I checked back around 11 PM and it was fixed. Thought I should post.

Cheers,
Pete

I can find a link for a sample issue but not if you want to just forgo that and just go in whole hog.

Anyone can give me a direct link on where to go to subscribe?

Is the problem with electronic forms of gaming media the fact that its just reprinting the same content on screen? Would we have a different opinion if they tried something more interactive? For example - I am an absolute sucker for miniature gaming battle reports. What if these are conveyed in movie form rather than written prose (actual shots of the battlefield, with Monday Night Football style movement indication and voice narration)? Is the problem that the gaming media just isn’t creative enough?

My view, which is very much from the outside of the industry, is that the root of the death of these magazines is the quality creep. Goodbye newsprint, hello gloss, goodbye black and white, hello full color. Hey, wait, where’d all the profit go?!

I am subscriber to Polymancer Magazine; amongst other mags, and have found it to be the most enjoyable of the ones I read.

1) - It is in print, not an e-zine which strains my eyes when reading too long.
2) - It has content, not a pile of ads and advertorials.
3) - It has content, not like an e-zine which come across as sound bytes of content.
4) - It is generic, not like most magazines that are house organs that cater to one company’s bottom line and the party line that hypes up inferior games and systems. I like the truth Polymancer brings back to the table and to gaming.
5) - New refreshing articles, that seem to be written by gamers and GMs, not people who make a career our of writing content for games companies.
6) - Artwork from gamers for gamers, not art masterpieces.
7) - A thoroughly good read that I go through in a weekend.

As to breadth of content, it is generic and covers everything under the sun. No genre or taste seems to be left out in favor of another. You want fantasy it is there, you want science fiction its there, you want minis its there, etc. You get the picture.

Since I do have a business in computer games (Torrential Games produces in-game animation, advanced dynamic AI, and GUIs) and am always looking for new venues to promote my small business I inquired about ads and readership levels and was pleasantly surprised to find that their ad rates were far lower than any other gaming magazine including the Game Buyer publication; I mean I was offered 12 lug ads for $20, WOW!. My second question after picking myself up off the floor was how many readers would my ad reach since I do watch my pennies … again I was pleased by the response to find over 8000 plus readers. cool!.

I am so glad I could finally post to a forum with something constructive I could add, thanks.

Pete

Dispel Magazine is humorous.

To James, et. al., I haven’t read Polymancer in ages. Any idea of content breadth and readership figures? Aldo Ghiozzi’s house magazine “Game Buyer” goes out primarily to retailers and distributors but also has lower advertising rates. I agree that high advertising rates is a disincentive to advertise in some zines, particularly for indie game companies.