[Dragon] Stop it with the fiction

[CaptainCalico]

no (or at least less) fiction

I have tried reading the fiction in Dragon, but I gave up. It takes a lot to craft a short story that holds my attention - and "teasers" are the equivalnet of 1/2hour infomercials and should be just plain banned. There are plenty of other avneues for fantasy short fiction out there, and I would not mind if Dragon included an occasional piece of fiction (especially if it was in keeping with the focus of that issue) but I really wish it was not a regular feature.

What would peole like to see those pages used for?

 

[Katerek]

Re: no (or at least less) fiction

What would peole like to see those pages used for?

You can never go wrong with more Crunchy Bits.

Or make that the "Bonus Feature" section of the magazine. Something different each month. One month it could be fiction, one month a comic (think of comic books here, not strips), one month the pages could be eliminated in favor of a pullout poster map, etc.

 

[Corinth]

As much as I enjoyed the Fool Wolf stories, I must agree. Dragon is a gaming magazine, not a fantasy fiction magazine; I'd rather have more crunchy bits or D&D-specific fluff content like the series of articles featuring sites in the Realms.

 

[2WS-Steve]

I've seldom read the stories either but they don't bother me much; all magazines contain some bits that appeal to part of the audience and other bits that appeal to a different part of the audience. I actually did read the intro story in the latest. I kind of agree that it feels a bit like an advertisement; I assume Hobgoblynn press pays Dungeon to put their Godlike comics in it so shouldn't these sorts of things count, at least partially, against the ad space. That said, it was kind of a fun story.

Actually, the kind of fiction that I might really enjoy reading in dragon would be a story hour, like the best story hours here on ENWorld. The good story hours are fun to read and provide me with lots of cool ideas for how to run a campaign or scenario.

 

[Emiricol]

I agree - keep the fiction, lose the useless novel tie-ins. Better yet, tie the fiction into an article being run in that issue. Anyone remember issue with Dragon Chess in it, like 15 years ago or more? The fiction in that issue, with Gord the Rogue in Greyhawk meeting the Lord of Cats, had a strong tie-in to Dragon Chess.

In the latest issue, fiction related to the new Fey, or gods, the Nameless Legion, would have been very cool.

But again, at the very least lose the novel tie-ins. Interesting experiment, but I don't like it much.

 

[Sir Edgar]

I don't really mind the fiction, if it is good. I think there is always room for fiction as long as it isn't too long. I mean after all, I didn't buy a book but a magazine. What I don't understand is why they don't put the content for Dragon and Dungeon together. It seems that with so many products coming out for D20 Modern and such, there should be a separate magazine for Polyhedron now.

Really, from what I understand, Dungeon was a spin-off of Dragon and then Polyhedron got tacked onto it. Now, the whole thing doesn't even make any sense! I know it's largely a business decision, but the themes are mixed up a bit too much now. Personally, I'm very hesitant about subscribing to either for now. If they combined Dragon and Dungeon together though, I would subscribe in a heartbeat and with enthusiasm! =)

 

[Vocenoctum]

That would explain why both the "prologue" fiction in Dragon and the adventure of the same scenario in Dungeon were written by him. I was wondering what was going on there. Now that I think about it though, T.H. Lain would be releasing books at an incredible pace if (s)he was a single person, and not some gestalt entity.

The TH Lain stories have been totally different writing styles, so it's obvious they're different authors. It's a pain, since you now can't pick out the authors you like, you'll have to read part of the book to see if you recognize the style.

I may just stop buying the series, it'd be easier.

On Fiction in Dragon, I've been skipping it since I started picking up dragon again since d20. I used to skip it before also, until one time I was bored enough to tackle some.

Damned if some of those stories weren't superb too!

One of these days, I'll give the new stories a try, never know until you try...

 

[Painfully]

I used to subscribe to Amazing magazine, formerly published by TSR if I remember correctly. Steven Spielberg even had a television series of the same name for a short while. I loved it (the magazine and the television series), but, I never once bought a Dragon magazine for the fiction, and it is not what I look forward to when I open the latest issue.

Frankly, I'd rather they take out the fiction and make it an occassional thing. In it's place I'd like to see a feature module like they present in Dungeon magazine, or maybe a cardboard model of a moathouse like they feature on the WotC website, or a d20 game like they feature in Polyhedron, or NEW and interesting counters of mundane things like tables, chairs, thrones, water pools, torches, etc to "fill in the gaps" of my growing counter collection (everybody needs a few barrels, bones, and treasure chests, right?). Or give us another good article or two without worrying so much about a theme. I can buy a fiction magazine if I want fiction, but game content is what I look for in Dragon magazine, NOT short stories.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Like any magazine the stories in Dragon run the gamut from Great! to Ecchhh! The novel tie ins are well over on the Ecchhh! end of the spectrum, reminding me way too much of White Dwarf - the advertisment in magazine form.

Keep the fiction, its good often enough for me, although it has never influenced me to buy an issue it is usually an enjoyable read. I prefer the fiction to Dragonmirth in general, there were way too many lame jokes published therein.

The Auld Grump

 

[Pagan priest]

Keep the fiction

Don't use bits and pieces of a book and call it a short story.

I've been reading Dragon continuously since it was in single digits, and in that time I have read a lot of good fiction. I have also read some bad stories as well. The one thing that has consistantly annoyed me has been excerpts of novels. I end up feeling as if I had been tricked into reading several pages of advertising.

Now, if a story ties into a larger novel, but is completely self contained, that's fine. A story about the Forgotten Realms that relates to a series of novels could be good. For example, consider a story that is set in Daggerdale and has a group of folk in Dagger Falls set out for adventure, freeing a hamlet from bandit raiders. If the novel series then starts a year later, and goes on to describe this group becoming a major force for good and justice in the Realms, freeing all the Dalelands from the pervidious puppetmaster, Elminster, all is fine and dandy.

Somebody mentioned earlier in this thread about game mechanics, and fiction that uses different rules of magic not be appropriate. I disagree... if it is a good story then the "rules" of the universe are irrelevant. Bad fiction that uses the D20 conventions of magic is still bad fiction. Good fiction AND game stats would be nice when it can be done, but don't shoe horn things into a rigid format.