What was the "golden age" of Dragon

[GVDammerung]

I think it depends on, near abouts, when you picked up the Dragon and said "Oh my god, this is cool!"

For me the "Golden Age" would be the 50s through the 90's. I so looked forward to Issue 100 and was sooooo disappointed when I actually got it and it had a HUGE lame adventure etc. Issue 100 marked, for me, the end of the Golden Age.

From EGG's "From the Sorceror's Scroll" Greyhawk articles through Len Lafoka's (sp) GH gods to Ed Greenwood's Hells articles - that was my Golden Age of Dragon.

The 3X issues were, IMO, the Silver Age.

The rest was hit or miss, just depending.

YMMV, of course.

 

[Melan]

The early issues, maybe up to about 60 or 80. This was when Dragon was a place to publish cool ideas for your D&D games, and not Official Dungeons & Dragons Approved Material Which is Officially Better Than Your Homemade Stuff Because We Are Important Industry Professionals Who Get Paid For It. In short, I like the DIY/amateur attitude, I have liked that since I started gaming, and I am not changing any time soon. After this first period of Dragon passed, it was no longer an interesting journal, just some officious company rag that couldn't recognise cool if it hit it squarely on the head.

The same with the art. The same with the whole damned game.

 

[Orius]

I picked other, since I'm not really familiar with the numbers back in the early days. Also the ranges are simply far too broad. 200 was what, 1993? That's mid 2e. Dragon went 3e at 274, and we're up to what, around 350 now? 200-current covers way too much time.


Anyway, I'd say the early 1e days when Gygax was actively writing in the magazine would probably be considered the golden age.

For me, there's a second golden age around the time WotC bought out TSR to the beginning of 3e. That would be 237-273 IIRC. That small range had some really good articles and material, and had a great full-color layout (well eventually). Maybe the range could be extended to 225-273 which is Jan 1996 to July 2000.

Honestly, I hated the early 3e look of Dragon. Way too much experimentation with goofy typefaces and butt-ugly layouts. Haven't seem many issues past 283 I think, so I don't know what the magazine is like today.

Given the periods Erik Mona mentioned, I'm definitely a fan of the 2e Dave Gross Dragon. I always liked his editorials.

 

[diaglo]

I was reviewing my Dragon CDs and thought this would be an interesting topic.

jh

other.

The Strategic Review era

 

[TerraDave]

I'm still surprised by the influence that some of those Mohan-era issues had on the game - Ed Greenwood's treatises on the Nine Hells, classic one-off modules (Chagmat, Citadel by the Sea, the Wandering Trees, Baba Yaga's Hut, City Beyond the Gate, etc), early views of integrating guns into D&D, deities of Greyhawk, the definitive articles on the "deminhuman/nonhuman way of life" (plus their pantheons), runes and languages, and many more.

Good list, I remember them all fondly. (do you know the one with the Drow in the giant tree?).

T. Foster: its funny how the mind "simplifies" (and I remember Dragon 100 pretty well). Thanks again for the detail.

Diaglo: Best of Dragon 1 > SR.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

I voted 80 - 140. That is an Iffy thing, because so much that was good was spread out through all of the Dragon Magazines.

The Era of Wormy, the Era of Snarfquest, the Era of Knights of the Dinner Table, the Era of Nodwick ... these are all classics. And the everlasting Dragonmirth. And Yamara. And others.
The New Monk (1st edition), the Witch (original version in the 40s or 50s), the Death Master (ouchy NPC), the first dwarven mage (the Rhadomancer), and so many others ...
Spells galore, articles galore, imagination and creativity in article after article, new settings, short stories, information on conventions and happenings, discussion from the Game Designers, opinion pieces, letters from Gamers ...
Dragon was Gaming Grand Central Station, with all the trappings and lighting of a grand Christmas celebration, and filled with a million people and a thousand trains and an uproar to deafen the ears and light up the mind.

I would simply salute Dragon Magazine.

Edena_of_Neith