DDI vs. Dragon/Dungeon mags

hexgrid · Jan 7, 2008

I was a Dungeon subscriber, and will subscribe to DDI for the adventures. I never read Dragon, and don't care much about the non-Dungeon areas DDI.

Echohawk · Jan 7, 2008

Hussar said:
Why do you claim that the online mag's are dying? We've got absolutely no idea how many eyeballs are looking at the articles. And, considering that EVERY article that comes out now gets its own thread here at EnWorld, I'm not sure that it's really hurting all that much.

Don't forget that D&D players outside of the US/Canada now get the content at the same time as everyone else. This is a huge deal for me, since I can now meaningfully follow and participate in the relevant threads, which I couldn't previously.

EricNoah · Jan 7, 2008

My reason for possibly not going to DDI isn't really related to the magazines, it's related to whether I end up going to 4th ed at all. There's a good chance that I would have dropped my Dungeon subscription if it was still in print and had gone 4E before I was ready.

On the other hand... having a magazine full of fun 4E adventures in my mailbox each month might have been a good way to sway me over...

Jack99 · Jan 7, 2008

I have been a subscriber of dragon, and i do intend to try out the DDI, 6 months or a year.

Khairn · Jan 7, 2008

I had subscriptions with both mags for many years, although I had dropped the subs and bought them from my FLGS for the last 14 months before the the announcement of their cancellation was made.

Aside from the many physical benefits that the paper mags have over their e-versions, WotC has shown nothing but an inability to properly manage the e-zines so far, and there is no reason, aside from blind faith, that I would expect anything to get better anytime soon.

For me, the e-zines will cost more, be less portable and less useful at the gaming table than the magazines published by Paizo.

As for the rest of the DDI, since I play face-face with my players, there is nothing useful that I see from the remaining features.

The only part of WotC's online initiative that I find interesting is the potential of Gleemax. But until that potential is realized, I'll just watch it grow (or flounder) from the sidelines.

Hussar · Jan 7, 2008

Devyn said:
I had subscriptions with both mags for many years, although I had dropped the subs and bought them from my FLGS for the last 14 months before the the announcement of their cancellation was made.

Aside from the many physical benefits that the paper mags have over their e-versions, WotC has shown nothing but an inability to properly manage the e-zines so far, and there is no reason, aside from blind faith, that I would expect anything to get better anytime soon.

For me, the e-zines will cost more, be less portable and less useful at the gaming table than the magazines published by Paizo.

How do you figure that? If you were buying them in the FLGS, you were paying more than 10 bucks a month. Never mind us overseas subscribers who were paying a HELL of a lot more than 10 bucks a month.

How are they improperly managing the e-zines? Dungeon's been pretty good actually. Dragon's been a bit light, but, then again, the mag's have had ups and downs before.

But, mismanagement? That's a bit strong without any specific complaints.

Scribble · Jan 7, 2008

My guess is once things get going, they'll follow the current trend in subscription based online stuff marketing mainly to teens. You can subscribe in a monthly fashion, or purchase segments of time. (Thus also making it easy for people to still use DDI even if they can't always afford it, not to mention give each other gift cards worth of DDI time...)

Thornir Alekeg · Jan 7, 2008

I listed myself as a non-subscriber to Dragon and Dungeon since I last subscribed to Dragon back in the late 1980s.

As of right now I do not intend to subscribe to D&DI, but right now I would say the primary reason why is because I do not have a D&D group right now, so why spend the money on a subscription that won't get me much? I use an older Mac at home, so I won't be able to play online with the VGT.

Should I get a new group and if I start DMing again I might find I will subscribe to D&DI. By then I should be able to get a pretty good idea of whether it would be worthwhile. Maybe by then they will also have native Mac support for the applications (won't hold my breath for that).

Khairn · Jan 7, 2008

Hussar said:
How do you figure that? If you were buying them in the FLGS, you were paying more than 10 bucks a month. Never mind us overseas subscribers who were paying a HELL of a lot more than 10 bucks a month.

Sorry but I see that I was less than clear in my post. I should have said something along the lines of ... The cost of the DDI is more than when I subscribed to the mags. Especially when you add in the cost of paper, printing and binding if you want to use any of the e-zines other than on your computer. When I started buying the mags at the FLGS it was a decision to pay more as a way to support the store. Now for those gamers who are overseas, I agree that the cost consideration is reversed.

How are they improperly managing the e-zines? Dungeon's been pretty good actually. Dragon's been a bit light, but, then again, the mag's have had ups and downs before.

But, mismanagement? That's a bit strong without any specific complaints.

I might consider "mismanaged" to be strong, but I believe that its a valid description especially when you consider ...

-Has WotC hit any of the target dates that they've set for the e-zines? Even when they decided that both e-zines were now bi-monthly, did they hit the revised dates? Nope, they didn't. If any publisher of a physical magazine, missed 3 consecutive months of deadlines the subscribers should have been up in arms and the publisher would be justifiably embarrassed.

-Basic elements of a pdf publishing such as proper bookmarks, and a printer friendly version without the heavy borders are still not being offered.

And I used the term "mismanaged" to separate the management of the e-zines from its content. There have been some very good articles, especially in Dungeon where a couple of adventures have been excellent.

But with the amount of lead time WotC has had to prepare for the publishing of E-Drag and E-Dun, the quality of people they have hired, and the efforts they've taken to reassure their customers that they know what they are doing, the continuing stumbles and failures don't leave me with any kind of warm-fuzzy feeling for the future of the e-zines.