Wil Wheaton Drops Dungeon Column

[diaglo]

Hey Erik, ever thought about replacing Will Save with a similiar column from game designers or maybe stories from celebrities in the field about their first gaming experiences or why they play the game?

and put it in Dragon magazine

 

[diaglo]

for a cool replacement idea, i'd like to see the submitters to the issue talk about their playtest sessions about the adventure they submitted.

background for a DM to use or consider.

i'm sure there are a lot of things submitted with each adventure that never see print. maybe add these tidbits to the new column.

kinda like when nodwick was in the issue. instead of cartoons based on the issue's adventures.. a column based on the current issue or just one of the adventures.

 

[Belen]

I freely admit this is a subject in which rationality goes out the window for me, I'm afraid...

The people who stopped buying Dungeon because of Poly exerted a different sort of pressure on the publisher, one which hit the bottom line instead of the message boards. But it's the same kind of response, one in which ruining someone else's fun is okay if it means getting one's way. Don't like the mini-games? Boycott the magazine! Don't like the column? Bad-mouth the writer! It's small-minded, and it's ugly.

Dude...meet chip.

So you are telling consumers to buy a magazine that no longer has the same content and quality just because a small number of people are a fan of Polyhedron (which used to come free with a membership to the RPGA)?

That is liking forcing people to buy New Coke because a few people like the new taste.

It is absolutely correct to vote with your wallet.

Also, I believe that taking out Polyhedron increased orders from Vendors as well as subscriptions because the magazine made more sense to them.

 

[LeapingShark]

for a cool replacement idea, i'd like to see the submitters to the issue talk about their playtest sessions about the adventure they submitted.

Bingo! Very relevant to the adventures, and could even include some of the human element that others crave (e.g. when Erik's cat knocked over the walls of the Feral Dog tavern to pounce on a rolling d20). And since many of the adventures are written by big wigs in the business, (Keith Baker, Monte Cook, etc), you've got your famous figure too. I think it would be great!

 

[Henry]

A lot of the obsessive fan's are probably also completionist's that want to buy ever product for their favorite game lines, so I can see where the opinion comes from.

No way to tell though, since I doubt they'd check the "are you insane" box on any survey.

I came very close to asking if I could quote this in my sig, but came back to my senses.

 

[Henry]

I don't know about that, but what I do know is that a magazine isn't really a necessity like boots. Some may want to check out the magazine on the stands before buying it, and have the freedom to not buy if they want to. It could well be that some don't really expect to buy Dungeon every month, but are won over after a look at it on the stands. I know I don't buy every issue of Dungeon, so getting a subscription isn't really all that attractive to me.

Many times I've debated getting a subscription to Dungeon and Dragon, but I always shortly before looked at the current newstand issue, found little of interest, and decided against it. If the current quality keeps up, I may wind up doing it for real, possibly on my birthday or Christmas.

 

[Ranes]

a healthy imagination is all you need to play OD&D.

That's all you need to play any edition. If you're talking about DMing OD&D, add:

And a copy of Chainmail. And a copy of Outdoor Survival. And/or a lot of time.

But I do like your idea about a column that supports that issue's adventures, whether it's DMing tips, deconstruction, development/playtest diary. Very good idea. But if the page has to become another ad, that's fine too.

 

[DonTadow]

I'd like to see an article based on someone's real life d and d group. HOw their sessions go what happens in them from somewhat of a narative point of view. I like Eric's recent Editorial's in which he's been talking about the storyline of his new campaign. I'd love to see something like that. Something that mixes real life with gaming without having to include d20 stats.

Again I'd like something that 's a bit broader back there. Something I can pick up and rread without the hassel of going back to issue 122 to see what adventure their talking about and if its relevent.

 

[diaglo]

Again I'd like something that 's a bit broader back there. Something I can pick up and rread without the hassel of going back to issue 122 to see what adventure their talking about and if its relevent.

make it one of the authors talking about one of the adventures in the issue....

no other purchase necessary

 

[DonTadow]

make it one of the authors talking about one of the adventures in the issue....

no other purchase necessary

But how would that work and what would they talk about? What inspired them to write the adventure? Are we getting a director's commentary of the adventure?

There's no appeal to hte article if the person doesnt read the adventure first, which leads away from what a last page article is used for. It's like someone said above, the last few pages should be independant articles that have nothing to do with adventures ore adventures in any of the magazines. If that's the case forget the writing and stick a couple of cut out battlemaps back there, else find something that engages on a broad appeal.