Advertorials with no game content in Dragon

[Hussar]

Meh, as someone who doesn't obsessively hang out on various websites gobbling up the latest this or that, I don't mind seeing non-gaming stuff in Dragon. Heck, I discovered Neil Gaiman through Dragon despite a fairly blah mechanical writeup. I have no beefs with the fiction, so long as it isn't all the time. I still remember a number of those old short stories. Fool Wolf anyone? Doesn't bother me terribly to see a couple of pages dedicated to something from the genre (which, despite Doc Awkward's opinion, FF certainly is) that's not necessarily directly related to gaming.

 

[Agamon]

I, too, am a long time reader of Dragon. While I liked the non-D&D content way back when, I'm not a big fan of it now. But I also disagree that everything should have crunchy bits with it. I really enjoyed the anniversary issue with Gord the Rogue, the Wizards Three, and the Princess Ark, so it's not about crunch. And I was never a big fan of Silicon Sorcery.

But if I want to read about video games, I'll subscribe to PC Gamer or Computer Gaming Monthly (which I do).

Fool Wolf was great. So was Ben Bova's Arthur stories. I'd like to see more of this kinda fiction than another FR story.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Yeah, it is a pain in the butt. I don't read Dungeon and/or Dragon and expect to find video game reviews in it, whether part of First Watch or not. If I wanted that kind of material, I'd subscribe to a video game magazine.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

If it's an ad, then label it as an ad. I'm fine with that.

I don't want advertisements disguised as objective articles, though.

If they do it again, I will call it "Dragon" no longer. It will be the Rollenspiel Bild!

 

[Bardsandsages]

It's not advertorial content unless Dragon is paid to run it, which I find unlikely.

And I'm another one of those longtime Dragon readers (so old that I still call it "The Dragon") who missed non-D&D content in the magazine. This bothers me not a whit, and I don't even like Final Fantasy.

I think the comments by Josh Frost pretty much admit that it was a paid spot. In which case, it should have been noted as a "preview" not a "review." In the publishing world, these are two different things. A Preview is a marketing tool, a review is a (hopefully) objective look at the pros and cons of a product.

Granted, I have not seen the actual issue so I don't know the exact wording, but if it was plugged as a "review" and paid for, that is a bit unethical in my not-so-humble opinion.

 

[Shade]

I think the comments by Josh Frost pretty much admit that it was a paid spot. In which case, it should have been noted as a "preview" not a "review." In the publishing world, these are two different things. A Preview is a marketing tool, a review is a (hopefully) objective look at the pros and cons of a product.

Josh's comments led me to believe that it was not a paid advertisement, rather an attempt to draw interest of future advertisers.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Meh, as someone who doesn't obsessively hang out on various websites gobbling up the latest this or that, I don't mind seeing non-gaming stuff in Dragon. Heck, I discovered Neil Gaiman through Dragon despite a fairly blah mechanical writeup. I have no beefs with the fiction, so long as it isn't all the time. I still remember a number of those old short stories. Fool Wolf anyone? Doesn't bother me terribly to see a couple of pages dedicated to something from the genre (which, despite Doc Awkward's opinion, FF certainly is) that's not necessarily directly related to gaming.

I'm not saying it's not in genre. I'm saying it's not an RPG. It's a video game. OTOH, Traveller is an RPG and so has had a more legitimate claim to space in the magazine, since the magazine is about RPGs.

 

[jcfiala]

Being a Dragon-reader from the old skool days of other game reviews, book reviews, articles for games of different genres by different companies and the inclusion of non-D&D (or even gaming) short fiction - I don't see the big deal.

Unless, it is really an ad and not a fair review - in which case - it should labeled "advertisement".

QFT. Plus, better than three-four pages of fiction.

 

[Psion]

If Frost is telling us how it is, then yeah, I don't mind articles like this if they mean more and better content overall of pen & paper RPGs. You're right that it would be nice if they tied the article directly to D&D/d20.

I actually really dug the old Silicon Sorcery articles that cleaved off a peice of the game in D&D terms. Especially the ones by Clifford Horowitz. Those things were gold. Even for games I don't play, just by virtue of the fact they seemed fresh compared to the everyday D&D/d20 fare, which can sometimes be in a bit of a rut.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I actually really dug the old Silicon Sorcery articles that cleaved off a peice of the game in D&D terms.

Same here. Someone mentioned Shadow of the Colossus above, which I really dug when they provided stats for the Colossi in Dragon. Let's hope the God of War games get covered next...