Okay. I officially miss paper versions

[Fallen Seraph]

Hmm... May have missed in while skimming over the previous comments, but Reynard, have you thought of getting the Dragon/Dungeon Annual book when they come out? It sounds like exactly what you want, the interesting articles you want to read in book format.

Personally, I quite like the Emagazine. But, well I grew up with reading on the computer so fairly natural for me, plus it is on my laptop so can take it and sit anywhere (I imagine having to be at a desk be less pleasant), and all the nice copy and pasting, etc. I quite like.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Laptop.

If the e-magazine saved money on production costs, I imagine that any savings the reader might accrue as a result are completely obliterated by the price of a laptop on which to read them.

Also, I second the notion that laptops and small children do not mix. Too many close calls...

 

[Imaro]

What I have found helps my sanity when I'm reading ENWorld is to always assume the best about a fellow poster even when what they are saying rubs me the wrong way. I didn't read any of Jack99's post to say, "You don't really know what you like". It sounded to me more like he was saying, "I didn't like it to begin with but I discovered that it had some advantages that I hadn't anticipated at first." That can be useful advice for some people.

I'm merely saying that, where another poster's motives are unclear, it never hurts to believe that they mean the best.

Yeah, I totally agree, that's why...

... I know I'm starting to find it a little patronizing and irritating myself, though I don't necessarily think 4e fans mean for it to come off that way.

So maybe I'm missing the point of your post, because I didn't ascribe any motive at all, but stated why the answer of "You just need to keep doing it and you'll grow to like it" (which has been used numerous times in discussions about 4e and would be a more viable answer, if it didn't cost money to keep trying something) may be getting a little annoying to some. What I would hope is that both sides of the coin are looked at and thus understanding is fostered. So I'm not seeing where we differ in our views.

 

[Rel]

So maybe I'm missing the point of your post, because I didn't ascribe any motive at all, but stated why the answer of "You just need to keep doing it and you'll grow to like it" (which has been used numerous times in discussions about 4e and would be a more viable answer, if it didn't cost money to keep trying something) may be getting a little annoying to some.

This is the second time that you have "paraphrased" what Jack99 said, both times making it seem a bit more derogatory than what he originally posted. It appears to me that you are viewing his comments in a negative light but maybe I'm mistaken. I suppose I don't understand why you would be annoyed if you felt that somebody was trying to be helpful, even if their brand of helpful didn't work for you.

 

[jdrakeh]

I prefer paper versions for leisurely reading but for game prep, use in actual play, and easy storage I prefer the e-versions. Ideally we'd have access to both, though I understand why it's not economically feasible for WotC to make both formats available (especially at the current time).

 

[charlesatan]

I prefer paper versions for leisurely reading but for game prep, use in actual play, and easy storage I prefer the e-versions. Ideally we'd have access to both, though I understand why it's not economically feasible for WotC to make both formats available (especially at the current time).

Print magazines are more than just printing out PDFs (which in itself requires an investment). There's also such a thing as distribution and mailing it to subscribers. With that in mind, they'll probably need two months lead time at least, making some of the content obsolete or not yet thoroughly playtested by the time it sees print (and of course, since we can't have electronic content two months ahead of what comes out in print, they'll go with what's latest so that there's some semblance of synchronicity).

Scrye just announced its last issue so print magazines are really having a hard time these days. (Pathfinder isn't a magazine, it's a book, so one of the few bastions of print magazines right now is Kobold Quarterly.)

 

[jdrakeh]

Print magazines are more than just printing out PDFs (which in itself requires an investment). There's also such a thing as distribution and mailing it to subscribers. With that in mind, they'll probably need two months lead time at least, making some of the content obsolete or not yet thoroughly playtested by the time it sees print (and of course, since we can't have electronic content two months ahead of what comes out in print, they'll go with what's latest so that there's some semblance of synchronicity).

Scrye just announced its last issue so print magazines are really having a hard time these days. (Pathfinder isn't a magazine, it's a book, so one of the few bastions of print right now is Kobold Quarterly.)

Yeah, I'm aware of all of that Print mags are laid out to a different standard than PDFs, they're more difficult and more expensive to circulate than PDFs, etc. Print mags require a lot of work.

With fewer people buying printed magazines (and printed media in general, if newspaper publishers are to be believed), it's much harder for a publisher to justify the investments that full-blown printed magazines require.

 

[Imaro]

This is the second time that you have "paraphrased" what Jack99 said, both times making it seem a bit more derogatory than what he originally posted. It appears to me that you are viewing his comments in a negative light but maybe I'm mistaken. I suppose I don't understand why you would be annoyed if you felt that somebody was trying to be helpful, even if their brand of helpful didn't work for you.

No, I'm saying perhaps things could be looked at from the perspectives of both , and why Jack99's post could be looked at in a negative light. Basically instead of saying one person should do blah, blah, blah... I am saying both sides of the coin could be looked at. And as far as "paraphrasing" well you seem to be attributing Jack99's post with alot more positive qualities than the original post had... you know, the same way you are saying look at Jack99's post in a positive light.

Speacking as a great fan of the new eDragon, I will say that you should give it some time. It might win you over when you realize just how useful it is for a DM to be able to copy-paste everything in the magazines to your handouts or wiki or whatnot.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my dead-tree dragon of old times, but the price reduction (because I am in Europe, eDragon costs roughly 1/8th of what Dragon used to cost me), the ability to get it when it's out and the increased usability via the PDF format has just been too good to ignore.

Emphasis mine, this doesn't address any of the OP's issues with the magazine and actually insinuates the OP hasn't "realized" what he can do with it. The fact of the matter is the OP never commented one way or the other on his ability to copy and paste to a wiki. Now all I'm saying is before posting something like this, why not assume if the OP didn't state the inability to copy and paste as a drawback... he's already realized he can copy and paste from a PDF, and this doesn't for him alleviate the problems he has?

 

[Agamon]

So to sum up,

Dead trees = easier to read

Bits and bytes = easier to use

I agree on both points, though I don't mind reading my copies on my laptop. And cheaper is definitely better. I actually used my paper copies of Dragon very rarely. Dungeon got used quite a bit though.

 

[Rel]

No, I'm saying perhaps things could be looked at from the perspectives of both , and why Jack99's post could be looked at in a negative light. Basically instead of saying one person should do blah, blah, blah... I am saying both sides of the coin could be looked at.

I don't really care to go round and round about this. Your position seems to be that it's just as valid to view things in as negative a way as possible as it is to view them more positively. If you want to do it that way, fine. Based on my observations, it is more than likely not the path to a happier, more stress free use of ENWorld. But hey, different strokes and all that.