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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6197231" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 338: December 2005part 1/772 (108) pages. Our cover star this month has been taking fashion tips from Venger, which is mildly amusing. Still, at least he's brought along some help, which are also appropriate to the contents inside. But there's no theme this issue. Guess it's another christmas grab-bag. Well, at least they aren't calling it a magic themed one, which was so broad as to be meaningless anyway. Shall we see what they've stacked in our stockings. Scan Quality: Good, indexed, ad-free scan. In this issue:Editorial: Whatever happened to the best ofs of yesterday? Demand for them never really went away, but when Lorraine took over, they refused to do any more, drawing as much of a line in the sand as possible to put forward their new stuff. Erik, on the other hand, loves settings from all eras, and has no problem with mining them and bringing stuff back, then adding to it, as we've seen in their Adventure Paths. So when given the chance to reprint the best material not only from recent issues, but also older articles updated to 3e rules, he leapt at it. ( And then got bogged down in endless debate with the other members of staff over what to put in and leave out. ) Given how much work good conversions are, I don't have the same cynicism about this being just money for old rope that I did in the old days, and I am vaguely irritated that they didn't get to do another one in the series with so many more good articles they could have updated. And of course, they never do something similar for 4e, since it's even more work to move stuff into that from previous editions. So basically, this editorial reinforces my frustration with rapid edition and staff turnovers. You really ought to explore ideas to their fullest before moving on, because it's much harder to go back and then recapture the same feel if everything else has changed in the meantime. And a corporate structure where everyone is disposable will not result in innovative creative leaps, as people wind up repeating the basics year in year out. You may have more ideas than you can ever use, but it's more valuable to finish one than start 100. Scale Mail: The article on types of alcohol gets an amused reply, wondering if they're going to expand on this even further. Probably not, since they still (mostly) try to be a family friendly magazine. They have other ideas that excessive drinking would only get in the way of. Second, we have a request for more dark sun monsters. Again, nothing planned for a while, but if people keep sending stuff in, who knows what next year will bring. Also a repeat request is one trying to figure out exactly what stuff from the magazine is OGL. Nothing in the past year, and nothing in the near future either, for WotC want to keep as many goodies to themselves as possible from now on. Tightwads. Yet another very familiar one is for more setting specific material. Erik is obviously trying to build up a portfolio of evidence that he can use to convince his superiors that it will be good for sales to do a little more of this. And finally, we have a request for a serious updating of Yugoloths. They've been neglected since the 3e switch, and could definitely benefit from an epic article giving them some new coolness. Where's Shemeshka the Marauder when you need her?</blockquote>

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