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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Belen" data-source="post: 1887483" data-attributes="member: 1405">I am a subscriber of both Dragon and Dungeon magazine.  While Dungeon now rocks, I have not opened an issue of Dragon since the new rollout.  After a very bad experience with Dragon crunch, it has been banned from my game.  As someone said earlier, there are already hundreds of published feats, spells and classes.  A character is lucky to get 7 feats during their career, so most of the feats published by WOTC never gets used, so why would you ever want to use something from Dragon?Personally, I feel that Dragon is just a playtest rag for WOTC.  They pull the crunch they want and republish it, so it seems that WOTC gets more use out of the magazine than I do.I think that a lot of DMs have banned the use of Dragon crunch in their games.  And, if a player cannot use the material, then there is no reason to buy the magazine.  The magazine does not offer anything other than crunch to attract people to buy it.  As there is already a metric ton of crunch published by WOTC and third party, then Dragon becomes irrelevant, especially considering the third party material has a better balance and playtest record than Dragon.If Dragon is to survive, then it needs something to attract people besides crunch.  Here are some suggestions:1.) Instead of PrCs, have articles explaining how already published feats and classes can combine to form archetypes.2.) Fluff, fluff, and more fluff: For instance, you could do a historical article on Roman Legionaires.  Explain how the fighter class can be fitted to different fighter types.  Combine fluff with the types of equipment and feats that a Roman would have and suddenly, you will have players that are effective with some personality.  You will get more GMs to allow Dragon in game if it shows EXISTING rules and how to work them rather than new, unplaytested, unbalanced rules.3.) Monsters!  Instead of new monsters, have an article about how a monster fights!  Give a 5 round set of monster tactics.  Yes, it would be geared towards GMs, but players would enjoy it too.  That would be VERY useful.4.) Tactical Studies: Have an article about player tactics.  Show them how to use existing rules and crunch in game.  Explain how and when to use a fireball.  Explain what spells, skills, feats would be useful in certain situations.5.) Fluffer-size the rules: Have an article that explains the fluff of a skill, spell, feat or class.  Give players a sense of how to describe the use of their abilities.  Instead of someone saying "I use sleight of hand," have a short skit meant to show a player how to describe sleight of hand in game. "I trip and fall into the wealthy noble, moving lightly to the gold-filled purse by her side."6.) TEACH!  Dragon should be a teaching tool.  It should be aimed at teaching players not just the crunch of the game, but the soul of the game.  Right now, Dragon has no soul and that is in desperate need.  There needs to be something other than crunch that makes people want to read Dragon.I would read Dragon if more of the above could be expected from the magazine.  As of now, I bought a subscription to both magazines, but only Dungeon will be renewed.Dave</blockquote>

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