product. A PDF as well is certainly nice, but there is nothing like having the actual issue in your hand.

As for actually using the content from Dragon, we used it quite often over the years - there was / is some great stuff in there!

Do I miss Dragon? Absolutely. I view my collection of printed issues (#22 to the last one) with a sense of pride and I often pull out issues to read, both for fun AND for game use.

 

[JeffB]

I miss print. I really do. I HATE HATE HATE reading on a screen for any length of time.

As for the DDI mags-

DDI Dragon has been more useful to me than it has been..well since the 1E Days. Very impressed . I did not like the late 2E and 3E era Dragon mag in general (FIGHTERS KICK ASS!)

DDI Dungeon would not be worth the paper to be printed on. I don't like or run APs, and the material AP or otherwise is mostly uninspiring. Not to mention the adventure format pales (read as: sucks) compared to say KotS.

 

[Rokes]

I spend 9+ hours a day reading a computer screen at work. I miss having those dead trees in my hand as a relaxing break. Who cares if you actually use the content directly in your games? I read them for inspiration and for pure enjoyment.

Am I the only one who misses the ads? There were many ads for gaming products that I would not have been exposed to otherwise.