What timing I have...my subscription for Dungeon ran out as of issue 146 and to be honest I hadn't planned to renew. But then I read the letter from the editor (James Sutter wrote this one) and I thought, you know, maybe they 'get it', maybe things will get better.
Let me explain. My weekly D&D group for the past year or so, has ceased being about pen and paper playing and has been supplanted with DDO. And to be honest, we're quite happy. We're all older players with jobs and families and little time for the time consuming nature that is a pen and paper game. That's why I subscribed to Dungeon and was really happy with the Adventure Path content.
However, given our time constraints (once a week for about 4 hours), we quickly found ourselves losing interest in a D&D session in which a 'simple combat encounter' took up well over half that time.
To put it plainly, we just weren't getting anywhere. Then there's DDO (insert MMOG of choice) where not only do you get an instant sense of accomplishment, but hey, I as the DM can play too! Win/Win.
However, we did have a certain longing that was missing in our weekly sessions, namely the "RP" in MMORPG (that's why I take to just calling these games MMOG's as there's little to no RPing).
Getting back on point; I read James Sutter's editorial and I think, "Hey, maybe they will start coming out with more campaigns like the referenced "Diplomacy" adventure. More focus on good story-telling and interaction. The old 'role-playing' vs. 'roll-playing'.
Nothing Pazio can do about the slow clunky combat mechanics of D&D, not your guys fault, but the adventures that focus more on 'role-playing' would be more enjoyable. We get enough hack and slash these days in our games and frankly, they do it better. Granted you can't jump up on a banister and slide down swinging your sword (yet) but for the trade off in time and ease of use, I'll take it.
I suppose why I'm writing is to encourage you guys to think deeply about where this hobby of ours is today and where it's going. I suspect many a potential D&D pen and paper player has been lost to the silicon darkside. It seems like you have the perfect opportunity now to really take a new direction and perhaps win some of us back.
On a slightly related note, I did want to comment on the price. Not strictly a factor in my choice not to subcribe, but I can't say it had no impact. $20 bucks? Come on guys. Dungeon has gone up quite a bit since I have been a subscriber, but even at the same page count for your new book, Dungeon only cost $7.99 newstand and don't bother mentioning the addition of 'Dragon-like' content. I dropped that subscription long ago.
Good luck guys, I sincerly hope you thrive.
Watching and waiting,
JBone Former Subscriber.