Rant About Recent Dungeon Magazines

[d20Dwarf]

I'd also like to point people to www.direkobold.com for more adventurey goodness. They publish approximately 3 adventures per month, have a low subscription fee, and every adventure is dynamically scalable to your needs. If you haven't seen the level of customization possible with these adventures, I think you'd be doing yourself a favor to go check out the samples.

 

[pogre]

Erik,

Hey thanks. I have been defending Dungeon for the most part over the last few threads, but I think all of the changes you propose are positive. I really appreciate your effort and will continue to subscribe.

Keith

On topic -

I think lots of adventures for D&D is a good thing. The massive amount of adventuring material is the main reason I got back into D&D. As long as the Dungeon folks keep trying - I'll keep buying. I just look at Poly as one huge advertisement to keep the ship afloat. Much as Poly fans view Dungeon I'm sure.

BTW - I also subscribe to Dire Kobold - not all of the adventures are great, but they continue to try and there are some really good ones. They have a fun little adventure path going by Wil Upchurch - and it's pretty solid. If you hate poly and just want adventures here's a solution - subscribe to Dire Kobold and buy even-numbered Dungeons.

 

[Hokey Pokey]

Goddammit I agree

Those mother ers, lets go them up. Im gonna rip them a new hole goddammit. And im gonna bitch till i cant bitch no more, just because I can't write anything worth publishing doesn't mean that others shouldnt take my burden. Make more stories, Im and ... I want my Dungeon, I want them not to make a new edition of DnD because that would hurt my paycheck from blockbuster video and I would have to spend long nights in my mothers basement worrying my 35 year old head that DR is a bad thing.


MAKE SOME CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MAGAZINE YOURSELF IF YOU WANT IT FIXED. STOP BITCHING!!!!

This Forum is to fix things wrong with the system in a productive manner, lets stop whining about things that we cannot do anything about, put our heads together and make up our own adventures. Make up your own rules, do whatever, but stop populating the forums with useless garbage like this thread!!!

 

[billd91]

Re: Goddammit I agree

Make up your own rules, do whatever, but stop populating the forums with useless garbage like this thread!!!

If that's the way you feel, then why contribute to the thread? I think that the response from Erik in this thread is the most interesting, best news, I've gotten about Dungeon since it went monthly. I give this thread a thumbs up for that alone.

 

[tmaaas]

For starters, I want to run at least three Dungeon adventures per issue (this will probably fall to 2 when we run the adventure path). No more 36-page FR adventures. I'm currently thinking that the Adventure Path is the _only_ type of adventure (excluding some we've already bought) that will go over 30 pages. We just don't have the room for those kinds of monsters, and besides I think most Dungeon DMs probably prefer the shorter (15-20 page) adventures, anyway.

Erik --

I subscribed to Dungeon specifically to get the Adventure Path modules, so I'm glad to hear that you're not going to make them too small.

I think you're right in that most purchasers prefer more (but smaller) modules to fewer (but larger) ones. However, I think there will also be a significant number who like the larger ones--on occasion. After the Adventure Path series is done, you may want to have a limited number of larger (30-40 pg) modules per year, just as you have a limited number of Poly mini-games per year.

Also, smaller modules which are designed to naturally flow from one to the other could also help. You can have a module one month, and then its sequal 1-3 months later. Sort of a mini "Adventure Path" concept.

I've been very satisfied with my new Dungeon subscription, and look forward to Pazio's efforts to continue making it better.

-- Todd Sabin

 

[Simplicity]

Re: Goddammit I agree

MAKE SOME CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MAGAZINE YOURSELF IF YOU WANT IT FIXED. STOP BITCHING!!!!

This Forum is to fix things wrong with the system in a productive manner, lets stop whining about things that we cannot do anything about, put our heads together and make up our own adventures. Make up your own rules, do whatever, but stop populating the forums with useless garbage like this thread!!!

A couple of issues here:
1) I posted a complaint. I justified my complaint. I got a response from the guys at Dungeon. Mission successful. I wasn't bitching for bitching's sake. I was providing criticism, which is a perfectly valid and contributory thing to do. Especially when the guys at the magazine agree with me.

2) You don't seem to understand how these magazines work... It's either (a) I pay them money, and they give me adventures (i.e., your basic subscription) or (b) I give them adventures, and they give me money (i.e., freelance writing). Now, I don't need their money. But I do want their adventures. I could give them adventures, but would that get me any MORE adventures? No... In fact, they'd wind up printing my adventure, and then I would have LESS adventures. So the remark about contributing to Dungeon is just nonsense.

3) I do make my own adventures. Tons of them. Does that mean I never want to run a pre-prepared adventure? No, it doesn't.

4) At least when I complain, I don't feel the urge to keep one finger on the Shift key.

 

[Erik Mona]

Iron Chef said:

>>>
Does this mean you are looking at a way not to aliennate non-subscribers with subscriber-only content?
>>>

Correct.

Iron Chef, I understand and appreciate that you don't care for Polyhedron. That message has definitely come through loud and clear. But I would suggest that just because _you_ don't like something does not make it "consistently awful." Lots of people obviously disagree with that point of view based upon posts to threads (to say nothing of emails to the magazines themselves, comments at conventions, etc.). That kind of hyperbole doesn't help any discussion about how to "fix" the problems that many readers have with the current format of the magazine, which is something I think a lot of readers are probably interested in.

I'm honestly interested in everyone's feedback, and will do everything I can to make the magazine as good a value and as fun a read (and play!) as possible. But frothing at the mouth about how much the magazine sucks is not particularly helpful to the cause of improving the magazine, and does little more than make me (and others) completely write off the rest of what you have to say, which may very well have a lot of good points to it.

--Erik Mona

 

[Erik Mona]

>>>
I suppose I should shut up and submit some, but the 2 1/2 year turnaround time on my last one kinda made me gunshy.
>>>

That's another mystery of the magazine I'm trying to understand, and solve. The addition of Associate Editor James Jacobs to the staff will certainly help.

--Erik

 

[Erik Mona]

>>>
After the Adventure Path series is done, you may want to have a limited number of larger (30-40 pg) modules per year, just as you have a limited number of Poly mini-games per year.
>>>

Oh, certainly. In fact, if it ends as popular as it started, we might just roll into a completely new Adventure Path at that point. Response has been overwhelmingly positive.

--Erik Mona

 

[Christian Walker]

Heya S,

I just want to say that you are not alone. I respect the hardwork that goes into Dungeon and Dragon. The artwork and cartography are lovely. However, I am getting less and less out of them, and have stopped making the monthly trips to the game store. I just have no use for a mini-game about Josie and the Pussycats.

Dragon 309 was a lowpoint as well. I'm 32 years old and am not interested in paying several bucks to read advice articles filled tidbits, such as, "Try to attack from a position of surprise." or "Figure out what you are going to do before it's your turn to attack." Um, okay.

That's hard for me because I've been with Dungeon since issue 1 and Dragon since the 50's. Oh well.


"Well, Christian, you publish a zine and it probably sucks, too."

Of course it does. It's a zine. I'm an amateur. It's a fun liitle project. They get $6-7/issue, and they are the Official D&D Rags. So what's their excuse?