Dungeon vs. Polyhedron - Death Match
- Thread starter Sholari
- Start date
This is an interesting poll, but I hope no one seriously attempts to use it as "proof" of any trends in the Dungeon/Poly readership. Assuming EN World is an accurate model of the RPG audience is dangerous from a business point of view, because in general this site attracts the most serious, dedicated customers possible--the kind of people who read and post online nearly every day (I include myself in this cheery demographic). Our readership includes LOTS of far more casual readers, who may not feel as stridently about the issue as, say, the honorable Iron Chef. The same survey on rpg.net, for example, would be an interesting experiment, as I believe the ratio of readers over there who buy the magazine primarily for Poly is probably higher than it is here. EN World, despite being a haven for d20 in general, attracts mostly D&D fantasy fans, as I think everyone would agree.
We added Poly to Dungeon to make both magazines viable at a time when magazines are dying all over the newsstand. This is not a good period for any magazine publisher right now, and we're doing the best we can to keep putting out our magazines as long as possible. The combination of Poly and Dungeon, though not without its problems, has had the benefit of keeping the magazines in print and in distribution, which is really the whole point of the exercise.
I certainly wouldn't argue that more people want to read Poly than want to read Dungeon. That would be foolish, especially in light of Dungeon's long history as an essentially unmodified D&D-only magazine. The upcoming format changes I've outlined in other posts (fewer mini-games, more adventures, etc.) attempt to address this without cutting out Poly alltogether, which would put Dungeon at an unnecessary risk.
So, while I think it's great for everyone to post their opinions about the magazine (whether I agree with them or not), a poll like this is unlikely to have much of an impact on our decision to bind the two magazines together, and certainly can't be considered scientific or definitive in any light other than the anecdotal.
We've heard the complaints of long-time Dungeon fans, and are making changes to attempt to redress some of the most serious issues. Getting rid of Polyhedron is _not_ on the table on any level, and is not a serious option for us at this time.
--Erik
We added Poly to Dungeon to make both magazines viable at a time when magazines are dying all over the newsstand. This is not a good period for any magazine publisher right now, and we're doing the best we can to keep putting out our magazines as long as possible. The combination of Poly and Dungeon, though not without its problems, has had the benefit of keeping the magazines in print and in distribution, which is really the whole point of the exercise.
I certainly wouldn't argue that more people want to read Poly than want to read Dungeon. That would be foolish, especially in light of Dungeon's long history as an essentially unmodified D&D-only magazine. The upcoming format changes I've outlined in other posts (fewer mini-games, more adventures, etc.) attempt to address this without cutting out Poly alltogether, which would put Dungeon at an unnecessary risk.
So, while I think it's great for everyone to post their opinions about the magazine (whether I agree with them or not), a poll like this is unlikely to have much of an impact on our decision to bind the two magazines together, and certainly can't be considered scientific or definitive in any light other than the anecdotal.
We've heard the complaints of long-time Dungeon fans, and are making changes to attempt to redress some of the most serious issues. Getting rid of Polyhedron is _not_ on the table on any level, and is not a serious option for us at this time.
--Erik
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
Enceladus said:
Three years between issues seems like along time, to me.
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
Iron_Chef said:
"Majority" is one of those words that need to be backed with figures. Without figures to back it up, you can only reliably say that it would be a majority of readers that you've asked personally who feel dissatisfied specifically because of the presence of Polyhedron. That's not a big sampling. I would be greatly dissatisfied if Polyhedron disappeared from Dungeon, so add that to the sampling.
Darrin Drader
Explorer
Erik Mona said:
So there it is ladies and gentlemen - straight from the horse's mouth. Poly will be decreased but not excised. The issue is resolved. The horse is dead. Stop beating it before you are charged with corpse mutilation.
p.s. Erik, referring to you as a horse was intended to be figurative, not literall.
p.p.s. As I was not referring to you as a literal horse, you are clearly not a deceased horse.
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Sholari
First Post
Joshua Dyal said:
Yeah, 'coz that sample size is just so overwhelming!I wouldn't buy Dungeon at all if it weren't for Poly, and at the end of the day, it's pretty much just the Poly that I read.
I'm no statistics pro but using Chi square expected vs. observed test it seems pretty significant to me. At this point there is a 0.000000000002% chance that this is some random effect. Granted that the EN world board is not a random sample, but its the closest thing there existing that is economically viable.
If Paizo would make 80% Dungeon content and 20% Polyhedron, then I could see myself putting up with it. But it really seems like its still going to be 50/50 and that just doesn't work for me.
If someone stronger in statistics wants to do some more valid number crunching please do so.
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Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I used to but Dungeon, because although I wouldn't use all the adventures I'd find one or two to be really suitable for me (as a basis if not the actual adventure).
Now though... the polyhedron stuff is useless to me, and Dungeon is rarely worth buying because it has less of what I used to like - interesting scenarios.
edit: just read Eric's post, and a smaller poly and larger dungeon section may be enough to draw me back in.
Now though... the polyhedron stuff is useless to me, and Dungeon is rarely worth buying because it has less of what I used to like - interesting scenarios.
edit: just read Eric's post, and a smaller poly and larger dungeon section may be enough to draw me back in.
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