Is Dragon Magazine even *Relevant* anymore?

[MoogleEmpMog]

Erik,

Wow. I'm surprised that Dungeon still lags since getting some of the best content from Dragon. I guess a lot of GMs are like me and just don't dig the published adventures, but I certainly get occaisonal copies for the Backdrops and suchlike.

By the way, was I correct in calling the late '80s the high point (from a circulation perspective) of Dragon?

 

[tetsujin28]

Dragon used to publish adventures. It was because of adventures like The Halls of Beoll-Dur that Dungeon Magazine even exists.

That adventure is a classic. The great adventures that appeared in Dragon during its heyday are still superior to those found in Dungeon.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with those who find Dragon to be irrelevant, these days. I stopped some 10 years ago when it started to seriously become a house rag, and nothing in the new era has convinced me that this has changed enough to buy any issues. In all honestly, between here, Montecook.com, rpgnet, &c., I get more than my share of free industry news (and "hotter off the press") and good ideas in a few days than in an entire year of Dragon.

It's too bad. I loved that rag.

 

[Vocenoctum]

However, I consider that my loss, not Dragon's. The quality of the articles published really is what's important, and Erik does a great job picking out the good ones no matter who writes them. It's not like everything I've every pitched to Dragon was accepted. Established writers go through a process too, and when we aren't proposing things other people still are.
Owen K.C. Stephens
d20 Triggerman

I guess that was my point earlier. The quality of the articles has been good IMO. Whether you write it or an unknown writes it doesn't matter to me. Now, I'm sure you can deliver consistant quality, but that doesn't mean the person's article in the magazine is lessened by the lack of the by-line.
I've kind of rebounded from the internet. I remember back in the ancient days, visiting the FLGS with a sense of excitement once a month to see what was new. It was nice to be surprised. Once the internet started promising you stuff (like say... release dates...), it became easier to expect stuff and be disappointed at the failure to live up to the notions.
I generally avoid threads about a product before I have it, because I want to read it with a fresh mind.

So, the point is, Dragon's relevance for me is not about previewing new products. It's about useful material. That means if it entertain's me, it was useful. If I use it in a game, it's useful. The internet has such a low signal to noise ratio, it's useless for such material anymore for me.

The D20 Modern portion of WotC site is nice enough, and easy enough to sort through. But RPGNow sometimes gets so cluttered in some sections it's not worth it.

 

[Rawhide]

Okay, having heard from Erik and Owen that Dragon still outsells Dungeon significantly and Owen isn't writing for the magazine only because he's too busy, I will cheerfully and soundly admit it looks like I'm wrong to be worried.

Even so, Owen if you can make time to write some more stuff (and convince Monte and James to do so while you're at it) I'd be very happy.

My other suggestions from earlier about possible improvements for Dragon stand, though it looks like they're not as needed as I thought.

Vocenoctum: Your point about article quality is clearer this time around, and not quite what I thought you were saying. I still think some authors do a better job than typical Dragon articles, but I'm not going to argue that when one of those authors disagrees with me.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Vocenoctum: Your point about article quality is clearer this time around, and not quite what I thought you were saying. I still think some authors do a better job than typical Dragon articles, but I'm not going to argue that when one of those authors disagrees with me.

I think the main trap of repeat authors is that the particular author's style might be a bit restrictive. So using the same author too much might result in turning away folks that don't care for his style. (Which, as they write more and more, becomes more ingrained.)

That said, a consistantly talented author should always get printed. Good is good as it were.

 

[caudor]

In a serious bout with depression in late 2004 (hospitalized after two suicide attempts), I sold my entire D&D/D20 collection--it was huge. Even in that state of mind, I still could not part with my three core rule books or my Dragon/Dungeon magazines.

Outside the core rules, Dragon is my most prized resource for gaming.

Incidentally, I'm feeling happy and mellow these days. With the right treatment and medication, I'm feeling like my old self again (and haunting ENWorld).

Needless to say, Dragon Magazine is still way relevant to me.