[UPDATED] Dragon+: An Official D&D iOS App

Dragon Magazine on iOS

apparently some folks are finding this in the iOS news stand app...I'm still investigating so in the meantime...I'm just going to put this here

View attachment 68157

 

[redrick]

Oh, by the way, the article, at least on my Mac using Safari (IE has this as well, Chrome is a bit more complicated), has a Reader view. Meaning you can print it with no problem, straight from your browser.

So, if you want to print the articles, email it to yourself, open it in a browser, switch to Reader View, and you can print it directly from your browser.

Essentially, you can't print the art. Fair enough.

/edit

Oops, just checked. Yup, you can print the art that isn't just the clickable sidebars for buying other goodies. So the goliath article, complete with art, can be printed by just emailing it to yourself, and then clicking Reader View.

I use Chrome on the Mac and tried this out. It works. I did a quick add-on search for a "reader view add-on" and the first one that came up was "Clearly" from Evernote. I already use Evernote for most of my game prep (great for syncing notes typed from a mobile phone on the subway), so I'm cool with that option. Once the add-on is installed, you can use the e-mailed link, activate the reader mode, and print what appears to be a clean, usable document. (I just used print preview, because I didn't want to waste the ink.)

So that's a cool hack.

That being said, it is a hack and not really something the app was set up for. (In fact, the app might be set up specifically to discourage that functionality.) I could probably perform a similar hack to read content from the Wizards website on my phone. (As I mentioned upthread, without some sort of hack, that content is not fully accessible from my phone, which is a bummer, because that's where I'd be most likely to read it.)

 

[Coredump]

No, you *can't* do the same on a web site.

They didn't want to put information onto a website, they already *have* information on various websites.

What they wanted was a magazine, which is sent to folks automatically on a subscription basis. Its like complaining that they used to mail Dragon to you, instead of letting you go to the newstand or library to read it. With the App, you can 'buy' a subscription, and then each issue is sent directly to you without having to go to the website, without having to ask for it, without having to go get it. It just 'magically' shows up on your device.

You *can't* do that with web content. The closest you could come would be via email, but then you can't do anything with the presentation.
You could email a link to the web articles..... but again, easy to be ignored, then it gets buried in other email.... old tech is old.

This way they can create the 'magazine', send the magazine directly to you, and it is stored on your 'Newstand' for when you want to read it. It gives them an entirely different method to provide content to their customers, instead of just more of the same.

 

[Hussar]

/snip

I made no such demand. Go back and re-read all of my messages. I never said I demanded that it be in a certain format. I merely supported the assertion of others that it will not be available outside of the app.

But that assertion is demonstrably false. You CAN view material outside of the app. You CAN print it. It's not convenient to do so. But certainly not impossible.

And the announcement says that it WILL be available in different formats in the future. True it isn't right now but they do flat out state that they are working to make it more broadly available. So your use of "will" here is completely unfounded.

Free on iOS (and soon on Android) devices,

How much evidence do you need to show that you are mistaken? Will you keep saying this until they release different versions?

 

[MartyW]

But that assertion is demonstrably false. You CAN view material outside of the app. You CAN print it. It's not convenient to do so. But certainly not impossible.

Please show me where on the web I can browse to the table of contents for the issue and then browse the magazine. If you are unable to supply a URL that allows a user to browse the entire magazine, you are demonstrably wrong.

I'm not necessarily asking for this. I honestly don't care that much. I think an app is an ok delivery method for my needs (as long as I am able to read while "offline"). But I'm calling "BS" on those who are insisting you can browse the magazine without the app.

You can't. And the page announcing Dragon+ specifically calls out iOS and Android but say nothing about browsing the magazines issues via the web.

So any assertion that this will be possible in the future ​is based purely in fantasy and not in reality. It says iOS and Android ONLY. You are the one ignoring the obvious evidence.

 

[Morrus]

And the page announcing Dragon+ specifically calls out iOS and Android but say nothing about browsing the magazines issues via the web.

So any assertion that this will be possible in the future ​is based purely in fantasy and not in reality. It says iOS and Android ONLY. You are the one ignoring the obvious evidence.

It says so in the article up above. PC, Mac, and console.

 

[SkidAce]

Out of curiousity, how long of APs and random articles on WotC's website would need to happen before you are with me on the last paragraph?

It was the "Wizards is out of the RPG business" that drew my response.

As for the question above, when you stick "random" in there it shows that you think they have no plan, to answer;

Right now I feel the info is too sparse for me. I would like weekly articles personally, with a little bit more crunch than they have now.

However, the only way I would "be with you" on the out of RPGs idea, would be if they stopped nearly completely.

Just an opinion.

 

[MartyW]

It says so in the article up above. PC, Mac, and console.

But the quote is this:
"but we want Dragon+ to have DM and Player content, along with pc/console/mac/mobile content."

If you take the text literally, it says there will be pc/console/mac/mobile content in the app (which technically it does have because it links out to Facebook/Twitter/Tumbler/Wizards.com, etc)... but it specifically does not say that a user will be able to browse an issue of the magazine via a web browser.

You guys are reading way more into the quote than actually exists.

The Wizards.com press release reads this:
"Free on iOS (and soon on Android) devices, you’ll be able to stay up to date on the latest Dungeons & Dragons news and stories no matter where you go."

In marketing, word choice is extraordinarily important. These kinds of items get vetted and approved on multiple levels of an organization. Which means, what you read is what you get. Nothing more.

If they were really intending for users to browse the magazine via the web, the initial press release would have mentioned the web. It doesn't say that at all.

Think about how carefully WotC is wording their announcements these days. If they had intended a web interface for the magazine, it would have been noted in the press release.

 

[Morrus]

But the quote is this:
"but we want Dragon+ to have DM and Player content, along with pc/console/mac/mobile content."

If you take the text literally, it says there will be pc/console/mac/mobile content in the app (which technically it does have because it links out to Facebook/Twitter/Tumbler/Wizards.com, etc)... but it specifically does not say that a user will be able to browse an issue of the magazine via a web browser.

You guys are reading way more into the quote than actually exists.

The Wizards.com press release reads this:
"Free on iOS (and soon on Android) devices, you’ll be able to stay up to date on the latest Dungeons & Dragons news and stories no matter where you go."

If they were really intending for users to browse the magazine via the web, the initial press release would have mentioned the web. It doesn't say that at all.

Think about how carefully WotC is wording their announcements these days. If they had intended a web interface for the magazine, it would have been noted in the press release.

I come away with the exact opposite impression to you. I guess we'll find out for sure in due course when it either happens or it doesn't.

 

[Riley]

But the quote is this:
"but we want Dragon+ to have DM and Player content, along with pc/console/mac/mobile content."

I think, given the context, that "pc/console/mac/mobile content" refers to a third type of content, in addition to the other two types, "DM and Player content".

That is to say, Dragon+ will include materials related to their PC, console, Mac, and Mobile games.

I find it much less likely that they instead intend to make Dragon+ readable on a console.

 

[MartyW]

I come away with the exact opposite impression to you. I guess we'll find out for sure in due course when it either happens or it doesn't.

You may need to polish up on your American English, Russ.