When was the Golden Age of Dragon magazine?

[Hussar]

*snip*

Put it this way - there are plenty of articles listing new feats, classes, prestige classes, monsters, spells, items etc. but I cannot recall the last time I saw an article attempting to explain WHY I should use/not use any of them, or HOW I could use them to better run the game or the character I might have in mind. E.g., "THIS seleection of Prestige Classes created a great campaign for me - here's why." or "Why THESE spells will make a more interesting character to play than THOSE." or that most heretical of notions "Just because it's RAW or official doesn't mean that it's the best solution."
*snip*

I would point out that the this is mostly DM's advice which has been shifted to Dungeon. Most of the meta-game information is now to be found there. Dragon has become more of a base resource, rather than a "How should I run a game" type resource, which, IMHO, is more the realm of DM's anyway.

 

[Dr. Harry]

I started reading Dragon at #54, and I've been reading it continuously since then. If you asked me a couple of years ago, I would have said "between issues 59 (the first of the "point of view" articles) and 84 (the end of the first run of "What's New with Phil and Dixie").

The issues just after the release of 3E are a Silver age of their own (not surprising, since both peaks conincide with a sense of newness and unexplored possibility), but over the last year or so ...

It it wrong of me to say 'now'?

Dragon has been absolutely first-rate. Comparing 59-84 to the current run of Dragon is like comparing Everest to K2. The current team really deserves a serious shout-out.

It is fascinating that the general range of 60-100 is so generally well-beloved. Are there that many of us who started then, or are those issues that darn good? (It could easily be both.)

Dr. Harry

 

[Delta]

Although I earlier said everything from 1975-1985, I could easily agree with an "issues 50-100" or thereabouts point-of-view.

 

[Jason Bulmahn]

60-100 and the Mona/Jacobs takeover.

Now your just taunting...

Wes, Mike and I will go in the corner and pout now.

Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon

PS, I would really like to thank all those who have said how great the recent issues are. We put a lot of hard work into this magazine to try and bring you guys the best possible product. For those of you who have not taken a look in a number years, please give us another look. I feel confident you will not be dissapointed.

 

[ruleslawyer]

It is fascinating that the general range of 60-100 is so generally well-beloved. Are there that many of us who started then, or are those issues that darn good? (It could easily be both.)

Dr. Harry

Could be a bit of both. I'm a bad test case, since I did indeed start around issue 50, and also think they're great.

I actually quite like issues 101-130 (or so) of Dragon, largely for the vast numbers of crunchy bits. The Marvel-Phile was great; Arcane Lore (at first) was awesome; the mini-games were cool; and there was an enormous amount of mechanical stuff for a game that (comparatively speaking) was still pretty light on that sort of thing: rules on thieves' guilds, wizards' colleges, temples, running kingdoms, collecting taxes, raising armies, running gladiatorial combats or tournaments; new magic items; the Creature Catalogs; etc. An Asgard-themed issue with its own adventure(!).

I'm actually not a huge fan of the current run, but for the poor reason that I feel like I just have too much of the stuff that tends to feature (new PrCs, items, spells, monsters, etc.). I'd rather articles like "Cities of the Realms" or especially the Demonomicon and Greyhawk Gazettee. But I think that's a matter of personal taste. The magazine certainly looks good (although I, too, would prefer a cleaner cover design), the articles are of high quality, and there's a lot to them, but it just doesn't suit my tastes any more.

 

[Keifer113]

I like the Kim Mohan age, and before that. I stopped getting it right when Roger Moore started as editor, but his stuff was always top notch.

No offense to anyone, but to me Dragon is useless now. I buy an issue every so often and it just doesn't stand up to the old days. I used to sit and read and reread the articles and stories. Now I glance through and thin....more useless stuff powering up characters and dumb magic items.

 

[jester47]

Now your just taunting...

Wes, Mike and I will go in the corner and pout now.

Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon

PS, I would really like to thank all those who have said how great the recent issues are. We put a lot of hard work into this magazine to try and bring you guys the best possible product. For those of you who have not taken a look in a number years, please give us another look. I feel confident you will not be dissapointed.

You guys are part of the Regime. No need to feel left out...

 

[jester47]

and this is definately the golden age of dungeon.

 

[Hussar]

I'm actually not a huge fan of the current run, but for the poor reason that I feel like I just have too much of the stuff that tends to feature (new PrCs, items, spells, monsters, etc.). I'd rather articles like "Cities of the Realms" or especially the Demonomicon and Greyhawk Gazettee. But I think that's a matter of personal taste. The magazine certainly looks good (although I, too, would prefer a cleaner cover design), the articles are of high quality, and there's a lot to them, but it just doesn't suit my tastes any more.

And this is precisely why I absolutely love the current run of things. There are still a fair number of "fluff" articles like the Core Beliefs and Demonomicon (if fluff is the right term for that) and perhaps a slightly heavier balance on new goodies.

Since I don't rabidly buy books, this is just jammy for me. I don't buy new books precisely because I have a subscription to Dragon. Over the past two years, every issue has had at least one article that has seen immediete use in my campaigns and there are at least one or two more per issue that will see the light of day in years to come. To me, that's great.

Heck, both the PC's I played over the past three years were heavily influenced by Dragon. The first was a half-fire elemental priest of Cuthbert who believed the guilty should BURN! and the other was a dwarven fighter with a warpike and some of the truly jammy pole arm feats from Dragon 330.

I was away from Dragon for many years, but man o man am I glad I came back.

 

[diaglo]

and this is definately the golden age of dungeon.

nah, that was back when the cover was cardstock.

dungeon started to tragically fall with the shift to the cheaper cover. and it was dead to me (although i still had a sub) when they added Poly.

it has recently, however, been resurfacing as a usable product in my games. now if they would only get rid of Downer.