{DRAGON] Will there be a DRAGON Annual this year?

[coyote6]

OKay...first of all, I'm not sure if by "D&D" you're referring to Dragon and Dungeon, or just Dragon,

Neither; D&D stands for Dungeons & Dragons, the game. Except for the one place where I typed "D&D" instead of Dragon.

If you subscribe to both, you get the best of ALL worlds...literally!!!

I have subscribed to both since shortly after 3e started; I recently tacked another year onto both subscriptions, taking them up through 2004 or 2005, I forget (trying to take advantage of the Dragon premium -- but they ran out before I subscribed! And I already have the Dungeon premium! Argh!).

Also, it's not the best of all worlds; it might be the best of all d20 worlds, but there's no non-d20 stuff at all.

As for the annuals: way back when I subscribed to some Marvel comics, I never got the Avengers or X-Men annuals with my subscriptions. So while not getting the Dragon Annual is a bit disappointing -- because who doesn't want free stuff? -- it's not something worth cancelling (or even not renewing) a subscription over, IMO.

Of course, I wasn't bowled over by the last Dragon Annual (#5, wasn't it? From the year before the d20 Special?).

I can understand why they'd decide not to volunteer to spend what is probably a sizable fraction of their profit margin on a bonus that just buys 'em grief. I think it's a bit of a baby-with-bathwater, but hey, what with starting a new publishing company, I can see why they'd want to skip such a thing.

If y'all do decide to do another Dragon Annual sometime in the future, I think publishing a mini-setting might be kind of cool, at least as an experiment. Thrown in a nice map or two, some crunchy rules stuff (that's tailored to the setting, but usable elsewhere), a short intro adventure, and voila. It doesn't have to be a whole world or continent or the like; maybe just a country, or even just a detailed city.

(If nothing else, WotC will have a couple of settings that they'll have paid $20,000 apiece to get. )

Or, hey, turn the Annual over to Erik Mona & the Living Greyhawk Journal. Maybe finish that series on the City of Greyhawk, or something.

Bonus, if it is newsstand-only, if people don't like it, they don't have to buy it!

 

[Emiricol]

Bah. People were promised an annual, and you can cut it any way you want, but that's still the case.

You shoot yourself in the foot talking about how you spitefully cancelled it because of some complaints on a message board - as if ANYONE takes them as a full indication of markets overall - and yet sold record numbers at the stands. Which is it?

Finally, spite and temper tantrums have no place in a business environment. Either you value your subscribers or you don't. Many of us only subscribed for the annual and such - I can go to my damned FLGS and just buy the particular Dragons that have content of interest to me, and save money over a subscription but I don't because 1) I want the damned annual/best-of, and 2) I wanted to support the magazine.

Was this a mistake on my part?

Offended by your tone,

Emiricol

 

[Default Name Player]

Many of us only subscribed for the annual and such - I can go to my damned FLGS and just buy the particular Dragons that have content of interest to me, and save money over a subscription but I don't because 1) I want the damned annual/best-of, and 2) I wanted to support the magazine.

This is just conjecture on my part, but I would think that "many" people ordered Dragon magazine...for Dragon magazine? Sorry, but there's all of this talk over an annual/special, but what about the other 12 issues that comes out during the year? The Annual/Special was a nice addition, but the crux of my subscription has always been for the Dragon magazine itself. Maybe it's just me?

As for subscribing, no one HAS to subscribe, but there's a convenience factor to it, and one a smaller level, a discount on a per issue basis. As a subscriber who planned to get every issue of Dragon during the year anyway, I am fine with the arrangement. Again, maybe that's just me.

If you only want specific issues of Dragon and an annual, the question is: why AREN'T you only picking up the issues at your local FLGS? It's still supporting the magazine, but with less complaining/feeling ripped off on your end.

 

[Default Name Player]

If that comes across a little harsh, i'm sorry. I have enjoyed Dragon for a long time and up entill today i felt that my susbcription was apprecaited by those who publish it. Based on your reason for discontinuing the dragon annual i'm not so sure now.

Sorry if this is going to sound harsh, but you gotta ask yourself why you subscribe/read Dragon (or even Dungeon) in the first place:

- to get an annual
- to feel appreciated

I subscribe to alot of magazines, and I don't know when the last time Newsweek, Computer Gaming Monthly, Maxim, FHM, Stuff, Dungeon, Dragon, PC Gamer, Electronic Games Monthly, Playboy, Computer Games Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, PSM Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Newtype USA, Wizard, Premiere, Entertainment Weekly, World War II, Vietnam, Military History "appreciated" me, since I just get them for the info or entertainment value, but I guess I should look forward to that day?

 

[Greatwyrm]

Sorry if this is going to sound harsh, but you gotta ask yourself why you subscribe/read Dragon (or even Dungeon) in the first place:

- to get an annual
- to feel appreciated

--snip--

Neither. I subscribe to Dragon because it provides some quality content that I'd like to use in my games. I don't like or use all of it, but there is enough stuff throughout the year that it basically adds up to a good sized sourcebook full of stuff for about the same price.

I guess the point for me is that I subscribed believing (again, possibly incorrectly) that it was a 13 issue per year subscription.

Look at it this way. If you bought a book that had only 12 of 13 advertised chapters, wouldn't you be a bit concerned? Especially if the publisher said something like, "Well, too many people complained about the chapter on Feats in the last book, so we just threw out the chaper on Prestiege Classes in this book. Maybe we'll make that chapter a pay-for-download .pdf, but don't count on it."

By the way, I liked the last annual/special as much as the regular issues. It did read like a bunch of ads in some places, but that's cool with me. The ads are also part of the reason I get Dragon. It may sound odd, but it's true.

 

[Darrin Drader]

This argument is silly. The subscription price is still less than the price for the 12 issues a year off the news stand. That alone should justify a subscription to the magazine. I can't understand any argument based around the notion that the only reason you bought a subscription was for the annual. That's patently silly. Besides, isn't one issue per month enough? On top of that, for the past year, Dragon has been offering Legions of Hell as an added bonus instead of the annual.

I think people should stop looking a gift horse in the mouth and be happy that the magazines weren't killed off altogether. If Hasbro was interested in producing magazines, they wouldn't have sold that chunk of WotC.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I would gladly pay extra on my subscription to get an annual. One of the main reasons I subscribe is so that I never have to worry about finding Dragon and Dungeon sold out on the newsstands.

I have to say, in Mr. Wilson's defense, that he didn't specifically say the majority of the complaints were on the internet. At least, I don't recall reading such a statement. Anyway, I'm guessing that Dragon received a vast majority of their complaints via snail mail and e-mail. If that is true, I'd be curious as to the ratio of complaints versus praise.

Someone commented above on the last Dragon annual before the d20 Special. I remember that annual, and I liked it quite a bit.

 

[Greatwyrm]

This argument is silly. The subscription price is still less than the price for the 12 issues a year off the news stand. That alone should justify a subscription to the magazine. I can't understand any argument based around the notion that the only reason you bought a subscription was for the annual.

True, the subscription offers a nice discount from the cover price. The simple fact remains that a subscription is a contract. If the contract was for 13 issues and only 12 are delivered, somebody didn't get what they paid for, silly or not.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall anyone saying the sole reason they subscribed was the annual. As always, I could be incorrect.

 

[Emiricol]

Well, I'm less irritated now. The cause of my irritation remains, however.

1) It doesn't really matter why I choose to subscribe or buy from my FLGS - that's my business. Suggesting we go do that is like telling us to go (expletive) ourselves.

2) It does matter that I, the customer, feel screwed out of something that has always been considered part of the deal.

If the purpose of changing the agreement after receiving my subscription money by not putting out the expected annual is to avoid irritating any people, I'd suggest that the plan failed.

 

[coyote6]

Was there ever an actual agreement that said subscribers would get 13 issues a year?

What does the indicia (if I recall the term correctly) of the magazine say? Or the annual statement of circulation? Something like, "published 12 times per year" or "published monthly"? is there mention of "an additional annual issue" or anything like that?

Did the subscription forms mention the number of issues (something like "3 years (36 issues)")?