FormCritic wrote:Erol Otus was the ultimate D&D artist....caught the feel of the early game perfectly.Just as Morno was the artist for the feel of all the Arduin materials. I wish we could convince him to revert and become Morno again.My favorite Dragon articles were always the "NPC" classes such as the anti-paladin, the early samurai, the witch, the bandit the archer and sundry other classes...balanced and sensical or not.Those NPC's got plugged into our games a lot as PC classes. What they turned out to be was a series of experiments in expanding the game as a whole.I also liked the adventures published in Dragon.My least favorite articles were fan fiction (who cares?) and all of the space wasted on non-D&D subjects.I remember Gary Gygax, back in 85 or so, explaining the move to 2nd edition AD&D. Roughly around the same time there was a readers' poll in Dragon about what we liked and did not like in the magazine. The goal of the poll seemed to be to get us to say we liked more non-D&D artiticles.In the section for "What other games would you like Dragon magazine to cover?" I answered: 1) AD&D 2) AD&D 3) AD&D.In the section for "What would you sacrifice from Dragon magazine to make space for new subjects?" I answered: Get rid of the Ares section and go back to covering AD&D.Two issues later, the Ares section was gone and the editor wrote, "OK, so we understand that a lot of you want us to focus more on AD&D!"Presto! No more space wasted on sci-fi games and Marvel super hero crap! (Good for toilet paper and little else to AD&D gamers.)I was impressed that TRS and the Dragon editors had flexible minds that would allow them to adjust to buyer demands...coupled with the sense to see that the TSR spin-off games were a waste of time. (Now, of course, someone here probably loved Star Frontiers or some such other tripe...you and about six other guys. )Dragon and Dungeon were living links with the past. Now they are gone. Sad.It is even more sad to me that the WOTC guys seem to believe that something different will suddenly motivate all of us to buy again. Since the start of 2nd Edition AD&D there has seemed to be a creative screw or two loose at TSR/WOTC...(The jump from 3.0 to 3.5 was the sort of betrayal typical of the screws-loose theory)...although sometimes the machine also spit out really good products. I would have preferred a less glitzy production, more oriented toward actual gaming than (for instance) articles by Will Wheaton...at maybe half the price they were charging.But...I'm not celebrating anything. This is a sad event.Mark
red_bus wrote:Here is the response from WOTC (yesterday). Somewhat more sensitive, and at least recognising the history of the hobby. Still smells to me of suspiciously fake sentimentality and crocodile tears
deimos3428 wrote:Well, their "damage control" agents of doom are now out in full force...just look at the response I got when I tried to have a little fun with them. It only took a suspicious 7 minutes for a response:http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.p ... 713&page=3You'd think they realize they messed up and fix it, but they'd rather spar with me over semantics. I think it'll be a fun week!
Badmike wrote: Well, since WOTC doesn't allow boycotts on their boards, I guess I'll just have to boycott them in real life.
Badmike wrote: Man I hope these asshats get hammered the next few weeks by guys like Deimos....and worse.
Afrika Corps wrote:And oh yea, why do a few people want to subjucate this forum and turn it into a rememberance of what was the best articles of days of past of Dragon Magazine while the murder and suicicide of this is taking place right now. Dragon Magazine did not go peacefully into the night, it was kidnapped, butchered and exploited as a hostage of the powers in control. To think that this evolution is somehow natural and warranted without any sort of outrage and anger is jacked up. Where are you at?
Center_Stage_Hobbies wrote:As much as I hate to say it - or even THINK it - we are the "has been" generation of gamers who WoTC could give a damn less about.
Center_Stage_Hobbies wrote:To us, Dragon and Dungeon are an institution. To new gamers, they're just game magazines. And those are the people I believe WoTC is catering to....
What You Won't Find Here:Much information at all on items produced 1990 and later. The primary focus of The Acaeum is on items of collectible value; the sad fact is that most items produced after the mid 1980's are pretty much still going for cover price at auctions. Info on playing D&D. There's a plethora of other web sites that cover every possible aspect of playing this game, as well as provide homemade modules, accessories, etc. The Acaeum was created in response to a perceived need for hard data on collecting D&D materials. We are the only known web site on the Internet currently doing so.
gyg wrote:the decision from WOTC will NOT have been made by the 'creatives', it will have been made with a bottom line in mind.
Xaxaxe wrote:(for the sake of argument, let's say that the age-range I'm talking about is 33 to 47)