D&D 5E (2014) What about Dungeon and Dragon Magazines?

[Reynard]

In all the run up to 5E I seem to have missed any mention of the future of the two beloved magazines. Have any plans for Dungeon and/or Dragon been disclosed by Wizards? Will DDI live on and that is where they will be? Will we see print mags from a third party like Kobold?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I hope we get print mags and that they get licensed to Paizo. And I also hope to ride an invisible pink unicorn some day, a wish with a greater likelihood of being fulfilled.

 

[Thaumaturge]

WotC isn't ready to talk about the magazines yet. (Paraphrasing).

DDi will have no new 5e content added to it, so it is an unlikely home for the magazines. DDi will live on "as long as there are enough subscribers to justify it".

Outsourcing the magazines is possible.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Grimstaff]

Stay tuned...

 

[Jester David]

The D&D brand team currently has 14 people. 7-8 of them work on everything else related to D&D other than the RPG while the remaining work on the TRPG. They don't have the staff to work on the core rulebooks and the magazines at the same time.

I imagine when they return to more sporadic books (sometime in December) and are able to use freelancers again, they'll be able to free up a couple staff for the magazines.
But they'll still have to go through submissions and have people write articles, so it'll still be 4-6 months after that before we get the magazines.

Unless they licence them out again. Which seems like an okay idea, except that content would no longer be official. And I don't see any company being foolish to start up a print magazine again. That was a struggling industry during the Paizo days, and now it's half a decade later.

 

[Dungeoneer]

And I don't see any company being foolish to start up a print magazine again. That was a struggling industry during the Paizo days, and now it's half a decade later.

This. The number of surviving print magazines in GENERAL is low right now. It's just not profitable for most people anymore. The tabletop industry is certainly no exception.

I imagine any return of the magazine (and I really think there should be one) will be digital.

 

[Gilwen]

I'm ok with digital as long as I can download the thing for offline reading.

 

[jgsugden]

Tabletop gaming and magazines still make sense *if* you're putting things in those magazines beyond just articles - like maps, cardboard dungeon feature overlays, etc... In other words, things that go on a table, rather than just things to read on the throne.

I'd buy Dungeon if every issue came with maps to lay down on the table. I'd buy Dragon if each issue came with quality cards, etc... that you'd use at the table. I will not buy either as long as all they're doing is giving me the same quality of stuff I can find for free on message boards like this one.

And for those that really miss Dragon - Gygax is available.

 

[billd91]

I hope we get print mags and that they get licensed to Paizo. And I also hope to ride an invisible pink unicorn some day, a wish with a greater likelihood of being fulfilled.

If the unicorn is invisible, how would you know it was pink?

 

[Nagol]

If the unicorn is invisible, how would you know it was pink?

Mod Edit: Religious commentary removed. Not appropriate for EN World. Take it elsewhere, please.