OGL Magazine?

[Alzrius]

I'm not at all familiar with it, but is Modernized: Gaming in the Modern World the 'zine you're looking for?

Hm, yes that's definitely it, but it doesn't have the fourth and final issue that was released. Still, it's nice to see that it's available somewhere, and hopefully that last issue will make a reappearance soon.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Personally, I think the way forward for an OGL magazine is as a free online resource, with weekly releases including adventures, new feats, classes, etc, with a downloadable PDF at the end of a month. Throw in a forum where people can discuss the articles, rules, new products (pr, more likely, existing products) and you might might just build up enough of a loyal fan base to survive.

I've considered doing something along those lines myself. My primary motivation would be a place where we could discuss the SRD and how to improve it and create a rule set that people could use. The arrival of Pathfinder made this something of a moot point, though not entirely. I wanted to create a site where people could fish for rules 'modules' that they could easily just drop into their game, replacing existing rules, without too much work - meaning people could pick and choose the bits that suited their game.

I thought it might also be a place where existing publishers of OGL products might advertise their wares and where people could discuss existing products, etc.

Not sure there would be enough interest to warrant it, however. As has already been mentioned, people's enthusiasm often outweighs their commitment.

 

[joela]

what about Open materials from publishers?

I think we here at EN World could get together and create our own OGL Magazine.

How would publishers, like Malhavoc, feel, if their Open Content was published in such a magazines (with the appropriate legalese, of course)?

 

[Knightfall]

How would publishers, like Malhavoc, feel, if their Open Content was published in such a magazines (with the appropriate legalese, of course)?

If done properly, it should be fine.

In the past when most (of the good) TPPs sourced another TPPs open content in a new book they would send a courteousy-request. As long as the organizers did this with TPPs, most companies would be fine with it.

It's not written into the OGL but it's a nice idea to let a TTP know if the OGL Magazine is going to include some of their content. It might even get them interested in advertising in the magazine.

 

[Committed Hero]

How would publishers, like Malhavoc, feel, if their Open Content was published in such a magazines (with the appropriate legalese, of course)?

Regardless of how they feel, it would be legal to do so. Are you suggesting some companies might want to sabotage such a mag?

 

[joela]

???

Regardless of how they feel, it would be legal to do so. Are you suggesting some companies might want to sabotage such a mag?

Where did that come from?

 

[MichaelSomething]

Basically magazines are not vialbe anymore. A magazine can't get enough eyes to get revenue. Advirtisements don't work well because gaming companies are too poor to pay for ads. Fan based projects can't get people to write articles. It appears a venture of this nature is doomed to fail.

 

[jdrakeh]

I have heard from too many magazine publishers that the paper magazine format is normally a losing proposition to not believe that it is true. The cost of art, editing, and publishing demand a certain level of sales in order to just break even and it is very hard for a publisher to obtain that many sales.

And they're right for all of the reasons mentioned by Gareth Skarka further up the thread. Not only is the audience for print gaming mags shrinking rapidly (despite that infallible logic of "I like print mags and hate PDFs! That means all gamers do! These publishers are filthy liars!" offered elsehwhere), but the production costs of full-blown, professional, magazines are rapidly outstripping profit margins. Fanzines may have a future in print. Anything that requires outside advertising revenue to subsidize production costs does not.

[Edit: If you keep up with the news, you already know that newspaper circulation is at an all time low in the US due to the majority of the consuming public choosing to visit blogs and subscribe to RSS feeds, rather than pay $0.50 for a paper. If the New York Times is hurting due to the overwhelming popularity of digital media, it's mad to think that a small-press RPG magazine based on an advertising subsidized business model won't feel the crunch.]

 

[lmpjr007]

I thought about this the other day while in my FLGS. I was looking through the magazines dedicated to roleplaying and felt a twing of loss at not seeing DRAGON or DUNGEON Magazine there anymore. And there really isn't anything to fill the void, IMO.

Reading over this thread, I have to agree that doing another Dragon Magazine is a uphill struggle (and with that I am very impressed wit the work KQ has done) but the "flip side of the coin" with Dungeon magazine, I believe in is a viable format. Just looking at Goodman Games DCC, Paizo's Pathfinder, EN World's War of the Burning Sky and even my own Sidetrtek Adventure Weekly all follow the Dungeon business model of "monthly" produced adventures. Regularly release adventures and adventure paths in a PDF has seemed to do very well. While doing an actual "paper and ink" magazine may be TOO expensive to do on a monthly basis, a PDF version could be a workable option.

 

[rgard]

[Edit: If you keep up with the news, you already know that newspaper circulation is at an all time low in the US due to the majority of the consuming public choosing to visit blogs and subscribe to RSS feeds, rather than pay $0.50 for a paper. If the New York Times is hurting due to the overwhelming popularity of digital media, it's mad to think that a small-press RPG magazine based on an advertising subsidized business model won't feel the crunch.]

That and the content is crap.