I leafed through some old issues of Dragon on my lunch break the other day (issues from the early 80's) and there used to be a lot of non D&D stuff included in the magazine.
I understand that Dragon is an "official" support vehicle of WotC's D&D line, but I would really like to see non D&D Wizards D20 products supported (even non Wizards stuff, maybe Wizards/Paizo could get a deal with Green Ronin, Kenser, et al.)
Why? Even if you play only D&D, D20 products for other settings can be a great source of ideas. I was really bummed when "Polyhedron" left the pages of Dragon, then Dungeon. I loved that stuff...great variety and inspirational material--the Iron Lords of Jupiter d20 mini-game was just incredible, for example.
In the old days, there were "Top Secret" adventures and articles in Dragon, as well as Star Frontiers and even an occasional article supporting a non-TSR game or setting.
Even if Dragon just expanded to include an occasional d20 modern article, I would be thrilled. It would add some real nice variety and more spice to the magazine. Most of the d20 modern stuff I've found on the internet is dubious quality at best and I would really love to see some other d20 stuff covered with Paizo's high standards.
...a "class act" style feature to add some spice to the d20 modern base classes would be a really cool thing, for example.
I know that there are many third party publishers of d20 modern material out there, but I'd rather get printed copies of high quality stuff every few months from a magazine I already subscribe to than try to hunt down, research and download stuff off the 'net' in PDF format.
As much as I would like to see other d20 articles in Dungeon, I think the chances of it are pretty slim. What I would like to see in more in-depth reviews of other d20 books out there.
Nice to see I wasn't the only one who misses Polyhedron! Polyhedron was nice for the "whazzup" in the d20 world, which I liked. The Iron Lords of Jupiter article reminded me of the John Carter Mars series, which I loved. It would be a fun one-shot campaign or session. :D
Well, I understand that Paizo has to follow Wizards' drumbeat...maybe I'm just being nostalgic again for the "old days" when the hobby was still relatively young and Dragon tried to be a "gaming" magazine in general, not just a "D&D" magazine.
Nowadays with instant communication and instant feedback from the readership, I'm sure there would be an uproar of some sort, especially judging from those who try to incite a minor internet riot whenever the content of a specific game setting lags behind the others in the amount of attention it's getting in the magazines.
....but it would be really nice if more than just D&D was covered in Dragon.....I guess I still see role-playing games as being a more inclusive overall theme in itself. I wouldn't be "threatened" or get "angry" about finding a different game or game system covered in Dragon--I would see it as a source of ideas or a snapshot of a game that I might not have otherwise been exposed to...but I kind of feel that I wouldn't be in the majority in feeling that way. I would be perfectly fine if 1/3 of Dragon was dedicated to games other than D&D.
Just see how many thread topics are started by people who actually count pages to beat Paizo over the head if there was one page of content and one page of ads more in one magazine than another...I've never seen it as an "accounting" issue (OMG-I only got 37 pages of "official D&D" material this month when last month I got 39 pages--must go complain and b+$~~ about it to someone, let me go to a messageboard and roar my righteous disapproval of being cheated out of 750 words of "official D&D material."
So, yeah, I could see expanding Dragon again to include more variety as being something that would bring the mighty complainers out of the woodwork, but I would welcome it.
I wouldn't mind seeing one two-page article per issue on D20 Modern or Future. It could certainly use the publicity!
I wouldn't mind seeing one two-page article per issue on D20 Modern or Future. It could certainly use the publicity!
I think it would be fun; and I don't think it would even need to be an article in every issue, to be honest. The quality of the articles would be more important to me than the frequency. I have no doubt Paizo would be able to find quality submissions, though.
Well, I understand that Paizo has to follow Wizards' drumbeat...maybe I'm just being nostalgic again for the "old days" when the hobby was still relatively young and Dragon tried to be a "gaming" magazine in general, not just a "D&D" magazine.
Nowadays with instant communication and instant feedback from the readership, I'm sure there would be an uproar of some sort, especially judging from those who try to incite a minor internet riot whenever the content of a specific game setting lags behind the others in the amount of attention it's getting in the magazines.
....but it would be really nice if more than just D&D was covered in Dragon.....I guess I still see role-playing games as being a more inclusive overall theme in itself. I wouldn't be "threatened" or get "angry" about finding a different game or game system covered in Dragon--I would see it as a source of ideas or a snapshot of a game that I might not have otherwise been exposed to...but I kind of feel that I wouldn't be in the majority in feeling that way. I would be perfectly fine if 1/3 of Dragon was dedicated to games other than D&D.
...
So, yeah, I could see expanding Dragon again to include more variety as being something that would bring the mighty complainers out of the woodwork, but I would welcome it.
At the risk of my dissension labeling me as one of your "mighty complainers," I think a reversion of the magazines to covering several games would be a dreadful mistake. I'll hazard a guess that there is a strong correlation to the magazines' refocusing (i.e. getting rid of Polyhedron) and what appears to be renewed success of the magazines (if the comments from the editors themselves are to be believed). I don't care enough about non-D&D d20 material to want to lose a feature article or regular column of the material I *do* like. Now I would be interested in seeing material on d20-like games (i.e. M&M, SpyCraft), but not in Dragon or Dungeon. I'd rather see another magazine (digital even!) started by those responsible for those games arise. I don't think that any magazine (that I've read) is ever as interesting if it's spread too thinly over multiple topics.
That said, I do enjoy the pages in Dragon after the mail that call out items of interest from other companies. I would leave it at that though.
Having a different opinion on this issue from me certainly doesn't make you a mighty complainer. I was referring to those who nitpick little details to death. I think you make a good point and I realize that I'm probably in the minority with my desire for non D&D d20 content in Dragon. I just remember finding some of the best ideas for my D&D campaigns in articles about games that were not D&D, but I've never shied away from doing a lot of conversion work or adaptation when necessary.
I'd rather see a separate "Random D20 Content Sampler" magazine.
I found Hijinx entertaining to read, and almost feasible to present to my friends as something to play. But, I'd prefer to have more proper D&D content if I had to choose between the two.
Yes, but to be honest, your friends tend to slaver at pretty much *any*thing, don't they??