I don't miss the magazines (/ducks)

[Minicol]

I am happier now too. IF Dungeon and Dragon hadn't gone away I may not now have Kobold Quarterly, Fight On!, Level Up!, and Knockspell. Plus Paizo may not have made the bold decisions they made.

So yes, initially I was very saddened, but I think it has led to far greater RPG happiness.

What he said !

 

[Olli]

That's what laptops are for!

well, a laptop is all fine, but it´s not only the bin, but thinks like the bathtub or when I´m on the bus etc, etc, etc...

But, I give that I´m a real oldfashioned guy who don´t even own´s a cellphone, I think that I´m a minority

Olli

 

[Scribble]

well, a laptop is all fine, but it´s not only the bin, but thinks like the bathtub or when I´m on the bus etc, etc, etc...

But, I give that I´m a real oldfashioned guy who don´t even own´s a cellphone, I think that I´m a minority

Olli

Blink blink... man... I even have gaming stuff on my cell phone. How does one operate without a cell phone these days? That's like saying you don't have teeth or something.

I print stuff out if I want to read it off the monitor. Yah I know someone will say stuff about shifting costs to the consumer or something, but the benefit I gain from digital dragon/dungeon + DDI far outweighs this concern in my opinion.

 

[Abraxas]

How does one operate without a cell phone these days?

Easily and with much less interruption.

 

[Agamon]

I read every print Dungeon and Dragon when they came out, but other than a few monsters, I didn't make much use of the material. Today, I still enjoy reading most of the articles and since everything is now integrated into the Compendium and Character Builder, everyone in the group I play with, DM and player alike, utilizes the material.

This mirror's my experience. I bought and read every Dragon mag when I got it (Dungeon, I'd browse and save the reading for when I wanted to run the adventure in it). Then the mag would get filed in a box or on a shelf, lucky to ever be touched again.

Now, I don't read them as much (I think I'm still about 6 magazines behind), but I get a lot more use out of the info. Aside from the obvious use (DDI/CB), I've printed individual articles for use in my game. That Trapped! article that came out early on is easily the most used Dragon article I own (and I own 3/4 of them in dead tree format, the rest in pdf from the Dragon Archive).

 

[Treebore]

Easily and with much less interruption.

No kidding! I couldn't believe how much more relaxed my life became after getting rid of our cell phones! I have them again, and its the new Blackberry this time, but I am not giving my cell info to anyone this time around.

Now the blackberry is becoming very handy, but I have yet to put any RPG stuff on it, other than taking pictures of my RPG collection.

 

[Keldryn]

Off-topic, kind of (but maybe not)

I've never really understood this sentiment. I too spend my working life in front of a computer screen. This time, however, is not spent reading gaming material. It is spent coding and running simulations and writing papers and reading papers. When I get home, I plunk down in front of my own computer, and do things that I like, such as reading gaming material and playing games.

Other than the medium itself, I don't see a similarity between working on a computer and leisure time on a computer. Heck, other than a remote instead of a keyboard, watching TV could be considered just more "screen time". The difference is the content.

I'm 35 and I've used computers most of my life. In high school, throughout university, and for the first few years of full-time work, I spent a great deal of my leisure time on the computer. I am now firmly in the "I spend all day sitting a computer at work, and I don't want to do it when I get home" camp. I don't like reading long articles (much less novels) on a computer screen, and my electronic gaming habits have almost completely shifted to game consoles from PCs.

Watching TV and looking at a computer screen are both still staring at a screen, but there is a difference between sitting two feet away from a 20" screen and sitting ten feet away from a 52" screen. After spending 8 or more hours in a day staring at my computer screen, I don't suffer the eye strain watching TV from the couch that I would if I sat at the computer at home for the same amount of time.

Likewise, sitting upright in a desk chair using the keyboard and mouse has me in the same position I sit in all day, performing the same repetitive movements. The postural strain makes it hard to feel relaxed. Lounging on the sofa in front of the big 52" TV gives my body a break from how I sit at work. Using a gamepad or Wii controller to play a game instead of the keyboard & mouse gives my arms a rest from those repetitive motions that I perform all day. Plus, if I'm on the computer, I'm pretty much entirely on my own. Watching TV with my wife is better than watching the same movie sitting at my desk by myself. Playing a game on the big TV while my wife sits with me, even doing her own thing, still gives us some time together. We'll still chat from time to time and she'll watch parts of the game I'm playing if it's of interest, which would not happen if I was hunched over the computer.

That's why it's certainly a valid sentiment for me. My arms, neck, and back need a break from sitting at a desk, my eyes need a break from staring at text on a computer monitor, and my wife and I get to spend more time together.

On the actual topic of this thread: I will probably get more gaming use out of Dragon and Dungeon in this new format, but I miss having the paper copies to read in bed, in the bathroom, or just relaxing on the couch. I don't really buy any gaming PDFs if there are physical versions available for the same reason.

 

[hazel monday]

I had a strong emotional attachment to Dungeon and Dragon magazines. I've read them since I was a little kid, and was sorry to see them go. WOTC lost me as a customer for canceling them.

On the other hand, I'm very happy with Pathfinder.My group gets a ton of use from Pathfinder modules and the Golarion setting.More use than we got out of the now defunct magazines. So everything worked out pretty well in the end for my gaming group.

Yay us.

 

[Corathon]

I do miss Dungeon and Dragon. I used a lot of stuff from the magazines over the last 29 years, but if they were still around they'd be full of 4E stuff exclusively, and so of little use or interest to me.

Knockspell, Fight On!, Pathfinder, and Kobold Quarterly are my replacements, and I'm happy with them.

 

[Malacoda]

I don't think either Dungeon or Dragon are living up to their potential. Somehow they both seem...sparse.

That said, I don't miss the dead tree versions. I am finding more use from the content we do get. I can take them to work via my laptop, which is very nice. Plus, I can copy and past from them, allowing me to create compilations, tweak the content or add stuff my my house-rule documents.

Overall, I find the new versions an improvement.