Excellent changes
I like all the changes listed.
Dragon as the players mag and Dungeon as the DM mag is perfect!
Also, I LOVE the idea of Dragon being about all aspects of D&D - RPG, minis, and CRPGs. I think there is a ton of crossover between the camps, and this might also convince those who only play D&D computer/console games to try out the pen-and-paper version. To those naysayers I say: It's 2004, the D&D audience is getting older because kids are more accustomed to computer and console games. ANYTHING that will expose them to the tabletop version is fine by me. We need some new blood or we will slowly die. As a kid I LOVED tabletop wargames (SPI, Avalon Hill, etc.). But computer games came along and crushed them, and the old grognards refused to recognise this until it was too late. I miss SPI…
As far as Dungeon goes, the three-tier adventure thing is perfect. That means useful stuff no matter what campaign I'm currently running.
As far as the lack of non-D&D material, I think this is a great opportunity for Paizo or some other publisher to step-in and create another magazine. Either print or online. I would subscribe to a PDF, downloadable magazine if one were available.
Finally, to those who would cancel or not subscribe - an entire year subscription to each of these mags is $45. Not much more than a one hardcover gaming book, and there's lots more useful info in a year of magazines than even the best hardcover book (except for the 3 core books of course). Put another way $45 / 12 months = $3.75 per month. Less than a single lunch, half a movie, or one large specialty coffee drink from Starbucks. If you are truly a fan of the hobby how can you justify *not* having subscriptions?
