Steel_Wind said:
Look - we already know that it won't be the same content. We know this because the people at Paizo who turned Dungeon and Dragon around and who have been stewarding the publications to their respective golden and silver ages won't be involved in it anymore.
That's a good point. If only they get Paizo authors like Skip Williams, Ed Greenwood, Monte Cook, Andy Collins, Mike Mearls, Gwen Kestrel, Wolfgang Baur, Eric Cagle, Stephen Schubert, Robin Laws, Jason Nelson, Creighton Broadhurst, Greg Noonan, Chris Tommasson or Chris Perkins to work on the D&D online content then maybe they.....
Oh, wait: THEY ALREADY ARE. All these authors have some form of content up on the main D&D articles page RIGHT NOW, except perhaps for Monte Cook, who I didn't see in an article within the last month. You'll note that the list includes TWO EDITORS from PAIZO. I don't see Erik Mona on there, but I see members of his editorial staff and I see tons of authors who have appeared in Dungeon and Dragon....which should come as little surprise to anyone, as many of them are either WotC employees or freelancers (many of whom have worked on WotC's hardbound books).
The fact of the matter is that while I'm not happy with this change AT ALL, it's clear that the single largest employer of freelance RPG writers and artists in the business will CONTINUE to do so...and while not every employee of WotC is a household name, it seems folly to assume that they lack talent or skill in producing content. The same people who have produced the content for Dragon and Dungeon in the last few months will likely continue to do so...indeed, they will probably be more in demand, as WotC ramps up their need for online content.
It isn't a fact that WotC's way will be any good or succeed....but the converse is also true.
I understand folks emotional reaction, to be sure...I experienced it, as well. But I have to admit that I find it very funny when someone chastises WotC for canceling a publication that they haven't supported in decades. As much as I hate to acknowledge it, it's a periodical, not a security blanket. Oddly enough, seeing all the bile here has actually pushed me more into accepting the change than resisting it.