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<blockquote data-quote="Menexenus" data-source="post: 1694364" data-attributes="member: 8951">I maintain that good art helps players and DMs alike to imagine the situation clearly and establish the mood.&nbsp; To the extent that the new format reduces the art content of each adventure, it also reduces the utility of the adventures it offers.&nbsp; Dungeon (rightly) prides itself on offering great value to the D&amp;D consumer.&nbsp; But let's face it: I can go online and download *free* text-based adventures.&nbsp; Granted, those free adventures will be of uneven quality.&nbsp; Still, in my view, Dungeon distinguishes itself primarily by providing slick, colorful, *inspiring* art to go with those quality adventures it presents.But my original point was one about style.&nbsp; To help me make my point more clearly, allow me to direct your attention to a few specific pages in the magazine.&nbsp; Take a look at pages 82-91.&nbsp; This 10-page span is almost entirely filled with text.&nbsp; There is one piece of color cartography over this span (which is much appreciated) and there are a few inset character snapshots (cropped and re-used from the adventure's splashpage on pp. 68-9).&nbsp; But I think you get my point.&nbsp; It's just plain *boring* to look at little more than text for page after page.&nbsp; In fact, it's probably fair to say that the most visually interesting thing in this section of the magazine is the advertisement on page 85!Take a look at page 98 and page 100.&nbsp; These two pages are mostly white space.&nbsp; (If you thought looking at text was boring, come take a look at some mostly blank pages!)&nbsp; Give me a border.&nbsp; Give me a background.&nbsp; Give me *something* interesting to look at.Now here's where I need to give Dungeon some credit.&nbsp; The only reason I am able to complain about the lack of art/style in the new format is because, in the past, Dungeon has set a *very* high standard for itself.&nbsp; For most magazines, I would expect no better than what I've just described, but I guess I have a higher standard for Dungeon.&nbsp; I've seen how cool the interior of a Dungeon magazine *can* look, and I want it to stay that way!So, Erik, I know you're always on a budget.&nbsp; And I know you always do your best.&nbsp; But please do what you can to make the interior of the magazine as visually interesting as it has been in the past.&nbsp; That's all I ask.Respectfully yours,- MenexenusP.S.&nbsp; Sorry for repeating the same basic idea as my original post.&nbsp; But I thought it might be nice to give you some concrete (page #) examples of what I was talking about.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Menexenus, post: 1694364, member: 8951"] I maintain that good art helps players and DMs alike to imagine the situation clearly and establish the mood. To the extent that the new format reduces the art content of each adventure, it also reduces the utility of the adventures it offers. Dungeon (rightly) prides itself on offering great value to the D&D consumer. But let's face it: I can go online and download *free* text-based adventures. Granted, those free adventures will be of uneven quality. Still, in my view, Dungeon distinguishes itself primarily by providing slick, colorful, *inspiring* art to go with those quality adventures it presents. But my original point was one about style. To help me make my point more clearly, allow me to direct your attention to a few specific pages in the magazine. Take a look at pages 82-91. This 10-page span is almost entirely filled with text. There is one piece of color cartography over this span (which is much appreciated) and there are a few inset character snapshots (cropped and re-used from the adventure's splashpage on pp. 68-9). But I think you get my point. It's just plain *boring* to look at little more than text for page after page. In fact, it's probably fair to say that the most visually interesting thing in this section of the magazine is the advertisement on page 85! Take a look at page 98 and page 100. These two pages are mostly white space. (If you thought looking at text was boring, come take a look at some mostly blank pages!) Give me a border. Give me a background. Give me *something* interesting to look at. Now here's where I need to give Dungeon some credit. The only reason I am able to complain about the lack of art/style in the new format is because, in the past, Dungeon has set a *very* high standard for itself. For most magazines, I would expect no better than what I've just described, but I guess I have a higher standard for Dungeon. I've seen how cool the interior of a Dungeon magazine *can* look, and I want it to stay that way! So, Erik, I know you're always on a budget. And I know you always do your best. But please do what you can to make the interior of the magazine as visually interesting as it has been in the past. That's all I ask. Respectfully yours, - Menexenus P.S. Sorry for repeating the same basic idea as my original post. But I thought it might be nice to give you some concrete (page #) examples of what I was talking about. [/QUOTE]

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