Downer - I just don't get it

[Olive]

Here's hoping I'm doing a decent job.

Hell yes.

 

[Vocenoctum]

If you don't like Downer, and feel that a "waste" of two pages is sufficient to cancel a subscription or stop buying the magazine, so be it. Same with the one-page Wil Wheaton column mentioned in Keith's open letter, which seems to have upset about as many people as it's amused despite the fact that the first column hasn't even appeared.

I don't feel either is reason to cancel my sub, have no fear. I have no opinion on the Wil Save, since I have no idea what it will be like yet.

It's wrong to expect every single page of a 100-page magazine to match your preferences and play styles exactly. There are going to be pages in Dungeon that you think are a waste. It's my job to make sure that the number of pages you _do_ like outweigh the ones that you don't.

I've had issue's I've liked, issue's I haven't liked. I have yet to have enough that I'd cancel on you. The new format, the old format, whatever format you like, so long as the magazine is good at the end of the day.

And it's not 100 pages, you've got all those ad's in there!
You can keep Downer, just get rid of all the ad's!

But, seriously, Downer is not reason enough for me to end it, but if enough people don't like it, it may be a chance to try something different. I don't actually mind the art myself, it's the story/characters/ pacing/ everything else.

 

[Breakdaddy]

Downer isnt really to my liking either, but I havent been able to get every issue to follow the story line. I appreciate the fact that Erik is so accessible and reasonable, and so the fact that I dont enjoy 100 percent of the content of Dungeon is tempered by the knowledge that E.M. and the staff at Paizo are trying hard to bring us quality material each and every month (a tall order, I would think.).

 

[Alzrius]

It's very, very important to me that we develop some kind of serialized comic for the magazine. For years, similar features like Wormy and SnarfQuest helped to define Dragon, and the loss of these features, in my opinion, is a blow to that magazine. The biggest problem is one of cost. The Dragon staff has decided that a two-page "dramedy" comic is too expensive, so there are no longer any quasi-serious comics in Dragon. Sure, you've got Zogonia strips and full-page Dork Towers, but that's not the same as multiple-page arcs of things like Robinson's War or even Floyd. And in the olden days of my youth, the issue wasn't mutually exclusive. You could have both.

This is something I completely and utterly agree with. I read "Yamara" and "Snarfquest" and others, and tended to enjoy them to varying degrees. A monthly exclusive comic that has a continuing story is important to the magazine.

but on the other hand I personally like Kyle's art style and sense of humor

This is where my opinion differs. The art style of Downer, more than anything else, puts me off of the comic. I just can't make myself connect to the cast in any sense (humor or drama) when their artistic rendition seems to be (in my opinion) like caricatures, not characters. That, more than anything else, immediately makes it hard for me to enjoy the comic.

I submit that that decision will be easier if it is made on the magazine as a whole, rather than on specific pages that don't appeal to you.

Point taken. Downer can be run every issue for the next ten years and I'd still never miss an issue. I've said elsewhere that I'll never let my subscription lapse, and that's still true, Downer or no.

Here's hoping I'm doing a decent job.

Your work on the magazine has been far better than merely "decent," Erik. Don't let one or two bones of contention let you think otherwise.

 

[Psimancer]

It doesn't help that down in these parts, we already have our own Downer, Alexander, Foreign Minister for the Free People's Republic of Austria:[/img]

Yep, he Austrian alright... We don't want him in Australia...

 

[Piratecat]

Erik, thank you for checking in and explaining the details behind the comic. This sort of accessibility is more valuable than you know, and it's appreciated.

 

[Henry]

I've spent the last six months, essentially, developing a completely new format for the magazine based on the feedback of readers in the form of letters and messages posted to this and other message boards. I've jumbled all of those ideas together, added a bunch of my own, and have come up with something that I think people will really like...It's my job to make sure that the number of pages you _do_ like outweigh the ones that you don't.

Here's hoping I'm doing a decent job.

From what i've seen of your professional record, don't worry on that count, Erik. And thank you for the candid info. If the Dungeon #112 is any indication of your skill at changing things up once in a while to please readers, you've got my vote. Downer may not suit me, but I'm also willing to give it another chance as of #114.

 

[Erratic K]

Two things,

One I did the first 3-4 episodes of Downer summary here:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=89298

It was more time consuming than I thought.

And two, I think Erik and the Dungeon crew are doing a great job. I'm supportive of comics, adventures, and stuff for DMs in dungeon (I count minigames as stuff for DMs).

-E