Why _DON'T_ You Buy Dragon Magazine?

[Richards]

Originally posted by Erik Mona:

ECOLOGY FORMAT: For right now, we're going to stick with a slightly expanded version of the "no fiction or footnotes" version that we have now. I'm afraid that my "jokey" impulse is relatively low, so while I appreciate the work Johnathan Richards put into his Ecology articles and I always enjoy his "Challenge of Champions" adventures in Dungeon, the Monster Hunter Society plays fantasy a little goofier than I tend to prefer. Whether that makes me visionary or a big bore is for time (and, of course, Mr. Richards) to decide.

Okay, fair enough. I will point out, though, that not all of my "Ecology" articles in the past involved the Monster Hunters Association. Obviously, I can't argue that the MHA weren't "goofy" - they definitely were, but then they were intended to be - but a "fiction and footnote" format for the "Ecology" articles does not have to involve goofiness. Can I ask you to expand a bit upon the "expanded version of the 'no fiction or footnotes' version" you mentioned above? Expanded how?

And no, you're definitely not "a big bore." You're definitely one of the most interesting things to have happened to Dragon in a long time (and I mean that in a good way).

Johnathan

 

[dream66_]

DRAGON ANNUAL: There's virtually no chance that these will return in the short term. Adding a 13th issue is absolute murder on the staff, and we have ZERO capacity for extra work as it is. For me personally, 24 issues a year will have to suffice. We are looking at doing stand-alone products similar to the old "Best of Dragon," however, so the idea isn't completely dead.

So is this the real reason why the annual was dropped? Lack of time and money. Why didn't they just say so at the time? I really do believe that fans would have understood, but lying to us just makes bad feelings.

They produced the d20 Annual, it was horrible. People commented on this, said it was horrible and so the editors at the time decided never to do an annual again?! That logic doesn't even make sence.

If it's money I understand, if it was always money, I understand. But you should at least offer everyone an appology for your predicessors lying to us.

 

[antpasq]

renewal problem solved

Erik,
Thanks for your response. I spoke with David this morning and came to a satisfactory solution to my renewal concern.

 

[siege72]

ONLINE ARCHIVE: We're working with Wizards of the Coast to figure out a way to sell PDF back issues on our website. I know this isn't quite what a lot of people have in mind (preferring something free), but we're running very, very slim margins as it is, and cannot provide material for free when the same material could be released at a nominal cost that would cover the effort required to put the whole thing together. No one is getting rich producing Dragon and Dungeon. In fact, quite the opposite.

Erik,

I understand the PDFs can't be done for free... I still refer back to my Dragon Magazine CDs purchased so many years ago.

I would ask that you consider two small things:

1. Keep the price low. Wizards has been putting out the latest releases in PDF format... for full price. Paying "full cover price" for an electronic file is going to be hard for a lot of people to swallow, despite the convenience. The option to purchase in bulk for a discount would be nice too.

2. Aim for cross-platform compatibility. Not everyone is stuck using Microsoft Windows. And by being cross-platform, there's no chance of files not working because of future software or computer upgrades.

Thanks!!

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I currently have a subscription but most likely I'll let it run out. I'm probably just speaking for myself but it seems like the majority of material in the magazine of late has been geared to this or that campaign setting. To tell the truth I'd be interested in a more Unearthed Arcana type of magazine that offered alternate rules along with playtested comentary on the pros and cons to those rules as opposed to more feats and PRCs. Keep it generic and it is something that I can use since I use non-WOTC settings. I also tend to skip over the fiction part of the magazine... it's a waste of space in the magazine if you ask me. No offense intended and I am sure there are quite a few people who look forward to reading the monthly short story.

Another thing, bring back WORMY and you'll have a subscriber for life.

 

[rickajr]

Just some thoughts...

My first thoughts on Dragon isn't a real reason not to buy it, but please change the logo - the current logo looks like crap - give us something that looks fantastic and exciting.

The contents of the magazine have a whole heck of alot of crunchy bits that quite honestly isn't necessary. The market is filled with so much crunch - do we really need hundreds of more spells, feats, and PrC's? The campaigns I've been involved with say no - typically DM's have a tendency to say no to these bits as they haven't been through the game testing phases and tend to be broken. Please add more fluff - give us more backgrounds, bring a historical perspective to the game (the past article on history of warfare I found to be excellent), research and present historical castles, cave systems, weapons, etc. How about creating a new campaign world within the SRD where every month you add some more to it with explanations from the writer on their directions and thoughts?

Finally, release what crunch you present as OGL. I think all DM's have this ego while designing their gaming world that says this is the ultimate world because I'm the one building it - therefore it's the best and someday I'm going to sell it to a publisher and be published. Therefore, when designing the world I'm only going to use OGL items. If there is a cool crunchy bit in Dragon, it's of no use to DM's who have this I'm going to get published someday attitude (and don't they all!), therefore I'm better off purchasing an OGL source book instead of purchasing Dragon magazine. I just theorizing here, but my bet is if Dragon was to make it's crunchy bits OGL and advertise that it's doing so, then your sales volume will increase.

I think my overall point is to look at why people would purchase a magazine such as Dragon - it's to get something out of it - educational articles of historical interest you can bring to your game, adventure and intrigue is fluff you can modify or generate ideas from which can help expand your game, crunchy stuff that is OGL you can utilize in your game (and retain your I'm getting published ego). If you can't bring a good portion of the content into your game, then it's just another article in just another magazine that will sit on the retailers shelf. I rather spend the $$$ (what its like $7 every month now?) on an OGL pdf from sites like rpgnow or save up my $$$ for an OGL sourcebook (or two).

Here's my summary:

* The logo is crap
* Needs more fluff
* Crunch needs to be OGL
* Design a how to do it campaign world (Dragon would be the background-macro and Dungeon the adventure-micro) within the SRD / OGL boundaries with the author's inside the design thoughts.

Rick Anderson

 

[Nellisir]

Finally, release what crunch you present as OGL. I think all DM's have this ego while designing their gaming world that says this is the ultimate world because I'm the one building it - therefore it's the best and someday I'm going to sell it to a publisher and be published. Therefore, when designing the world I'm only going to use OGL items. If there is a cool crunchy bit in Dragon, it's of no use to DM's who have this I'm going to get published someday attitude (and don't they all!), therefore I'm better off purchasing an OGL source book instead of purchasing Dragon magazine. I just theorizing here, but my bet is if Dragon was to make it's crunchy bits OGL and advertise that it's doing so, then your sales volume will increase.

I'm with you 110%, but to be fair, I think WotC calls the shots on this. Dragon is the "Official Magazine" of Dungeons & Dragons, so rather than viewing the lack of OGC as a bad thing, WotC can play it up as a good thing -- Dragon is the ONLY place to get "official content" every month.

Since they purchase all rights, going non-OGL also allows them to reuse Dragon content elsewhere without legal bother, though I think that's less of an issue than one might suspect.

If Dragon did guarantee at least OGC article a month, though...man. THAT would be Christmas.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[rickajr]

I'm with you 110%, but to be fair, I think WotC calls the shots on this. Dragon is the "Official Magazine" of Dungeons & Dragons, so rather than viewing the lack of OGC as a bad thing, WotC can play it up as a good thing -- Dragon is the ONLY place to get "official content" every month.

I hear you playing the devil's advocate from WOTC - but it's NOT a good thing - the SRD/OGL is brilliant and in my opinion making the crunchy bits of Dragon OGL would increase readership and make the content truly useful. I'm not saying if they do an article to expand Greyhawk, Realms, or Eberron that those bits should be OGL, what I'm saying is make the generic content truly useful by making those bits OGL. They're crafty folks and I'm sure they could designate a clear way to show what's OGL within each issue.

How hard would it be to try it for three months and see what happens?

Rick Anderson

PS - I think WOTC should have made Chapter 1 of Frostburn OGL as well since it's derived off of what's in the SRD - in fact lifting several paragraphs here and there. That's a real shame as well.

 

[barsoomcore]

It's a monthly place for them to turn for easy-to-digest articles about their favorite class, meant to be read at the game table during a break. The continued success of the hobby revolves around converting these folks into more active players, so in my view Class Acts is absolutely critical and is staying. We'll do what we can to make each installment as inspiring and exciting as possible, for novices as well as old hands.

Hey, that's really weird.

You just came up with a reason for me to buy Dragon. I've bought exactly ONE copy of this magazine in, like, FIFTEEN years.

Erik, all I can say is, I believe you when you tell me. And I'll be looking at the upcoming issues and if they live up to your previews, I'll be buying them. You've done an AWESOME job with Dungeon and if you can do the same with Dragon (and it sounds to me like you can), you'll have done the gaming world a doubly-great service.

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm probably just speaking for myself but it seems like the majority of material in the magazine of late has been geared to this or that campaign setting.

I cannot possibly fathom how you came to this conclusion.