Simplicity said:
Who cares how cheap Downer is if most of your readers don't like it?
Well, I don't think one web thread on one website (albeit this one) is enough evidence to suggest that "most" of the readers don't like it. As it happens, I've included a question about Downer in a reader survey that's just being completed now, to appear on our website concurrent with the first "relaunch" issue (#114). If the majority of survey respondents don't care for the feature, that's certainly an important data point I'll have to consider when planning for future issues.
As for caring about the cost, well, a huge portion of my job involves balancing the magazine's budget, so it's probably a lot more important to me than it is to you. Paying what we do for Downer allows me to run one more full-page full-color illustration. Or two half-pagers, or four half-page maps, or a 12,000-word article.
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.
I've recently had the opportunity to flip through the entire Dragon archive, from issue #1 to issue #300, carefully considering each and every issue. Did all of the cartoons meet with my approval? No, not by any means (anyone remember "Pinsome"?) But the important thing is that, back in the day, Dragon was an avenue for long-form comic strips in a way that it simply isn't, anymore. And the main reason for that is cost.
If I can get a two-page comic for a reasonable price, it makes it easier to establish and develop Dungeon as an outlet for this art form. If you don't like Downer, wait a bit, and we'll eventually be running something else. I'm not immune to the negative comments on this thread, but on the other hand I personally like Kyle's art style and sense of humor, and I'm willing to see where he's going to take this story. Do I think the story could be more accessible? Sure. Do I think missing a single issue really hurts the understanding of the current storyline? Absolutely. Is that something I'd like to address as time goes by? Yes, because I like Downer, and I think it's worth it. I've asked Kyle to throw together a "the story so far" article for issue #114, which we're already positioning as a "jumping on" point for new readers. It's my hope that this will make it easier for new people to get into the storyline.
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'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. Downer is a part of that package. In about two months, anyone who's interested will get a chance to take a look at what we've done and make a decision about whether Dungeon is a more attractive or less attractive purchase. 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.
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.
Here's hoping I'm doing a decent job.
--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon Magazine
