Pure Speculation about the new Dungeon magazine

[gothmaugCC]

Hmm..I was just looking at the new version of the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth released for the "new and improved" Dungeon magazine over on the WoTC site. They only released the first chapter, and that got me thinking.

I'd bet my mithril booties that we're never going to get full adventures in one big chunk on DnD insider, even after the full 4th edition release. It makes more sense from a marketing perspective to chop adventures into pieces and give us a piece each week. This will force thier suscribers to log in multiple times per week/month to get all the content, instead of just logging in once and downloading the whole issue.

Sigh...SO basically we'd have to wait a month before we could sit down and read the entire adventure. Oh well. Unless they have some devoted staff that pumps out adventure gold, I'll probably just hang onto my pathfinder subscription over at Paizo. At least I can read that in one sitting...or while sitting on the throne

 

[FourthBear]

Or you could just log in once at the end of the month for the full adventure. In both cases, you can get the entire content once a month. In the Dungeon scenario, you can get periodic updates over the course of the month. With respect to content, you've got everything that the once a month magazine case gives and more. It seems to me that logically the Paizo case is a limited sub-case of the Dungeon case.

Now the issue with paper versus electronic is entirely different. But no one is forced to log in multiple times. Just wait until the end of the month for the whole thing.

 

[Imaro]

Just wondering, does anyone know how many complete adventures are suppose to be released in Dungeon online each month?

 

[FourthBear]

Just wondering, does anyone know how many complete adventures are suppose to be released in Dungeon online each month?

I haven't read anything on it. I would guess they'll be shooting for roughly the same word/page count as paper magazine, so three standard adventures and a few columns/features. The October issue seems to be consistent with this, as there's one mega-adventure (Tsocjanth) and one standard adventure (Chimes of Midnight).

 

[hazel monday]

Oh well. Unless they have some devoted staff that pumps out adventure gold, I'll probably just hang onto my pathfinder subscription over at Paizo. At least I can read that in one sitting...or while sitting on the throne

Yeah, in terms of quality adventures, you're probably best served by sticking with Paizo. And also, man! I had no idea my fellow gamers read so much on the can. Ever since Dragon Mag was canceled every other thread has been "What Am i gon' do? I can't read my computer on the can! What am I gon' do?"

What are you people eating that's got you reading so much on the crapper? Eat a green vegetable for God's sake!

 

[FourthBear]

I have to admit, purely selfishly, that I like the idea of them moving to electronic versions. I subscribe to the Paizo Pathfinder, but I consider the PDF the primary benefit, with the paper copy just a nice addition. I've never had any problems reading on screens and I always find it much easier to organize and find my PDFs than the paper copies. Also, I hate, hate, hate having to wait for the snail mail service to finally manage to deliver my paper copy. Geez, I'm only in a major US city, guys. It's not like I'm on an oil patch in Alaska! It's easier to simply print out exactly what I like without having to scan in the page for handouts. However, I fully realize that I'm in the minority in this.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'd bet my mithril booties that we're never going to get full adventures in one big chunk on DnD insider, even after the full 4th edition release. It makes more sense from a marketing perspective to chop adventures into pieces and give us a piece each week. This will force thier suscribers to log in multiple times per week/month to get all the content, instead of just logging in once and downloading the whole issue.

I'll take that bet, as I'm pretty sure you're wrong.

The thing to understand about Iggwilv's Legacy is that each of the three parts is the length of an adventure in and of itself. It makes sense to break it up. But a normal adventure? Nah, I don't think so.

 

[Shroomy]

I will take that bet too.

BTW, this same kind of complaint could be leveled at the Pathfinder series, the Dungeon APs, and just about any serialized release.

 

[The Little Raven]

I'll take that bet, as I'm pretty sure you're wrong.

The thing to understand about Iggwilv's Legacy is that each of the three parts is the length of an adventure in and of itself. It makes sense to break it up. But a normal adventure? Nah, I don't think so.

I think breaking them up into pieces is better design, since after the release of the first one, you can get feedback from the community and make the successive chapters even better.

And since you're already a damned fine writer, I look forward to that.

 

[Morrus]

This will force thier suscribers to log in multiple times per week/month to get all the content, instead of just logging in once and downloading the whole issue.

I'm not clear... why can't you log in once a month and download the whole lot?

Sigh...SO basically we'd have to wait a month before we could sit down and read the entire adventure. Oh well.

So it's just like Dungeon magazine was then! Except that, if you want, you can log in early and get the "issue so far". Unless you used to have a special Dungeon subscription I wasn't aware of!