What would you like to see dropped from Dungeon?

[The_lurkeR]

Thanks for the elaboration on your stance Erik.
I think if that had been your initial post the flames would not have been fanned as high in this thread.

 

[Felon]

I see several things wrong with Downer, and work as the editor of the magazine to get Kyle to address those things. That we are personal friends makes that more convenient for me, so I do agree that that plays a role in my willingness to keep working on the strip to make it better.

See, that's what I like to hear. You're working to make something flawed better, instead of just discarding it altogether for something else that'll have its own share of flaws.

Downer's story moves very slowly, yet it's also very hard to follow. And I'm not sure that, as characters go, Downer is really worth an investment of personal interest. But the writing does have a kind of glib, sardonic Bill Willingham/Peter David quality that I think readers could really go for in a big way if they actually had some way of keeping track of the ever-shifting cast of characters. Sly wisecrackers pitted against obtuse, bombastic straight-men is a very popular theme these days.

At any rate, Erik, by all means keep the damn strip if it means you'll feel happier staying on board as editor. Dungeon is more rock solid now than it's ever been.

As for what to do with the lost Wil Save page, there's something I've always wondered about Dungeon: why doesn't Dungeon feature new monsters? Why do they wind up in Dragon instead? Dungeon is a DM's tool, DM's are the ones using monsters. Monsters sell, don't they? OK, maybe it's tough to guarantee one new critter every issue (at least not one quality critter) but they could be incorporated into Critical Threats pretty seamlessly, perhaps alternating between a monster and a classed NPC.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Down with Downer.

 

[Erik Mona]

But the writing does have a kind of glib, sardonic Bill Willingham/Peter David quality that I think readers could really go for in a big way if they actually had some way of keeping track of the ever-shifting cast of characters.

The latest story arc has slimmed the cast down to five characters for precisely this reason, at the suggestion of the editor-in-chief. The strip will retain these five core characters for the foreseeable future.

--Erik

 

[The_lurkeR]

Nothing on the Internet is a majority. We’ve gone over this many, many, times in a greyhawk thread. Look at all the people on this board craving to see more Star Wars d20 products but there is none cause they don’t sell enough.
...
Most RPG players don’t get on message boards. We are still a minority so theirs really no evidence for Erik to pull the plug.

That Star Wars analogy doesn't quite fit though. There may not be enough people wanting the products, but there is representation here of the ones that do. So say if they were to release one, polling here to see what type of Star Wars product their audience is looking for may be a good idea.

So yes the people taking this poll are a minority of the total Dungeon readers out there, but that does not mean that their views aren't representative of the whole. That's why they do polls, you can't ask everyone, so you ask a percentage and extrapolate from that. It may be off, EN Worlds audience may be skewed in some way, but it's still valid feedback.

I would have liked this poll better if you were only given one vote each. For instance I voted for Downer and Mt. Zogon, when if I had to choose one it would be Downer. It therefore skews the numbers and might make it seem that of the total # of votes, Downer doesn't have that high a percentage.

Downer is still almost 3 to 1 higher than any of the next closest options right now. So I don't think it can be dismissed as meaningless.

Obviously we don't have the power to dictate what happens at Dungeon directly, and I certainly wouldn't want to see Erik leave. But it's still valid feedback on what the weaker elements of the magazine may be.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Downer is still almost 3 to 1 higher than any of the next closest options right now. So I don't think it can be dismissed as meaningless.

No, you’re probably right but as you said yourself the poll itself isn't scientific. Besides being able to chose only a few choices of the magazine’s features were up for removal. Also very few real pools that you compare this to is based upon just one question, they offer many, many, questions in an effort to make sure the poll is bias in some way to skew the results.

 

[The_lurkeR]

No, you’re probably right but as you said yourself the poll itself isn't scientific. Besides being able to chose only a few choices of the magazine’s features were up for removal. Also very few real pools that you compare this to is based upon just one question, they offer many, many, questions in an effort to make sure the poll is bias in some way to skew the results.

True, true, and true

 

[Sholari]

I think it's possible that that breakdown mirrors the readership in general, but I have no evidence to support that conclusion, and I don't want to go against my own preference for what to publish simply based on the evidence presented in this thread.

Considering the magazine is 100% better than it was just a year ago, if Erik wants to spend two pages on Downer, then I see it as a worthwhile investment. Overall, he has been quite a bit more responsive to the audience's needs than previous editors, so perhaps we should cut him a little slack on what is a very minor part of the magazine.

 

[Alzrius]

First, I'd just like to say that I love Mt. Zogon, and think it should run in Dungeon forever! Galeena is a hysterical example of being True Neutral, and I love watching her exploits. Yay Tony Mosley!

As far as Downer goes...I want to like it, I do, but I'm having a hard time. I just can't get over the overtly "cartoony" art style. It grates on my eyes. For what it's worth, I'm tacitly in support of "Down with Downer".

For what it's worth, I agree with DonTadow in terms of what makes a good publisher; you publish what your readers want, not what you want. The market is what makes your job profitable, so it's good sense to serve them. There is leeway though.

Just my two cents.

 

[remial]

what I'd like is

for support for the OTHER d20 games WotC carries to be supported in dungeon magazine once again.

then I'd have something to spend my magazine fund on besides porn ^__^