This month's Dungeon - no adventures?

[Glyfair]

Most 96 page adventures PDFs, black and white, are selling for $12.99-$14.99 on RPGNow.

I'm not sure that as a print product these adventures would take up so many pages. As others have mentioned, the formatting is single column online. In a multi-column format it might take up less pages (I ask those with experience here whether this is true or no).

• Fortress of the Yuan -Ti adventure tie in
• Two Save my Game articles

Which would have been free online supplements under the "Paizo prints Dungeon" scheme before. Sorry, I understand their bundling these together and eventually charging for them. However, they don't count in my "value for the money" comparison.

Also, I would be a lot more forgiving if these were mailed to me in print. As an online supplement there is additional cost for me in printing out the useful parts (which include any adventure I want to read in my case). I will note that I'm not a fan of most PDFs, either.

I'm sure I'm not alone, either. A significant part of WotC's market for the online magazines are those of us who would prefer it in print, but have the ability to use it online. If this was a brand new product they could get away with ignoring that audience, they'd have the magazines for their needs. Since they eliminated that option, they have to deal with the preferences for us as well.

 

[Bagpuss]

Did I miss something or does November's Dungeon have no adventures?

There is no November issue of Dungeon. If you had read the editorial you would realise that after October both Dragon and Dungeon are bi-monthly. So the next issue is December.

 

[Dalamar]

I'm not sure that as a print product these adventures would take up so many pages. As others have mentioned, the formatting is single column online. In a multi-column format it might take up less pages (I ask those with experience here whether this is true or no).

Umm... Iggwilv's Legacy, at least, is in double-column...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Umm... Iggwilv's Legacy, at least, is in double-column...

And no ads.

 

[Rauol_Duke]

Nic Logue had the other adventure the first month, so it's clearly not an issue with not using freelancers, I agree.

Perhaps Wolfgang's statement is meaning that if WotC used (more) freelancers, they could have kept the high, high level of quality 3.5 stuff coming out with more regularity in the online Dungeon & Dragon without having to dial it back to the current release schedule.

 

[Monkey King]

Perhaps Wolfgang is meaning to say is that if WotC used (more) freelancers, they could have kept the high, high level of quality 3.5 stuff coming out with more regularity in the online Dungeon & Dragon without having to dial it back to the current release schedule.

The transition from magazines to a web site was always going to be difficult; they're two different animals, with different strengths and weaknesses. What's unclear to me is why they dialed back the release schedule. Web sites thrive on immediacy and daily traffic. They're still publishing as if they were on a print release schedule.

Based on other gaming sites, a web site should offer frequently-updated content with tight audience integration and feedback, supported by ads. We don't have that from the DDI right now.

I can speculate why. I believe they will find a stronger rhythm eventually. Blogs, news sites, and other publications all take time, sometimes months or years, to find their niche. This one is no different.

The brand may be getting in their way. That is, if we weren't all expecting Dragon and Dungeon, the site would be getting a better reception. But the magazines are gone; this is something different. We keep holding it to the magazine standards, but it's not a magazine.

I expect the DDI will find its audience, but the problem seems to be that the old audience is only partly satisfied. From a WotC point of view I expect that's fine, as long as a new audience shows up.

 

[catsclaw227]

I'm not sure that as a print product these adventures would take up so many pages. As others have mentioned, the formatting is single column online. In a multi-column format it might take up less pages (I ask those with experience here whether this is true or no).

All due respect Glyfair, but have you even looked at the adventure PDFs?

They are both two column, less whitespace than a typical Necro adventure, and ALL adventure. No ads, no TOC, no index or OGL. No wasted space at all, escept for the first page being a full color image.

 

[catsclaw227]

One thing they REALLY need to do is to get the blogs off of the Gleemax system, and onto something familiar and easy, like Wordpress or if they are using .net, then Community Server 2007. Better RSS, easy to find users and link to blog posts.

 

[Garnfellow]

The brand may be getting in their way. That is, if we weren't all expecting Dragon and Dungeon, the site would be getting a better reception. But the magazines are gone; this is something different. We keep holding it to the magazine standards, but it's not a magazine.

Given WotC's struggles with transitioning the magazines to an online format, I have to wonder if perhaps their original plan was to just let Dungeon and Dragon rest in peace and to instead gradually, maybe over the next year or two, phase in the new digital initiative as a completely different beast that would fulfill similar content needs as the old magazines. Let the memory of the magazines fade away and then eventually bring in something completely new and better adapted to an online format.

But then the online community went a little nuts upon the cancellation of the print magazines.

So, I have to wonder: Did WotC panic and move up their timeline dramatically? Did they scrap bold plans for something totally new and instead decide to revive the dead titles even though, in a digital world, the distinction between Dungeon and Dragon doesn't make a lot of sense? Online, it's all just content for the same game. And why break up the material into monthly chunks like a dead tree publication (even to the point of continuing the old issue numbering scheme), when an online format can -- and probably should -- be published on a near continuous basis?

Wizards has had a pretty successful track record with online support for both D&D and Magic, so it's not like the web is a completely new world to them. But from what we've seen so far, I have to wonder if maybe their original plan was for something much more radical, deployed much later?

Whatever is going on behind the scenes, I just don't feel like these online magazines have been fully thought through, and that's very much unlike a company like Wizards, which has a history of developing well-researched, deliberative and long-range plans. Trial and error for a venture this important does not seem like a method Wizards would normally employ.