New Issue of Dragon+

Issue 4 of DRAGON+ is here! DRAGON+is an app from WotC available on iOS and Android devices (find it in the respective app stores). This issue contains Duergar information from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, a free Adventurer's League module, and more - plus tons of information on the various videogame projects for WotC.

Editor's Letter from Matt Chapman - "Matt Chapman gets tearfully nostalgic for old D&D videogames, overly excited for new D&D videogames, and a little bit scared by a newcomer known as Belaphoss, Devourer of Hope and Dread General of the Gibbering Hords. Gulp."

Discovering the Gold Box - "As Goog Old Games dusts off thirteen classic D&D titles, the original staff who worked on them and the videogame designers and producers they inspired share their favorite memories."

Winning Races: Duergar - "An in-depth look at these dark reflections of the more traditional Forgotten Realms dwarves."

Travel Talk - "Things get a little crazy when our intrepid reporter Melissande Calador dares to descend into the Underdark."

Imagining the Ampersand - "Lars Larsen, design engineer at LZX Industries, on creating a high-tech interpretation of the Dungeons & Dragons Ampersand."

Neverwinter Strongholds - "John Hopler, senior content designer at Cryptic Studios, shares the secrets to a successful PVP siege campaign in the free-to-play MMORPG."

Demononicon of Iggwilv: Belaphoss - "Everything you ever wanted to know about Sword Coast Legends' main baddie Belpahoss but were too petrified to ask."

Fiction: The Thweem - "A peace-loving Underdark inhabitant gets a brush with madness in D&D writer Adam Lee's short story."

Interview: Jay Turner - "The narrative director of Sword Coast Legends offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at the CRPG."

Video & Audio Highlights - "Canadian rocker Matthew Good talks about his love of the world of Greyhawk and charity fundraising scores a critical hit with Extra Life 2015."

Beyond the Board: Dice Masters - "Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters draws upon classic D&D elements to bring a fantasy touch to this dice building game."

Gauntlet Gophers - "Tavis Maiden's exclusive comic strip for DRAGON+ proves there are all kinds of crazy in the Underdark."

D&D Adventurers League - "Download the official D&D Adventurer's League module Shackles of Blood and investigate a string of disappearances in the Hillsfar region."


[h=4]Original Post[/h]
Not sure if this had been posted already, but the newest issue of Dragon+ is rolling out. Just downloaded mine a few minutes ago.

View attachment 71167

 

[Tyranthraxus]

You'd be amazed how many people refuse to move with the times. I'm sure there's a huge crowd who would rather have tiny thin magazines snail mailed to them every month...

So they dont move with the times, they get left behind.

 

[Valador]

I wonder how many of them would be willing to pay 20 bucks a copy. Or a magazine that's about 70% ad space. Because that's the choices you have right now. With mailing prices and what not, print magazines are a steadily shrinking market - it's not like Dungeon and Dragon are anything new here, virtually every print magazine is hurting. It's just not economically feasible. There's a reason Paizo doesn't print magazines.

I totally agree. Anything outside of a core book or a large adventure path type book is simply better suited to being digitally distributed. When I was young I worked for a newspaper distribution center that closed down because no one reads newspapers anymore. Everything is digital now. Unfortunately WotC is really lacking on the digital front.

Tbh I'm still very content with WotC. I enjoy the very slim lineup because I hate bloat and having to collect 10 books of crunch. I think campaign books, monster manuals and adventure books are the way to go. I don't think wasting time trying to accommodate decades old systems is the way to go. Look to the future and stop worrying so much about the die hard fanboys from their favorite edition from the 80s that they can't let go of, because they're honestly not the ones even really supporting 5E anyways...

 

[Valador]

So they dont move with the times, they get left behind.

Completely agree. It sucks to lose fans in the process, but it's just bad business to try and cater to such a small minority of people living in the 80s-90s that are stuck in their ways and get so upset when anyone messes with "their" game.

 

[Mistwell]

Because their license was not renewed?

No. He said there is a reason they don't print magazines. Not Dungeon or Dragon, just any magazine. They could be publishing a Pathfinder magazine right now if they wanted to. No license other than the OGL is needed. Paizo said the magazine market has changed, and was changing pretty quick even in the last days of Dragon and Dungeon from them.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

There's people out there that don't have a smartphone or any sort of tablet? Your Kindle (or iPad, or whatever you want to use) will read this just as well. The only thing that can't directly read this is a straight up computer.





I'm thinking that's a pretty broad market - anyone with a smartphone and/or a tablet.

Not as broad as the market of people with web browsers. Going app-first seems unreasonably limiting to me. Especially for content that is ultimately HTML based.



They're working on a web version, which is good. It's just frustrating that I can't read the content because my phone or tablet doesn't have the right OS.

 

[Shasarak]

No. He said there is a reason they don't print magazines.

Because their license was not renewed?

 

[Mistwell]

Because their license was not renewed?

Is there some reason for the blatant misrepresentation of my comment and uncalled-for snark? I already answered your question, in the very post you quoted and then cut. Their license to publish OGL magazines is intact. They can publish a magazine right now if they want to. There are current OGL magazines. Here is a good one. They can publish a Pathfinder magazine at any time.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Totally agree with the comment above. Paizo could publish a paper Magazine if they wanted to right now. I actually thought it might be a better move that the ill fated move into a packed mmo market which has effectively gone pear shaped. People nowadays normally (and I say normally because yes we still have people who prefer the print magazine medium) prefer their information more immediate. If they want a review for a Novel they can go online to see one, check out sometones blog etc. If they want to see what new rpgs are coming they can go to the publishers website or their local online gaming store. If they want adventures, they can again find some for sale on the same websites and often for free on blog sites and other places.

I collected Australian Realms in the 90's. It wasnt a long run by any stretch (30 issues) but it had some good stuff in it. Do I think anything like it could survive today? No I dont. The Internet landscape in Australia has changed a lot since then.

http://www.arielarchives.com/ARealms.html

 

[delericho]

Because their license was not renewed?

Snark aside, it probably does boil down to this. Erik Mona and/or James Jacobs discussed this at some length when the license ended. Basically, the reality of the magazine business was that launching a new title was (and is) impractical - you're pretty much doomed to failure before you even begin. And, FWIW (and IIRC), they also said that resuming publication of a magazine was effectively the same as starting a new one - once Dragon 'missed' even a single issue people stopped looking for it on the news-stands, and so bringing it back was a non-starter.

So the end of the license for Dragon and Dungeon did indeed end Paizo's involvement in the magazine industry. Though it was larger economic factors that kept them out.

All that said, it's worth noting that if the license had been renewed, it's quite likely that the magazines would have failed by now anyway - although it was still doing pretty well at the time it was cancelled, Dragon had very significantly declined in the last three years of its print life.

 

[shadowmane]

There's people out there that don't have a smartphone or any sort of tablet? Your Kindle (or iPad, or whatever you want to use) will read this just as well. The only thing that can't directly read this is a straight up computer.

I'm thinking that's a pretty broad market - anyone with a smartphone and/or a tablet.

I have a laptop with Ubuntu on it. I don't have a smartphone, and I don't have a tablet. This is not accessible to me. So again, I say, Wizards hates people who don't have smartphones.