My first try at writing this editorial was twice as long as this one, and involved my personal history: how I got into gaming in the first place, my time out of the hobby, my serendipitous encounter with SHADIS, and so on. In reading it over, however, I realized that in all probability nobody cared. What I suspected you readers were interested in was an explanation of the changes in the magazine. Well, "buckle your seatbelts -- it's going to be a bumpy ride."
As you have no doubt noticed, SHADIS is undergoing a sea-change. The look is changing, the size is fluctuating wildly - why, there's even a new editor! "What are they doing to my SHADIS?"
Relax. The things that make SHADIS what it is aren't going to change. You're still going to get great articles which are truly useful at the game table. As Jolly mentioned in his final editorial (#21), I pulled together the majority of the previous three issues, and I've been recommending articles for even longer than that. If you're interested in seeing what SHADIS will be like in the future, look at the past.
Nevertheless, changes will be made. Some have, in fact, already been made, as you'll notice when you page through this issue. Whereas jolly seemed perfectly happy taking on the work of ten men, I'm only going to attempt the work of half a dozen or so. Hence, I've been delegating authority to folks in anticipation of the new year.
SHADIS-watchers may be wondering where Issue #21.5 is. The half- issue idea has been retired; SHADIS Presents may occasionally occur as a bonus, large issue, possibly quarterly or twice a year, but its future is still tip in the air. Meanwhile, we've gone monthly. There will be a full issue of SHADIS every month, but it won't be 112 pages; it'll be 96. This is the same total page count as before (when it was 112- 80-112-80), but with a full issue every month.
Other changes will include:
The Edge. This will be the centerpiece of the new-look SHADIS, a pull- out center section of the magazine which will see the resurrection of reviews, unseen since #18 (in a vastly expanded format), timedependent material, and whatever insider information and industry gossip we can get our hands on. Now, I don't get a lot of industry gossip - I rarely get away from my computer - so I handed the whole package over to Ken Carpenter. For those of you who haven't been paying attention to mastheads and by-lines, Ken is our Miniatures Editor, and also writes regularly for Dragon, White Wolf (requiescat in pace), and almost anybody else who will hold still long enough to have printed matter submitted to them. He's remarkably talented, and much more plugged in than I am, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with his pages.
This major format change may seem hasty or unplanned, but it is neither. This section has been under discussion since last summer, and has been eagerly awaited in the office.
The look of the magazine is changing. In a further effort to delegate authority, I've turned over large portions of the layout duties to Matt Wilson, our Art Director. You've seen his artwork in the magazine before; this month, he has brought to bear not only his art, but also his graphic design training. We think the results look pretty good.
I'm certainly not a layout professional, but I have for some time been interested in interface design, with which it overlaps. I want the medium subservient to the message. The writers of our articles are trying to get messages from their minds to yours; it's our job to make the transmission as easy as possible. Matt and I will be working together over the coming months to make SHADIS interesting to look at as well as interesting to read.
Fiction. Yes, we'll finally have fiction gracing the pages of SHADIS on a regular basis. The new section, tentatively titled "Strange Vistas", is scheduled to debut in the next issue. We will be bringing you game-based short stories from some of the Big Names in the industry, and based on the initial response from the authors we've invited along, we think it's going to rock.
There - in a nutshell - you have it. We're going to hang onto what we're good at, bring back some of our past favorites, include new bits we're excited about, and look better doing it. We'd like to hear your feedback, especially as the changes really kick in with Issue #23. 1 can be reached at 4045 Guasti Road, Suite 212, Ontario, CA 91761, or by email at ShadisDJT@aol.com. Let me know what you think - I'm interested in hearing from the world beyond my phosphors.
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© Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group
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