orangefruitbat
Adventurer
I like the minigames, but I still want more adventures
This is how I think the magazine could best be fixed:
1) provide at least 4 adventures every issue. They can be short ones, but you need to provide variety - that's what makes Dungeon so great. I don't subscribe, so I'm only going to buy an issue if it has an adventure suitable for my players. The more adventures you have, the better the chances that one will be suitable.
2) keep the adventure path adventures. It's a great idea.
3) drop the special subscriber-only sections. If you have content, put it in the magazine in the stores. The better the magazine in the store is, the more casual buyers such as myself will pick it up, and possibly even subscribe. I didn't even know there were extras in the subscription-edition until reading this thread so extra content is an ineffective incentive. In fact, it works against you because I might have bought the magazine based on the adventure you didn't provide for me. Besides, subscribers already have a good incentive - a substantial reduction in the price. If you ensure that every issue has a module I want, then I'm going to want to subscribe to save money. Simple.
4) Keep the Polyhedron stuff, but don't make it the focus of the module. People are ticked off because they perceive that the Polyhedron stuff is crowding out the adventures they want. Drop the second cover and reverse formatting. Just put it at the back (this should save some printing costs). Have maybe four mini-games a year. They're good, but people can only use so many of them. The rest of the time, provide support for popular D20 products - D20 CoC, WoT, D20 Star Wars (though they get their own adventure), maybe even Mutants and Masterminds.
5) Cut down on the 'fluff' - comics, news and reviews, comments from the editors,. Critical Threats, allies, cardboard cut-outs and maps are ok, but shouldn't be overused. Dungeon should be focused on providing useful, ready to use gaming content (Dragon fills the role of more general ideas).
This is how I think the magazine could best be fixed:
1) provide at least 4 adventures every issue. They can be short ones, but you need to provide variety - that's what makes Dungeon so great. I don't subscribe, so I'm only going to buy an issue if it has an adventure suitable for my players. The more adventures you have, the better the chances that one will be suitable.
2) keep the adventure path adventures. It's a great idea.
3) drop the special subscriber-only sections. If you have content, put it in the magazine in the stores. The better the magazine in the store is, the more casual buyers such as myself will pick it up, and possibly even subscribe. I didn't even know there were extras in the subscription-edition until reading this thread so extra content is an ineffective incentive. In fact, it works against you because I might have bought the magazine based on the adventure you didn't provide for me. Besides, subscribers already have a good incentive - a substantial reduction in the price. If you ensure that every issue has a module I want, then I'm going to want to subscribe to save money. Simple.
4) Keep the Polyhedron stuff, but don't make it the focus of the module. People are ticked off because they perceive that the Polyhedron stuff is crowding out the adventures they want. Drop the second cover and reverse formatting. Just put it at the back (this should save some printing costs). Have maybe four mini-games a year. They're good, but people can only use so many of them. The rest of the time, provide support for popular D20 products - D20 CoC, WoT, D20 Star Wars (though they get their own adventure), maybe even Mutants and Masterminds.
5) Cut down on the 'fluff' - comics, news and reviews, comments from the editors,. Critical Threats, allies, cardboard cut-outs and maps are ok, but shouldn't be overused. Dungeon should be focused on providing useful, ready to use gaming content (Dragon fills the role of more general ideas).
