[Dragon] A few of my thoughts...

[Tolen Mar]

Since the guys at Paizo hang out here, and I am not one who has ever written a letter on paper and actually sent it in, I hope you dont mind if I say what Ive been thinking lately here.

First, the artwork. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I dont. For some reason, the cover art for 301 and 299 are just too stark for me. The white background just seems to take away from the picture for me. And based on an ad in 302, the next one will be the same style...302, however has an excellent cover. I guess I just want something that matches better and doesnt glare against the eye so much. No matter what, it isnt the cover that makes a magazine so I can overlook that.

Now for the good stuff. I was at a point where I was wondering if I was going to keep my subscription. You (and wizards before you) were doing so many themed magazines it was annoying. No doubt you heard a lot about that one . Now you are still doing themed issues, but they aren't themed around a book that is coming out soon. Sure, you still have articles about upcoming releases, but one was about fighters, the next about swashbucklers, then magic, next time will be gladiators. Let me state right now that I am not complaining about this kind of theme. Since you took over Dragon, I have been able to use immediately many of the articles you've printed. I look forward to getting dragon in the mail again, and so long as you keep this up, Ill happily keep my subscription. I love getting a magazine each month that I will actually read and use, and dragon is it. (Heck, Im even letting my smithsonian and national geographic subscriptions lapse...).

Then there are the cardboard inserts. I love them! I want more! More spell templates, more dungeon tiles (any chance you could sneak in some of wizards cardboard models?). A lot of my DnD play is miniatures based and tactical, and those are just what the doctor ordered.

Finally, those character sheets you've been running. I actually like them. I usually like the sheets that have every possible detail on them, but on the other hand I like the style of those sheets. I went and looked at the website for those sheets and was dissapointed to find out that you could only buy them in lots of 25 (I was hoping for some free downloads). Did you guys agree to run a set of 25, or are you going to stop after each of the 11 core classes? (Or if you tell me that, would you have to kill me?)

Keep up the good work. You caught the magazine as it was beginning to slip and now you're pulling it back onto the top of the heap. If this were a movie, I'd applaud your sense of dramatic timing.

 

[Tolen Mar]

I forgot one gripe...

According to the preview of Dragon 303 where you said it was going to be a gladiator issue, you also mention that you are crossing over and making Dungeon a gladiator issue as well. thats all and Jim Dandy, but do you know how annoying it is that I now have to get the next Dungeon just to have a complete map of that arena? I dont have a subscription to that, and even if I ordered a subscription, I doubt Id get it in time to get that issue, and it comes right at the holidays when I will have even less money than I do now!!! How much does Dungeon cost on the newsstand anyway? Oh well...I'll just have to see what I can manage.

 

[Bagpuss]

Dungeon cost the same as Dragon (at least where I get mine) £3.50 in the UK. Considering it is much thicker and for a DM much more useful its a real bargin.

 

[Rickg]

I'll have to echo Tolen Mar.

I was within a few months of my subscription lapsing and was going to let it go until Paizo took over. I have really liked the magazine since the Knights issue and the Swashbuckler one was great as well.

I subscribed for another year.

Keep up the good work.

 

[staciem]

Tolen Mar,

It's nice to hear some positive feedback, especially as we've been working so hard to come up with new ideas to make the magazine an even more useful tool for players and DMs alike. Thank you!

I wanted to address your concerns regarding the arena maps included in the "Gladiator" crossover issues of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. I think our information blurb in issue #302 was a bit misleading. . . .

When we began brainstorming the idea of a crossover theme for the magazines, one of the most important things we wanted to ensure was that each separate magazine was useful to the reader/player. We didn't want readers to feel that they had to purchase both magazines to make them useful. Instead, we want players to be so excited about the topic and ideas presented in the articles that they want to purchase both magazines in order to get even more coverage of the topic. With this in mind, we created premiums (the little "extras" like dungeon tiles, poster maps, and so on that we sometimes include in our magazines) that could stand on their own or be used in conjunction with one another. The arena map in Dragon is a complete map of the arena floor. The map in Dungeon is a complete map of the area beneath the arena floor. These two maps can be used together, but as you can see, this isn't a necessity.

Hope this information helps clarify what you'll find in the magazines when the Gladiator issues release. We're really excited about them, and we hope readers like them as much as we do.

Stacie Magelssen
Dragon Magazine
Associate Editor

 

[Dagger75]

I stated it once before and I'll state it again,

I liked the themed issues. Sure I sometimes didn't need them the month they came out but I find them useful. The castle one is cool, I liked the whole issues on elves, dwarves, fighters, psionics and what not.

The maps are always nice. The spell templates are the coolest things. Please, please please print one for cone spells, pretty please.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Morrow]

The maps are always nice. The spell templates are the coolest things. Please, please please print one for cone spells, pretty please.

Agreed, the spell templates are a great idea.

I've really enjoyed the campaign components articles. The Knights and Swashbuckling articles were full of useful ideas. I look forward to the Gladiators article and hope that campaign components continue to be a regular part of Dragon Magazine.

Morrow

 

[Tolen Mar]

The arena map in Dragon is a complete map of the arena floor. The map in Dungeon is a complete map of the area beneath the arena floor.

Okay, thats a lot better. I was envisioning one half of the arena in one mag and the other half in the other mag. However, it still sounds like Im gonna want both of them...Now I guess I have another reason to pony back a few bucks next month...

 

[Dr Midnight]

Paizo- only just now got my Dragon #302, and have only flipped through it, but (as I stated in another Dragon thread) I think it's looking great.

One of these days I'll have to get off my ass and find your art submission guidelines.

So- good job, much love, rock on.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that I think it's great that you're paying attention to the ENboards, with the [Dragon] and [Dungeon] tags.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Neat to see some Dragon responses. I like what Paizo's done with the mag. Here's some comments:

Pro:

- Like the "campaign components" ideas. I got some great ideas from the "Swashbucklers" issue. I like not having an entire issue to pimp one WOTC product (not that product tie-ins are bad, necessarily).
- The Dungeoncraft and DM's toolbox articles lately have been pretty good (Monte's article on large combats is great -- looking forward to the second half).
- Keep Gygax's column going. I'm an old 1E player and like the nostalgia.
- Greenwood's Elminster's Guide has lots of interesting locations. Keep it up!
- Handouts, counters, etc -- great!

Con:

- Art. Now I'm not much of an art critic, but I miss the days of "realistic" style art, Dragon covers that had landscape or a scene to them. Some of the interior art I've liked (particularly in #301), but the covers have fallen flat (I particularly disliked #299).
Dragon covers from 65-150 are more my style (#126 my all time favorite). I'm sure I'm in the minority here, though.
- Taglines. Hate'em. Dragon is better than some two-bit tabloid, so why make the magazine look like a two-bit tabloid? Yeah, newstand sales, I got it, but don't have to like it.
- The character sheets -- I liked the offering in #301, but is there a back page to it, for the rest of the character stats?

Dungeon -- I love (similar gripes with Dragon), though I dislike the Poly inclusion. I buy Dungeon for D&D, so Poly's just wasted pages. But this has been discussed to death elsewhere. (I'd rather see Dragon/Poly and Dungeon/LGG myself, but whatever.)

A last question on distribution. I'm a subscriber, in Atlanta, and usually see my magazine about the 23d-25th of the month. Usually the contents of the magazine are up around here on the 12th or so, and most discussion about the current contents (the "I just got #302" comments) begin about the 15th or so (and end by the time I have my copy ). Is this because I'm a subscriber, and everyone else gets their copy in stores, or ...?