Dragon? Where did you go?
I miss my dragon. All I see now is filler within Dragons pages since the new format has taken root in the magazine. Articles like 'First Watch' and 'Players Initiative' just don't feel like dragon content. I find my self skipping over many of the articles trying to find something, anything that my players can use.
The 'special feature' articles in this last issues (and the four previous issues), have had precious little content for my players. My players love prestige classes, they enjoy reading the new spells and history of geological locations of Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms, and have a healthy interest in new races.
The entire 'Ecology' column was nice when it came but once in a while. Players really don't need to know the ecology of monsters. I believe that a little mystery is in order for a player to play. Giving away monsters history, physiology and society of monsters is fairly useless to players. Players come to play (hence the name PLAYERS), not to discuss what happens when a Rakshasa reaches puberty. Unless a player wants to play a Rakshasa (I don't know many DM's who would allow this) then why fill the magazine with it?
'Class Acts' do not help my players. I have had my players read those columns and then say, 'This is common sense stuff.' I agree with their assessments. I am hard pressed to find something in 'Class Acts' that is actually helpful. Some of the feats offered help some, but they could have been placed in 'special' articles and not squeezed on a single page.
Finally, I miss the old title. You at Dragon may like it, but it seems you grabbed the first font you found on your 'Photo Shop' program and went with it. The previous title added mystique and flair to the magazine. It begged readers to pick it up and read it. It was creative, unlike your current title.
I can go on about your other articles in the magazine, but I think you get the idea of where I am going with this.
After careful consideration, I have made the somewhat painful decision to discontinue my Dragon Magazine purchases, considering the only useful content I have found in the last four issues has been 'Scale Mail'.
