DDI Subscribers: Are you satisfied with your subscription?

[Asmor]

Really? There has been a slight decrease in the number of Dragon articles over the last two months, as well as a slight page count dip, but October was a bumper issue, so the average is still quite reasonable. The number of articles and adventures in Dungeon, and the page count have remained pretty consistent.

Dragon
Issue 364: 85 pages, 15 articles
Issue 365: 80 pages, 13 articles
Issue 366: 87 pages, 14 articles
Issue 367: 75 pages, 14 articles
Issue 368: 100 pages, 13 articles
Issue 369: 71 pages, 13 articles
Issue 370: 66 pages, 11 articles
Issue 371: 72 pages, 11 articles

Dungeon
Issue 155: 109 pages, 9 articles
Issue 156: 129 pages, 9 articles
Issue 157: 136 pages, 7 articles
Issue 158: 111 pages, 6 articles
Issue 159: 99 pages, 6 articles
Issue 160: 104 pages, 7 articles
Issue 161: 128 pages, 7 articles
Issue 162: 111 pages, 7 articles

Worth noting that the page counts are much more consistent when you consider both magazines of a month together, though I'm sure that's of little comfort to players and others who don't or can't use the adventures from Dungeon.

85+109=194
80+129=199
87+136=223
75+111=186
100+99=199
71+104=175
66+128=194
72+111=183

 

[evilbob]

EDIT: Did you try to "Submit a bug" on this one yet?

Oh yeah - this is one of many. But thanks for the clarification: my bug report isn't going to be useful because I didn't realize it was only large maces (and presumably clubs). I'll have to resubmit.

Don't forget to use the link at the top of the page to do WotC's online survey about DDI

Thanks! I had already done it as soon as I saw it. It looks like a good way to give them feedback. Just FYI, it only asks for super-generic personal information (age, sex, country), so that's cool. I am not sure how it keeps people from doing it multiple times, though.

 

[catsclaw227]

Worth noting that the page counts are much more consistent when you consider both magazines of a month together, though I'm sure that's of little comfort to players and others who don't or can't use the adventures from Dungeon.

85+109=194
80+129=199
87+136=223
75+111=186
100+99=199
71+104=175
66+128=194
72+111=183

Looking at it like that.... An average of 194 pages of content every month for only $5 - plus the compendium, character builder, bonus tools - is a really great deal.

I am not sure anyone, anywhere is matching this much content with these kinds of tools for this low price point.

 

[Zaukrie]

The problem isn't the page count, per se. There are only two adventure in Dungeon. Both are part of a series. If you are not running the series, you don't really get adventures, you get some stuff you can steal. There are fewer articles of greater length in Dragon. That's fine, if you use them. With longer articles (and less of them) you have a greater risk of not having things you can actually use in your campaign.

Dungeon only having 2 adventures a month is a killer to my enjoyment of that magazine.

The lack of short, plug and play articles in Dragon is a downer, but not a killer.

Neither is the magazine that we saw in terms of output/quality/quantity when the magazines were free. Go back and look at the two articles on using Keep....in FR or Eberrron. Find me something like that recently.

 

[catsclaw227]

The problem isn't the page count, per se. There are only two adventure in Dungeon. Both are part of a series. If you are not running the series, you don't really get adventures, you get some stuff you can steal. There are fewer articles of greater length in Dragon. That's fine, if you use them. With longer articles (and less of them) you have a greater risk of not having things you can actually use in your campaign.

Dungeon only having 2 adventures a month is a killer to my enjoyment of that magazine.

The lack of short, plug and play articles in Dragon is a downer, but not a killer.

Fair enough, but there's also a Side Trek or a Delve in each issue of Dungeon as well. And the DungeonCraft article has been really great to read, seeing how a Pro puts together his homebrew. There are some nice gems of insight in these articles. Some stuff that I intuitively know already, but well put into words.

The dragon article today has a ton of crunch. Lot's of plug-n-play there.

Neither is the magazine that we saw in terms of output/quality/quantity when the magazines were free. Go back and look at the two articles on using Keep....in FR or Eberrron. Find me something like that recently.

Hopefully, when the Madness mini-series ends this month, you will feel better about Dungeon.

 

[Zaukrie]

I can't disagree with anyone thing you've said. I've admitted my frustration is not necessarily rational. We were promised three adventures every month. I don't count a side trek. The first issue (free) had three adventures and 2 conversions - I don't remember if it also had a side trek.

I get that there is a lot of crunch and plug and play. The articles we do receive are of high quality. Some of this is missing things that were in Dragon before WotC took over, some of it is missing the paper, some of it is legit annoyance over the drop in the number of articles (15 to 11 is a big drop percentage wise).

Overall, Dragon and Dungeon are almost gravy for me at this point, and they used to be more like the meal, if that analogy makes sense.

 

[Elodan]

Nope. One of my players just subscribed this month, and he got access to all PDF's. He bought a year's sub though, I do not know if that makes a difference.

I just picked up a 3 month subscription (mainly for the character builder) and I have access to ALL the Dungeons and Dragons. Dragon has some really good stuff. I may pick up a year subscription if they keep their promise about more FR/Eberron articles.

 

[drscott46]

I can't disagree with anyone thing you've said. I've admitted my frustration is not necessarily rational. We were promised three adventures every month. I don't count a side trek. The first issue (free) had three adventures and 2 conversions - I don't remember if it also had a side trek.

I do agree with you that two 40-page adventures and a Side Trek or Delve per month is not my preferred Dungeon structure. I think it would serve WOTC much better to have something like three to four 15-20 page adventures (see Massacre at Fort Dolor from #157, that one was perfect) to go with their 30-40 page Scales of War installment. Sure, sometimes you have epics in there too; often the most memorable Dungeon adventures throughout the publication's life have been the long ones.

I believe the majority of DMs and gaming groups prefer adventure installments they can finish in 1 or 2 sessions unless they're committed to a longer-form adventure path. I've found the RPGA Living Forgotten Realms adventures much more useful to my (admittedly FR-based, but I'd have no issue converting generic settings) nascent campaign to this point; they're meant to last approximately four hours and that means my group- which moves slower than most- never takes more than two sessions to finish 'em.

A 40-page Dungeon adventure might have much better background and introduction material, but it's also a four-session minimum commitment- that just goes on too long, especially for those who don't game at least once a week.

 

[catsclaw227]

I can't recall.... how long were the Dungeon adventures in the Print mag? I'll need to check when I get home...

 

[Dinkeldog]

Best $5 spent every month.

I'd pay that just for Dungeon and Dragon every month. Access to the character builder (which has pushed our group back to no-laptop sessions!) and the other online tools is icing on the cake, as they say.

We're down to one laptop. Granted, that one is mine, and I use it primarily because I'm the campaign chronicler when playing. Also, I have all my campaign info on it for when I'm DMing.

I don't have internet access at the friends' home where we play, though. It would be nice to have something a little less clunky on exporting. For example, I use the encounter builder to create the encounters for my game. Then I have to go into the compendium and pull up the monsters I'm going to use. Then to export it, I've got to basically cut-and-paste the stuff that's in random Dungeon adventures that I'm using.

It would also be nice if the encounter builder would let me search a little better for individual monsters. (Say, searching on "orc" and getting a list of what's available, rather than having them sprinkled throughout the monster list.)