Dungeon #187 - first issue with 0 adventures?

[Quickleaf]

Yeah mudbunny has been great about being a voice from WotC and enworld forums!

Too bad I missed this new direction the Dungeon magazine is taking (no adventures and no compiled magazine), since I just ended subscription in february /sarcasm

You know back in mid-October I wrote a letter to WotC about ddi and it was as earnest as you get. Since I was prepaid thru February, I just watched to see what happened. In 4 months I didn't see improvement or a real response to my critique (and from what I gather on the boards my criticisms aren't unique).

So in this particular case my direct communication didn't make a difference. But no sweat, I'm not paying for it anymore.

DDi and the current incarnation of the magazines just suck.

But D&D still rocks. :rocker:

 

[delericho]

It occurs to me that there may be opportunity here.

One possible reason for the lack of adventures is that WotC may be short on suitable material to publish - after all, if they don't have suitable submissions, they can't publish them!

That suggests to me that if you are thinking you'd quite like to contribute, now may well be a good time to get the Submission Guidelines and put forward some queries.

Of course, it's also entirely possible that there's some other reason at play. But, really, what do you have to lose?

 

[JoeGKushner]

I don't believe that for a second.

Dungeon and Dragon has become an almost 100% in-house magazine if you look only at the authors since most of 'em are one dude eh? I mean, bless Robert and Bruce and some of the others but it ain't the magazine with new faces it once was.

 

[delericho]

But is that because they've chosen to do it that way, or is that because they don't have enough submissions they can use, and so have to use the in-house guys in order to be able to publish at all.

As I said, I don't actually know. But as I also said: what do people have to lose?

 

[Goonalan]

Just to say I received my reply, I wrote to WOTC, as per below, on first page of this post-

I've e-mailed Customer Services asking, well basically, why did they do that?

My message starts/reads-

Hi,

I'm a fanboy (although 43 years of age) of 4e, D&D GM for 30 years as of Jan 2011. I realise the above entitles me to nothing- I can always take my custom elsewhere.

Dungeon 187 contains an editorial about, well-

That's why one of our goals for 2011 is to get more diversity into Dungeon magazine's adventures. We intend to mix things up with a wider variety of levels, settings, lengths, and styles.

And contains no adventures, over here in the UK we have a thing called the Trade Description's Act, a product or service can be prosecuted for not providing content in-line with it's stated (and in some cases) expected content.

Dungeon magazine- the home of 'adventures... with a wide(r) variety of levels, settings, lengths and styles' contains no adventures- in 28 days (and however long you get to plan for the magazine to come out) you have provided... 0 adventures.

I then do a bit of whining but basically ask- why?

Whose idea was that?

I'm very polite throughout the e-mail (I promise), I'll post if I get any reply worth posting.

They wrote back to say-

Congratulations on 30 Years of gaming! I'm sorry for any inconvenience and frustration you may have experienced. However, I can submit this email as feedback to our developers. We place great value in the feedback, ideas, and suggestions of our customers. I assure you that Game Support meets with teams around the company on a regular basis, and we make it a priority that your voice is heard. While we cannot guarantee a direct response, we can promise that your thoughts and concerns are being passed along to the right people.

Phew that was a close one, perhaps I can now get some sleep at night- lol, to be honest pretty much what I expected.

Cheers Goonalan

 

[Incenjucar]

But is that because they've chosen to do it that way, or is that because they don't have enough submissions they can use, and so have to use the in-house guys in order to be able to publish at all.

As I said, I don't actually know. But as I also said: what do people have to lose?

I have a feeling that part of this is due to Essentials mucking up the understanding of what WotC wants, especially since Essentials requires mass revisions that only WotC can produce.

 

[Quickleaf]

But is that because they've chosen to do it that way, or is that because they don't have enough submissions they can use, and so have to use the in-house guys in order to be able to publish at all.

I think their definition of "can use" has been vastly different than Paizo, judging by the types if adventures in the online version if Dungeon.

As I said, I don't actually know. But as I also said: what do people have to lose?

You know, I'm going to do that - I have this sweet 8th level mystery adventure I've been hacking away at... vistani, vampires, and planewalking in the gothic horror tradition.

 

[Shemeska]

But is that because they've chosen to do it that way, or is that because they don't have enough submissions they can use, and so have to use the in-house guys in order to be able to publish at all.

As I said, I don't actually know. But as I also said: what do people have to lose?

In my experience, and one that I've heard from a few other freelancers, is that they simply weren't giving replies to many people if you weren't in a very, very small cloister of people who were doing 4e material from the outset. I did get asked to submit something, I provided it, and then I got zero response, nor a reply when I asked about its status. Between the experience being a black hole of response, and a rapidly declining interest in the system due to playstyle and other aspects of the game, I gave up pitching anything more to them.

Now granted, my experience was very early on in the e-zines' lifecycle, and they've since gotten a new editor in chief for the magazines. So things may be much improved since then, but the early things I heard and experienced firsthand, plus the impression that the entire thing was effectively somewhere between a closed shop and a house organ, a lot of the author pool that has historically been there for the magazines may have rapidly dried up and/or gone elsewhere. I hate to say it, but I feel that gone are the days when Dungeon and Dragon existed to cultivate the next generation of D&D creative talent.

But again, things may have improved, and despite my experience (and evolved disinterest in 4e) I can only push people to submit ideas and see if they bite. They might be more open to freelancers and people hoping to get their first publication, so I have to parrot the same line as before, 'what's to lose?'

 

[Incenjucar]

The lack of response is a big issue. At the very least, there should be a standardized rejection letter so you at least know for a fact that they LOOKED at it, and to keep on trying, especially since they tell you to wait two full months for a response.

 

[Matt James]

I was never in the 'cloister' and kept submitting ideas. I kept going back and refining my queries. Finally, in the summer of 2009, I was approved to co-author an adventure in Dungeon. It's been great since.

I want to say I had over 20 or 30 queries back then. None of them I got a response to--which meant nothing to me. I knew they received so many each month, that responding, individually, to each was just not feasible.

Keep trying. Those who don't give up and keep refining their work, will stand out.