Minority Opinion: Why is the loss of the magazines just fine?

[DreadArchon]

This board and the WotC board are teeming with threads of rabid gamers ranting about the recent coup de grace on Dungeon and Dragon. I've never read either, myself, so I'm curious about both sides of this topic.

I'd like to discuss this issue from the other viewpoint, but posting in the 10-page-overnight threads isn't terribly viable for such a purpose.

Thus, new thread. If you aren't bothered by the loss of Dungeon and Dragon, why? How is this not a problem?

 

[Jakar]

It is not a problem because there is bugger all we can do about. Adapt, move on, and hope that the new thing WotC does works well.

 

[teitan]

Well, honestly it is a minority of players that DO read Dragon and Dungeon so it really isn't that big a hit. Were they nice to have? Hecks yeah but they weren't absolutely essential. I enjoyed them immensely though but it has little affect on my game and even the cries for boycott will have little effect on WOTC bottom line. I imagine man of the disgruntled people probably haven't even read the mags in a while either.

The online content doesn't bother me either. I might subscribe to it, I might not, depends on my mood when it comes time and what they are offering. While Dragon was nice, most issues I didn't bother to use and when I did use something it was less than 1/4 of the magazine. It certainly wasn't a waste of money but I've got a book shelf or two filled with em.

 

[Ranger REG]

<spoiled twentysomething kid> "Because I'm rich and I have daddy's platinum credit card. Ooh, I feel nature's calling. Oh, pissboy!"

Spoiler

P.S. I'm taking names, all you elitist scabs.

 

[caudor]

As a long time subscriber, I'll certainly miss Dragon and Dungeon. At the same time, I'm ready for change. D&D needs to grow. It is obvious to me that the 'next big thing' in D&D is making the game easier to play, without dumbing it down.

The power of computers and the internet can do that right now. A character generator with access to current and future material is long overdue. We should have the capability to play with distant friends over the internet using a friendly tool set.

I've always been a glass-half-full guy and I'm hopeful that WotC is planning to deliver tools that will make games easier to prepare & play. Like everyone else, I'll have to wait and see.

The loss of the two magazines will in no way make me abandon my favorite hobby. Change is in the air and I'm ready. Looking forward to Pathfinder as well.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I'm excited because I've seen what Wizards does with their web site (sites, really - each game has one unto itself for all intents and purposes) already. Yes, you get your Realms Architecture articles representing the lowest ebb of Ed Greenwood's normally sterling career. You also get the wonderful Dragonshards articles from Keith Baker, though: articles that practically defined Eberron for many fans, and rightly so. You get a goodly amount of free adventures and article-length or longer supplements, often under the guise of 'web enhancements' (of which I think I have more than I have actual Wizards books ).

I'm excited because I've seen the D&D site's sister site, for Magic the Gathering, where the game designers put out their experiences, insight into the design process, reports on the metagame and plain old fun, along with the excellent Gatherer function. It's a great site that puts up tons of quality content every day.

I'm excited because this move seems like a sign of Wizards being willing to take genuine risks - to wager they can do something that will anger some of the existing fanbase because the team at Wizards believe they can grab new fans. The last year or two of game design out of Wizards (culminating in Star Wars Saga, from the looks of it) has been the freshest in a long time, has been unafraid to explicitly put forth things like the warlock and the Bo9S in the face of controversy. The design work is excellent and the attitude of going for broke to attract new fans - who are likely to share more of my interests - is encouraging.

I'm excited because, unlike Dragon, which had fallen from its glory days as 'the magazine of the tabletop roleplaying' or even 'the magazine of fantasy' and become simply 'the magazine of D&D,' I think there's at least a chance Wizards will put up more content for d20 Modern and especially the new Star Wars Saga, as well as doing more to integrate their two excellent d20-based rules lite games, which are commonly misconstrued as collectible minis wargames. Covering all of Wizards' d20 products isn't as good as covering EVERYTHING, but it's a lot better than covering only one thing. May Polyhedron rise again! At the same time, if a new gaming magazine appears in print now that there's no competition (I think it highly unlikely, but not impossible), it may become what Dragon used to be: a system neutral magazine that covers the industry as a whole.

I'm excited because I look at the team working at Wizards and know they do great work. A lot of content that might have slipped through the cracks because it didn't make it into a book may - with no production costs to hold it back - get put up in the new, online Dragon.

 

[Nifft]

The last time I looked, Dragon was a bit light on content that I wanted. It wasn't bad, but it was a tiny bit of a letdown.

That, and I have faith in digital media

Cheers, -- N

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Last year, or maybe a bit before, there was a long thread complaining about Dragon magazine.

GMs are over-represented on DnD forums, and Dragon magazine isn't designed for them. They don't want players bringing barely playtested or unbalanced stuff to them; it's like a mini-splatbook every month. There were also complaints about not enough Eberron/FR/psionics/whatever material, old columns vanishing, article space being replaced by ads, etc. I personally haven't bought a Dragon magazine in at least two years before I quit DMing DnD; it just wasn't useful to me.

I think the people who don't complain are people who didn't care for Dragon in the first place.

I'm sad that Dungeon is losing it's physical format, but it isn't like game designers haven't been putting adventures online for years to cut costs. There don't seem to be enough GMs to support print adventures, generally. (There are, of course, notable exceptions...)

Does anyone know how much the online versions cost? I would expect a decent discount.

 

[delericho]

Were they nice to have? Hecks yeah but they weren't absolutely essential.

I suspect this is incorrect, and I suspect Wizards have made a big mistake. In order to keep a product line vital and in the awareness of the customer base, it needs new product to be visibly produced (and preferably consumed) every month. Dragon did that in an ideal manner. Even in months where none of the products being released were of interest, there was still a decision to make: whether to get the mag that month. Plus, unlike virtually all the other RPG products out there, Dragon was priced such that it could be an 'impulse buy'.

Why is the loss of the magazines fine? Well, for me it's because I already have more than enough material to keep me gaming for the rest of my life. Now that my monthly tie to the buying cycle is gone, perhaps I'll be able to save myself a bit of money.

 

[Vigilance]

I suspect this is incorrect, and I suspect Wizards have made a big mistake. In order to keep a product line vital and in the awareness of the customer base, it needs new product to be visibly produced (and preferably consumed) every month. Dragon did that in an ideal manner. Even in months where none of the products being released were of interest, there was still a decision to make: whether to get the mag that month. Plus, unlike virtually all the other RPG products out there, Dragon was priced such that it could be an 'impulse buy'.

Why is the loss of the magazines fine? Well, for me it's because I already have more than enough material to keep me gaming for the rest of my life. Now that my monthly tie to the buying cycle is gone, perhaps I'll be able to save myself a bit of money.

Dragon did that to 50,000 readers or so, out of a player base of, um, 1 million?

Yep, it was the thread keeping the hobby alive.

Oh and I voted "other". Dragon and Dungeon have not had content that I wanted them to have since Polyhedron was pulled.

If this new digital initiative pays some attention to d20 Modern, d20 Future, d20 Star Wars and the like, they'll get my money. If they allow me to buy D&D adventures a la carte, they'll also get my money.

If they charge a monthly fee and put a boatload of material online for me to pick and choose from... they'll probably get my money some of the time.

Chuck