Re: News400 RPG Source newsletter

I would like to make it clear that I think Gary does a wonderful job with
the newsletter and it is definitely worth every penny of it's subscription
price.  It is not the value of Gary's newsletter I question, it is the value
of NEWS400 I am starting to wonder about.  I say this as a subscriber who
has issue number 1 sitting on my bookshelf (at least I think it is number
1 - it's July, 1982) and every issue since.

I subscribed to it originally for the technical articles and that seems to
be what is being gutted more and more each year, with no corresponding
reduction in price or increase in value (to a technical person, anyway).
The end result is that I have to pay for more and more "side" newsletters in
order to get the same material that used to be in the base magazine.  MC
started out (as DataNetwork) being the "technical" alternative to NEWS
because they recognized the very same thing, but now it seems to be going
right down the same path.  More and more fluff and opinion pieces.

In my considerations of if and what subscriptions I should consider
dropping, the technical newsletters like THE RPG SOURCE would be last to go
(it's not even on the list).  Thanks for your efforts, Gary, and stay away
from those corrupting advertisers.


-----Original Message-----
From: Jon.Paris@halinfo.it <Jon.Paris@halinfo.it>
To: rpg400-l@midrange.com <rpg400-l@midrange.com>
Date: Sunday, September 26, 1999 1:56 PM
Subject: News400 RPG Source newsletter


>
>
>As I said in my earlier post I forwarded the original comments on the RPG
Source
>to the editor Gary Guthrie, his response follows:
>
>I'll start by saying that this is not the first time I've heard of
>readers upset by the notion that Duke Communications has moved RPG
>coverage out of NEWS/400 and into The RPG Source. This is an
>understandable reaction.
>
>The idea that the newsletter is a cash cow for Duke, however, is a
>misperception. A desire for additional revenue is not the reason for the
>newsletter's existence. NEWS/400 continues to have RPG coverage. I don't
>think the amount of RPG coverage has changed significantly since the
>introduction of the newsletter. Any reduction in RPG coverage in the
>magazine that has occurred over the years would have occurred
>irrespective of the newsletter's existence.
>
>Perhaps a journey through time will shed some light on decisions that
>led to waning RPG coverage in the magazine. There was a time when a
>person could fairly well get their arms around the IBM midrange
>computer. It was possible for a person to know a substantial amount
>about all of its features. During that time RPG was at the center of the
>system. As such, the magazine covered RPG extensively.
>
>Today, the AS/400 is far less infantile. Its feature set has grown leaps
>and bounds and the rate at which the growth continues to occur is
>staggering. NEWS/400 has to grow with the system. There is much more
>than just RPG to cover now and there's only so many pages available in
>which to provide that coverage. NEWS/400's content is reader driven.
>Duke uses extensive and frequent surveys to determine specifically what
>content readers desire. The results of those surveys are often out of
>step with what some of us want to read or write about, but the simple
>fact remains that the market demands such coverage. It is this dynamic
>that has resulted in any drop in the amount of RPG coverage the magazine
>provides.
>
>I think all of us associated with NEWS/400 know that there is a large
>number of readers interested in RPG. Though the magazine is committed to
>providing solid RPG coverage, there are many who want more RPG articles.
>In an effort to provide increased RPG coverage for these readers, we
>launched The RPG Source, a tightly focused RPG specific newsletter. The
>cost of the newsletter, in my opinion, is more than reasonable. In
>addition to tutorial information, the newsletter contains a good amount
>of usable code in the form of downloadable utilities. If a subscriber
>uses but one of these utilities they've paid for a few years worth of
>subscriptions with the development savings. If a reader had to wade
>through everything required to get the information provided in the
>tutorial articles, far more than the subscription cost would be spent in
>research. Sure, I make a few dollars. Rest assured, however, that were I
>to calculate my hourly rate and post it for all to see, there would
>likely be few standing in line to take my place. I put the effort into
>the newsletter largely because I enjoy making a contribution to others
>in the industry.
>
>I'm sure some will maintain their skepticism, but I am sincere when I
>say that the decision to publish The RPG Source was not predicated on
>making a lot of money. It was to provide a service for our readers.
>Unfortunately, providing this service means we have to pay authors and
>printers and...
>
>Gary Guthrie
>Editor, The RPG Source
>
>
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