47,220. What is that?

[Agamon]

All I can say is that, like I said over at RPG.net, that the last 3 issues are the first I have bought in 2 to 3 years. I will probably buy one or two more issues off the newstand to be sure, but if I stay as pleased as I have been with the content of 349, 350, and 351 I will do a 3 year subscription again.

All because ENWorlders told me about the Igwilv string of articles and how good they were.

I was in the exact same boat 6 months ago. I ended my subscription almost 2 years prior. Then I bought a couple to check out the Demonomicon and Core Beliefs. Those, plus the revamped Class Acts and OotS got me to resubscribe.

 

[howandwhy99]

#67, Nov-82: 71,666
#80, Dec-83: 107,348
#91, Nov-84: 120,080
#104, Dec-85: 123,083
#115, Nov-86: 108,542

So that looks like a pretty noticable bubble peaking in 84/85, which seems to be more generally the end of the golden era bubble for D&D play & products in general (and EGG's departure).

That is pretty informative as 84'-85' is when the hobby started to become "uncool" in the states, no? I can only imagine EGG's leaving really hurt the hobby as a whole. 85' is also when TSR published Unearthed Arcana and Oriental Adventures and then Deities & Demigods was retitled Legends & Lore. In 86' they followed these up with Dungeoneer's Survival Guide and Wilderness Survival Guide. These aren't exactly highly favored books by most old schoolers. That was pretty much the end until Second Edition in 87' except for Manual of the Planes which came out months beforehand.

 

[Erik Mona]

From my perspective, Paizo was formed from the folks that ran the magazines for WotC/Hasbro and are basically the same organization, though in charge of themselves rather than working under WotC. That may be totally inaccurate, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks that either. I'm not sure about "three publishers" though, do you mean Editorial Staff as publishers?

When Paizo started, it was composed of the entire "periodicals group" at Wizards of the Coast, including folks like Jesse Decker, Chris Thomasson, Matthew Sernett, and the associated "business" and art staffs of Dragon, Dungeon, and Star Wars insider.

Nearly five years later, I am the only employee remaining from that original cross-over period. Everyone else has either returned to Wizards of the Coast or moved on to other opportunities, having since been replaced by other capable professionals.

When WotC periodicals spun off into an independent business, our publisher (the job title, not the type of company) was Johnny L. Wilson, he of the abrasive internet posts and the frequently childish public personna. Johnny left the company about two years in and was replaced by Keith Strohm, who had been an editor at TSR and WotC and later a brand manager for D&D and Pokemon. Keith was with the company about two years before moving to Chicago to chase some crazy thing called love, and I ascended to the role of publisher.

Hope that makes sense.

Merry Christmas right back at you, btw.

--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC

 

[Vocenoctum]

Hope that makes sense.

Yup, thanks.

 

[Hussar]

Heh, just finished reading the bit over at RPG. Good grief, talk about clueless. I know that it's in vogue to trash anything D&D, but, it would help to have a bit of a clue what they are on about. Sheesh.

I subscribed as a birthday present just before the relaunch on a whim. Hadn't read Dragon in years, but, had some extra cash and figured a 1 year sub would be great. That was three years ago and I certainly don't regret it. The magazine has just been getting better and better.

 

[diaglo]

Too many prestige classes and feats? Really?

That criticism (as one poster over there pointed out) was accurate two or three years ago, but it doesn't even come close these days.

qft. a couple years ago you couldn't flip a page without running into a new PrC or feat. now you have to flip thru the whole mag to find one.

 

[Treebore]

Heh, just finished reading the bit over at RPG. Good grief, talk about clueless. I know that it's in vogue to trash anything D&D, but, it would help to have a bit of a clue what they are on about. Sheesh.

I subscribed as a birthday present just before the relaunch on a whim. Hadn't read Dragon in years, but, had some extra cash and figured a 1 year sub would be great. That was three years ago and I certainly don't regret it. The magazine has just been getting better and better.

Posting over on RPGNet can get very "interesting", but there are a number of good ones over there. Plus I like the fact that it isn't only about d20. I've been clued in to several good game systems.

Plus it has the distinction of being the only board to ever threaten me with expulsion. So I want to se how long I can last.

 

[Bobaloo]

I just wanted to add a voice to raving crowd. (That is, go fanboi.) Check them out now if you haven’t in awhile. I feel it’s really moving back towards the “Journal of Record” for RPGs. Again, Erik Mona has done a great job with Dragon and Dungeon.

For Dragon:
They’ve added a section called “First Watch” that gives out blurbs on games and accessories of all sorts, not just D&D. The articles that were mainly Feats and Prestige Classes have decreased. The Demonomicon and Core Beliefs series are excellent. There are now going to be monthly FR and Eberron columns. I also think it’s great bang for your buck when compared to sourcebooks.

For Dungeon:
3 adventures an issue, 1 each for low, middle and high. With the adventures and columns you can always mine ideas, even if not using directly. Although it doesn’t work for everybody, the Adventure Path idea is a slam dunk for a monthly adventure source.

I’ve been a Dragon reader for most of my RPG life. When we played AD&D and AD&D2, I’d pick up the occasional issue, and read my friends’ copies for the rest. I did take a break from gaming and the mag during the late 90s. However, as I started playing again more with D&D3 (and 3.5), I subscribed a few years ago. The magazine of today reminds me of the great issues I read in the 80’s.

On Paizo:
IME, customer service has always been top notch. They’ve been quick to replace a missing issue, and have always kept me completely up to date when there was a delay in my purchases from the online store.

 

[Hussar]

One thing I find interesting is how surprised many were over there by the sheer size of D&D. I do get the sense that while people talk about D&D being the 600 pound gorilla, most people don't really grok how tiny most other games really are.

 

[green slime]

Truthfully, I was shocked at reading those numbers in the 351 issue. Considering how difficult it has been to get the magazine here, in this part of the planet, and how painful it used to be to actually track down an issue, never mind a subscribtion (I never succeeded in subscribing until this summer, but admitedly the last time I tried prior to that was in 2000, or 2001, IIRC), I'm very thankful for the way it works these days.

I was living under the impression that numbers were above 100,000. Probably just a half-forgotten memory of times past.