[Speculation about the] Cause of Dungeon and Dragon Cancellations

[Graf]

Cause of Dungeon and Dragon Cancellations
Subtitle: Wizards was probably as surprised as everyone else.

I couldn't get some of the formatting right, so the post is here.

Come back here to post of course.
I don't think I'll respond much, I'd be obliged if people would be kind enough to not get the thread closed but I won't hold it against you.

Again, please check the hate at the door or limit yourself to enjoying the conversation in a non-participatory fashion.

 

[Sammael]

Is that your blog, or someone else's? The blog, as posted, appears to be written as being factual, but most of it looks like pure unadulterated speculation to me. Is there a reason why this couldn't just be linked in one of the existing threads?

 

[blargney the second]

I suppose it's as feasible as the "It was all WotC's fault" that's been bandied about. I imagine we'll find some version of the truth at some point in time.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Interesting conspiracy theory/theories. The only thing is that Paizo have explicitly said that they had no say in the decision to stop making Dungeon and Dragon. They said that they would still be making the magazines if they could but WotC did not give them that option.

I also think that your claim that Dragon (and possibly Dungeon) weren't profitable is incorrect (although I have no information to refute your claim).

What (if anything) was stopping Paizo from putting out a 3rd-party setting while they were still producing Dungeon and Dragon? Nothing as far as I can see and that would be a much less risky than what they are doing with Pathfinder.

Just my 2 cents.

Olaf the Stout

 

[James Jacobs]

Although I can't/won't go into the financial details... both magazines are profitable. I'm not sure where you got the information that Dragon was doing poorly... it certainly had a rough patch recently around issue #320 or so, but it's currently doing pretty good and is on an upward trend. Dungeon's been doing an upward trend since around #114 and the relaunch (getting rid of Polyhedron and producing a minimum of 3 adventures per issue PLUS regular Adventure Path Content proved to be the magic bullet there).

I'm not sure what exactly WotC's plans are going forward, but the cancellation of the magazines wasn't because they were losing money. It was the end of our license, and Wizards decided not to renew it and to take the type of material that the magazines produced to an online model.

Are things scary for Paizo in the future now that the magazines are going away? Sure... but they're also really exciting. No one's been laid off at Paizo as a result of this move, and we've in fact been hiring new employees to ramp up for what we've got planned with Pathfinder and GameMastery and whatnot. Things are actually looking pretty good, to be honest.

I'll certainly miss working on Dungeon, but I'm really excited about what we're going to be able to do with Pathfinder. We at Paizo are still on good terms with WotC, and the possibility of doing other licensed projects with them in the future is still very much on the table. We would have been happy doing Dragon and Dungeon forever, but that wasn't in the cards. One thing's for sure... it's gonna be a wild ride for the rest of the year!

 

[meomwt]

From reading posts on another board, the loss of the magazine licences was a shock to Paizo. Work on their next AP was in progress and monsters from non-SRD/ OGL sources (i.e. MM2-4, LM, FC1-2, etc.) had been incorporated in the Path and had to be revised to be OGL again.

If Paizo had been planning to can the magazines (as the OP suggested in his blog), the Design Specs for the AP modules would have been OGL from the get-go, not a hasty re-tooling half-way through.

 

[blargney the second]

James, I think it's really cool that you're taking time to debunk. I'm going to miss Dungeon, but you make the universe seem that much more caring.

 

[Hussar]

James, I think it's really cool that you're taking time to debunk. I'm going to miss Dungeon, but you make the universe seem that much more caring.

QFT on all counts.

 

[Priest_Sidran]

I for one am saddened and disgusted with Wizards for their ill handling of materials as of late, Like Ryan Dancey said their doing things in a manner than seems good to them at the time, but has a great potential for backfiring. I as the sole DM for my party relied heavily on the two magazines, and personally will feel a bit as if I lost a limb once they are gone. It is almost enough to make me quit spending my money for those at Wizards, and to say down with them. While they haven't quite reached the level of Tyranical idiots yet, they have me rather miffed.

I am glad to here that the fine people at Paizo are going to have an exciting time, but that doesn't change the fact that they're loosing something which a number of people relied on as a sole source of game material for their in game needs. It is my sincere hope that one of the eggheads from Wizards will get enough hate mail that the magazines will be reinstated, because Digital media is a dead end path.

 

[Maggan]

It is my sincere hope that one of the eggheads from Wizards will get enough hate mail that the magazines will be reinstated, because Digital media is a dead end path.

While I feel saddened by the cancellation of Dragon and Dungeon, I sincerely hope no one is hoping that actual hate mail will bring them back.

Well reasoned responses, over a long period of time to remind them, might have some chance of influencing someone.

Hate mail will go down like a lead balloon and will probably hurt the prospects of getting the mags back more than it will help.

/M