Dungeon Magazine Poll in Response to Jonny Wilson's statement

[Robbert Raets]

I'm starting to think a lot of people say 'this and that has gotten worse' when it's actually just different. I like Polyhedron, and though I don't run Dungeon adventures, I've gotten some nice ideas from some of them. Plus, you can't beat Aaron William's cartoons & artwork.

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm starting to think a lot of people say 'this and that has gotten worse' when it's actually just different.

To consumers, that can be considered "worse" - and that's something that Paizo can learn from.

 

[billd91]

Like the adventures, strip down Poly

I can see that we are going to be having Polyhedron around for the forseeable future and I like Living Greyhawk and Star Wars content. What I don't like are the minigames. I find them pretty useless. I've got plenty of other things to do with my time and other games to play that handle some of these genres better than d20 can anyway.
If I have to put up with some minigames, I'd prefer them no more than quarterly with more Star Wars and Living Greyhawk content to pick up the slack there.
Ultimately, I'd much rather see a 75/25% split between Dungeon/Polyhedron content every issue than an alternating schedule of stuff I want/stuff I don't want. If that's the way things are going to be, why should I subscribe rather than just pick up alternating issues at the game store?

That's my opinion.

 

[kreynolds]

Re: Like the adventures, strip down Poly

If that's the way things are going to be, why should I subscribe rather than just pick up alternating issues at the game store?

I can only think of a couple reasons why they won't split them up right now...

1) Not enough content right now to fill each on it's own.

and/or

2) They know one will go under without the under. cough'poly

If it's 2, I say let it die.

Come to think of it, I wonder how ticked off Star Wars folks would get if they suddenly found Dungeon chewing up half it's pages at the back of their mag. I'll bet they wouldn't like it.

Who knows.

 

[coyoteerisson]

Anyone remember back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, we just found this neat stuff called fire, and the Ares section was in Dragon?

Ah, the good old days...

Dungeon/Poly reminds me a bit of that. But better.

With the Ares section, I would find great ideas. But, at the time, just about the only games it covered that I owned were Star Frontiers, Gamma World, and the old Marvel Super Heroes. I din't have (and still don't, in many cases) Champions, or Superworld, or traveller. Just to name a few off the top of my head, without digging all my mags out of storage. So, I had to adapt stuff from some articles off the cuff as it were. With Poly, i don't have to do that.

I like the magazine the way it is. In fact, since the merge, I haven't missed a single issue of Dungeon. Not something I could have said a few years back.

Long live Dungeon/Poly.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

I'm starting to think a lot of people say 'this and that has gotten worse' when it's actually just different.

New Coke was just different too from classic Coke but we saw how well that went over with the consumers.

 

[Robbert Raets]

Just like there are 'first-issue' fans out here, there's gonna be 'newer' fans (like me) who might not appreciate a change back. I'm not saying Dungeon, Dragon or Polyhedron are 'better' now, I just like them as they are. An 'audentification' of content might not be the thing for me. But we won't know until it happens, and maybe Paizo doesn't want to risk it.

 

[Dark Psion]

I really don’t understand the whole “The Magazine can’t survive” bit. Have you ever looked at the magazine racks at Wal Mart and bookstores? I saw a fishing magazine dedicated to just one type of fish, catfish! If that can sell, why doesn’t Dungeon? One reason is probably because neither Dungeon nor Dragon are on any of those shelves. If they were, I think they would sell many more issues and help bring in new gamers.

As to the great Dungeon /Poly debate, I vote #4, and split them up into two magazines. Return Dungeon to what it was, easy to write on paper and great adventures. I’m trying not to look at my back issues, because if I do I’ll never finish writing this, but remember the Cloud giant’s fortress, the shrunken adventure with 1” goblins and the shifting library? That’s why I originally subscribed to Dungeon, adventures that made me rethink how I created my game. New ideas beyond the orc and the pie and sadly that is what is missing now. Oh but subscribers will now get bonus content? I see now that the bonus content for the next issue is a repeat adventure most of us already have.

As to Poly, well...it’s a crap shoot. One issue is useful the next is a waste of paper, the subject material is all over the map. Bolt & Quiver just isn’t funny and the new toon “Downer” seems appropriately named. The news section is a month or two behind EnWorld and Gaming Report and is just old news by the time we see it. This space could be used for so much more.

Many of you are calling #100 the best, but I am very disappointed in this one. In the opening editorial on the Poly side, the creator of the Githyanki, Charlie Stross, says that he created the Gith as both a monster and a race for psionic campaigns. Then the rest of the issue completely ignores psionics. Well that is not entirely true, they obviously opened the Psi Handbook long enough to steal the Slayer PrC, but couldn't be bothered to actually use the rules. On the technical side the issue is sloppy too; Both Improved Combat Reflexes and Greater Combat Reflexes have the same Benefit. The so-called “Psionic” feats are listed as General feats, but are actually neither, they should be Monstrous feats as per Savage Species. And on the creative side we have the Milar, a new base class dedicated to being magical artisans.

Here is their spell list:
0 level: Mending, Prestidigitation (Only can change color or create decorations)
1st level: Magic Weapon
2nd level: Make Whole
3rd level: Stone Shape
4th level: Minor Creation
5th level: Fabricate
6th level: Major Creation

Yes! That’s all they get! And they can cast 4/ 4/ 4/ 3/ 3/ 2/ 0 spells per day from the above list. The Psion: Shaper is right there for them to use and this is the best they come up with. This is especially annoying when you consider that Shapers draw their power FROM the Astral plane, imagine the power of one living there.

One thing in the issue that did get my attention was the Agents and Allies: Lone Tooth, but when I went to their site to get the web enhancement mentioned here, not only is it not there, but the web site is still on issue #98?

I have decided to let my subscription run out. It is entirely up to them if they what me to stay a customer, in fact I know there is an upcoming Poly that I and others will be both interested in and a little afraid of what it will look like. Well, we will see.

I don’t want to loose Dungeon, but I expect to get my moneys worth and far too much of each issue is not what I originally subscribed for.

 

[Vocenoctum]

I like Dungeon Poly as is. I don't think the current issue is all that different from the others. I mean was Spelljammer's mod not for D&D as much as the Gith invasion?

I don't use any of it as written, so that doesn't matter. I'd rather get adventures and bump critical threats & that new Ally thingee to Dragon, or let it die entirely, I don't need NPCs like that.

And, I just recently subscribed, so hopefully things continue as they are.

For those that want only Dungeon, would you rather have no Dungeon instead of a mixed Dungeon Poly?

The catfish magazine is from a larger production house. They most likely have at least 20 titles.

I wonder what the distribution numbers would compare between Catfish Magazine and Dungeon?

 

[Lazybones]

Obviously they should ditch Poly and add a catfish section.

Hmm... "Catfish d20" could be a big seller...