Mercule said:
I remember most of those and enjoyed a lot of them. The problem with nostalgic reminiscing is that "it's been done". Those articles were cool for their time, but the game was newer then, and we were much younger. We looked at things differently. I know that I, for one, have no need for a "realistic" height/weight table for my games these days. And, it doesn't really make fun reading.
I loved Dragon back in the 80s when I first got into gaming, but I think that people tend to look at it through rose-colored glasses. Sure, there was a lot of good stuff. But, there was a lot of bad (or useless) stuff, too. Just like today.
Mercule said:
Absolutely! Two of my favorites in the past few years.
Mercule said:
Agreed. I think that the new "Class Acts" are really interesting, too.
Mercule said:
The Trifecta that seems to be the bane of Dragon readers. I think that the publishers and editors have heard you all, loud and clear. PrCs have been limited over the past few months to only (I think) one a month. I'm a little behind on my reading but I have all the issues (subscriber since Issue 90!) but my recollection is that they have limited PrCs to only one per issue, give or take. Is that really too much?
I actually don't mind the PrCs. When done well, they give me ideas for adding organizations to my campaign or fit into existing organizations that I already have. Sure, some of them are just collections of random abilities, but I think those are becoming less prevalent these days.
Mercule said:
Usually people want more monsters! I personally don't care (I don't use a lot of monsters, and trying to fit new ones into my campaign is difficult) but my understanding was that a lot of people wanted more.
Mercule said:
Why?
Mercule said:
I enjoy reading Dragon. I'll admit I don't read it cover to cover, but I suspect few people do.
Here's what I like:
1) Once a month, I get fresh material to read, for a low out-of-pocket cost. A lot of it covers genres that I otherwise would not pay for (like planar stuff, since my main campaign doesn't really involve planar travel). I think this is a good thing because it helps me to stretch my imagination and make me more creative, even if it is not directly applicable.
I'll give you a "real world" example. I work in advertising in a department that involves a lot of numbers, target markets, percentages, that kind of thing. I am not "the guy who makes the ads"[/b]. I could just do what I do and let it go at that and become a number cruncher. But, I don't want to be that kind of person. So, I stretch myself creatively outside of work. Does playing D&D, writing (novels & gaming material), and illustrating in my free time really affect my advertising work? Yes, it does. I find that it actually makes me more creative when I am at work, so I come up with new ideas, new ways to reach the target market, new sizes for the ads, etc. By using my mind in a "different" way, it's kind of like exercising it a little, and it makes me better at my regular job.
I see a lot of complaints from people who say things such as, "I don't read the Forgotten Realms articles because I don't play in the FR" or "I don't read Silicon Sorcery because I don't play video games."
My response to them is, "Stop being so literal!". Look at the material and see how you can adapt it to your own game rather than using it in the way that (you think) it's presented. You'll find a wealth of material out there just waiting to be used in your game. That's what I mean by "stretching your imagination".
2) I always find at least one thing that I think would be cool to add to my game, or to add to one of the characters I play. Whether I add that thing or not in the immediate future is beside the point to me - it inspired me to think of something that I hadn't thought of before, or to look at a rule or class or what-have-you in a different way. That's worth the price to me.
Here's another somewhat off-topic comparison, but it always resonates with me. Ever see "John Carpenter's Vampires"? I thought the movie sucked. I was very disappointed with it. And yet, I was able to pull one little nugget out of it (the idea of the Catholic Church sponsoring a team of mercenary Vampire hunters). Maybe not an original idea to you, but I hadn't thought of that before. I haven't exactly done anything with that idea yet, but it's there, in the back of my mind, waiting to be used.
I sometimes look at Dragon (and all of my other gaming purchases, as well) that way. If I think about it, there's always at least one tidbit that sparks my imagination and makes me think of the game differently.
Now, you might say, "Yes, but I can get that kind of inspiration for free from ENWorld!". Perhaps that's true, but that's less an argument about the "usefulness" of Dragon and more an argument about purchasing gaming products in general versus just getting free inspiration from the internet.
3) I enjoy the Sage Advice column to see what other issues/problems people are having. Yes, you can get some of that from the Rules Forum here, but that doesn't diminish its value in Dragon.
Nothing else on that - I just enjoy reading it.
***
I look at Dragon as part-entertainment and part-toolkit. That's how I approach all of my gaming purchases. I can be entertained by something in Dragon, even if I don't necessarily intend on using it in my games.
To give you an example of an article I enjoyed recently, there was a one-page article in "Class Acts" about different models for the Paladin class. The premise of the article was that not every paladin needs to be the archetype of a knight in shining armor. The author went on to describe to different types of paladins, such as a kind of world-weary Western "gunslinger" type (armed with crossbows).
I've already broken all of the stereotypes of the classes in my game, so the article won't necessarily help me with my games. But, I liked the concept very much because I've always felt that people get too caught up in a preconceived notion of what a class is and then make very generic statements about it as though there is only one way to play that class. After reading that article, I thought to be myself, "I hope that everyone reads this article and then begin to expand their definitions of what a class really is."
Maybe, as a vetaran, that particular article wouldn't help you, but I bet there's something in there that will strike a chord with you. For $6, I don't think you can find a better value in gaming (except Dungeon, of course).
Just wanted them to be emphasized.
