47,220. What is that?

[Glyfair]

Plus now you gots the dang internets!

I think this is likely one of the largest contributors to the theoretical drop in circulation (along with the reduction in D&D sales from the mid to late 80s). Much of what goes into Dragon can be found online, usually for free.

Comic Strips? Order of the Stick appears, as does Nodwick & Dork Tower.

Gaming articles? All over the place, including here (although the quality varies more)

Remember the old "Forum" column? That was almost exactly the magazine version of an internet message board, without the immediate feedback.

 

[Cabral]

How do these number compare to when Dungeon Magazine started in `86? Are there any numbers for Dungeon's circulation? I assume before then, Dragon catered to both DM & Player, rather than focusing primarily player friendly material. I suspect the two publications plus the shift in focus are a good part of the decline.

What I'd really like to see is the annual profits per magazine line adjusted for inflation.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

It's not a crash since 1997, no, but there's also not the sort of improvement one might hope for with 3E and the many improvements Mona and company have brought to the title.

Don't forget the advent of Dungeon magazine split readership somewhat. Also, the continued, growing influence of the internet. The internet in particular. I really only subscribe to Dragon because my collection goes past issue #1 to The Strategic Review. I'm truly committed now short of some monetary catastrophe on the order of "Buy nothing but food or DIE."

 

[ssampier]

Darn psychology. This thread makes me want to turn my Dungeon montly-subscription into a yearly subscription and subscribe to Dragon monthly.

 

[Odimax]

Comic Strips? Order of the Stick appears, as does Nodwick & Dork Tower.

You forgot the best one! Zogonia appears online, as well.

Also, just wanted to mention that I have been a subscriber to Dragon for the past 2 years. I find that I look forward to the Class Acts articles most. I would like to see that section expanded back out again to include more classes per issue.

Comics, Sage Advice, and Erik Mona's Editorial are favorites of mine as well. I especially like when Erik talks about his current campaigns, including the great column he wrote about the finale to Monte Cook's Ptolus campaign. I also like the new Eberron and Forgotten Realms articles they just added as of issue 351.


Subscribe, people!

I think one cool selling point of the magazine is that the content is 100% official. It seems to be easier to talk DMs into adding content that is official material.

 

[Odimax]

How do these number compare to when Dungeon Magazine started in `86? Are there any numbers for Dungeon's circulation? I assume before then, Dragon catered to both DM & Player, rather than focusing primarily player friendly material. I suspect the two publications plus the shift in focus are a good part of the decline.

What I'd really like to see is the annual profits per magazine line adjusted for inflation.

As a player who reads Dragon, I find that the magazine still caters quite a bit to DMs as well. While it doesn't really feature adventures, it has tons of monster material, stat blocks, and campaign information. Much of which isn't really usable by players in a standard game, but seems geared toward DMs.

Personally, I would like to see more of a player focus for Dragon, and let Dungeon exist as the DM focused mag.

 

[Treebore]

I'm kind of surprised at how different the "tone" of this same thread is going on RPG.net.

If your interested in different views:

RPG.net

 

[Master of the Game]

To make things easier I'll just copy my post from there over here:

I started reading Dragon around issue 60 or so, and Dungeon on issue 16. When they added Poly to Dungeon I finally broke down and got a subscription to both.

Then the guys at Paizo decided to screw their subscribers over by halving the size of the magazine. That, coupled with their decision not to publish Dragon annuals even though they advertised them on the subscription forms convinced me that Paizo is a bit too shadey to get my business. I canceled both of my subscriptions, and will never do business with them again.

 

[Terath Ninir]

I find that I look forward to the Class Acts articles most. I would like to see that section expanded back out again to include more classes per issue.

It's one of the few things that has kept me subscribing. Well, that, and inertia.

Most of my problems with the magazines, though, are *not* their fault. It's WotC's fault, with their miniature wargame, collectable more-wahoo-than-the-last hardcover emphasis for the game. It makes D&D shoddier than in years past, and Paizo can only work with what they're given.

 

[Erik Mona]

Then the guys at Paizo decided to screw their subscribers over by halving the size of the magazine. That, coupled with their decision not to publish Dragon annuals even though they advertised them on the subscription forms convinced me that Paizo is a bit too shadey to get my business. I canceled both of my subscriptions, and will never do business with them again.

I can't speak specifically to the claim about the annuals. All I know is that they cost a lot more than they brought in. I was merely a lowly editorial monkey when that change was made (it was decided upon during the WotC days immediately after the last annual, though, of that I'm sure).

The magazine was never "halved" in size. Dungeon was made a monthly as opposed to a bi-monthly magazine at no additional cost to subscribers. This resulted in fewer pages per issue, but more pages over the same period of time.

I appreciate your sentiment and can't argue with your experience, but Paizo always tries to deal fairly with its customers, and your assertion that the company is "shadey" is offensive and inaccurate.

--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC