I'm really overwhelmed by the response on this thread, in a good way. Thanks so much to everyone who's posted positive comments about #114 and the new format, and thanks especially to you guys who went out and signed up for subscriptions immediately upon hearing the news of the format change. I am humbled by your dedication to the magazine.
I did want to take a few minutes to answer a few specifice questions, comments, and criticism, lest it seem like I'm only paying attention to the good stuff.
I'm going out of town for four days in a few hours, so I won't be able to respond to posts until this upcoming Monday, at the absolute earliest.
On to the comments.
PAYPAL
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I've brought up this concern to our webmaster. He mentioned that they looked into PayPal about a year ago, but decided that the controversies and questions about it were not worth the trouble of adding it to the site. He'll take another look and see if things have changed measurably since then. As someone said, you can still call us over the phone and subscribe that way, with a standard credit card. Or, you can send us a check by mail. All of these options are outlined on the Paizo site.
JOE BLANK WRITES
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Was there any thought given to a discount for subscribers to Dungeon and Dragon? Or what about a big package deals that includes Amazing Stories?
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I think we'll be offering multi-magazine subscriptions at Gen Con. I'm not sure about what's available right now, alas.
DOWNER
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It'll come as no surprise that I'm a fan of the cartoon. We realize it's a complex story (not unlike "Wormy" before it, which is probably the closest--but imperfect--analogue we've got), and will be presenting a "The Story So Far" article in an upcoming issue, probably #116. It's something we expected to run as early as #114, but we've not yet been able to fit it in.
KAODI SAYS
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Just looking at the web site, and are my eyes fooling me, or has the price of the Canadian subscription compared to the price of an American subscription come down?
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All of Dungeon's various subscription rates have been reduced, so there should be a similar decrease in Canadian and other International rates.
PATRICK LAWINGER SAID
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You do realize that all one has to do is cancel their subscription and then re-subscribe thus creating more paperwork and expense for your staff.
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I actually didn't realize that, because that's not really how my brain works. I mostly figured "five bucks isn't that big of a deal to someone who already decided what we were offering was worth $45, but it might make the difference for someone still sitting on the fence."
If it _is_ a big deal to you (and it seems like it is), I don't see any reason why not to cancel and re-up your sub. It's an automated process, so either way it shouldn't have much of an impact on our customer service staff.
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Paizo customer service has improved greatly over what it was over a year ago but, quite honestly, it is still the worst I have ever seen for ANY magazine, ever
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I disagree, but only because I know what the customer service for the magazines was like before we brought it in-house. I think our CS team does a great job. Is there room for improvement? Certainly. But there are just as many threads on EN World praising them as there are flaming them, and as you say, things have "improved greatly" over the last year.
DAVEMAGE SAID
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I am a bit bummed about the price change though since I did ask the customer service rep at the time if there was going to be any special discounts coming for subscribing to Dungeon (which I was not a subscriber of at the time) and he specifically said that there were none coming that he knew of.
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I'm sure that was true at the time. The idea behind changing the price was a relatively recent one.
MERCULE SAID
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Oh, a question for you Erik (or anyone else who knows): If I went out today and subscribed online, would my first issue be #114 or would I still be picking that up at Barnes & Noble (no FLGS, here).
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I suspect that if you subscribe now, your first issue would be #115, but I can't say for certain (I'm not in the office right now). You certainly would not get #114 if you subscribe today.
PIELORINHO SAID
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I almost bought it last night at my FLGS, but I'd just bought China Mieville's new novel, and my wallet was feeling light, so I held off. Your post here is enough to change my mind: it did look pretty great, and I may become a resubscriber.
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Talk about Sophie's Choice! I'm not even sure which way I'd go if faced with that dilemma. Thanks for finding out a way to enjoy the best of both worlds!
LIVING GREYHAWK
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We might do more sanctioned LG adventures, depending upon reader response. I'm nervous that the magazine will be seen as a "Greyhawk" magazine when in fact it is a "D&D" magazine. We'll see.
RON ASKED
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I am considering getting Dungeon but not Dragon and I am in doubt as how both magazines will tie up. Recently, both released articles regarding Dark Sun. As far as I understand, the players' portion was published in Dragon, whereas the dungeon master's portion was published in Dungeon. Problem is, if I was a subscriber of Dungeon I would not have access to all information needed to play Dark Sun 3.5 and I will have to run after a copy of the tied Dragon. How cases such as this will be handled under the new editorial directions?
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Well, it's worth noting that we don't currently have any "crossover events" planned for the near future, but if/when we do another one, I'm afraid you will have to find a way to track down the other magazine in order to get everything. We do try to make them useful independently (which I think we didn't so much pull off with Dark Sun), but yeah, you pretty much need both of them to get the full value.
(ADMIRAL?) STOCKDALE SAID
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(1) The three column format is a tough to read in so far as their are less than ten words to a line. I'd like to suggest that you go back to a two column format.
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Issue #115 experiments with a slighly smaller body font, which will lead to more words per line, which ought to make things a little easier. It's a trade-off, though, since there's only so far we can push things before the text becomes totally unreadable. I'm going to wait to see how it looks in print and make a final decision from there.
BOLIE SAID
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But I would really, really, really like to see the web site spiffed up a bit. As was suggested elsewhere, a separate downloads section with all of the downloads organized by issue and/or type would be easier than digging through the archived news postings. Also, an online index of issues would really help me find articles I've read and want to use but can't remember which issue they are in.
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Look for a complete website overhaul before Gen Con. A big, big, big set of changes are in store (including message boards!).
WOODELF ASKS
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Did your surveys justify a stand-alone D20 System mag, in addition to Dragon and Dungeon? Perhaps bi-monthly?
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Not currently, no. We're pretty much at our limit doing four magazines (Dragon, Dungeon, Undefeated, and Amazing Stories). I'd obviously love such a magazine (I was the Polyhedron editor, after all), but it doesn't look feasible right now, at least for Paizo. I do hope someone can make a go of it, though, for the industry's sake.
PATRICK LAWINGER RETURNS!
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Based on people I know personally that had subscriptions to Dungeon last year at this time, 5 out of 12 have not renewed, don't care about changes or improvements, and have no intention of renewing.
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That's really too bad. Customer Service has seen vast improvements over the last couple of years (remember, it was just born two years ago, so there's been a learning curve), and we've pulled just about every trick out of our hat to make Dungeon more appealing the D&D fans on an editorial level. If the latter doesn't interest those five former subscribers, there's really not a whole lot within my power to change in order to convince them to come back and give us another look.
It's worth noting that about a year and a half ago the CS team was occupied nearly full time sending out limited edition Star Wars Boba Fett action figures to subscribers of Star Wars Insider. Since we no longer publish Insider, they've been able to focus much more on the D&D magazines, which has (in general) led to vast improvements in speed and service for the D&D customers. It sounds like your anecdotal evidence suggests that there are still strides to be made, and that is certainly true, but everyone here is trying as hard as they can to ensure that our readers are provided with the best magazines and the best service possible.
FARAER SAID
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And I sadly note the lack of any mention of Forgotten Realms source material, since the new Dragon seems inimical to explicitly world-specific content (instead preferring to make up a new specific world with each article).
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In fact, we just published an FR module in #113, and my "big" FR plans for 2005 are finally beginning to take shape. I'm about to start editing our third Eberron adventure in five issues, and am always on the lookout for good Forgotten Realms material.
UPLOADING MAPS?
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When are the 114 maps going to be loaded, eh?
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Look for them, for sure, by the end of next week. I'd have them up today or tomorrow, but I'm going out of town. We didn't expect #114 to get around quite this quickly, and got caught off guard when our focus was on shoving #115 out the door to the printer.
TERREPIN SAID
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Or have the cute girl from the Paizo booth sign my Warduke shirt when I wear it to Gen Con. You know, something worthwhile.
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I'm sure something can be arranged.
That's it. I'm off to sunny Los Angeles for a weekend of fun with old college roommates. I'll be back on Monday, and look forward to more spirited posts to this thread!
Thanks. You guys are the greatest.
--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon
