Dragon 326

[Felon]

I think I'm in the minority here, but I'd love to see Class Acts go away. I usually find one, at most two of the classes articles in each issue worthwhile. The overabundance of flaws articles have really been the biggest waste. How can so much space be devoted to a variant rule from Unearthed Arcana, while epic, psionics, and Oriental Adventures are virtually ignored?

I dunno, I kinda see your point, but the one-page nature of the Class Acts seem to lend themselves to the very "buffet" approach you're speaking of; in any given issue only one or two are expected to catch the reader's eye, so they keep'em short and sweet. I think Dragon's publishers have resigned themselves to the fact that everyone won't like everything in every issue.

 

[Vecna]

I think I'm in the minority here, but I'd love to see Class Acts go away. I usually find one, at most two of the classes articles in each issue worthwhile. The overabundance of flaws articles have really been the biggest waste. How can so much space be devoted to a variant rule from Unearthed Arcana, while epic, psionics, and Oriental Adventures are virtually ignored?

Agreed. Instead of Class Acts, I'd prefer Epic, Psionic, Oriental and Old Settings support.
It seems that the new "D&D for Dummies" (not the actual book) WotC policy has affected Dragon too...

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

How can so much space be devoted to a variant rule from Unearthed Arcana, while epic, psionics, and Oriental Adventures are virtually ignored?

While I think the Flaws variant is interesting, I do agree there are a lot of fans and readers who would love to see more articles like the ones mentioned above. Epic and psionics...bring 'em on!

 

[Richards]

As for that "Shaper of Forms" prestige class, it's focused on characters who are "tested" by "primal beings from the very heart of existence" and found to be worthy of advanced knowledge about form changing. This is mostly polymorph-related stuff, but the Shaper of Forms can not only alter her own body, but also the forms of inanimate objects around her. Some of the things she can change about her own body are permanent, but she only gets a total of three of these changes over the course of the 10-level prestige class (fortunately, she gets to pick and choose from a list of five possibilities). All in all it's a pretty cool prestige class, although I wonder if the "tested by primal beings" origin of this power was really necessary.

Johnathan

 

[noffham]

Erik-

Today is Nov. 16th. I just got Dragon 326 in the mail. I know that postal service is slow to Albuquerque, but that seems extreme. I've gotten my last 3 Dungeon issues at least a week after they showed up in my FLGS.

I'd like to ask what you consider the "standard" mailing time??

Noffham

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Maybe this is why I just buy them at Barnes and Noble when they come out...... if I want the content that is. I enjoy the issues I read and sometimes share with others when I remember to take them to the game sessions....

I liked Class Acts although they needed something more.... it seemed.

Also like the Sage Advice "column" in the back.

I'd never had any gripes with Paizo's shipping of the Star Wars Insider. I had more beef with their "promises" of bonus stuff/priviledges that I woulda gotten at Celebration II (which was a big load of bullcrap!) and caused me to decide to lapse my sub to that good mag.

 

[MKMcArtor]

I think I'm in the minority here, but I'd love to see Class Acts go away. I usually find one, at most two of the classes articles in each issue worthwhile. The overabundance of flaws articles have really been the biggest waste. How can so much space be devoted to a variant rule from Unearthed Arcana, while epic, psionics, and Oriental Adventures are virtually ignored?

There is a very good reason for the high number of flaws articles in the first few issues that featured the Class Acts: Mr. Pocklington provided us with the articles and nobody else gave us anything else to run. Now that we've been doing Class Acts for several months and I have begun actively seeking out new articles that can fit in that department we're starting to build up a healthy number of articles to choose from. In other words, the probability of us ever running such a high percentage of similar articles in such a short space of time is very low.

 

[Corinth]

I like the Class Acts articles. While every issue won't be 100% useful, there is usually one or two that are useful. Furthermore, the diversity of opinion in the D&D hobby community is such that what I find useful isn't a universal opinion; what I dismiss will be useful to another hobbyist. The same is so for the Prestige Class articles and most of the other regular features in the magazine. If a department must be cut, then let it be those which are disfavored by at least 67% of the feedback received- and then, only after the utmost effort to solicit such feedback concludes.

 

[qstor]

Hmm. The Rakshasa ecology is the only article that sounds really worthwhile. The articles concerning dungeon-delving, sewers, and labyrinths have the distinct smell of padding to them. Do these articles actually present any new content to use, in the form of actual rules, or is it just fluff?

Hate to say it, Erik, but I've lost faith in Dragon ever since that utterly pointless and useless knight-vs-samarui article. It's not so much that it was padding, but it was actually presented on the cover as the centerpiece of the issue.

I wish they'd do creatures that haven't had ecology articles done before..ack.

Yeah, I'm not too keen on the new format. Like others I do like the new Dungeon format though. I think I'm going to let my Dragon subscription lapse.

Mike

 

[glass]

Do you subscribe direct from the US, or through our subscription fulfillment in the UK?

You have subscription fulfilment in the UK? I thought that went away with the change over to Piazo. I certainly had my subscription summarily cancelled.


glass.