I've asked the same question myself since Paizo has made many changes to Dungeon. So, here you go:
Before the conjoining of Dungeon and Poly, I was in the same boat as most Dungeon fans. I couldn't recommend the magazine enough to people who played D&D. Best gaming dollar in all of RPGs was Dungeon Magazine! You'd have to be a 3 INT goblin to miss Dungeon if you love D&D!
Boy, did that ever change.
The issues of Poly that have truly made the magazine shine as a whole are few and far between IMO. Issue #100 was one of the best issues, but somehow they used it as an excuse for letting issue #99 be a piece of crap. It's that kind of back and forth in quality and usefulness that just proves I'd rather not have to pay for it every month.
What used to be an issue every two months of about 4 or more adventures, has been split into a monthly issue (with a cover increase BTW) with two adventures of shorter length than was typical before. That's getting half the value of the previous format if you are a Dungeon fan and not a Poly fan, or rather, you're paying twice as much for the same number of adventures as the pre-butchered Dungeon Magazine.
I'd be less upset if I thought the Poly material was useful in any way towards the Dungeon side of the magazine, but it is rarely the case. The recent Dark Sun material might be useful to some, but the Star Wars material just doesn't belong in a magazine for people who want D&D adventures.
So, the real problem IMO, is that Poly doesn't serve Dungeon in a way that complements it. Poly is out there doing its own thing, and in those issues, you are paying for it whether you like it or not. This is the big reason NOT to subscribe IMO.
Visit a LGS and look through the last several issues of Dungeon/Poly, and ask yourself if you're willing to accept both sides of the magazine. If not, then the expense is really not justified IMO.
Dungeon is a D&D magazine. I loved it and shared it with gamers for a very long time. Unfortunately, what they call Dungeon Magazine now is really a shadow of its former self. If Poly belongs anywhere, it is in the back of Dragon Magazine, but they promised that Dragon was a D&D only magazine. That's good. But Dungeon is a D&D magazine too IMO, or at least, it used to be.
If you like what you see on the Poly side of the magazine, then you can still lose out IMO. If you are a Star Wars fan, don't expect something every month, or even every other month. If you are a mini-games fan, then expect things like the Scooby-doo mini game, right along with Omega World. My point is that the consistency is all over the place. You're really on your own here because Paizo seems schitzophrenic when it comes to what they want to put into Poly. That last thing they've done with Poly is be consistent.
I'm very attentive to any comments by Erik Mona, and the Dungeon/Poly problem from my vantage point is simply one of incompatibility. Dungeon fans want their magazine to be a D&D magazine first and foremost IMO, while Poly fans love the mini games, and articles with some depth about d20 games other than D&D. The only issues that really work for me is when Poly complements Dungeon, and THOSE are the ones I am happy to buy.
Unfortunately, for me, it means not subscribing anytime in the near future.
