So...did Dragon wow you?

[Seeten]

Does "Wow, this is really not very good, and wow, there is a picture of a vajayjay in it" equate to being wowed?

If so, count me in.

 

[useridunavailable]

Yes. It most certainly WoWed me. See you in Orgrimmar...

 

[Shroomy]

I'm one of the few, the proud who voted "Yes." I'd rather have selected "Waiting to See but Feeling Positive;" alas, that was not an option. At this point, even though I have yet to be blown away by the four released articles, I will probably sign up for the DI not only for the magazines (Dungeon is actually more important to me) but for all the e-tools.

Why do I feel positive? Because dedicated freelancers who love D&D will still write for Dragon and because I'm confident that Chris Thomasson knows what he is doing. That said, I think there are some strong features going for it right now:

1. The art. Despite the fact that one picture in the "Ecology of the Death Knight" was dissected ad nauseum, I think the art has been high quality.

2. The ability to correct articles at the source when problems are found. I've heard that errata for the Fortress of the Yuan-Ti web enhancement has already been incorporated into the artcle. Another example would be the change to the Savage Tide Spoiler in the "Ecology of the Death Knight" article. You can't hide spoilers in a print magazine, but this could become a regular feature in DI articles.

3. Hyperlinks in DI articles pointing to other articles on the web. I love bibliographies, footnotes, and references, so anything pointing me to more and easily accessible information that I can use to enhance my games is always a good thing.

 

[TerraDave]

Not feeling it sums it up. My expectations were pretty high, and I was fairly worried that the new Dragon would kick Kobold Quarterly into the shade.

It appears my fears may have been overblown. Nick Logue, Ed Greenwood, and Skip Williams are KQ contributors, and they are rocking the new issue. Where's the top-shelf articles for the big Dragon launch?

Disappointed so far. Hoping for better material from the WotC crew by Halloween.

I have a nice shiny copy of the quarterly I printed out here...there is no comparing. Those little Kobolds are in a whole other league.

But theres still time for the big bad Dragon to wake up.

 

[Gallo22]

Sounds to me like it would have made more sense for WotC to give Paizo another year to publish Dungeon and Dragon while they put the finishing touches on 4E. They then could have used preview articles in Dragon to reach out to the "give me paper only!" crowd that's still miffed they can't carry their magazines around with them.

Instead they're trying to relaunch two magazines in a new format while trying to administer playtesting, finish up a new edition, and prepare for the launch of a new edition of one of the world's most popular roleplaying games.

A missed opportunity...

I so agree with this!!! They would have went a lot further if they kept the mags in print and promoted 4E instead of what they are doing now. I'm really shocked at the poor marketing of this...

 

[mhensley]

None of the articles in Dragon have interested me for at least a year now. That hasn't changed yet.

 

[Raven Crowking]

I have the distinct impression that alot of people will feel much the same way about the launch of 4e.

I agree.

WotC definitely showed us how much they "get it" with the digital magazine launch. I expect that they will again show us how much they "get it" with 4e.

For years, the best 3rd Ed stuff was produced by 3rd parties. This comes as no surprise whatsoever.


RC

 

[Brentos]

Yes

I voted yes. Just the ability to save the picture to my computer made it worthwhile!

The article was long and good, the developer stuff was interesting, and the rest...well, I'll have to wait.

I love getting regular weekly updates instead of one-chunk updates. That is why I read blogs and message boards--I need immediate gratification!

 

[Zamkaizer]

I think this thread is a bit premature. After all there are only a handful of articles, they haven't started publishing freelance material yet, and - this is key - WE'RE. NOT. PAYING. FOR. ANYTHING. YET.

So, I guess the one-fourth or one-third of the neutered startup publication that I'm getting for free didn't blow my socks clean off, but the articles I've seen have been perfectly fine. I expect that the quality and quantity of the articles will improve as we approach the actual launch of the magazine. If it doesn't, well then, I won't subscribe, now will I?

 

[Raven Crowking]

I think this thread is a bit premature. After all there are only a handful of articles, they haven't started publishing freelance material yet, and - this is key - WE'RE. NOT. PAYING. FOR. ANYTHING. YET.

Nice colours.

See, I was paying for something, and WotC took it away from me. They took it away from me so that they could bring me this. This sucks.

That ought to be pretty clear.

RC