Polyhedron Magazine Subscription?

[CanadienneBacon]

Bummer.

Not what I thought it might be, but glad I came here and asked anyway. Thanks, all.

 

[Bretbo]

I miss mini-games!

 

[The_Gneech]

Don't be fooled. It's a weekly e-mail that contains the front page of the D&D website, with links back to wizards.com.

That is all.

-The Gneech

 

[kenobi65]

I've missed this. Polyhedron was released as an RPGA electronic magazine of sorts. It even had periodic comic strips by Rich "Order of the Stick" Burlew. I think it lasted all of 5 or 6 issues before disappearing.

Well, "re-released."

The first incarnation of Polyhedron was the newsletter / newszine for the RPGA. In that format, it started in the early 80s, with the launch of the RPGA itself, and continued until around 2002. That's when RPGA membership became "free for life"; I can't remember if Polyhedron ceased publication before then.

The second incarnation of Polyhedron was from Paizo; it became the "d20 system" side of Dungeon, in an effort by Paizo to increase interest in Dungeon (and stave off its cancellation). That ran from 2002 to 2004.

The third incarnation was what Glyfair notes above; about a year or two ago, RPGA announced reviving Poly as a free online magazine. The content was pretty thin, and, as Glyfair notes, it didn't last very long before just sort of quietly fading away.

The fourth incarnation occured last year, when WotC announced an e-newsletter (which, as several have noted, fundamentally just consists of links to recent articles on the WotC web site). For some reason, they've attached the Poly name to it (maybe to keep the name alive for later use).

 

[Glyfair]

Well, "re-released."

True, which is what I meant. The point I was trying to make was that it was released, at one point, as an electronic RPGA publication.

So, we can see that WotC, through the RPGA, has delved into the electronic publishing game before. We can also see that the effort was unspectacular in results.

The fourth incarnation occured last year, when WotC announced an e-newsletter (which, as several have noted, fundamentally just consists of links to recent articles on the WotC web site). For some reason, they've attached the Poly name to it (maybe to keep the name alive for later use).

My guess is that they are doing it that way so the trademark doesn't lapse and someone else doesn't start doing using it. I don't think the window is too long before it lapses, since Hasbro let the Runequest trademark lapse.

The second incarnation of Polyhedron was from Paizo; it became the "d20 system" side of Dungeon, in an effort by Paizo to increase interest in Dungeon (and stave off its cancellation). That ran from 2002 to 2004.

Sort of makes me wonder if Paizo might eventually create a "d20 game of the month" magazine, once they are allowed to do so (or else do an end run around the magazine concept like Pathfinder is doing.

 

[Mark CMG]

Don't be fooled. It's a weekly e-mail that contains the front page of the D&D website, with links back to wizards.com.

It's a trap! - Admiral Ackbar

 

[Birmy]

It's a trap! - Admiral Ackbar

Once again, the wisdom of one A. Ackbar teaches us a valuable lesson.

 

[kenobi65]

My guess is that they are doing it that way so the trademark doesn't lapse and someone else doesn't start doing using it. I don't think the window is too long before it lapses, since Hasbro let the Runequest trademark lapse.

Agreed, and that's what I was obliquely implying. I think it's the same reason why Marvel and DC keep recyling character names

Sort of makes me wonder if Paizo might eventually create a "d20 game of the month" magazine, once they are allowed to do so (or else do an end run around the magazine concept like Pathfinder is doing.

Given that the people who said, "hey, I like the d20 mini-games in Dungeon / Polyhedron" were drowned out by the cries of "hey, get that useless &^%$# out of my Dungeon!", I can't believe that it's an idea that Paizo would think would have a lot of legs.

 

[Glyfair]

Given that the people who said, "hey, I like the d20 mini-games in Dungeon / Polyhedron" were drowned out by the cries of "hey, get that useless &^%$# out of my Dungeon!", I can't believe that it's an idea that Paizo would think would have a lot of legs.

I think the major objections were to unwanted content in Dungeon, not to the d20 mini-games themselves. Especially since it was a large chunk of the magazine.