Format questions

[calithena]

No need for a poll just yet, but two things I'm wondering about.

1) I am thinking I would like to reinstate 88 pages as a maximum so we can go back to stapled magazine style printing. Are there any thoughts on this one way or another?

2a) Were the margins big enough in issue #2?

2b) Were the increased margins for the perfect bound format big enough in #4? (I know they weren't big enough in #3, that was why we increased the size.)

[badger2305]

Eighty-eight pages seems plenty big enough. I mean, you could go to bimonthly printing if there was enough material, right?

[coffee]

I'm fine with 88 pages as a maximum, but I wouldn't want you to have to cut any deserving material just because I prefer staples. I haven't actually had any problem with the perfect binding (unless I want it to lay flat...), so I can't really use the old objections I used to have.

[calithena]

Well, honestly, part of the reason I'm attracted to 88 pages is that these monster issues are representing a huge amount of work for me. There is more and more deserving material getting delayed, but on the other hand it's nice to have a 1 or 2 issue 'buffer'. If an issue really demands to be over that length we'll probably do it whatever the 'rules' are though.

[Zulgyan]

88 pages is already a lot in what you can expect from a fanzine, and this fanzine manages to cram a lot of stuff since it's light on illos and publicity, so I think it´s a good idea.

To have material for 1 o 2 issues ahead, delaying some of the stuff is also a great benefit.

I haven't seen the margins in #4 yet so I can´t comment.

[labsenpai]

I'm in favor of the 88 page length and decreased margins (1/2 inch is plenty, I'd only go larger if folio decorations became standard).

You could have a standard recipe for issue content, and perhaps an "annual special" or 2 that collect specific contributions?

/Insert "Step 4 - Profit" joke here

[Melan]

If it is too much work, that's Reason #1 to go back to 88 pages. Better a slowdown than burnout. On the other hand, getting delayed kinda sucks - and I would understand the frustration of those who'd experience it.

The question is, is there enough material coming in to keep up with these huge issues? Maybe it is just a burst of enthusiasm that will turn into a steadier, but less explosive trickle of stuff.

[The Fiendish Dr. Samsara]

1) Weird to say, #3 is almost to big. I could definitely see going back to 88 pages.

[waysoftheearth]

I have all four issues and would have no problem at all with an 88 page "limit". Quality is far more important to me than quantity, and from what I've seen so far the quality has been great.

I actually prefer the staple bound issues because they handle like a magazine rather than a booklet.

I didn't have any problem with the print margins in issue #2.

I might also note that the font size is easy to read throughout which is a pleasant change

[jrients]

I prefer 88 pages because a stapled book lays flat at the game table.

[cadriel]

Generally, I think 88 pages or so is just fine. I think it's got to be a balanced 88, though - an issue with too many behemoth articles is going to lose out on having enough variety, especially with things that are easier to insert into an ongoing game than say a lengthy setting description or a module.

Honestly, these are the things of most use to me as a referee, and I have a feeling I'm not the only one. I think it'd be great to have a special section dedicated exclusively to new content - all the awesome charts, new monsters, spells, magic items, races, classes, the "little things" that sort of get tossed throughout the magazine as it is. If they were in one section, it wouldn't feel like "filler" (because it isn't), and it'd be a lot more useful as a day to day reference. As it stands, you kind of have to flip through the magazine to find everything.

[Alex Schroeder]

I am always afraid that people will burn out before long. If it's too much work, by all means reduce the size of an issue.

Then again, when I see those big, BIG issues in my mailbox, my heart swells, tears of joy run down my face, my lips tremble, I fall to me knees and cry for joy!!

Yes, I like big quarterly issues.

[calithena]

Shorter might help with that in general, cadriel. I agree that that stuff isn't filler - on the contrary, I won't publish an issue without at least one new class/race, spells article, monsters article, magic items article, and rules variant. It's interesting though - I expected (probably from modern systems expectations) us to be up to our eyeballs in that stuff, and adventures to be the hard thing to get. On the contrary, it's been just the opposite - not that I don't want as many cool adventures as we can get, of course!

If we do wind up having lots of extra material at the 88 page size we'll just start publishing more often (I hope).

[kelvingreen]

Shorter, opens flat, comes out more often. That'll do nicely.

[Finarvyn]

I'd vote for smaller issues. While it was neat to get those giganto page counts, they are more like books and less like magazines.

[coffee]

I wouldn't object to a 64 page, bimonthly publication. But I'm not advocating anything that might burn anybody out.

[Tim Shorts]

Any size is fine with me. Just keep them coming. My one suggestion, although it might make your head explode, is if you have enough good adventures in the backlog maybe do a special issue of solid adventures. *Steps back to see if Cal's head pops*