Why _DON'T_ You Buy Dragon Magazine?

[Acid_crash]

Fiction.

Nothing annoys me more than losing ten pages of gaming content in favor of ten pages of fiction.

I can -- and do -- get speculative fiction from other sources, and I would likewise be pissed off if those other sources spent ten pages of content on gaming. If I buy a fiction magazine or anthology, I do it because I want fiction. When I read Dragon, I do it because I want gaming content.

I firmly believe that the only reason Dragon still publishes fiction is that y'all're afraid to ask the tough question. Instead of asking, "Hey, do you like fiction?" or "do we have enough fiction in the magazine?" you should be asking, "Which would you rather have, fiction or more gaming content?" I have yet to see a Dragon survey ask that question, and I've been around long enough to see a lot of surveys.

So, because I enjoy the rest of the magazine so much, currently the only way to drive me away from Dragon would be to increase the fiction page-count. But if my interest wanes, there will be a point at which I'll drop the magazine because of the fiction, whereas I otherwise would keep subscribing.

I want to stress that my dislike of fiction in Dragon is not a comment on the quality of the fiction in Dragon; for me, the quality is irrelevant. I don't think it should be in the magazine at all.

Because it needed to be said again. And again. And again.

I forgot about this until I read this, but I can't stand fiction in a gaming magazine. Oh I so hate it. The only time I liked it was in the issue about Westeros. But now that Guardians is releasing A Game of Thrones next year, your issue is pointless.

 

[Sado]

I'm surprise no one has mentioned price. I have a subscription to Guns and Ammo for under $15 a year. Several computer game magazines I get cost the same as Dragon per issue but cost around $20 a year (without the bonus CD). Last time I checked Dragon was almost $40.

Having said that, there just seems to be a lot of stuff that doesn't interest me (although a good bit of it does). The magazine tries to be all things to all gamers, so naturally there's stuff in there that not everyone's gonna like. Can't be helped.

I have specific gripes, but I'm not at home where I can flip through some magazines for examples. I'll get back to you.

 

[jester47]

Yes, I agree, one of the reasons I don't buy it blind (that is your goal right) anymore is because I can never remember where anything is so to use feat/spell/PrC/Item articles it becomes a major task to use. A comprehensive index is becoming a must. Such a thing should state if the article in question was written for 3.0 or 3.5. A comprehensive online or print index would definately boot sales of back issues also. Also, since the website is password protected and you can differentiate subscribers from the non-subscribers, you could make the Index subscriber only. But that might shoot you in the foot when it comes to back issue sales (I seem really convinced about the index will sell back issues thing... hrrm).

Aaron.

 

[cybertalus]

I subscribe, but I have whole issues I never read, and I swear to myself every year that I'm not gonna renew.

Arcane Runes Press nailed most of the reasons I've lost interest, but I'll add one more. The cartoons aren't funny anymore. Dragonmirth was often funny. The caption contest usually produced at least one good laugh, even if it wasn't from the first place winner. And April used to be the best issue of the year.

It also doesn't help that the articles are sometimes difficult to read because there isn't enough contrast between the text and the background or because of light text on a dark background. That may sound like a petty thing, but if I have to strain my eyes to read an article, I'm gonna skip it, even if everyone on EN World posts to say that it's the best article in the history of D&D.

Oh, and I also miss Ed Greenwood.

And Erik, thanks for not only listenening to us, but asking our opinions in the first place. You did that a lot at Polyhedron and Dungeon, and it did a lot to improve my view of the magazine, even when there were things I wasn't terribly fond of.

 

[greymist]

Well Erik, right now I am a subscriber of Dragon, but I really doubt I will be renewing my subscription, so I figure I qualify to post here.

The oldest Dragon on my book shelf is around #58, and I have almost every magazine up to issue #200. I stopped buying when my gaming dropped off and I was tired or reading a WOTC catalogue.

I started up again a little while after 3E came out, and for the first time ever, decided to subscribe...and then 3.E appeared only a few months later! I was really put off, as I had no intention of converting to 3.5 (still haven't).

Thorin Stoutfoot and Arcane Runes Press pretty well cover my concerns:

I don't have a lot of use for pages and pages of unbalanced feats and prestige classes or articles on how to out-munchkin your fellow PCs. In other words, I miss the flavour stuff. I would renew if I saw more articles that provided me with generic-setting ideas for my game....how my rogue can use equipment in new ways beats the heck out of how to max out the damage that my rogue can inflict!

Since Paizo just revamped both Dungeon and Dragon, I doubt that major changes will be made any time soon so as I said I expect to let my Dragon subscription lapse. I have not looked at a Dungeon in years, maybe it will prove more interesting to me.

 

[Darren]

I don't buy it because there simply isn't enough stuff that is useful, and the stuff that isn't useful rarely has the virtue of at least being entertaining to read. I have little interest in new spells/feats/PrCs or reading about them. I don't use miniatures, and if I want to read fiction I'll buy a book. I rarely need sage advice - the FAQ, a quick search through a messageboard (like this one) or a houserule is generally sufficient. Ecology is hit and miss. Sometimes there is an ecology article that looks interesting, but a single article isn't enough to generate a purchase. And so on.

I do look at Dragon each month in the store so see if there is something I really want, but the last issue I purchased was #314, and I was profoundly disappointed. It looked promising on the shelf, but about halfway through I decided I simply wasn't part of Dragon's core market, and perhaps never would be. I never realized that elemental magic could be so dry or afflicted with so many spells/feats/PrCs I would never use.

For improvements, I'll just point at Thorin's post. I doubt that it would result in monthly purchases for me, just less infrequent purchases. As a player, I'm quite happy with just core materials, with something from a none-core source occasionally thrown in for flavor. As a DM, there is some interesting flavor in Dragon occasionally, but rarely worth wading through all the issues just to use it for a few NPCs.

(But I really like Dungeon. Plots, maps, locations, NPCs, all just waiting to be used or be to mined for ideas for my own designs. There is simply more pages of things I'm likely to use there, and even if I don't end up running an adventure with a character named 'Lumbie,' it was still a good read. I suppose I'm just more interested in good adventures and running a good game than finding the latest and greatest PC race and the feats and PrCs with which to twink it out.)

 

[Shade]

I've been a subscriber since early 3E, so I will follow wilder_jw and tell you why I'd let my subscription lapse.

1.) Knight vs. Samurai style articles. That issue had me seriously pondering dropping the magazine the next time renewal was up. In fact, most of the post-"Dragon Unleashed" issues have excited me about as much as junk mail. About the only things I've really liked lately are the revised monsters from past editions in Winning Races (grippli, lupins), the occasional new monster, the comics, and Sage Advice.

2.) I'm going to second wilder_jw on fiction. I've never read a single fiction article in Dragon and never intend to (and I was a 1E subscriber for many years and purchased the archive on CD-ROM). Those pages might as well be advertisements for their usefulness to me.

3.) Maintaining that Dragon be "player-focused", at the expense of DMs. I'll be honest with you, the first thing I look for in a new issue is new monsters, followed by planar material and anything that brings back something great from past editions of the game.

4.) Increasing amounts of Eberron material. I know it has every right and reason to be in there, but I have no interest in that setting and would much rather see space devoted to any of the settings of past editions. I realize I'm probably in the minority on this one.

5.) More and more focus on educating new players on the simplest of ideas of the game. I don't need an article to tell me that I can deal more damage with a greataxe than a short sword, or that a party should have a cleric.

Thanks for listening and striving to improve the magazine!

 

[Three_Haligonians]

I have never bought an issue of Dragon. I have friends who collect them, and I sometimes peruse them. The only time I considered buying Dragon was back in the days when Knights of the Dinner Table was published. I really liked that comic! I know I could buy the comic book, but I felt it was a rip off that something that once came free in Dragon, was now published seperately under the same company. And then Phil and Dixie went away.

Anyway, aside from my love of the funnies, the reason I would NEVER buy a Dragon now is the blatant recycling of artwork. I mean, come on, give me a break, Dragon is an expensive magazine, and all I see in it anymore is reused pictures of Mailee. I think you guys had some really good artwork on the go for awhile there. I'm a girl, so I get tired of seeing chainmail bikinis, and their ilk, but it seemed Dragon was moving away from that. But then the new design came out, and it looks to me as though you don't have any artists on the payroll anymore.

I just feel that with the new design came less artwork, less diversity of content (seeing as how some content seems to have shifted over to Dungeon), and that friggin' Class Acts article. That article would be great if it had a theme each month. And on top of all that, it seems (in Canada, anyway) that there's been a price increase. The business of gearing Dungeon towards DMs and Dragon towards players just feels like a ploy to get subscribers to get both magazines, seeing as how Dm material is relavent to players and vice versa.

Anyway, sorry if I sound confrontational. Dragon has only very recently made me angry, I think for the most part it's a great magazine. And, if it's any consolation, I think I'm way out of your demographic, being both female and Canadian .

R from Three Haligonians

 

[zeo_evil]

1. Why don't you buy the magazine?

Honestly? It has a lot to do with how much money I have to spare each month. Not only do I buy at least one new D&D book each month at about $30.00 a pop, but I am an avid wrestling fan so I often buy at least one new DVD each month as well, also at between $20.00 to $30.00 as well. Between the requirements of life (food, insurance, and rent) and some minor credit debt, unless an issue of Dragon has a direct impact on my campaign, I don't buy it. Plus, I live in Bonney Lake, Washington and have to drive to Tacoma or Federal Way to pick up the magazine. Would you drive 25 miles to buy a magazine? One thing I would suggest is increased circulation. Fred Meyer carries Star Wars Insider (Paizo) so why don't they carry Dragon? I have asked many times. If enough of us here in the NW ask, then they might.

2. What sort of changes would make you more likely to give it another look?

Surprisingly, I differ from most gamers when I say I want more professional crunch. Strictly speaking, I have been playing for almost 16 years so I have plenty of fluff (looking at stacks of Dragon and old game books right now). I play Forgotten Realms. More of that would be nice. How about some more Initiate feats (Player's Guide to Faerun) from professional Realms authors like Sean K Reynolds? How many gods HAVEN'T been done yet? Otherwise, more magic items would be nice.

Edit: Yeah, no fiction.

 

[Psimancer]

Fiction. - Nothing annoys me more than losing ten pages of gaming content in favor of ten pages of fiction.

I couldn't agree more. I can honestly say I have NEVER read the fiction in Dragon. Sorry, no offence to the authors, but I don't buy Dragon for the fiction, I buy it for the RPG stuff...