I agree on the absolute uselessness of the "GAMESAC". Completly unneccessary, it only serves to make their page count.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
I agree with Polite Elliot, this latest issue was a dissapointment. The class act articles are garbage (to me). Fiction? Yuck! I'll add to the grievances by saying that the article on Waterdeep was little more than a listing of previous sources of info on the city. 2 pages on that?! What a waste.
I'm not going to stop buying the magazine but I must admit that it has been less than inspiring lately. It might be because so much good material is actually being published by way of supplements. Maybe Dragon is simply running out of material?
I think that Dragon can put out great work. Just nothing seems to jump out at me. Cities of the Realms: Crimmor was excellent, and the Charlatan class was interesting, but the latest issue was sub-par.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
First Watch is very problematic, true. Let ads be ads and content be content and don't try to pass-off one as the other.
Blank pages would be more useful. At least I could scribble notes there.
I like first watch; it makes me feel like part of a wider D&D/even wider gaming community, which for folk who don't play that often or don't have a group is a really important function of a magazine like Dragon. I missed Knowledge check last issue, and was glad to see it back this time ... I'll probably pick up the UDON Exalted comic, I'm interested in playing Navia Drapt from a few issues back, and I like that it gives the Dragon team an excuse to highlight other D20 products they like - I got a (very useful) Fiery Dragon BattleBox because of it's mention First Watch.
That being said, First Watch was amongst a fairly small amount of "for me" content this month - I did indeed find myself skipping an awful lot of the Realms stuff. i could have done without the Greenwood interview and the fiction. But that being said, if it had been an interview with Gygax, Gygaz fiction and a bunch of Greyhawk content, I'd have been freeking out and partying, rather than worrying about the poor FR fans, so i figure I'll have a light read of Dragon this month and look forward to next issue - no biggy, it happens with magazines from time to time.
Now, if only they gave more coverage to third party products in the whole magazine, not just First Watch...
(paizo: nudge,nudge,wink,wink)
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Why get upset over a small picture and two paragraphs about a Gamesac? So what? Somebody out there liked that little tidbit of info, there's probably a gamer out there right now sitting in his Gamesac, drinking Moutain Dew, eating Cheetos, and playing D&D to his heart's delight.
I for one, enjoy the previews of what's coming around the bend for gamers. Fiction is filler? It boggles my mind that anyone would say that. A brand new short story by Elaine Cunningham is filler? Seriously, my brain hurts trying to grasp that concept. I enjoyed Elaine's story, I thought the interview with Ed was very interesting, and I always enjoy whatever Erik has to say each month. How many prestige classes, feats, and variant races can you possibly use? I think Dragon is maintaining a good balance between crunch, fluff, and filler. Keep it up!
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I personally think that Dragon has felt "fragmented" or it has too many "filler" articles.
First Watch can be a good section, but it probably runs a little long. I definitely consider them to be ads, since they're not really a review. They're not telling us whether they're good or bad, just that they're there. I think one page would be sufficient to cover the highlights.
I've made my points about Class Acts elsewhere, so I won't repeat myself.
Fiction in Dragon - please, no.
While there has been some fiction in Dragon I've enjoyed, I don't like the type of fiction they've been publishing. Even fiction I like requires the devotion of a large number of pages that I think can be better spent elsewhere. While fiction may be enjoyable, it doesn't provide anything for my game the way an article on Crimmor could. If fiction is going to be included it should fulfill two criteria. First of all, it should be fairly brief. Secondly, it should introduce new material for the game.
The old fashioned "Ecology" articles are the only type of fiction that I wouldn't mind seeing in Dragon.
If I want to purchase fiction by Elaine Cunningham, or R.A. Salvatore, or anyone else, I know where my local bookstore is.
Dragon could be great. Dungeon is. But Dragon is slipping. A few more issues like this last one, and I'll be letting my subscription lapse.
I disagree about fiction. "D&D fiction" has always sucked and always will. The only good fiction that Dragon has ever presented has been good fantasy first and foremost, unrelated to D&D specifically.
Now that I think about it, "Dragonbone Flute" is from Dragon and is one of my favorite fantasy short stories.
And the prime culprit - First Watch.
Puh-lease - this month issue 335 "THE GAMESAC"! I buy Dragon for articles that are going to inspire me, add depth to my D&D campaign or improve my game. Reading about a 'fully equipped' sac with pockets for controllers or soda's isn't going to do that.
First Watch reads like 4 pages of vaguely disguised adverts. If I want to read about new XBox or PC games I'll buy a magazine devoted to them. How is a note on a White Wolf Exalted inspired comic really useful to me as a D&D player?
Being brutal, I think the Fiction is filler, I think a whole page of the Editor's thoughts is filler, half the Ed Greenwood article (I notice he has a new book out)- filler/promo material. I think Class Acts is padded and I know this isn't going to go down well - 3 pages of comics could be better spent.
Whether the fiction, cartoons or other stuff are really great or useful is debatable but 4 pages of First Watch is 4 pages too much.
If Dragon aims to "provide D&D players with the tools, utilities, and excitement they need to raise the level of their play experience" (it's certainly the reason I buy it)then at least news items about the lastest GAMESAC have got to go.
This is just one reader's opinion, but many of the things pointed out here as 'filler' are my favorite parts of the magazine. I see Dragon as both a Dungeons and Dragons game resource and a bastion of D&D/gamer culture, meaning that sometimes I do, indeed, want to read about things that aren't technically usable in a game sense. An Exalted comic is related in the same way that something like the D&D movie is - it's an RPG icon crossing over into new media, and that gets me excited. The Gamesac is fun in that it means somebody outside the industry is actually catering to gamers. As for interviews with people like Ed Greenwood and the editors' note pages: how could you NOT want to get inside their heads? If you enjoy the gaming supplements they produce, it seems natural to me to want to learn everything I can about what makes them tick (and maybe in doing so steal some of the tricks/habits/thought patterns that make them so darn good).
Plus comics just rule.
I guess what this all comes down to is that, these days, I think Dragon is definitely a place where D&D players can find "the tools, utilities, and excitement they need to raise the level of their play experience"... but it's also so much more. There's more to gaming than just plot hooks and stat blocks.
But again, that's just my personal opinion.
-James
To toss in my two cp, keep First Watch. I enjoy reading these short blurbs and learning about new things that are related to gaming in some way, shape, or form. Some neat products show up in this column, things I might otherwise never realize existed unless I caught them at GenCon or stumbled upon them somewhere on the web.
Dragon and Dungeon are among two of only a few magazines where even the advertisements are worth reading and noting.
Hey, not to jump back in again, but I just wanted to make sure everybody was clear on the fact that First Watch pieces aren't actually advertisements (even though they're often written in a "why this is cool" fashion) - the magazine doesn't make any money off of them, they're just blurbs for things that we think the D&D community would enjoy.
-James
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I was a little disappointed with #335, too.
Its not because of features like First Watch, the editoreal, class acts, fiction or interviews.
I guess it was the certain mix within this issue that made it boring to me.
I like the idea of having an interview with Greenwood and the first part was really interesting, but the second part was too Waterdeep-specific to me.
I liked the Cunningham-story too but i agree, that it wasted too many pages.
There were definitly too many long articles in this issue (Greenwood interview, Cunningham story, bard-college article).
I didn't really get, what Eric Boyds Waterdeep-article was about. Was it meant to name all the ressources DMs can find Waterdeep-material in? Or was it just meant as a praise to Waterdeep in a patriotic kind of way? ;)
The few things i liked about the issue was the ecology of lizard folk, magic items from the swamp (kudos to Mrs. Scott by the way...), the Charlatan-PrC and spellcraft.
So, it wasn't that bad...:)
I know that it is nearly impossible to publish a monthly magazine without certain ups and downs in term of content and quality. There'll be better issues to come, i'm really sure..
I'm looking forward to next issue with the newest part of the 'Demonomicon' and the horror-theme.
I think the article next month on where the undead originally came from, because not all are created by casters, looks really awesome.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
I must say that this was one of the better issues in some time. I would concede that First Watch is not much more than a curiosity, but the fiction was enjoyable. I would not mind seeing three or four fiction articles a year, possibly in "themeatic" issues.
The cartoons are entertaining! Nothing wrong with those as they are.
I see improvement in the magazine, and am looking forward to the future. For a wide enough audience to make the magazine profitable to publish you will not satisfy everyone all the time. I am willing to put up with a little fluf if it will keep the publishers producing Dragon and Dungeon magazines.
I think there is fiction next month...
WaterdhavianFlapjack
I really liked the bard college article - although I seem to be a minority in this regard. Blame it on my love for FR. I don't read First Watch that often, but I do understand that, given that Dragon caters to thousands of readers, I'm not going to find every part of the magazine absolutely gripping.