Asgard Magazine: Should it be Revived?

[Knightfall]

I noticed that the Asgard Magazine issues are now avaiable in the Downloads section and it made me wonder if there is any suppost for bring that magazine back as a fan-based OGL e-zine.

So, to v.3.5 fans, would you be interested in a revived Asgard Magazine? And if so, what would you want from such an OGL e-zine? And would you be willing to participate?

Personally, I think it would be an interesting project as long as it remains completely fan-based and free for all. I'd hope for a quarterly release of the e-zine but, in truth, that would be hard on whoever decides to do the work. Perhaps it would be better if issues were only released once or twice a year.

Anyway, just an idea.

Knightfall1972

 

[freyar]

I'll have to take a look at those, since they sound interesting. Were these put out by EN World?

In any case, I'm not sure who would coordinate this, but it could be a cool way to showcase EN World's amateur design talents.

 

[Kris]

I, for one, would like to see something like this return... even if it only came out once or twice a year.

I would however prefer to see it cover both 3.0 and 3.5 if at all possible (I know there is not a great difference between the two - but I'd like to think that supplying 3.0 terminology or stats in brackets or as an addendum wouldn't be all that difficult - and might broaden the audience a little ...I know it would interest me more if this were the case ...me being a 3.0 dinosaur ).

I'd also be willing to help out if I could (largely on the maps front I think - assuming the 'zine would contain the odd adventure or location or whatever).

So yeah, I'd be interested.

 

[Knightfall]

I'll have to take a look at those, since they sound interesting. Were these put out by EN World?

Asgard Magazine was put out by EN World in the early days of the d20 rush. Its publication pre-dated E.N. Publishing, if I remember correctly.

 

[HelloChristian]

I published the Scrollworks zine for 32 issues. Iridia has been on an 83 issue run. As a result I think I have a unique perspective on zines.

If you bring back Asgard, perhaps a fanzine approach would be best. By that, I mean have it reflect the views, styles and personality of one fan. You. A lot of e-zines have come and gone and many suffer from the same malady. Namely, there is no cohesion or identity. They are often a mishmash of random material and lack editorial control.

Figure out a focus, a theme or style then go from there.

Good luck!

 

[physicscarp]

I published the Scrollworks zine for 32 issues. Iridia has been on an 83 issue run.

I had a few issues of Scrollworks and really enjoyed them. If I recall, I got them just as you decided to stop publishing. The small personal nature of fanzines is always fun, and Scrollworks was well put together. I knew that you stopped publishing it, but I wasn't aware of Iridia. I'll be sure to check it out.

 

[HelloChristian]

I had a few issues of Scrollworks and really enjoyed them. If I recall, I got them just as you decided to stop publishing. The small personal nature of fanzines is always fun, and Scrollworks was well put together. I knew that you stopped publishing it, but I wasn't aware of Iridia. I'll be sure to check it out.

Thank you so much for the kind words. I hope you like Iridia. Through it I've managed to preserve my favorite Scrollworks material while moving forward in new directions.

Most people access the zine in .pdf, but I still love sending out print copies. It's old school and a lot more fun than mailing bills.

Peace,
Christian

 

[jdrakeh]

Ha! I was just getting ready to chime in and mention the excellence of Iridia and how it serves as a great example of a fanzine with tight focus, good editorial control, and scads of useful content packed into a small package.

I've read a lot of fanzines in my day, and the only two that have ever really impressed are Iridia and Random Order Creations Comics & Games (now gone, sadly) for the very reasons that I mention above. That said, ODDities warrants an honorable mention for the occasional excellent article, though with the exceptions of the excellent issues 8 and 9, it came up short for me overall.

One thing that I think Iridia wisely does is break up the 'zine into regular columns and features, with the remaining space being devoted to one-off topics and such. It seems to me that most failed fanzines take the opposite approach, pushing a random assortment of articles and having few (if any) regular features.

There are a lot of fanzines that start off with a great premise but then try to sample a bit of everything under the sun in an attempt to cater to everybody and, as a result, end up a catering to no single audience well. The anchors that regular columns and features provide seems to be an effective way to avoid this pitfall.

So, to answer the OP's question, I always like to see new fanzines — but I think it better to plan out a regular format, layout/design, and focus prior to publication than trying to map out all of that stuff as you go.

 

[Morrus]

Asgard was a LOT of work.

It got replaced with two unsuccessful attempts to create a paper EN World magazine (one with Goodman Games, the other with Mongoose).

There used to be dozens of fan-made PDF magazines; I'm not sure how many still exist. Volunteer efforts always start off enthusiastically and then quickly fall by the wayside.

I think something like Kobold Quarterly is the best bet - a third party commercial magazine. I've heard very good things about KQ, although I've never actually seen an issue.

 

[HelloChristian]

Thanks, James!

Oh man, Random Order was AWESOME! I still have all of my copies and dearly wish there were more. What a treasure.

Regarding Kobold Quarterly, I have also heard some great things. I really need to check it out.

Peace,
Christian