Disappointment in thinning Dragon content

[Derulbaskul]

double post

 

[Derulbaskul]

(snip) On the plus side, the art is really top notch. I find many of the covers and interior work more deserving of hardcovers than what they use on half their in-store products.

That is definitely something that was carried over from the Paizo glory days. I often felt that Paizo did a much better job with art (with a lower budget too!) on Dungeon and Dragon than WotC did on its hardcover books (and Paizo NEVER used the execrable many-surnamed Dennis Cramer/Crabapple/Mcsomething so that's worth bonus points IMO). The DDi guys seem to be following that particular precedent; it's a shame they don't follow Paizo when it comes to excellent content.

I really want to see more articles like the Prince of Frost and the Demonomicon of Iggwilv again. They're the sorts of articles that can inspire much more creativity that a new paragon path and half-a-dozen feats for some race and class combination.

It was promising to read today about the new Unearthed Arcana series of articles but, as WotC will typically over-promise and under-deliver, I'm not holding my breath that they will be that good or that frequent (but I do hope I will be pleasantly surprised).

 

[Bagpuss]

It was promising to read today about the new Unearthed Arcana series of articles but, as WotC will typically over-promise and under-deliver, I'm not holding my breath that they will be that good or that frequent (but I do hope I will be pleasantly surprised).

I don't find the Unearth Arcana announcement promising at all. They are basically now saying we can pad out the magazine with stuff we haven't really tested, or spent much time developing and we won't even ask the programming guys to add it to the CB or Adventure Tools to save them a bit of work.

 

[wedgeski]

I don't find the Unearth Arcana announcement promising at all. They are basically now saying we can pad out the magazine with stuff we haven't really tested, or spent much time developing and we won't even ask the programming guys to add it to the CB or Adventure Tools to save them a bit of work.

That is a peculiarly "half-empty" perspective on things.

In any case, I agree that the magazines don't seem to be getting the attention they have in the past.

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

They also moved I believe 2 columns from Dungeon over to Dragon when they refocused the 2 magazines.

It was the other way around, moving DM-related articles from Dragon to Dungeon; early 4e Dragon magazines had lots of DM stuff. And it were more than just 2 columns:
Backdrops
Bestiary
Creature Incarnations
Codex of Betrayal
Deities & Demigods
Demonomicon
Domains of Dread
Expeditionary Dispatches
Lords of Chaos
Realmslore
The Ecology of (with regard to monsters)

New Court of Stars and Roll vs. Role articles should also appear in Dungeon.

 

[Riley]

It was the other way around, moving DM-related articles from Dragon to Dungeon; early 4e Dragon magazines had lots of DM stuff.

Yes. As far as I can tell (from a gut level), it just feels that there are fewer, shorter adventures than there were - and good long-ish adventures and good long-ish fluff articles are pretty much what I want from my Dungeon and Dragon.

 

[avin]

September, 1st: A Battlemind article that I don't even read. A podcast that I never listen. Hope it appeals other subscribers but it adds nothing to me...

September, 2nd: Watered down editorial talking about an experimental Unearthed Arcana 4E... that won't be in CB, so it's zero use for my campaign... anybody is going to try something that's not on CB? Honest question here, not trying to be harsh. CB made a lot of us lazy...

As a DM, I'm missing articles featuring new exciting exclusive DDI monsters, with proper ecology, outside of adventure articles and a more inspiring fluff. Sure, it's not what all DDI subscribers want, some want heavy loads of crunch... I just wanna point out that, at this moment, with the short article agenda, subscription is not paying off for me... =/

 

[Aegeri]

Apparently they moved to this short article stuff because of feedback. One would wonder who those people are and if we can find them in the past, using a time machine and stop them. It's been a total disaster. I miss the days where we had quality articles that added new monsters, new demon lords and neat PC options like the gladiators article.

Now we get 2 pages of fluff that isn't usually that great and absolutely terrible mechanics added onto it. Plus most of the support isn't even for things that need it.

But blah blah blah. I'm getting to the point on this I'm just a broken record and all I can do is hope Wizards do something about it. At this stage, I'm going to cancel my subscription and maybe sign on once every 3-4 months just to download the latest updates (months with Errata feel like a good buy). Believe it or not, it IS possible to live without the character builder.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I don't find the Unearth Arcana announcement promising at all. They are basically now saying we can pad out the magazine with stuff we haven't really tested, or spent much time developing and we won't even ask the programming guys to add it to the CB or Adventure Tools to save them a bit of work.

I definately don't get the whole not adding it to the CB. If you're not going to update it to the electronic tools, f it. If your tools are so poor that you don't trust the DM with them, make better tools.

 

[vagabundo]

I remember someone doing a break down of the authors that have come in print since the mags went digital. They were all, pretty much, mostly insiders - including some former WotC employees and a handful of freelancers who are known quantities. I think they're was a dash of new authors that have been published - I think I seen a new name in this months mags.

I find it hard to believe this is caused by a lack of submissions or a lack of quality. I think it is an understaffed editorial/layout team. They pick in-house stuff first and then the known freelancers and there is very little space left for the rest.

I wish they would invest more in the mags. I enjoy my sub for a few different reasons and am happy to support the DND brand with a couple of quid per month, but if I had to cut something then the mags would be on shaky ground. They are not giving me value for money.

It is a shame, because I love 4e - best DND ever IMO - but the limited pool authors shows.

Also, Layout: I enjoy the readability and appreciate that people like to print out the mags and that complicated layout can waste ink, but I miss some of the article specific layouts, they added to my enjoyment of the article - I've been going through some of my old Savage Tide issues for a 4e conversion.