New issue of Dragon+ (April '16)

The new issue of the Dragon+ app is out in your favourite mobile app store. If you don't have the app on your phone or tablet you can access it from your computer. Most of the articles have already been released, but compiled in one convenient location. Also, it has an article on the MtG Zendikar setting (with link to the PDF) and one on Gale Force Nine's Strahd figurines. No new crunch in this one.

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[Jester David]

My own suggestion is that a lot of content could be generated just curating and previewing more of the content from the DM's Guild. That way it continues to serve as an advertising medium while providing a service to the D&D community. Unfortunately, I think that's still more effort than they're willing and able to put into the app for the moment.

Good new. That sounds awfully similar to what they're already doing every other Unearthed Arcana, highlighting selections from the DMs Guild. Since UA already appears in Dragon+, so that count should end up there. Even if not, it's on the website.

Unless you mean Dragon+ should also host that content.
The catch is, Dragon+ likely has a budget of almost zero, being a marketing tool that generates no revenue. So it's unlikely have the funds to pay writers for much gaming content.
Also, what's the benefit for them? If they just link to the best of the DMsGuild, then people buy that and that makes them money. And like the Adventurer's League modules, authors have the opportunity to make more money long term by having content hosted on the Guild rather than a one-time payment for content hosted on Dragon+.

 

[Kramodlog]

No. They opted for a familiar name, which kinda makes sense, but does lead to unfortunate comparisons.
It's just a little silly to judge thus small free newsletter solely based on the history of the name. It's not like people complain about Unearthed Arcana because it's not a 250-page book.

Except UA actually has content. Naming the app Dragon+ seems like a bait and switch. Especially in an edition with very little crunch. And I get that WotC is a business and they can do what ever they want. Those facts do not prevent me from being critical of the choices it makes. Ultimately though, it is a minor quibble. It just feels like the proud history of the mag is being used to push a sad news letter. Oh well. Some people at WotC just like to see the world burn.

Thing is, I'm surprised their business model of only producing two APs a year is holding up so well. Crunch sells well to players and APs are for DMs and there are less of those, so they should sell less. Shocked I say! Shocked!

 

[Ancalagon]

I would be far more interested in a Dungeon magazine, much more useful to me.

 

[Jester David]

Except UA actually has content.

UA is in Dragon+. So, therefore, Dragon+ has content. Especially for people who don't check the website.

Naming the app Dragon+ seems like a bait and switch. Especially in an edition with very little crunch. And I get that WotC is a business and they can do what ever they want. Those facts do not prevent me from being critical of the choices it makes. Ultimately though, it is a minor quibble. It just feels like the proud history of the mag is being used to push a sad news letter.

It was a great complaint to make… six months ago when Dragon+ launched. It certainly doesn't need to be brought up again and again after each and every new issue comes out.

Thing is, I'm surprised their business model of only producing two APs a year is holding up so well. Crunch sells well to players and APs are for DMs and there are less of those, so they should sell less. Shocked I say! Shocked!

Players are a theoretical audience. Yes, there are 3-5 more players than DMs but players don't always buy the books. Most tables only have one or two purchasers regardless of size. So, in practice, gaming groups are built around a dedicated fan who buys books to be used by the table, and as the person most knowledgeable of the system also runs the game. And thus books dedicated to them will sell just as well as books dedicated to players.
TSR surveys back in the day really highlighted this, with dedicated fans (typically being DMs) being willing to pay 10x as much as other fans. But everyone just ignored that data.

It's significantly more profitable to just keep the attention on the PHB and keep selling that to a growing audience.

There are other factors of course. Twitch helps, and the rise of watching games. The popularity and ease of playing. The current trending of tabletop gaming, and ease of switching to D&D. The variety of virtual tabletops. Word of mouth from it being popular edition, which then increases worth of mouth. That helps feed sales from new and lapsed players.
Plus, there's a generational thing, as people who played as kids in the '80s are now old enough to play with their teenaged kids.

 

[Reinhart]

Good new. That sounds awfully similar to what they're already doing every other Unearthed Arcana, highlighting selections from the DMs Guild. Since UA already appears in Dragon+, so that count should end up there. Even if not, it's on the website.

Unless you mean Dragon+ should also host that content.
The catch is, Dragon+ likely has a budget of almost zero, being a marketing tool that generates no revenue. So it's unlikely have the funds to pay writers for much gaming content.
Also, what's the benefit for them? If they just link to the best of the DMsGuild, then people buy that and that makes them money. And like the Adventurer's League modules, authors have the opportunity to make more money long term by having content hosted on the Guild rather than a one-time payment for content hosted on Dragon+.

I'm not saying they should host it. I'm saying they should review and preview it in greater detail. Similar to the article they did a month or so ago, but with greater detail so that I might actually consider purchasing the items. They make a significant percentage of each of those sales, so it could be seen as advertising for their DMsG service. My main issue is that what they're doing now is too sparse. Every other Unearthed Arcana? If they continue that rate it means blurbs on 3 items every 2 months or so. And so far that content isn't actually showing up in Dragon+ yet, despite the fact that the most recent Unearthed Arcana playtest materials made it in. Basically, even as a free advertisement app it could be doing a better job of engaging and educating the customers. I understand their reluctance to spend more time and money on Dragon+, but the less they invest in it, the worse it's going to be.

 

[Shasarak]

Magazines were already a dying format when WotC attempted to bring them in-house in 2008. Paizo had been struggling to keep the magazines afloat a good decade ago.

And here we are almost a decade later with Paizo still struggling to produce a monthly magazine. When are they going to realise that it is a dying format?

In any case, anything good in this edition?

 

[dd.stevenson]

Kinda. It's also they're answer to our requests for a physical mailing list sent to our homes, or a D&D broadstreet sold on the corner by a shabby urchin in a newsy cap.

I don't take seriously any talk of reviving the print magazines in any format other than the push notification system we have right now. But still, I think there's something to consider about the role that the print magazines played on the lives of D&D fans.

The old print mags were loot crates for gamers: shiny, eagerly awaited, eagerly opened, and ultimately of somewhat marginal utility. It was like a miniature Christmas every month. Today Paizo's adventure path series kind of evokes (or attempts to evoke) the same feeling in its subscribers; but if 5E D&D's your thing, this is a hard fix to get.

Our disappointment with the current offering stems, I think, from failure to adhere to this consumption profile moreso than any particular content or lack thereof.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Kinda. It's also they're answer to our requests for a physical mailing list sent to our homes, or a D&D broadstreet sold on the corner by a shabby urchin in a newsy cap. Dragon+ is filling the gap until another company puts in a licensing request for the magazines. Which won't happen as no one is remotely interested. Gygax Magazine closed up shop and Kobold Quarterly is long dead. Magazines are a giant financial dead end, and it's ridiculous to expect WotC to cling to an outdated delivery format because of nostalgia. Magazines were already a dying format when WotC attempted to bring them in-house in 2008. Paizo had been struggling to keep the magazines afloat a good decade ago. Even in magical and wonderous land of Theoretica where magazines flourish, Dragon and Dungeon occupy a weird space. What content would go in there? The D&D team seems uninterested in waves of new crunch, and Unearthed Arcana serves the content testing function. Advertising and hype is done through social media. Finding new talent and publishing short adventures have been subsumed by the DMsGuild. Regular advice and gaming tips have long since been replaced by gaming blogs. Even letters to the editor and feedback is now replaced by tweeting at the designers directly. Why buy a magazine when you can hit-up any of a dozen websites for equivalent content for free? Why flip through endless pages when you could search through a website for the exact adventure you need?

I bet you right here and now if Wizards put out an online mag that was Dragon and Dungeon combined and charged a small monthly sub it would sell like mad.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Except UA actually has content. Naming the app Dragon+ seems like a bait and switch. Especially in an edition with very little crunch. And I get that WotC is a business and they can do what ever they want. Those facts do not prevent me from being critical of the choices it makes. Ultimately though, it is a minor quibble. It just feels like the proud history of the mag is being used to push a sad news letter. Oh well. Some people at WotC just like to see the world burn. Thing is, I'm surprised their business model of only producing two APs a year is holding up so well. Crunch sells well to players and APs are for DMs and there are less of those, so they should sell less. Shocked I say! Shocked!

Why wouldn't it hold up? It's not like they are pumping loads of money into something and getting a huge return. They haven't put themselves in a position yet that will really prove just how well it's selling overall.

 

[Jester David]

I bet you right here and now if Wizards put out an online mag that was Dragon and Dungeon combined and charged a small monthly sub it would sell like mad.

If the magazines were "selling like mad" they wouldn't have stopped doing them at the end of 5e. They would have continued them or put them on hiatus and brought them back. After all, the current staff at WotC knows exactly how much interest there was for the magazine and how profitable it was.
My guess, it was making money, but not enough to justify the half-dozen full time staff needed to maintain the magazine.

Plus, even IF they decided to bring it back, what content would they include?
Player crunch is covered by the DMsGuild and they really don't want to bloat the game. Advice is covered by blogs. Letters to the editor don't really need to exist with Twitter and Facebook. Sage Advice is covered on the website. There's lot of adventures between the Guild/Adventurer's League and the storylines.
It's a whole lot of work for very little gain. Content for the sake of content.