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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Owen K.C. Stephens" data-source="post: 2110666" data-attributes="member: 3190">Obviously I can't speak for Monte or James, but I certainly consider Dragon to be relevent, and extremely important. I buy every issue, and I read every page. Dragon is responsible for starting my professional writing career, and I expect to see poeple moving from Dragon magazine articles to professional or semi-pro writers every few years. When someone asks me how to break into rpg writing, I tell them "pitch something to Dragon, Dungeon, or Pyramid." Those are, to me, still the most important places to get your writing seen as a newcomer. I've enjoyed most issues, and the ones I didn't get much out of were purely a matter of taste. But if Erik thinks he can make the magazine even better, I have no reason to doubt him. And for note, the idea that Dragon would only be making changes if it was floundering is silly on the face of it. A company wants to -expand- its customer base, and this often requires change. Dragon may well be doing fine, and Erik is just saying to himself "but is it the BEST it could be?" It's important to remember that these people aren't just working on these magazines for a paycheck. They play these games, and love them. Erik may want Dragon to be better just because it's in his power to improve it. I know most of you have never had the opportunity to hear him talk about the magazines in person, but I have and I promise you he has a lot of enthusiasm for cool ideas just because they're cool. He has to balance that enthusiasm with business reality, but the fun factor is an improtant element.As for my writing for Dragon, I'm surprised anyone notices if I am or not. I did an article just after 3.5 came out about enchanters, because I was specifically asked to. I haven't been pitching ideas because between doing two regular columns for the Wizards web-site, a monthly column for Pyramid Magazine, the occasional short adventure, my big writing projects (including a lot of Green Ronin work and a few things just announced at GTS) and running my own campaigns, I just haven't had the spare time and good ideas.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.If Dragon isn't your cup of tea, that's fine. But don't predict its failure because its editor doesn't respond to a query on a message board of another web site about the lack of articles from three specific authors. (And be amazed when he does. Just imagine how many hours Erik is spending just to keep you all in the loop.) And -certainly- don't think I don't see Dragon as a lynchpin of the succeess of d20 gaming just because I'm not writing much for it at the moment.If you're just dying to read more words I happened to write, feel free to drop by my blog (<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/thecaptainsblog)" target="_blank">www.livejournal.com/users/thecaptainsblog)</a>. But if you want high quality D&D material, keep checking out Dragon.Owen K.C. Stephensd20 Triggerman</blockquote>

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