Why _DON'T_ You Buy Dragon Magazine?

[Abisai]

Subscribed for one year

After perusing my friends 2E issues for years, we got older and the game changed. I was excited and I subscribed for a year. I was disappointed in the exclusion of product reviews for things not produced by WOTC. I was also bored with the fictional stories that were printed, since those took up space that could have gone to more gaming information. I loved reading Gygax's articles and the more of that sort of meta-article stuff there is the more interesting a read it would be.

I may be alone here, but the Prestige Classes were too much. I like working with the existing classes and breathing character into a PC. Basically, the stuff that was inspiring for personal gaming was more interesting to read. I'm not buying the magazine to rework my rules. I liked the maps and scenarions, but again the setting is more important that the DC of the traps, etc.

 

[wingsandsword]

Oh yes, two more things that I thought of.

Minis stuff: no thanks. I hate seeing articles about the D&D minis game, it's as useless to me as the fiction is.

More comics. At least Dragonmirth used to be the high point of even the worst issues of Dragon, now it seems to be an afterthought. Make with the levity!

 

[pogre]

I bought the first four or so Dragons after 3.0 debuted. I was trying to learn the game after years of WFRP and it was really useful. My Dragon collection is really amusing - a lot of early issues with a huge gap to the aforementioned issues.

Reasons I do not buy the magazine:

1. I'm not the audience - I mostly DM and I homebrew. I had a subscription to Dungeon, but let it run out when the format radically changed. I now buy it on a monthly basis after looking it over. I have purchased the last three, so I'm almost confident enough to start another subscription.

2. New Feats, Careers, and other rules have no appeal to me.

3. I do not read fantasy fiction. I read history. Therefore, fiction does not appeal to me.

What I would like to see:
(please note - I have not even glanced a Dragon in recent years and no one in my group buys it, therefore, you may say, "but we do that!" By all means say so )
1. Inspiration articles - plot hooks, character background ideas, historical ideas for governments, organizations, guilds, villains. Ideas for props, handouts, and so on.

2. New ways of thinking about the rules - Offer new assumptions about the rules.

Example: A common gripe RPGers have against D&D is the fire and forget spell method. However, a long time ago someone on here mentioned they refer to spell slots as valences. Sepulchrave adopted this terminology in his story hour, which turned me onto the idea. Merely explaining the spell system this way to one of my players sold him on playing D&D again. It did not change a thing mechanically - just gave a new perspective.

Example 2: Given the rapid level advancement and the power of magic why isn't every member of the Army 11th level?; or perhaps a better question is: Why isn't every army an epic level spell caster? That leads to a certain kind of game e.g. FR, but I enjoy clinging to the pseudo medieval mythos.

I use the idea that the characters are fated by the gods for something special. That is why they increase in power so quickly and why they can be occasionally raised from the dead. The campaign is a sort of medieval super heroes versus super villains at the higher levels. This is just a change in mindset, we do not change a thing mechanically.

3. Talk about design considerations - I love under the hood talk.

4. Deeper philosophical consideration of what makes a "good" RPG campaign. Interview DungeonMasters who have been running long term campaigns that their players love. I often am inspired by stories of campaigns around here.

5. Brutal, and I mean brutal, reviews of 3rd party products. Get someone who is not afraid of hate mail to really lay out what a book does and does not do. It would be particularly cool if a brutal review could be followed by a point-counter-point between the reviewer and the author.

6. Ideas for addressing complaints - like combat is too slow. Now, I personally have never understood this complaint. Our combats rarely take more than ten minutes and have only once taken an hour (epic game with multiple groups). Offer tips for speeding things up or other tips for dealing with common problems around the table.

Thanks Erik - I'm really enjoying Dungeon these days.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I occassionally purchase Dragon, but only when it is theme that interests me. (My tastes for D&D are fairly narrow, or in my own word - focused. )

I bought it more when it had non-D&D content, back in the TSR days, and pretty much stopped when it went all D&D. (Yes, I'm Auld...) And I have just never picked up the habit since.

One other problem actually goes back about 10 years, when I had a player that would try to insist that if it was 'official' I had to allow it, whether it was from Dragon or from The Complete Elf. (I actually had to kick him out of the game for a while over his insistance that I allow the Complete Book of Elf Cheese.) So rather than have him paw through the magazine and try to grab the most munchkin thing he could find in each issue I stopped even allowing it at the table. (He also had difficulty figuring out, in a Birthright game, why casting a fireball across the border, along a major trade route, would be considered an act of war...)

The fiction does not bother me at all, but having fiction that matches the theme/mood of an issue would be good - then it can be considered inspiration.

The Auld Grump

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Minis stuff: no thanks. I hate seeing articles about the D&D minis game, it's as useless to me as the fiction is.

I have have to agree with this, I have never been into wargaming, and I never will be. It is another portion of the magazine I skip over.

 

[Acid_crash]

The only things that ticks me off are : 1) I just learned from Dragon 326 that Elminster's Guide to the Realms will no longer be a mothly feature.

I didn't know they were taking this out but I am actually glad that E's Guide to the Realms is gone. Wasted space, as much as fiction.

 

[EnglishScribe]

Uk

I used to subscribe to Dragon, and I used to really enjoy receiving my monthly issue.

But, I live in the UK, and the UK got REALLY screwed when Dragon/Dungeon transfered from Wotc.

Now, I cannot subscribe to either magazine in a manner that makes it cost effective (having it shipped from over there every month for a large amount of money is not cost effective), and there is no-where I know of that stocks it over here.

I think that you lost a lot of UK customers with this debarcle (I know of at least 20).

And, to my knowledge, we still have not had an apology.

Antony

 

[Creamsteak]

I don't buy Dragon, but I buy Dungeon. Adventures just seem more ripe for the ripping apart and taking what I want, though there are a few small articles from Dragon that I'd like to rip out of any particular issue. I just can't afford it.

Edit: About Dungeon, I hate the wasted space on comics. Not my bag really, and for some reason I never get the jokes.

 

[Sholari]

Why don't you buy the magazine?

Because with D&D overall I'm really burnt out on new prestige classes, magic items, spells, etc. without need or context. As a DM I have enough of these to fill my game and adding more is an annoyance more than anything else. In fact when a player comes to me with something new I turn it down 95% of the time, because it usually disrupts game balance. I see Dragon Magazine as a candy store for players trying to game the system.

BTW Dungeon magazine is great. I am more than pleased with the recent changes there. Let's hope you can work miracles with Dragon.

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

I am looking for a couple things that may not be provided by Dungeon. First, I am looking for some form of inspiration... something to really get my creative juices flowing. Second, I am looking for any resources that may aid in my game. I want to feel that I've come away from a Dragon magazine feeling like I've learned something new and unique.

Here are are couple article ideas of what I might find interesting...

- Campaign world design priniciples based on the theories in the book "Guns, Germs, and Steel".
- Tips from a professional actor on how to better roleplay your character.
- Photo tour of the sewers and catacombs under Paris (apparently there is a huge network under there) and how these can be used to flesh out your fantasy dungeon design.
- Major trends in gaming as a whole and how they are changing the face of roleplaying.
- Some interesting demographic survey on who are roleplayers in this day and age.
- The ten most impressive live action roleplaying organizations in terms of production quality of adventures.
- Cardboard cutout dungeon floors for minature combat.
- 2005 outlook for the state of the roleplaying industry.
- Evaluation of D&D rules by sword fighting expert - perception of D&D sword combat vs. the reality of it
- Strategy primer on how to play a 1st level wizard and kick ass with plain 3.5 rules (beyond just common sense suggestions)
- Fantasy mood music CD
- Secrets of horror story tellers and what to incorporate their tricks into your campaign.

 

[Blue Sky]

I'm broke. That's the only reason I don't buy it. Make it free, and I'll have no problem getting it.

Honestly? I just don't buy very much material any more, and the material I do buy has earn it's worth. Dragon just didn't get used much, especially as all the cool rules I saw always ended up in a hardcover, anyway.

Not to mention, as a man of wide hobbies, that seven bucks gets compared to everything else I want to buy. I use a new pre-constructed M:tG deck a hundred times as much as any dragon, and spend more time playing a used PS2 or PC game than I ever would reading the magazine.

Unfortunately, I just don't think you'll ever be able to get me as a regular subscriber again, and can't think of anything that would change my mind.

I realize I probably didn't help much, but you did ask.