Alzrius
The EN World kitten
I want to be cautiously optimistic about what Gygax Magazine will offer, but it's more honest to say that I'm nervous.
The ubiquity of the internet and the rise of the small-press publication (a la PDFs and print-on-demand) have allowed for a heretofore unprecedented level of "specialization" (for lack of a better term) in RPGs. Simply put, you can find plenty of products - and fan-based websites and forums - about almost any RPG now. Those that you can't tend to have their rules and intellectual property rigidly guarded.
Given that, I'm not sure what Gygax Magazine will offer, but I worry that I won't be the target audience. Simply put, a multi-RPG magazine seems destined to be looked down on because people know that they can get other products that focus exclusively on their RPG of choice. Likewise, if the magazine does focus on just one single RPG, then it severely cuts back on whom it appeals to.
It might just eschew mechanics altogether and focus on the history and state of the hobby, but I fear that that stance will only allow for so much to be written, and that interest might quickly wane.
Given that (based on the name alone) the magazine appears to be focused on "old-school" gaming, I suspect that it's most likely to focus on old-school RPGs under the OGL that use similar mechanics; most likely Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, and OSRIC, but that's just my guess; even then though, this will be unfortunately limited to generic new material, as WotC owning the original TSR will prevent us from seeing anything like an update of Gary's original Castle Greyhawk - the old campaigns are WotC's provenance now, and theirs alone.
This isn't meant to be a downer; I'm very excited that Gygax Magazine is a reality and not a hoax, but when I think of what it could practically offer, I can't help but feel somewhat pessimistic.
With any luck, I'll be proven very wrong.
The ubiquity of the internet and the rise of the small-press publication (a la PDFs and print-on-demand) have allowed for a heretofore unprecedented level of "specialization" (for lack of a better term) in RPGs. Simply put, you can find plenty of products - and fan-based websites and forums - about almost any RPG now. Those that you can't tend to have their rules and intellectual property rigidly guarded.
Given that, I'm not sure what Gygax Magazine will offer, but I worry that I won't be the target audience. Simply put, a multi-RPG magazine seems destined to be looked down on because people know that they can get other products that focus exclusively on their RPG of choice. Likewise, if the magazine does focus on just one single RPG, then it severely cuts back on whom it appeals to.
It might just eschew mechanics altogether and focus on the history and state of the hobby, but I fear that that stance will only allow for so much to be written, and that interest might quickly wane.
Given that (based on the name alone) the magazine appears to be focused on "old-school" gaming, I suspect that it's most likely to focus on old-school RPGs under the OGL that use similar mechanics; most likely Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, and OSRIC, but that's just my guess; even then though, this will be unfortunately limited to generic new material, as WotC owning the original TSR will prevent us from seeing anything like an update of Gary's original Castle Greyhawk - the old campaigns are WotC's provenance now, and theirs alone.
This isn't meant to be a downer; I'm very excited that Gygax Magazine is a reality and not a hoax, but when I think of what it could practically offer, I can't help but feel somewhat pessimistic.
With any luck, I'll be proven very wrong.
