An Idea about Dungeon Magazine

[Sir Elton]

I had a wacky idea while reading and responding to my rant. It's a Rogers and Hammerstein's idea which means expensive. But it's a wacky idea. What I will do is post a little poll to see how you all respond. This poll has to do with Dungeon Magazine.

Now I know Enworld is not the best place to do a professional poll, but I do want to see some results. If you wish to respond, respond as too how and why you voted. Okay?

 

[Severion]

Okay

 

[jaerdaph]

My responses and reasons:

Dungeon Magazine should explore other settings besides default D&D
I'm not really into D&D now, I'm all about d20 Modern almost exclusively. When Paizo cut Polyhedron with its d20 Modern support from DUNGEON, I decided to let my subscription run out. Don't get me wrong, I like Paizo, DUNGEON is a great magazine, best its been in years, but I really don't need all that fantasy material. I will buy an issue off the news stand though if I see something I think I can use (port to d20 Modern). Same goes for my DRAGON subscription, which I'm also letting run out, and my opinion of that magazine.

I like Dungeon Magazine's full color format.
Heck yeah, especially for the beautiful maps (and maps could fall under "something I think I can use" when looking at an issue of DUNGEON on the magazine rack and deciding if I want to pick up that particular issue.)

I'd like the competitor to fill it's own niche.
Definitely. Throw in some d20 pulp, modern, future, powered by Grim Tales, uses X product from Publisher Y, and I'm down.

I'd like the competitor to have a full color format.
For the same reason I gave above, but I realize it might not be practical for some publishers.

 

[jaerdaph]

I It's a Rogers and Hammerstein's idea which means expensive. But it's a wacky idea.

As a Broadway Baby, I'm definitley intrigued...

But you're not being literal, are you?

 

[haiiro]

I think the only way a magazine devoted to d20 adventures could compete against Dungeon would be to fill a niche -- not sure what niche, though. Dungeon has a substantial reader base (as far as I know), is generally quite good, and has high production values. I don't think a competing magazine could make a serious go of it by offering D&D adventures.

 

[Threedub]

I like Dungeon for default D&D and have subscribed for years. I prefer the format they are using now, with mostly standard setting adventures and a few pages of How-To. I liked Poly fine, but it got in the way of Dungeon and I'm not sad to see the format changed.

I wouldn't buy another magazine that used standard D&D settings for modules unless it was actually better than Dungeon in both writing and presentation. I get enough ideas from Dungeon to fill up my available D&D DM time. I also pick and choose other modules to steal from like the Goodman Games series and stuff from Necromancer. So I'm default D&Ded out.

However, I would probably buy a magazine that is creative, professional, and fills other RP niches. I don't know how it would work, possibly issues could be based on one theme, genre, or system. It might work better to take a pretty popular system and have one module for that in every issue and fill the rest with other systems. For example, I'd be interested in quality M&M, Spycraft, d20 Modern, and World of Darkness stuff. It doesn't need to be color (I bought and buy both of EN World's mags and enjoy them) but it does need to be quality.

 

[jaerdaph]

(I bought and buy both of EN World's mags and enjoy them) but it does need to be quality.

Yes - Thanks for reminding me about EN Gamer! - I was planning on picking up both issues before the holidays, but other things came up. I've been looking forward to seeing Teenage Werewolves from Mars. Guess I know where I'm going tomorrow at lunch.

 

[jeffh]

Weird poll - half the responses you offer have nothing to do with the question you ask. I think this wants to be two or three different polls - you're trying to do a lot more than it's reasonable to expect from one multiple choice question, and it's not clear what if anything the answers are going to reflect.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I'd like it to have a full color format, but I'd also like it to be free and delivered to me by trained monkey ninjas. I realize that the realities of pubishing means it would probably end up black and white.

Also I think the only way it could compete is if it fills another niche.

 

[Sage]

Hi

First off I don't read dungeon, but if I were to read a magazine like that the full-color format would sell me.

I think to compete with dungeon you'd need something cool, like the maps (also) being on a compact disk so you can print them out to the players, or even show just parts of them on a computer screen. That would probably bring in some openRPG players too.

I don't know much about dungeon, but I think that having most (if not all) of the adventures as generic as possible is a very good idea because I want to be able to use all or most of them. That said, every adventure could include a "tweaking page" that offers alternate ideas to theme the adventure in a different way. The more generic, the easier it is to tweak it to my own game.

Sage