Dear Shadis

There's a topic that's been bothering me recently. The topic is the lack of strong gamer support, such as a players' directory, in which gamers, games groups/clubs can solicit new members or interest in their group. I know there are other gamers out there that have difficulty finding a group or new member because they either don't have a good game shop locally or the people who frequent the shop are not into similar games.

I for one, have not played regularly for two years. So I decided to find a new group to join. Unfortunately, I've only been able to play in games that have been the easiest to join - CCGs, Tabletop Wargames, etc. - or I play only in the RPG games advertised and most of those are games I don't like. I love RPGs, but I'm still having trouble finding a regular group that matches how I play... but I'll persist in my search. [Sigh]

--Matthew Seibel

Okay, here's the deal:

SHADIS agrees to deliver ten free games to the best gaming group that adopts Matthew. Now obviously, you have to live near him for him to play RPGs with you (according to his typewritten noted, I'll assume that he has no computer), so this is really only open to people in Oregon and specifically those in the Portland suburb area. This is how it will work. You guys call, write, yell to Matthew and by the end of 1998, he will choose the best gaming group that adopted him into their fold. If Matthew chooses your group we'll send ten, heck let's make it twelve... twelve games to your group and you can divide it up like treasure. Sound good? ure. Sound good?

Matthew is responsible for gaming with you,evaluating your

Matthew is responsible for gaming with you,evaluating your gaming performance based on originality, technique, creativity, and score. Matthew's word is final, and he alone is responsible for sending SHADIS the results by December 31, 1998. So that we know the letter is from Matthew, the secret code word is cornpeople. Now, go game!

Dear SHADIS,

Many moons ago I wrote an incensed letter to Jim, raging about the SHADIS review policy and the state of the magazine in general. You both took a lot of time and put a great deal of thought into writing me responses. Jim even stayed up way past his bedtime to do so. I read your letters, decided to reconsider my anger and give SHADIS another shot... and then there was this car wreck. Things got a bit backed up, and... well, it's four months later. This delay has been positive, however, since it gave me an opportunity to read more issues of SHADIS.

You both made excellent points in defending the SHADIS review policy. I had (indeed) misinterpreted your policy to mean "Nothing bad ever said about a game". Jim set me straight. Like you, I do not believe in kicking around a game just to prove one has the soapbox to do it. I was worried that SHADIS reviews would become more of a product pusher than a product evaluater.

As I have seen from both your words and recent issues, this will not be the case. I would, however, advocate the occasional "second opinion" review - allowing two people to review a product (especially if it's a more costly one). For example, I have read both good and bad reviews of the new edition Heavy Gear, but in separate forums. If these reviews were put side-by-side, I could get a more "three dimensional" view of the game. Perhaps it would sway me to buy it, perhaps not. And this format wouldn't make SHADIS look like they were "picking on" Dream Pod 9. It makes the magazine look like it's trying to give a fair and diverse representation of the products.

Also (while I'm rolling) if you do decide to have a "SHADIS Pick of the Month", be sure to state that explicitly. Pyramid has its "Pyramid Picks", which alerts me immediately that anything which is made a "Pyramid Pick" has been deemed a good product by the reviewer and that will be his or her bias. It gives the reader a point for reference.

The reviews the past couple o' issues have been solid, with pros and cons clearly stated for each game. I like that. Keep it up. It makes me feel like I'll be purchasing the product with the understanding of the risks and benefits involved.

The magazine, in general, has been better than when I flamed off on you guys. Comments in the text have been minimized (a few are fine, here and there). I would sell my kidneys for more L5R material, but I realize you have policies limiting that. And in general it has been a welcome sight to see an issue in the mailbox. I would put in once more for cranking up the weight on the cover's paper. It was better with the wargaming issue, but still not sturdy enough for continued use.

Anyway, you both took a lot of time to answer my questions and I thought you deserved the effort in return. Thank you and keep my subscription rolling.

Life,

--Travis Bryant

Thanks for the letter Travis. Needless to say, John Zinser was happy when it wasn't hate mail -- you saved us all from a day of flogging.

Dear SHADIS,

Hey, guys, just wanted to thank you for publishing a wargame (Scotland the Brave) in your magazine. Being a wargamer first and foremost, I'm impressed. Is it out on the stands yet? I haven't seen it here in Arlington, VA.

--Walter O'Hara

Hmm... I've got it here. If you're having trouble don't forget you can always buy back issues from us (cough).

Dear SHADIS,

I used to like SHADIS, I really did. But with issue 48, all I can do is cringe - and wipe the tear from my eye. Everything has changed (it's all so fast... ), and I'm not sure I can cope. But I'll read on, Mr. Pinto and company, because when the ball drops, it's all good.

There really wasn't very much fat in this issue, something equally hard to manage as to swallow. The ads were clean and out of the way, and the text was simple, straightforward, and best of all, useful.

"Way of the Wasp" is of course what made this one special. All the Legend of the Five Rings goobers will be drooling over themselves for months contemplating the ramifications of these bow- wielding maniacs.

Really liked the "Lemurians" (even though my brain was overworked looking for it - the page number on the table of contents was wrong). Interesting take on a quasi-historical race not seen outside Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu.

But at least you can laugh at yourselves (see "Cynical Man and Angst Boy" in the same issue). But I guess if you didn't, you'd have nothing in common with people at parties.

--Wes Brenman

Don't like SHADIS, eh? That's disconcerting. But since you've not given us any direction on how to fix things, I guess we'll just keeping making the same mistakes.

As for that particular issue, the Lemurians didn't want to be found. No matter where we placed them in the magazine, the numbers kept coming out wrong. We were just glad to get them down on the pages. As for the "Way of the Wasp", since this company also makes products for THAT particular game, we do not make reference to our fans as "goobers". That comment is reserved for D&D players.

FAQ: What's going on with the magazine?

We'd like to take this time to say a few things about the new format. Slowly but surely, we've been changing SHADIS. Some of the changes were aesthetic (prettier fonts, etc.) while others were a necessary evil - changing the size of the sidebars allowed for more content in the magazine. The publishers of SHADIS have also pushed for change and growth within the folds of these pages (so it's not all the editor's fault). Cosmo and Vogue don't normally give explanations for their formatting changes, but we felt our readers deserved better.

The cost of publishing is a lot higher than one might imagine, but the need to keep SHADIS in your hands is more important than anything else, so we walk a thin line. Previous editor Rob Vaux addressed this topic a while ago when he discussed the "necessary evil" of advertising and what it does to a gaming magazine. Pyramid is on the web, and Troll and Interactive Fantasy are out of business. With 50 plus issues under our belt, we have a great responsibility of being the only independent voice and that cannot be ignored. We know a lot of discussion has been going on in SHADIS the last few months about the future and change (and you're sick of it) but we feel talking about it helps alleviate any concerns you might have about some of the stupid things we've been doing lately.

missing in action

The following people have gone MIA:

Kirk Tate
James Spahn
David Meeks
Dana Plato
The writer of "Paranoia in the Shadows"
The writer of "Real Life in Al-Amarja"

If you know of them, or you ARE them, please get in touch with SHADIS. We can't pay you if we can't find you.