Full Version: Shadowrun Magazine
I had a discussion with a friend of mine about how cool it would be to have a SOTA magazine come out every month/year and have updates about paces and equipment in the SR universe. It would be cheaper for Fanpro/Wizkids to do this then put out a new book every year that may or maynot be popular. Issues could even have major shadowruns that develop the Shadowrun storyline. What is you opinion?
The main problem with magazines is the tendancy for rules creep.
Developers attention has to be focused on new sourcebooks. The rate of new releases is poor, they don't need another time consuming project.
More content would be good.
The only parts of a gaming magazine that I've found useful are Errata/FAQ sections and adventure/campaign sections.
So if this magazine had NPC/PC stats, building maps, example matrix sites, secruity setups...and advenutres and erratas I'd buy it.
Sort of like Dungeon magazine.
The only parts of a gaming magazine that I've found useful are Errata/FAQ sections and adventure/campaign sections.
So if this magazine had NPC/PC stats, building maps, example matrix sites, secruity setups...and advenutres and erratas I'd buy it.
Sort of like Dungeon magazine.
Did once, will never do it again. Nor will I subscribe to Holostreets for the same reason.
I agree with mintcar, though. The last thing they need are for fewer products to come out because they're dicking around with a magazine (or even a website, which is why I assume Holostreets is being run by other people).
I agree with mintcar, though. The last thing they need are for fewer products to come out because they're dicking around with a magazine (or even a website, which is why I assume Holostreets is being run by other people).
Voted "no, but I (might) buy some of the issues". For one thing, it would be primarily SR4 centric.
i'm with eid, i might grab a few here and there for the heck of it, now that i have a job lol
I used to get Challenge magazine for the scenarios, stories, and NPCs. Heck, I've even still got a few... And I love TSS (but it's not like it was...)
I'd be up for a magazine, say quarterly, that was mostly background stuff like Kleaner said, without the "rules creep" that AH mentioned (d20 anyone?). Could even rely a lot on fan subs that are approved by the editors.
Y'know, kind of like a SR specific Commando Quarterly.
I'd be up for a magazine, say quarterly, that was mostly background stuff like Kleaner said, without the "rules creep" that AH mentioned (d20 anyone?). Could even rely a lot on fan subs that are approved by the editors.
Y'know, kind of like a SR specific Commando Quarterly.
I say that we should do a Shadowrun equivalent of Dungeon. People could send in scenarios, we'd have people playtest 'em, and the best would end up in a PDF monthly. ("best" most likely being whatever we can find that's playable.)
I'm writing for a german Earthdawn-zine, which is managed in exact the way you said. We chose a new main theme for every issue and people can send their in texts or post them at the forum. After the deadline we chose which text to take, correct them and do a layout.
Of course we need close to 6 months for an issue, but the ED community is not as big as the SR one - and it's worth the effort
I think it can work that way here at DS too. All you need are a handful of dedicated people working on it.
Of course we need close to 6 months for an issue, but the ED community is not as big as the SR one - and it's worth the effort
I think it can work that way here at DS too. All you need are a handful of dedicated people working on it.
| QUOTE (ronin3338 @ Apr 22 2006, 05:39 PM) |
| Y'know, kind of like a SR specific Commando Quarterly. |
I would like to see an SR specific 'Commando Quarterly'... would help promote the SR Missions better in my mind.... This recent one for example: I mean they did so much development on the Battletech stuff, and the Denver article was waaaay shorter than it could have been. They didn't even get into Coyote's and border smuggling... that's nearly half the shadowbiz that goes on in the FRFZ!
A quarterly SOTA would be good, with eventual inclusions or expansion of the SOTA in upcoming books. We've seen WotC do that already with Dragon material, some spells, feats, etc featured in the mags eventually make it into new editions of the books.
| QUOTE (Dranem) |
| A quarterly SOTA would be good, with eventual inclusions or expansion of the SOTA in upcoming books. We've seen WotC do that already with Dragon material, some spells, feats, etc featured in the mags eventually make it into new editions of the books. |
I couldn't support a periodical that contributed to the feature (rules) creep mentioned by other posters. Such creep made previous editions of Shadowrun weak; I was less and less likely to be interested in buying suppliments. I desperately hope that the same will not happen to this edition; I like it too much.
I don't think rules updates would be included in a SOTA magazine. It would be concentrated on storyline campains, equipment, and news from around the world. As mentioned above I think this would have to be a third party magazine but it would have to have Wizkids/FanPro have final cut (so that it could be legit). Who knows maybe material that is popular in the magazine would make it into a future source book.
My two cents:
Yes I would purchase said magazine, but I'm not sure if Fan Pro has the infrastructure necessary to run an entire magazine as well as their own business. WotC works closely with a different company (Paizo IIRC) to produce Dragon and Dungeon.
If there is a group of writers who are truly committed to creating a quarterly magazine or even monthly, then I would recommend getting some work together and when you have 3-5 full magazines worth of material pitch the idea at Rob that "You and Your Team" work on this project and give FanPro editorial license. You would then be responsible for the logistics and financing, but those who are interested could still get the information.
A lower cost alternative may be to do the same project but have it released here on Dumpshock through the front page, release it on SRRPG.Com or through the CommandoHQ site.
Yes I would purchase said magazine, but I'm not sure if Fan Pro has the infrastructure necessary to run an entire magazine as well as their own business. WotC works closely with a different company (Paizo IIRC) to produce Dragon and Dungeon.
If there is a group of writers who are truly committed to creating a quarterly magazine or even monthly, then I would recommend getting some work together and when you have 3-5 full magazines worth of material pitch the idea at Rob that "You and Your Team" work on this project and give FanPro editorial license. You would then be responsible for the logistics and financing, but those who are interested could still get the information.
A lower cost alternative may be to do the same project but have it released here on Dumpshock through the front page, release it on SRRPG.Com or through the CommandoHQ site.
I think a magazine might be a great idea as a way to get out material that has to be cut from Sourcebooks due to pagecount and space restrictions. This way, it wouldn't take away from sourcebook development, but all that material that would be great to have, but just can't make it into a published sourcebook could still generate a bit of revenue.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.