19 April 2007

Paizo to Cease Publication of Dungeon, Dragon

Yeah. More info on that development here.

I can't say I'm not disappointed. My first paid publishing credit was in Dungeon, after all. The two magazines have been a staple for D&D players for hundreds of issues apiece, and it will take some time to get used to not seeing them on FLGS shelves and racks.

I've heard complaints from some folks that say these magazines have become less useful as time as worn on. The complaints tend to gravitate more to Dragon than to Dungeon, but then again, Dungeon has a somewhat limited audience since it is geared more towards DMs than players. I've subscribed to both magazines at one time or another. I've always let the subscriptions lapse, for whatever reason.

The magazines are generally a mixed bag, depending on what the reader is looking for. I've never seen any magazine (regardless of title or publisher) with 100% content that I can use. Shadis (when it first started out) was close. On average, I might see one or two articles that catch my attention. Even if I don't use them, I tend to read the articles that my friends (and, dare I say, colleagues) have written.

So, there it is. I'll be interested to see the online format that Wizards is planning to go to, both from the perspective as a gamer as well as that of a writer/designer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Art thou subby?

Alan said...

I am fairly certain that I will not pay for any online content, unless it is downloadable in a great format. I subscribed to Pyramid online for a short while, and when my subscription lapsed - *poof* - I had nada.

I feel bad for the Paizo folks, as this will surely impact their bottom line. I don't see nearly as many folks jumping on the Pathfinder bandwagon due to its high cost.

Plus, Dragon had vastly improved over the last year or so with detailed articles on the faiths and demonomicons.

Bummer.