D&D General Damn I miss Dragon Magazine

[MichaelSomething]

Do any of you miss physical magazines enough to pay $20 an issue?

Otherwise, there's always EN5ider and Arcadia!

 

[Alzrius]

Do any of you miss physical magazines enough to pay $20 an issue?

Well, that is how much each installment of a Pathfinder Adventure Path costs (there's a discount for subscribing, but shipping and taxes effectively cancel it out), and even though it's not technically a magazine, it effectively takes the place of a combined Dragon and Dungeon.

 

[Mannahnin]

My first issue of Dragon was #67, with comedic Thanksgiving themed art on the cover. For me, the golden age of Dragon was the Kim Mohan era. I had just missed the Tim Kask era but I got a good taste of it with the first two “Best of The Dragon” reprints, which I also loved and reread over and over. I’m so glad I have the CD ROM archive when I’m feeling nostalgic.

For me, Dragon was a way to engage with the game I loved, and the community that played it, even when I was unable to play. A day off from work or school usually meant finding a cafe somewhere, having lunch, and reading magazines. So I often bought Dragon just for the joy of reading it.

That’s why I’m looking forward to the first issue of KNOCK magazine, a new bi-annual OSR print publication coming out of France. It’s got that old-school vibe in content and that phantasmagorical feel you found in the art of Dragon’s early days. Its Kickstarter funded with ALL stretch goals acheived. So it’s a GO. We’re just waiting to see if it will be sold beyond what is supplied to backers. I can’t wait.

Yup. Right there with you on those old Best of Dragons too. Though sadly I don't have the CD ROM collection.

Knock does look pretty amazing; I've been paging through the PDF a bit on my laptop, but really I'm looking forward to flipping through a physical copy.

 

[el-remmen]

Not sure what I'd pay for a print copy - to be honest, I think no matter how much it cost (well, within reason) it is very likely I'd try out a new mag and then drop it because as many people have pointed out, I think nostalgia is the force at work here, rather than a real need or desire to read more D&D (or other game) articles. I am much more likely to spend my time and money hunting down back issues (well, for Dungeon anyway). But all that said, I am even less likely to check out an online or PDF version because I am old and a tactile guy who likes to be away from devices when I sit to browse/read/prep - at least at the initial stages (I do eventually type/develop handwritten notes and marginalia into a typed page to print out for game day).

My ideal situation is to have a print copy to peruse and a PDF copy to cut/paste from into my notes.

Looking through some old Dungeons, I smiled at my past self and how freely he scribbled all over the pages with notes and changes and hash marks for monsters taking damage when I ran some of the adventures. I still love to write in books - but I tend to do it less.

 

[Faolyn]

Me too. I especially miss the Ecology articles that were told like stories, not just descriptions of the creature.

 

[Faolyn]

I'm lucky to have the Dragon CD set that came out years ago - basically up to #250 as PDFs. However, as I recall TSR/WotC got in trouble for producing that due to the inclusion of ads or somesuch from 3rd party without their permission; it was how Necromancer Games got permission to get Kalamar published as "official" product, as I recall. I imagine they are extremely reluctant to have a repeat of releasing any content that might lead to more legal issues.

Is that why? I guess it would be too much effort for them to remove the ads from the magazine, or simply upload the articles.

 

[Stormonu]

Is that why? I guess it would be too much effort for them to remove the ads from the magazine, or simply upload the articles.

At the time I wrote my blurb I remembered that WotC had found themselves in legal trouble for reprinting something in the Dragon Mag CD they didn't have the rights to - I simply couldn't remember nor quickly find what the actual items were (@Alzrius had identified the actual items - the Kenzer comic, Knights of the Dinner Table).

Before posting any more articles, they'd have to do back research to make sure they have the rights - in almost all cases for articles they should (I believe they purchase full rights for the articles, but as some come from 3rd party designers like Robert Laws and such, that's not a 100% guarantee), but that's extra effort that might be better invested elsewhere, sadly.

 

[wicked cool]

they need a version that maybe has new comics, ads , articles from current authors such as GRRM, short stories

my obscure favorites were ads for the old ral partha miniatures or the one that showed the treants in the forest (treants are or were under represented in miniatures)


A letters/email to our favorite DM's/GM's on obscure rules questions

I would take a version that I could download to my kindle and be happy with that subscription