The news with all the details is here. Of course I found out today and not yesterday since my diligence with reading enworld.org has slowed.
I was immediately saddened because Dragon was a staple of D&D ever since I got into the game. Until the late Eighties, it was the gold standard of all gaming magazines. When I was a freshman at Strake Jesuit, this guy named George Magiros had issues from the late Seventies to the present (1983) in great condition. He was kind of enough to loan them to me so I photocopied all the articles that I liked and put them into a binder labeled “expansion rules,” tres geek!
When Dragon became a house organ for D&D, I was too busy with college to care and what little time I spent on gaming was with other genres the magazine never covered. I did start subscribing to it in 2000 with the advent of the Third Edition rules but I let it end in 2004 because I wanted to save $40 a year and it fueled my current opinion of the game drowning in too many rules and options. I do admit the arrival of Third Edition really injected new life into the magazine.
Dungeon is another matter. I recall this publication arose in the mid Eighties to free up space in Dragon and until recently, it only appeared every two months. Those who were on the “D&D-Sucks!” bandwagon (me included from 1988-1993) would still buy this publication since fantasy adventures for one set of rules can always be modified for another. I also started subscribing to it in 2000, actually my wife bought it for me and I kept on renewing. This journal has always been a lifesaver whenever I’m the DM and a morale booster at the beginning of the month; who doesn’t light up when the magazine he enjoys arrives to counteract the annoying bills?
I sent a polite e-mail to WOTC asking them if there will be a sneak preview or any details of their upcoming online subscription replacement. Polite? Well, Gamers like any subculture of fans (or nerds, take your pick) are notorious for rants via correspondence. I always write cordial and succinct e-mails to them whether it’s a book with missing pages (they’ve been aces on replacements) or replying to their requests for constructive feedback on new rules. Being on the receiving end of something similar for a living, they have my empathy and sympathy. By the way, they answered while I wrote this, WOTC will have more details later, as they happen.
Meanwhile, I think I’m beginning to see the upside of this: no more space being gradually gobbled up as the magazines accumulate. I’m trying to drum the pack rat out of me and Somara. But still cut me a little slack as I get a tad nostalgic about a piece of my geeky upbringing riding into the sunset.