Avenging the Dragon! [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

smart thog

2007-09-01, 07:46 PM

The world needs a print Dragon magazine, not some internet magazine1! If the all mighty wizards will not make it, we will! I have seen some great homebrews on this site, it could be made into a print issues. Give me your ideas. The first issue should be about rebrith, with an ecology of the phoenix, sage advice on coming back to life and stuff along those lines. I will do the ecology myself.

1 No offense to webcomic artists such as Mr. Burlew, whose help I would like in this project.

StickMan

2007-09-01, 07:51 PM

This is more suited to the Gaming forum, or even the media forum.

de-trick

2007-09-01, 08:01 PM

how can you make magazines, what about art and that and how many you going to make, how are you going to ship them and the rest of the business

but I'll help if you need help

smart thog

2007-09-01, 08:07 PM

This is more suited to the Gaming forum, or even the media forum.

My mistake, but whats done is done! Got any ideas on how to move the thread?

how can you make magazines, what about art and that and how many you going to make, how are you going to ship them and the rest of the business

but I'll help if you need help

Thanks for your support. As for your questions, it should be a simple matter to find a good publisher for the magazine, art can be done with photoshop and posted to articles for the publisher's convenience, the publisher could ship them, and writers are not always business men, we will need someone who can do that kind of stuff

de-trick

2007-09-01, 08:30 PM

also are we going to 4.0 once it comes out, I'm not really in favor of 4.0

FdL

2007-09-01, 08:57 PM

Ok, but when your magazine comes out I won't be able to buy it, whereas I will have no problem suscribing to the electronic format WotC is proposing. The same with many people around the world.

Think about it. You're posting in the forums of a webcomic. See the parallelism? Notice the advantages of the media? Well, a lot of people has, and are doing it electronically right now, and from some years.

Now, I love magazines, real paper magazines you can take to bed and to the bathroom. But it seems that tecnology allows for better ways of publishing nowadays.

de-trick

2007-09-01, 09:01 PM

at least with paper you can say you own it, take it places look at everything, toach it, smell it what ever wlse you want to do with it

FdL

2007-09-01, 11:44 PM

That's a collector's view, which I can understand. I buy records even when I already have downloaded them in digital format.

But from a practical point of view, for the distribution and generation of content, the digital media has too many advantages over the printed media. Hey, even if you download it you can print a copy yourself and smell it, read it in the bathroom, etc :p

But well, all this debate will be pretty much over when they finally commercialize the much vaunted "digital paper" readers.

Vaynor

2007-09-02, 12:11 AM

Why would Wizards let you? If you use only OGL content, that magazine would suck.

Good idea, but it's not going to work.

Serpentine

2007-09-02, 12:40 AM

Ok, but when your magazine comes out I won't be able to buy it, whereas I will have no problem suscribing to the electronic format WotC is proposing. The same with many people around the world.
The trouble is, I'm not going to. There's already a heap of great content on the Wizards site I never get around to looking at cuz I'm too busy. A magazine, though? I can just grab that when I have some spare time at uni, read it while I'm waiting for the bus... I like doing that. As far as I'm concerned, far too much is heading 'netwards lately, and doing this to the magazines to me is as good as cancelling it completely.
Good idea, Thog. You mean well, though I'm not sure how much luck you'll have. It'll be interesting to see how it goes...

FdL

2007-09-02, 01:17 AM

Well, I'm not going to subscribe either. And I would prefer a magazine too (actually I never been able to buy any of those mags). It's just that it does make sense as a means of distribution. And certainly it's even more beneficial for indie enterprises like Smart Thog is trying to create than for big companies that eventually CAN get a printed issue anywhere around the world.

If the debate is on why WotC chose to do it, or if it's good or bad, well, personally I think there's no need to quit doing the paper magazines. It's just an issue of market or brand control, and an aggresive way of pushing their digital thing by offering exclusive content.

So, I think digital is an easier way to distribute content, but I'm not against magazines, and I think shutting D and D magazines was a bad idea that makes sense from a bussiness standpoint.

Narmoth

2007-09-02, 02:03 AM

I would be happy to join in. I have some maps over drow cities that's much better than most D&D stuff (more detailed), a lot of stuff on making believable and playable cities and I have made some gods that players could put into their pantheons.
I also draw a bit, so I'll be happy to try to provide the artwork (but not alone, I'm not that good)
There's only one problem: I play strictly 2nd ed, so I'll have to get into the open license rules before writing.
And I live in Norway, so I would most likely have a hard time buying the magazine.

Here's a logo a did for a consert I'm arranging. It gives a pretty good idea of how good (bad) I'm to draw:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r79/Narmoth/arctic-metal-demon-logo.jpg

Thought to use these 2 drawings as artwork for some songs I wrote, but Iprobably won't use them:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r79/Narmoth/ThePromice-1.jpg
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r79/Narmoth/Nightstar_-1.jpg

Ceres

2007-09-02, 05:17 AM

Narmoth

2007-09-02, 07:26 AM

Err, I thought I read somewhere that much (if not all) of the content released on the net would also be in magazines (can't find the source, though. So don't take my word for it.)

As soon as we get our light-as-a-feather, futuristic A4-style computers with wireless internet-connection I'd love if everything went digital. Until then, I agree with Serpentine.

@ Narmoth: Hvis du mener Dragon og Dungeon magasinene, så kan du få kjøpt dem på Outland i Oslo og Bergen. Skjønt bor du langt fra byene kan jeg skjønne at det er litt vanskelig.

Thanks, but I live in ****ing Tromsø! That means that if you took the miles in direct line from Tromsø to Oslo and flipped it sout of Oslo, you would end up in Italy.

Funn to find more people from Norway here on this forum! :smallcool:

Zherog

2007-09-02, 09:10 AM

The first issue should be about rebrith, with an ecology of the phoenix,

The phoenix is not OGC material, which makes it off-limits for use in a product.

And somebody has already stepped into the void left behind by a print magazine. Wolfgang Baur is producing a quarterly magazine called Kobold Quarterly (http://wolfgangbaur.com/kobold_quarterly/).You can get the issue mailed to you as a PDF, or you can get print copies. You can pick up the paper copies (which look very nice at Paizo's on-line store, or you can subscribe.

Serpentine

2007-09-02, 09:18 AM

Err, I thought I read somewhere that much (if not all) of the content released on the net would also be in magazines (can't find the source, though. So don't take my word for it.)
I hope you're right, but I haven't heard anything like that. Surely they wouldn't announce the end of the magazines if they were effectively simply switching publishers?

smart thog

2007-09-08, 12:32 PM

I can't do the Ecology of the Phoenix. That sucks, I was looking forward to that.

purple gelatinous cube o' Doom

2007-09-08, 12:51 PM

Smart, I think you're failing to realize that Wizards has looked into the extensively, and have discovered that more people are looking to the internet for their gaming articles rather than going to pick up a hard copy of the magazine. Now if most of your readers are looking to the web, what good does it do you to print that material, since it won't find it's way into the hands of those who want it. The discontinuing of Dragon was solely a business decision, since it cuts the costs of having to print the magazine (which I'm sure isn't cheap). Wizards' primary objective is to make money, and this is the way they've discovered to maximize that goal.

Trog

2007-09-08, 06:36 PM

Welcome to the beginning of paperless society. I work in the newspaper industry and even using crappy newsprint printing is still the biggest cost of doing business. Not to mention distribution costs. No wonder the New York times is switching to electronic. Wizards is cutting their costs yet still offering people the content. Makes perfect sense to me. Plus it saves a lot of trees and toxic chemicals used to treat the pages, bleach them, and the printing process itself. As long as they are getting enough subscribers, visitors, advertisers to invest in their site it is a very wise business move.

smart thog

2007-09-08, 09:50 PM

Plus it saves a lot of trees and toxic chemicals used to treat the pages, bleach them, and the printing process itself. As long as they are getting enough subscribers, visitors, advertisers to invest in their site it is a very wise business move. Thats the first good reason I have heard for taking Dragon Online. That does not stop me from missing it, "sob".

Trog

2007-09-08, 11:45 PM

Thats the first good reason I have heard for taking Dragon Online. That does not stop me from missing it, "sob".

Yup. It's a greener Dragon. :smallcool:

Zherog

2007-09-09, 09:34 AM

I hope you're right, but I haven't heard anything like that. Surely they wouldn't announce the end of the magazines if they were effectively simply switching publishers?

The plan is to release three articles per week. Once a month, they'll take those three articles and corral them into a magazine. Unfortunately for those who want paper, the magazine will be on-line. They've been unclear about whether you'll be able to download the magazine, though they have said several times that they believe in the statement, "You bought it, you own it."

I can't do the Ecology of the Phoenix. That sucks, I was looking forward to that.

You can't do an ecology of the phoenix that appears in MM2. However, WotC certainly does not own the phoenix - it's a monster of legend and mythology. You can create your own phoenix; you also could write an entirely fluff piece of the creature, making reference to the myths and such. What you can't do is use the game mechanics from the book.

If you're so intent on writing the ecology, might I suggest that you write it for Dragon. Send them a query.

smart thog

2007-09-09, 02:10 PM

Thanks, I might take you up on that. where do I send my work?

PlatinumJester

2007-09-09, 03:15 PM

You have my full support as long as you print it in the UK as well.

Zherog

2007-09-09, 10:02 PM

Thanks, I might take you up on that. where do I send my work?

[email protected]

Here's the submission guidelines they've posted (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/news/20070711a)

AtomicKitKat

2007-09-10, 02:40 AM

Someone clear this up for me. Credit Card to subscribe? Whoop de doo. Another thing denied the people most likely to use it. I don't know how the figures are in the US, but over here, Credit Cards are mostly the realm of the rich(or at least, those earning more than 1.5-2k a month). And generally speaking, you're not gonna get rich before 30. Which, incidentally, is about the time most people would be starting their families, and thus have even less money to spend for "vapourware"(well, it's not hard, and it really only exists as a bunch of on-off switches).

Serpentine

2007-09-10, 04:35 AM

They've been unclear about whether you'll be able to download the magazine, though they have said several times that they believe in the statement, "You bought it, you own it."
Yeah, and now I'll have to pay for it twice (the second time in the form of paper and ink) if I want to hold it in my grubby little paws. I hope they're at least gonna make the subscription much cheaper. Either way, buggrem.

Zherog

2007-09-10, 07:33 AM

smart thog

2007-09-16, 06:26 PM

Regarding what Trog had said, I do not think it is a environmentally friendly move to sell Dragon in the news stands. Just too much wasted paper in the form of unsold issues. However, I think that if you subscribe, you should get an print issue, like the ones they sold before the magazine ended. It should mean no wasted paper, because every issue is meant for a subscriber. In fact, less wasted paper than if the subscribers had printed the issues themselves, because , well face it, not many people are good book binders, and some people will just keep printing the issues again and again until they bind it right, which could take many many tries.

smart thog

2007-09-23, 02:57 PM

Are people getting offended by the fact I care for the environment?

Anyway here is our subscription plan

1. find out what is the cheapest way to print our Mag
2. Advertise online for the mag (I will do some headvertising)
3. Get subscriptions
4. Print mag

for most of you this is easier typed then done.

for me they are equal do to my crappy keyboard

[Insert Neat Username Here]

2007-09-23, 03:17 PM

Yeah, and now I'll have to pay for it twice (the second time in the form of paper and ink) if I want to hold it in my grubby little paws. I hope they're at least gonna make the subscription much cheaper. Either way, buggrem.

The subscriptions are free until May. After 4ed is released, it's $10/month for Dungeon, Dragon, PDFs and extra content for every book you buy, and D&D gametable.

Not bad.

EDIT: sorry, it's between $10-$15. Still great, considering how much you get.

link. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ask/20070906a)