Funny Story...

Well news has gotten out about a new magazine on the horizon: Gygax Magazine and from what I gather, it could be an impressive piece of work should everyone work out and go well for them. For those not yet in the know... the magazine is being put out by TSR (a new company which bought the old trademark that had abandoned with include Ernie and Luke Gygax among others).

For those who have read my thoughts on Kobold Quarterly recently, it looks like this magazine is going to provide more of the type of material that I would have wanted to see.  A focus on many games -- both new and old of various genres and with a list of people collaborating which sounds promising.

This was originally posted on facebook by Tim Kask:

Here's a snippet from our ad prospectus.....so now you all the official word there is at this time.

Gygax is a gaming magazine for new and old players alike.

We are looking forward to the games of tomorrow and today, while preserving the traditions and history that got us where we are now.

Our articles and features cover current independent and major publisher games such as Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, The One Ring, Shadowrun, Godlike, Labyrinth Lord, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, Warhammer 40k Roleplay, Traveller, and others, as well as classic out-of-print games with a modern following, like AD&D, Top Secret, and Gamma World.

Our features include comics by Phil Foglio (What’s New With Phil and Dixie), Jim Wampler (Marvin the Mage), and Rich Burlew (Order of the Stick). Contributors include Jim Ward, Cory Doctorow, James Carpio, Ethan Gilsdorf, Dennis Sustare, and many more.

Publishing quarterly in print as well as PDF and iPad editions, we hope each issue of Gygax will be an anticipated and treasured addition to any gamer’s library.

Very interesting and I wish the magazine all the best.  I signed up to be notified of the first issue's release HERE and those of you interested can do the same.

Of course, what makes this announcement bitter-sweet is a series of dialogues I began with a few people a few weeks ago.  This was before the announcement that Kobold Quarterly was shutting down -- which is very interesting timing given the announcement of Gygax Magazine.  It was also a few weeks before I even wrote about Kobold Quarterly and, part of the reason I was looking at KQ was because of some of the ideas I had brewing in my head.  It's been at least a year since Fight On! had a new volume released and there seemed to be a good lack of a solid and regular publication focusing on the things I, and many other gamers, love.  For long time readers of the blog, this is not the first time I considered putting out a regular periodical either.  A couple of years ago, I had begun work on a journal but set it aside to work on other things.  As time went on, those plans got completely revamped but it was a series of little things that got me thinking about the importance of giving smaller games and systems and a segment of the gaming community another voice.  Ideas just grew from there since, it's hard to kill a good idea.

Up to this past weekend, I had figured out the finances of what was needed to put out a digital and print magazine for the first year, meaning four quarterly issues.  The format of the magazine was becoming finalized with some thoughts to go about using a crowd-funding platform like Kickstarter to raise funds and see interest..  I was looking at taking Arcana Creations in a slightly different and more focused direction since I believe that sometimes, it's just better to focus on the one thing in order to do it very well.  Of course this would have been after I wrapped up a couple of projects and the first issue of this 'unnamed' magazine would have been Summer 2013.

Then I get an email suggesting I check out a link this morning for Gygax Magazine and what little news there was trickled through to me (I was at work) during the course of the day.

C'est la vie.  Arcana Creations will turn it's focus to something slightly different and we'll see current projects through and embark on a different route altogether.  ;)

Now, with Gygax Magazine, I certainly have my 'wishlist' of things I would really like to see.  It's something I see I might like contributing to though so who knows ... wishes and dreams do sometimes come true.  Maybe I'll finally have a magazine I'll be happy and exited to subscribe to and read once again!

M