Dungeon Magazine Pricing Issue (long, sorry)

[Ranger REG]

It's a difficult line of thought, and I fear that I didn't make myself entirely clear. I hope you understand my argument, nevertheless.

Oh, you made it perfectly clear, you want pure Dungeon, as I hope I have made mine clear earlier: I want pure Poly.

But our similarities ends there. I, a self-proclaimed proud cheap SOB, tolerated the merged magazine combo, whereas you, willing to spend $20 for an advertisement-free, editorial-free adventure-filled magazine, cannot.

 

[Thomasson]

The question is, really, as a lot of people like only one half of the magazine right now, and as you're convinced of the qualitiy and value of poly - why don't you split it? you could use the same content as you do now! one month: 100p dungeon, next month: 100 pages Poly.

Is the reason, as someone suggested, that dungeon wasn't able to stand on its own feet anymore?

'cause in this case, I'd continue buying dungeon. I want my "old" dungeon back (I don't even need it in color), I don't want to kill dungeon.

Or is the reason that you feel that Poly couldn't stand on its own?

If this was the reason, I'd rest my case. Because you'd have to explain why you "force" dungeon readers to buy a magazine that only a minority wants.

tas.


and another thing about this can't/won't use poly argument. You seem to suggest, that everyone can use poly content for his game. after all, one can mine poly for ideas.
Fair enough. However, I could do the same with national geographic. I can use the pictures as visual props, I can use the articles for ideas and to flesh out the cultures in my campaign.
What I'm getting at is: you have a point there.
But that doesn't mean that these generic ideas that I can get anywhere are worth my money.

At the end of the day, you could sell ANYTHING and say:" well, if you can't use it for your game, your just not openminded and creative enough."

you know what I mean? It's not really a valid argument, because it misses the point: what if I prefer National Geographic for ideas? What if I'd rather spend my money on that?

THAT's the real question. I'm buying something I don't want. It's as if someone would pack together a car magazine and a TV magazine. Most people have both. Most people could use articles from either magazine. But they'd rather buy it SEPERATELY to have more choice. To be able to decide the magazine that suits their tastes best.

It's a difficult line of thought, and I fear that I didn't make myself entirely clear. I hope you understand my argument, nevertheless.

As we've stated before in other threads on this and the Wizards boards, neither magazine is profitable on its own, but together, they do well. The majority of our readership has responded well to the combo magazine.

I understand your argument; people have made it before. And I'm sorry, but I don't buy the Natl. Geographic comparison. Dungeon and Poly aren't as unrelated as a magazine about TVs and one about cars, either. We're talking about d20 gaming, here. The two magazines are less like apples and oranges (like TVs and cars) and more like red and golden delicious apples. d20 is one hobby (albeit a broader and broader one each month). Even if you play exclusive D&D, you can find feats, spells, game mechanic ideas, and other goodies in Poly that you can port over with no or minimal changes to a straight high fantasy D&D campaign. I've done it myself, saving myself buckets of time. I know including Omega World mutants in D&D isn't everybody's cup of tea, but as I said above, most of our readership digs it.

We're not selling just anything. We're selling d20 gaming content at a fantastic price per page rate.

 

[Thomasson]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Dungeon Magazine Pricing Issue (long, sorry)

Thanks for the reply Chris.

I never thought about using the stat blocks. Thats a pretty good idea!! I'll have to start going back through past issues!! It will save me alot of time with my own adventures.

While I understand your comparison of Dungeon to Module X please remember that when we (meaning us gamers) buy a module, we are buying it fully (or mostly) knowing its general content and we know "this is the adventure for me" or "this will be great" etc, etc. With having a subscription or purchasing from the shelf encased in plastic wrapping we are not always sure what we are going to get month to month. The issue can be hit or miss, and we all know from the threads that not every issue is for everyone. Thats why I really don't like comparing the two. Its unfair to both Dungeon and the Module.

My only true grip (putting everything else aside) is the large increase in price for a RPG magazine. It use to be where Dragon was the more expensive magazine and Dungeon was the cheaper (price wise) one.

I hate bringing in an outside comparison, but the most expensive gaming company out there, Games Workshop, still manages to have their supporting magazine White Dwarf for $4.99 a month with an average of 120 pages. And, the magazine is loaded with supporting articles for their products with full color photos. There is a lot of bite to their magazine for the price.


Gallo22

We like to think of our periodical as a game product. If you have a subscription, in theory, the content that might not suit you one month could suit you at a later date. We hope folks put the magazine up on their shelves and check back periodically for ideas. And as I pointed out in a previous post in this thread, I think Dungeon is worth the cost for the stat blocks and maps alone.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

So why don't you split the content so it is Dungeon one Month and Poly the next with 100 dedicated pages to each every other month. You can still require people to subscribe to both.

 

[Ranger REG]

You can still require people to subscribe to both.

That won't work. Again, they'll complain that they're paying for something they don't need.

 

[tassander]

As we've stated before in other threads on this and the Wizards boards, neither magazine is profitable on its own, but together, they do well. The majority of our readership has responded well to the combo magazine.

I understand your argument; people have made it before. And I'm sorry, but I don't buy the Natl. Geographic comparison. Dungeon and Poly aren't as unrelated as a magazine about TVs and one about cars, either. We're talking about d20 gaming, here. The two magazines are less like apples and oranges (like TVs and cars) and more like red and golden delicious apples. d20 is one hobby (albeit a broader and broader one each month). Even if you play exclusive D&D, you can find feats, spells, game mechanic ideas, and other goodies in Poly that you can port over with no or minimal changes to a straight high fantasy D&D campaign. I've done it myself, saving myself buckets of time. I know including Omega World mutants in D&D isn't everybody's cup of tea, but as I said above, most of our readership digs it.

We're not selling just anything. We're selling d20 gaming content at a fantastic price per page rate.

Thankyou very much for your answer.
We obviously don't agree about the usefulness of Poly.

However, as you said that Dungeon couldn't stand on its own feet, I'll continue to buy and support Dungeon/Poly.

And, to say that again, I greatly appreciate your openness about answering criticism.

I wish you and your magazine all the best - I'll certainly continue to support it.

tas.