[Poly] What's happening to Polyhedron/Dungeon?

[scourger]

Thanks, Erik

Thanks for the update, Erik. I hope these changes make the magazine more viable. It is, in my opinion, consistently the best value in gaming supplements. So, I am glad to see some new things stay (particularly the mini-gmaes) even in a reduced capacity that will allow more room for the adventures that make up the basic success of the magazine.

 

[Ranger REG]

Slightly Disappointed

Here's a brief list of what's changing. For reasons behind the changes, check out the last six months of letter columns and posts to this site, essentially.

1. Four Mini-Games per year. This allows us the opportunity to spend more pages supporting previously published Mini-Games as well as other stuff like Star Wars, the RPGA, d20 Modern, etc.

I don't know if I do like the one mini-game per season, but if you provide additional support articles in the issues following the mini-game, then I may be satisfied.

2. Poly now in back. The "flipped" format caused more trouble than it was worth. Trust me on this one. The Poly cover will still appear in the interior of the magazine, and all pages will face the right side up.

Grrr!

Great, now I got to flip back my previous collections of Polyhedron. I still prefer the flipbook format, just so I don't have to see the Dungeon cover.

3. I'm killing the subscriber section. You heard it here first. Many, many, many readers complained that this section unfairly harmed retailers, and the idea seemed to annoy more people than it pleased. Again, this simplifies things. Determining what's in this month's Dungeon shouldn't be a math problem.

Feh. As your store-bought reader, it doesn't affect me either way one bit. Then again, AFAIK, you don't give any special subscriber section for Polyhedron (e.g., mini-game extras).

I guess it is better to stick to the original incentive of offering low discounted price to anyone who wants to subscribe and receive the magazine in the mail rather than having to go out, walk ten miles in the rain to FLGS just to buy one issue at full price.

4. More than 2 adventures per issue. This won't always be possible on Mini-Game months or in months with an Adventure Path adventure (which happen to be long). We'll never do another issue with just one adventure.

Feh. As a Polyhedron reader, I prefer to have no less than 2 adventures for d20 Modern, Star Wars, Call of Cthulhu, and any featured mini-games.

While I have kept my mouth shut for some time, it only fuels my fire for a separate magazine more and more.

5. The Dungeon/Poly split will no longer be absolute, and instead will depend upon the material we've got on hand. With the rare exception of a Mini-Game that simply won't work in less than 40 pages, the Dungeon side will always be larger than the Poly side. That's not to say the Poly side is going to shrink to oblivion--we're just going to keep it smaller than the other side of the magazine.

See above statement.

6. New Associate Editor. We've hired James Jacobs (Flood Season) as our new associate editor to help with submissions and rules. The two of us (with Art Director Sean Glenn) are now in charge of the whole shebang, and all of us are working on all the magazine, instead of splitting editorial duties in half.

Sounds more like trying to find a cost-effective way of publishing a combo magazine. That means you're pulling double duty for single editor's paycheck. Personally, I wouldn't go for it. If you want me to do two magazines, you pay me twice. But that's just me.

All in all, I see no satisfactory improvement to the Poly side, IMHO. Just the Dungeon side. And to be honest with you, I'm beginning to feel that I am now wasting $7.00 on a magazine that occupies less than half the issue.

I want to support you, guys, but I don't know if I'm getting an incentive here, as a strictly Poly reader. I mean I feel like I'm in one of those Juicy Juice commercials, where I am buying nowhere near a 100% product.

 

[Agamon]

Hooray!

I stopped buying Dungeon in protest. Looks like I need to grab a couple back issues so as not to leave a hole in my collection.

 

[JeffB]

Erik,

I think these are truly needed and long-overdue changes..I too had stopped buying the magazine, but I'll be buying it now with these changes, possibly even re-subbing again.

Thanx!

 

[Felon]

Keep up the great work, Erik. I've been a subscriber for three months now and kick myself for not signing up sooner.

 

[Blister]

Dungeon Changes

ERik

Thanks for the changes. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being proffesional. Count me back among the Dungeon faithful.

-tim

 

[Olive]

What about the Living Greyhawk Journal? Has that finally bit the dust? We have gone so long without it that it seems just a dream...

#103 is supposed to have more on the bright desert, with epic level stats for Rary the Traitor... I think the new dragon has the info.

 

[NekoAli]

Being one of the people who started to buy Dungeon when Polyhedron and the mini games was added to it, I could be a little disappointed in the reduction of numbers, but I"m not. Honestly, there is only two fewer games per year than there was when Dungeon was a bi-monthy magazine, and there will be support for already existing mini-games, which I am all in favor of, in a big way (Please, please, more support for Spelljammer and Iron Lords of Jupiter!). Honestly, I don't use the adventures for my game, though they are interesting reading, and sometimes I mine them for ideas in my games. I would very much love to see adventures for d20 Modern, the mini games and possibly even some other non-fantasy games (Deadlands maybe?)

In any case, you'll still have me for a reader, so long as you keep producing a fun, quality magazine.

 

[Sholari]

As one of the hardcore Dungeon folks out there, I had dropped my subscription. Thanks. I appreciate the move toward more Dungeon content and will continue to buy on a per issue basis as long as there is solid Dungeon content.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Since this is really about the magazines, I'll move this back to general.