>> GAMES > GAMING CULTURE

The Day the Dice Died

As the loyal GeekintheCity readers know, your friendly neighborhood Geek had to employ MI5 style tactics to maintain my dice-tossing ways back in the day. With D&D masking tactics that would make Q's head spin, my skills at transforming the Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead into Cracken's Rebel Field Guide are legendary. Still, for all my more than meets the eye transformations, I wished I could have walked around the house with D&D pride. Just wasn’t gonna' happen. Had the shadow of Gary Gygax reared its head within this wee Geek's house, there would be blood. And salsa (but that is another story). However, there was one trapping of my young dice-tossing days that I could leave lying on the kitchen table without fear.

Good ‘ol Dragon Magazine!

Don't know why my parents didn't mind the magazine. It was so clearly attached to that devil game. Well, not really. See, back in the Stone Age (aka AD&D 2nd Edition days), Dragon Magazine used to cover all aspects of gaming. It also had fiction. Sure, it focused heavily on AD&D, but it reviewed other games. It had comics. It covered all aspects of gaming! Yea, I wrote that twice and for a very good reason. Dragon Magazine was my Sports Illustrated, as it was to all my fellow nerds that chose to sit around the table and swing mystical Swords +5. Unlike issues of S.I., every issue was the swimsuit issue, what with all the babes in Pasties +1. Um, they were only drawings, but still, you get it where you can when you’re an oily 13-year-old Geek. To put it simply, Dragon Magazine was the realm where my dreams went to play. (When I wasn’t, you know, pretending to save the Enterprise from Klingon death).

Sadly, those days are gone.

Last weekend, I went into my favorite local gaming store looking for something new to occupy my gaming habit. Stacks upon stacks of stat-filled books caught my eye and while I was incredibly tempted, I’m trying to avoid any new gaming books because your friendly neighborhood Geek wants to play; and every time I get a new book, it means more months of DM'ing. (Um, trust me, those who understand such things know there is a massive difference). No new cards needed for my deadly milling deck, (and I need to save my bills for October 3). Then I saw it. The newest issue of Dragon (and Dungeon, but I rarely read that one, see the same reason for avoiding new RPG books) sitting on the new release table. A glorious Larry Elmore cover, attracting my attention. Alas, as I approached the newest issue my heart sank. I knew it was coming, but like Gob trying to avoid a break-up call from a sexy Mexican soap-opera star, I did my best to ignore the facts…

Last Issue of Dragon Magazine!

They sighted a myriad of reasons for the magazine's departure. However, the phrase that kept coming up was the "proliferation of online and electrical gaming". There might be some truth to that, but I have my doubts. It all started when Dragon and Dungeon Magazine switched to D20 products alone. Sure, that might have alienated a good slice of the gaming community, but it also attracted new ones that were discovering (or, in my case rediscovering) RPGs. Then quite suddenly, both magazines transformed to D&D only content. I could see the writing on the wall. Although no one was saying anything, I new the magazine's days were numbered. So, I guess this shouldn’t be such a surprise that Dragon took its last flight. I’ve yet to finish the issue. For one thing, it just bums me out to finish the last issues, and secondly, it just isn’t that good of a magazine anymore. I know you need to write for your target market, but to focus on such a niche group I couldn't help but lose interest in the magazine. Still, is there truth to the statement that tabletop gaming is losing an audience?

I hope not.

Not simply because I'm about to enter the realm of RPG book publishing (and comic). No, I hope this isn't true because there is something sad about people relying on console and/or computer games as their escapist entertainment. Not to sound like a White Wolf Games editor, but there is something magical about sitting at the gaming table and telling a story along with your friends and family. Something you just can't do at a computer monitor, not to the same level as face-to-face contact.

To coin an ad you can’t read anymore from Dragon Magazine…

If you’re going to pretend to be a 15th level High Elf, at least do it with friends.