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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6260990" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 359: September 2007 part 1/8109 (132) pages. So we've finally reached the end of Dragon's print run. This requires an extra big issue to send everything off. Paizo obviously want to feather their nest for the uncertain times to come, because they increase the price a quite shocking $3 to $10.99. Mutter mutter mutter. Still, all this extra stuff doesn't come cheap. For a start, we get a cover with a proper sense of location and poise for the first time in ages.  No Rarr, we're badass, spikey, harshly coloured and in your face all the time. Larry Elmore delivers a nice piece of an adventuress and her (rather familiar looking) dragon, looking back. Which is appropriate, really, harking back to those classic covers of the 80's. We also get plenty of other big names back for one last article, and some effort is made to tie up the loose ends. It's nice that they had time to prepare for this. They should go out with a bang, not a whimper. So lets see just how well they've done. Scan Quality: Good, large white border, unindexed, ad-free scan. In this issue:Editorial: Even the editorial is extra large, with contributions from all four editors, (although obviously Erik gets the biggest word count.) as they try to sum up their feelings on their time here. They're all grateful for the chance to contribute to the game they loved in an official capacity, even if it was damn hard work at times. They're also careful to thank everyone else who's worked on the magazine in recent years, and most of the big names of D&D in general. After all, it's always been very much a group effort, even if much of that group only communicate through mail or computer. Each of them holds their share of the responsibility for making the magazine as good as it is. (or as bad as it is, in the case of the fiction department these days <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f621.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":mad:" title="Mad    :mad:"  data-smilie="4"data-shortname=":mad:" /> ) So here's to editing. I could certainly have done with an editor over the years, and for all the flak they get, it's important to remember that they are essentially a positive force on most creative endeavours. Scale Mail: Our first letter is one from Larry Smith, ex-Art Director. Since his departure was where they shifted from full covers which depicted actual scenes to single person covers with often sketchy or nonexistent backgrounds, it would be easy for him to be snarky about things not being what they used too. But no, he praises both the old artists and the current staff, seeing their approach as equally valid, and reminding us that life will be ever-changing. To the future, whatever shape it may take. Our next letter gets recursive, asking them to do a longer letters section. Since they have boosted the page count for this final issue, and they are getting tons of letters, this is a really easy one to grant. Still trying to please as many as possible, right to the last. Our next letter is a short but sweet goodbye. Not everyone has some witticism or last request to contribute, and this is for all of them. Some do have very specific requests through, like one for more ioun stones. They would almost definitely have got round to it if given more time. But alas, it is not to be. Maybe next edition will do a nice big one, if it's not too interesting an idea for the 4e writers. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> The next letter is an ode to the physical experience of reading a magazine. So much of what we do is on computer, and sitting in front of a screen all day is not good for our health. It'll be a shame to lose another holdout. I hear ya on that one, I hear ya. Be it writing, music, video, playing games, communicating with each other, it's increasingly all dependent on one little box. It does worry me, making one thing the focal point for your entire life, especially when it's so very vulnerable to destruction. All it takes is a little water in the wrong place to lose everything. Even recent arrivals are devastated by the loss of the magazine, as the next letter proves. It's definitely good to see that they were still acquiring new readers right up to the end. Proves the hobby isn't comprised entirely out of grognards, and doomed to fade away when they all die out. And finally, we have an observation that Paizo's Pathfinder material looks like a good replacement for Dungeon, but not so much for Dragon. Trust me, they'll add a fair amount of new crunch along with the adventures and setting material, and that'll be easily used with regular 3.5. (although some of it, you may not want too) And if that's not enough, just track down some of the vast quantities of old d20 books from 3rd party publishers. There's always something new to find there. From the publisher: This is identical to last issue. Nothing to see here, move along, move along.</blockquote>

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