What the hell happened?
There better be an increase in pages per issue from here on in. (I'm thinking as thick as them ladies' magazine like Vogue.)
Them ladies magazines like Vogue are like, 75% ads . . .
Them ladies magazines like Vogue are like, 75% ads . . .
I said "thick as Vogue, not "have the same content as Vogue."
;)
Senior Software Developer
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The preview for Dragon #345 has been updated. This page also features two hag brews that were cut from the "Ecology of the Annis Hag" article.
All prices must go up eventually. Are the subscription prices going up as well?
All prices must go up eventually. Are the subscription prices going up as well?
I hope so. I'm not going to suffer this by myself.
;-)
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Director of Games
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All prices must go up eventually. Are the subscription prices going up as well?
It is an unfortunate truth. Everything seems to cost more these days. I wish we could blame it on gas prices like everyone else. At any rate, the subscription price is not going up at the moment... so, my advice, get more now while the price is still nice and low.
Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon
As I said elsewhere: Oh no, a dollar.
If I see you living on the streets as a result of this latest price blowout, REG, I'll buy you the latest issue, okay? :)
What the hell happened?
There better be an increase in pages per issue from here on in. (I'm thinking as thick as them ladies' magazine like Vogue.)
At least the Canadian price is reasonable now (or did that rise too?). Time to buy an extra year of Dragon methinks.
I was led to believe by the folks at my FLGS that the price increase was for this specific issue, since it's a special issue and all. I guess we'll see . . .
My bad. I was thinking of the price increase that accompanied the special "Dragon" issue, with Tiamat on the cover. Sorry.
As I said elsewhere: Oh no, a dollar.
If I see you living on the streets as a result of this latest price blowout, REG, I'll buy you the latest issue, okay? :)
I'd settle for a Whopper Jr. which is what I'm going to be eating one less every month from here on in.
;-)
At least the Canadian price is reasonable now (or did that rise too?). Time to buy an extra year of Dragon methinks.
Oh, no. Canada is not getting off that easy.
;-)
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Chief Technical Officer
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I wish we could blame it on gas prices like everyone else.
Actually, increased fuel pricing does have something to do with it. Because fuel prices are up, it costs more to move paper from the mill to the printer, which has contributed to a rise in our paper costs; it also costs more to move the printed magazines to distributors, and then again from distributors to retailers (though that last bit usually comes out of someone else's margins).
And, of course, the USPS raised their postage costs earlier this year, so subscription fulfillment has been costing us more.
To be honest, we've held off as long as we could—and we're still holding off on bumping up the subscription cost for a while longer—but we just can't afford to hold off any longer. The margins in the magazine business are thin, and getting thinner all the time.
-Vic.
.
I wish we could blame it on gas prices like everyone else.Actually, increased fuel pricing does have something to do with it. Because fuel prices are up, it costs more to move paper from the mill to the printer, which has contributed to a rise in our paper costs; it also costs more to move the printed magazines to distributors, and then again from distributors to retailers (though that last bit usually comes out of someone else's margins).
And, of course, the USPS raised their postage costs earlier this year, so subscription fulfillment has been costing us more.
To be honest, we've held of as long as we could—and we're still holding off on bumping up the subscription cost for a while longer—but we just can't afford to hold off any longer. The margins in the magazine business are thin, and getting thinner all the time.
-Vic.
.
Hmm, I guess I better tack on to the current subscription I have before the rates go up then. Just need to justify spending $109 on magazines to my wife!
I assume that the increase is on Dungeon as well?
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Director of Games
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I wish we could blame it on gas prices like everyone else.Actually, increased fuel pricing does have something to do with it. Because fuel prices are up, it costs more to move paper from the mill to the printer, which has contributed to a rise in our paper costs; it also costs more to move the printed magazines to distributors, and then again from distributors to retailers (though that last bit usually comes out of someone else's margins).
And, of course, the USPS raised their postage costs earlier this year, so subscription fulfillment has been costing us more.
To be honest, we've held of as long as we could—and we're still holding off on bumping up the subscription cost for a while longer—but we just can't afford to hold off any longer. The margins in the magazine business are thin, and getting thinner all the time.
-Vic.
.
Hey look at that.. we can blame it on gas prices.. thanks Vic. I'll get you next time OPEC.. next time!
Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon
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Chief Technical Officer
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At least the Canadian price is reasonable now (or did that rise too?). Time to buy an extra year of Dragon methinks.Oh, no. Canada is not getting off that easy.
;-)
Actually... the Canadian newsstand price is staying at $9.99 CAD. The USD-CAD exchange rate had changed pretty significantly since we last revisited magazine pricing, so leaving it alone actually corrects it. :-)
-Vic.
.
I know prices of all things increase (just look at how much our beloved rulebooks cost compared to 5 years ago, 10 years, ago, etc.), and I can not fault the folks at Paizo for the price increase.
But I really think the high cost of a single issue of Dragon is going to hurt sales in the end. Especially sales from the casual reader and the new gamer.
Actually... the Canadian newsstand price is staying at $9.99 CAD. The USD-CAD exchange rate had changed pretty significantly since we last revisited magazine pricing, so leaving it alone actually corrects it. :-)
-Vic.
.
So, up until now you've been robbing them po' folks up in the North.
Shiny. I feel so much better, I could pay full price at my FLGS. ;-)
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Yep. Inflation is a bugger. One thing that does occur to me though. I remember being twelve years old and buying B4 The Lost City from a local toy store (long since gone) for about £5. It was my paper round (route in America I think) money, I loved that module, still have it too. This was about 20 years ago *goes all misty eyed with nostalgia*. I also recall getting The Sunless Citadel for about the same amount when it came out when 3.0 was launched. Had a quick look on the net and you can still get it new at Amazon for about £5.50. Both where 32 page modules as well. Looks like adventures don't go up by anywhere near as much as source books, if at all, and not even in real terms.
As an aside think about how much each page of useable Dragon and Dungeon is costing you compared to a hardcover, or even a pdf. Paizo's stuff really is amazing value for money, even at the new price. Even with some campaign specific content in either magazine that is difficult to crossover I am quite sure a mathematician or someone with not a lot to do could calculate the mean cost per page across a set period of time. Anyway, the price would have to go up a few more scores of percentiles for me to even raise an eyebrow and as I am in the UK I pay a lot more the US$6.99 as is :)
Anyway, $1 burgers are highly processed food and are not good for you, Paizo are actually helping your health and diet by putting the price up :) You should thank them for the extra years of life you will have by eating a dozen less mashed cow bits burgers per year :)
Yep. Inflation is a b*~&!*. One thing that does occur to me though. I remember being twelve years old and buying B4 The Lost City from a local toy store (long since gone) for about £5. It was my paper round (route in America I think) money, I loved that module, still have it too. This was about 20 years ago *goes all misty eyed with nostalgia*. I also recall getting The Sunless Citadel for about the same amount when it came out when 3.0 was launched. Had a quick look on the net and you can still get it new at Amazon for about £5.50. Both where 32 page modules as well. Looks like adventures don't go up by anywhere near as much as source books, if at all, and not even in real terms.
As an aside think about how much each page of useable Dragon and Dungeon is costing you compared to a hardcover, or even a pdf. Paizo's stuff really is amazing value for money, even at the new price. Even with some campaign specific content in either magazine that is difficult to crossover I am quite sure a mathematician or someone with not a lot to do could calculate the mean cost per page across a set period of time. Anyway, the price would have to go up a few more scores of percentiles for me to even raise an eyebrow and as I am in the UK I pay a lot more the US$6.99 as is :)
Anyway, $1 burgers are highly processed food and are not good for you, Paizo are actually helping your health and diet by putting the price up :) You should thank them for the extra years of life you will have by eating a dozen less mashed cow bits burgers per year :)
I get misty when I think that the first issue of Dragon I bought in '84 cost $3.95 and yes, modules cost between $6 and $10. I liked the prices then, and I pine for them now. And I liked the quality of items I bought back then.
I can say firmly that I think the quality of most issues of Dragon and Dungeon and some of the WotC product being produced today is very high and usually worth the prices I pay.
If you were to do a graph of price increases, you'd see that the price of comic books, movie tickets, concert tickets, game rulebooks, and so on have increased much more and faster than has the price of Dragon or Dungeon magazine. And gasoline...sheesh!
However, I say again, in response to Craig's comments about the burgers and the ability to use most of the stuff in Dragon (or Dungeon) that may need converting: this will not occur nor matter to the vast majority of the casual or new readers. They will flip through the magazine, see about 4-8 pages they know they can use in next week's game, and then look at the $8 price and shrink away from the magazine, probably not coming back to check it out for a long while.
But price increases are a fact of life and we all have to bite the bullet if we want to keep up with hobbies.
Anyway, $1 burgers are highly processed food and are not good for you, Paizo are actually helping your health and diet by putting the price up :) You should thank them for the extra years of life you will have by eating a dozen less mashed cow bits burgers per year :)
By making me starve?
#345 better be damn edible ... and nutritious.
;-)
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Well paper has cellulose, not Paizo's fault we evolved and our appenidix stopped working the way it used to when we weren't as omnivorous :)
My point on the adventures, beyond losing it with a big nostalgia trip, was that proportionally, compared to other books, their prices hikes are more, well, gentle ambling upwards compared to rule books. However page for pence (cent) Dungeon is still the best value for adventuring fun. Well, it seems to be.
As an aisde I found that most of my group started D&D when they where 18+ and never played such classics as B2 Keep on the Borderlands, B4 The Lost City, X1 Isle of Dread, and X2 Castle Amber. So some quick conversions and I can run them again as one offs :) Never thought I'd be using those again :)
I must try and find X8 Drums on Fire Mountain as well, I always liked that one too. Whom am I kidding, I get to use all my old B and X series modules again :)
My point? Well think of it this way. Dungeon and Dragon may being going up in price but you have no idea how many times you may use them for, or for how long. My old modules probably cost £5 each many years ago, and I am still going to use them again (for about the dozenth time). So the value will be relative to how you use them. In my case, excellent value for money.
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Director of Games
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Hey there all,
Unfortunately, prices do rise over time. The first issue of Dragon that I have in my collection is issue #77. That issue cost $3.00, is 84 pages long, is mostly black and white, and has roughly 28 pages of ads. Accounting for inflation, that same issue would cost around $6.00 today, meaning that you paid about 10.7 cents per page of content.
Today, you pay $8.00 for 100 pages, with only about 20-25 pages of ads, meaning you pay about 10.6 cents per page of content for a full color magazine. So.. while I am not happy that we had to raise the price, it has not gotten totally out of control with the past. Unfortunately we do not have the ad counts or print runs to offer the insanely low prices of the major magazines like Time and Newsweek.
In the end it is a question of worth. I hope that we are worth that extra dollar.
Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon
In the end it is a question of worth. I hope that we are worth that extra dollar.
Indubitably, my good man. Indubitably.
Hey there all,
Unfortunately, prices do rise over time. The first issue of Dragon that I have in my collection is issue #77. That issue cost $3.00, is 84 pages long, is mostly black and white, and has roughly 28 pages of ads. Accounting for inflation, that same issue would cost around $6.00 today, meaning that you paid about 10.7 cents per page of content.
Today, you pay $8.00 for 100 pages, with only about 20-25 pages of ads, meaning you pay about 10.6 cents per page of content for a full color magazine. So.. while I am not happy that we had to raise the price, it has not gotten totally out of control with the past. Unfortunately we do not have the ad counts or print runs to offer the insanely low prices of the major magazines like Time and Newsweek.
In the end it is a question of worth. I hope that we are worth that extra dollar.
Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon
I hadn't read an issue of Dragon in over 4 years until issue 338 (the one with the Wizard's Staves rules) and was blown away by theincrease in quality and utility. Of course it took me another 8 months to subscribe but I'm here now! (Along with Dungeon too). Just keep doing what your are doing and things will keep on keeping on.
I'm just curious; it seems to me that the page count of Dragon is less than what I recall from say, the early '90s or late '80s. Not surprisingly, the amount of adertising is less as well. I recall at one point the advertising was out of control with articles being scattered throughout the magazine. Could a 'best of both worlds' scenerio ever be allowed? I.E. Increased advertising and pages for that advertising while maintaining the current amount of pages of content? If it keeps MY cost down I'll gladly flick through more ads (I might even see something I want!)
Also, is the current glue binding cheaper than the staples of yesterday? I prefer the current binding, but would gladly sacrifice it.
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Chief Technical Officer
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I'm just curious; it seems to me that the page count of Dragon is less than what I recall from say, the early '90s or late '80s.
I'll let somebody who has backissues handy answer that one.
Could a 'best of both worlds' scenerio ever be allowed? I.E. Increased advertising and pages for that advertising while maintaining the current amount of pages of content?
We'd love to do that. If you know anybody who wants to advertise, please direct them to josh.frost@paizo.com.
Also, is the current glue binding cheaper than the staples of yesterday?
I don't think our printer will even do 100-page magazines saddlestitched (industry jargon meaning "stapled").
I'm just curious; it seems to me that the page count of Dragon is less than what I recall from say, the early '90s or late '80s.I'll let somebody who has backissues handy answer that one.
From my rack o' back issues, yes, the page count is less. My back issues only go back to the start of 3.0, though. I have noticed that there were more ads in the older issues as opposed to what there is now. Of course, there are some older features that are no longer in the new mags, like Mindflayer, Dragon Mirth, etc.
As far as the saddlestitching, some of my reaaaaaaaally old copies of Dungeon/Dragon have rust spots on them because they got wet and the staples rusted.
you paid about 10.7 cents per page of content (...) Today, (...) you pay about 10.6 cents per page of content for a full color magazine.
That's a very good deal. I'm amazed you can cram so much colour artwork into a magazine at that price.
Since prices will be going up, I think I'll re-subscribe right now. At the lowest price package it comes out to something like C$3.40 per issue.
Keep up the good work, the mags are definitely worth the price.