I was just looking on WOTC's website and drooling a little over the Sons of Gruumsh adventure coming out. For me it looks great. Chris Perkins... Forgotten Realms... I am sold.
But then I looked at the price. $9.95 for 32 pages. Probably well worth it, but when you compare it to Dungeon it just doesn't stack up.
The difference then is likely ads. They defer the costs given to us so we get more adventure for our money (and since they are targeted I not uncommonly find out about things I would want to know about anyway).
So... I just wanted to say. I love advertisements...
Sean Mahoney
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*grabs a passing copy of Dungeon*
Dungeon 125, page 1=OFC, page 108=OBC
including the covers, the numbers are roughly:
25 1/3 pages of ads
2 2/3 pages of cartoons
6 pages of maps
10 5/6 pages of art
9 1/2 pages of editorial, overhead, titles, OFC etc
53 2/3 pages of adventure text
for USD7, so excellent value compared to some of the published modules (n.b. this means the price of the modules should come *down* not that the price of the magazine go up!).
These numbers may not actually be correct, they're approximations in some places, and I stopped recounting as soon as I managed to coax them into adding up to 108, but as a rough indication they should be okay.
It varies a lot from magazine to magazine, but advertising generally accounts for a *lot* of the costs of producing the magazine -- in some cases they account for almost all of it, I doubt Dungeon's one of those though!
So... I just wanted to say. I love advertisements...
I wish the people I argue with could see this: This is a perfect example of an opinion that goes against the grain, but is still well-supported... And factually correct besides.
It dosen't hurt that I agree, of course...
Yay for ads!
I did that very thing at GenCon, actually, Vic. For a while now, I've had my eye on the area of effect templates from Steel Sqwire, based in large part on the ads in the magazines and the write-up they had in "First Watch." At GenCon, though, I was able to see and touch them. When we handed over our cash, I made sure to mention I first was interested in them based on the ads in the mags.