Should Ecology articles be one-time only?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This was posted in the #332 thread, but the question either got missed or somefin'. So reposting it here for general input, because heck, maybe I'm way off base:

Why? You know your readership better than we could, but is a given reader who says "I'd really like some more flavor on the stirge" really going to a) figure out what issue the stirge ecology appeared in and b) be able to track it down?

Especially given the dramatic changes so many monsters have gone through over the years, it hardly seems that one article could say it all about most of them. That theory clearly isn't used for, say, making rogues sneakier or better dungeon tactics or making druids more viable in a dungeon, although I have to say those all tend to have a great deal of sameness about them once the fourth or fifth iteration is published.

Why not have not have a five year hiatus on certain critters, but after that, they're fair game? Speaking as a reader since the double digit issue number days, while we don't need an annual article on goblins, neither do we need to rest on what, say, Roger E. Moore wrote before many current readers were even born.

If nothing else, many of the more interesting ecology articles could be sliced more finely, providing more topics for the future. "Wolf-Riders of the Goblin Plains" could adapt real world horse nomad tactics to D&D goblins. "Dragon Cults of the Kobolds" (the ecology article I once thought to submit) could detail the religious schism between the Kurtulmak worshippers and the dragon worshippers, "Stone Gardens of the Basilisks" could discuss what the heck basilisks do with these petrified victims and how adventurers could look on those leavings and use them to help survive an encounter themselves.

But if you are going to start ruling out critters as article subjects in perpetuity, any chance you could add elves, including drow, to that list?

 

[Tauric]

I'd like to second the question. I've not been a reader since the double-digit days, but I am a reader now. So, I would like to see some old Ecology articles updated and/or reprinted.

 

[Crothian]

I'd like to see them also released in PDF format. So if someone just wants the ecology of Stirges sewction, they can spend a buck or so and just go download it. I'd actually like to see Dragon and Dungeon do that with many of their articles and adventures.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

I was kind of on the fence when I first started reading Whizbang's post, but he makes some really good points, particularly about the recycling of all the constant "rogues being sneakier in the dungeon" type of articles. I can recall at least two, possibly more, articles dealing with all kinds of rogue equipment, much of it the same, just different rules sets. Or all the articles on roleplaying alignment.

I don't see anything wrong with multiple Ecology articles, especially of the type Whizbang suggests- detailing more specific aspects of a race/species, or differences among the same. I'd much rather read an article about the cultural aspects of a race/species, and how they differ from one another, than to just get a new playable subtype, with no real detail (how many subtypes of elves do we need, really? Why not get more in-depth info on the existing subtypes, or, better yet, more detail with no corresponding needless crunch?)

Frankly, a lot of the more recent Ecology articles seem just a bit too boring to me- they don't really tell me anything that a readthrough of the Monster Manual wouldn't. The old Ecology articles, where new abilities and/or new uses for old abilities were a lot more interesting and useful to me. Lately the Ecology articles seem a bit too general, and more focused Ecologies would seem to me to have more merit, from a DMing point of view.

Though I will admit, I like the Knowledge check sidebars that have been appearing lately.

 

[Shemeska]

I'd like to see them also released in PDF format. So if someone just wants the ecology of Stirges sewction, they can spend a buck or so and just go download it. I'd actually like to see Dragon and Dungeon do that with many of their articles and adventures.

I'd buy that in an instant. Compiled Dragon monster ecology articles... that makes Baby Jesus smile. And me drool at the prospect.

 

[philreed]

It's threads like this that make me appreciate the Dragon CD archive. If only they would produce a Dungeon archive.

 

[Crothian]

It's threads like this that make me appreciate the Dragon CD archive. If only they would produce a Dungeon archive.

I'm not a fan of the Dragon Archieve. I don't find it really easy to find things in it. Although a newer one I'm sure they could make a lot more user friendly and organized.

 

[philreed]

I'm not a fan of the Dragon Archieve. I don't find it really easy to find things in it. Although a newer one I'm sure they could make a lot more user friendly and organized.

Since I use a Mac the indexing features with the CDs are useless. I usually just search for an index on the web.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I have the Dragon Archive, but I would like to see some Ecology revisits. I'd prefer they go back to the fiction-based format, though, rather than the current one. It had more flavor and personality to it (plus Richards could get his remaining articles printed!).

 

[IronWolf]

I see no reason that the ecology articles couldn't be repeated, the five year time span seems about right as already mentioned. Though I too began my first Dragon purchases in the double-digit days, I am sure there are many that could stand to be freshened up some. After all, not everyone has the Dragon Archive CD or started reading Dragon in the single or double-digit days.

The PDF suggestions sound great too, I would think the $1 price point would have those things flying off the virtual shelves like crazy.