05-11-2015, 03:45 PM
Wow!
It's been almost a full year, since I last authored an article in this editorial section of the forum, here. These editorials are never planned. Rather, they just tend to happen. Maybe that explains this one, huh?
Bernd has not replied to the last several e-mails that I have sent him, which is neither here nor there, but it does present the dilemma of leaving the magazine (Suspense & Decision) in limbo. The forum, here, is seldom used (yet again), and so I find myself pondering whether to just shut it down and delete it, or to just leave it intact as a sort of archive-in-disuse.
It may just be that everything has run its course - the magazine, the website, the PBM Wiki. But, what does it hurt to leave it all intact, as a repository?
I've debated with myself about just resuming the magazine, either with the long delayed issue just skipped over or published anyway. I would have to go back in and dig things up, though, assuming that I still have those articles and stuff archived somewhere on my computer's hard drive. Then, too, I could just launch a new magazine from scratch, different title with a similar focus. But, do I want to do any of that? It's rather nice not having to worry about it.
The magazine was supposed to be for an initial run of twelve issues, with a decision at the end of that time determining whether to continue carrying it forward or not. I don't regret the attempt to transition the magazine to Bernd, simply because it would have been much better off over the long run, had that transition managed to succeed.
But, quite clearly, it didn't. Win some, lose some, I suppose.
The nine issues that did get published were, I think, a plus - for both PBM gaming and for the community of players surrounding it. Of course, others may have opinions that run counter to my own on that. If nothing else, I think that the short run of nine issues did succeed on certain levels, including as a platform for validating certain concepts that I had advocated in favor of.
I think that publishing the magazine for free was a big plus, as was the running of advertisements for free. I also think that using PDF format was a big plus. Suspense & Decision, whatever else that anyone might say about it, did not turn out to be a money sinkhole. Whatever its shortcomings, it was something that was viable to publish. Not all articles were equally well received, but I think that the magazine did succeed, when it came to giving PBM gamers (and others) something to look forward to each month. Again, opinions may vary, though.
It's not really hard to publish a magazine in this format, which may leave many wondering why it ceased to be published any longer. Sometimes in life, things happen. It wasn't exactly a planned event.
Could I have intervened at some point during this multi-month gap? Sure. But, the further that I got away from it, the less desire there existed for me to re-enter the fray. In the absence of Suspense & Decision magazine, what filled that gap? Ignore or forget about Bernd, for a moment. Did anyone else out there step up and fill the gap with a magazine oriented towards the PBM sector of gaming?
And when Suspense & Decision magazine was coming out with regularity (which it did, for a while), did it fill a gap within you?
The monthly rate of publication for Suspense & Decision, that rate of frequency, had no bearing on why the magazine ceased publication. Not from my perspective, anyway. I've read various comments, at times, about that rate of publication could lead to burnout, but based upon my own experience, that really isn't true. In fact, it's quite the opposite. A regular publication tends to build desire and momentum. It would make more sense (to me, at least) to publish smaller issues every other week, rather than once per month. Going every two months or every three months, while it allows for more time to set the pages and to receive content from others to add and flesh pages out with, those lengthy gaps negatively impact desire and momentum.
A more frequent rate of publication helps to keep the publication team (even if it is just one or two people) firing on all cylinders. It also helps to build up a body of work, and to grow readership. Look at what happened with Issue # 10 - the missing issue. It's had all of the time in the world to get published, but once people are disengaged, creative wheels stop turning. Creative forces stop moving. Things grind to a halt. Lapses occur. Disinterest ensues.
The failed transition yielded a collapsed publication. In and of itself, it's not that big of a deal. Just resume publication. It's not unduly difficult to start a magazine of this nature from scratch. We did that, before. But, the desire has to be there.
Why start a new magazine, if it is going to simply meet the same fate as this one? Why resume the same publication, with such a large gap in months published?
As with many things in PBM, why not let the magazine just stay dead? Why not call it a day, and be done with it?
Currently, we have a missing body. Is that a bad thing, though?
It's been almost a full year, since I last authored an article in this editorial section of the forum, here. These editorials are never planned. Rather, they just tend to happen. Maybe that explains this one, huh?
Bernd has not replied to the last several e-mails that I have sent him, which is neither here nor there, but it does present the dilemma of leaving the magazine (Suspense & Decision) in limbo. The forum, here, is seldom used (yet again), and so I find myself pondering whether to just shut it down and delete it, or to just leave it intact as a sort of archive-in-disuse.
It may just be that everything has run its course - the magazine, the website, the PBM Wiki. But, what does it hurt to leave it all intact, as a repository?
I've debated with myself about just resuming the magazine, either with the long delayed issue just skipped over or published anyway. I would have to go back in and dig things up, though, assuming that I still have those articles and stuff archived somewhere on my computer's hard drive. Then, too, I could just launch a new magazine from scratch, different title with a similar focus. But, do I want to do any of that? It's rather nice not having to worry about it.
The magazine was supposed to be for an initial run of twelve issues, with a decision at the end of that time determining whether to continue carrying it forward or not. I don't regret the attempt to transition the magazine to Bernd, simply because it would have been much better off over the long run, had that transition managed to succeed.
But, quite clearly, it didn't. Win some, lose some, I suppose.
The nine issues that did get published were, I think, a plus - for both PBM gaming and for the community of players surrounding it. Of course, others may have opinions that run counter to my own on that. If nothing else, I think that the short run of nine issues did succeed on certain levels, including as a platform for validating certain concepts that I had advocated in favor of.
I think that publishing the magazine for free was a big plus, as was the running of advertisements for free. I also think that using PDF format was a big plus. Suspense & Decision, whatever else that anyone might say about it, did not turn out to be a money sinkhole. Whatever its shortcomings, it was something that was viable to publish. Not all articles were equally well received, but I think that the magazine did succeed, when it came to giving PBM gamers (and others) something to look forward to each month. Again, opinions may vary, though.
It's not really hard to publish a magazine in this format, which may leave many wondering why it ceased to be published any longer. Sometimes in life, things happen. It wasn't exactly a planned event.
Could I have intervened at some point during this multi-month gap? Sure. But, the further that I got away from it, the less desire there existed for me to re-enter the fray. In the absence of Suspense & Decision magazine, what filled that gap? Ignore or forget about Bernd, for a moment. Did anyone else out there step up and fill the gap with a magazine oriented towards the PBM sector of gaming?
And when Suspense & Decision magazine was coming out with regularity (which it did, for a while), did it fill a gap within you?
The monthly rate of publication for Suspense & Decision, that rate of frequency, had no bearing on why the magazine ceased publication. Not from my perspective, anyway. I've read various comments, at times, about that rate of publication could lead to burnout, but based upon my own experience, that really isn't true. In fact, it's quite the opposite. A regular publication tends to build desire and momentum. It would make more sense (to me, at least) to publish smaller issues every other week, rather than once per month. Going every two months or every three months, while it allows for more time to set the pages and to receive content from others to add and flesh pages out with, those lengthy gaps negatively impact desire and momentum.
A more frequent rate of publication helps to keep the publication team (even if it is just one or two people) firing on all cylinders. It also helps to build up a body of work, and to grow readership. Look at what happened with Issue # 10 - the missing issue. It's had all of the time in the world to get published, but once people are disengaged, creative wheels stop turning. Creative forces stop moving. Things grind to a halt. Lapses occur. Disinterest ensues.
The failed transition yielded a collapsed publication. In and of itself, it's not that big of a deal. Just resume publication. It's not unduly difficult to start a magazine of this nature from scratch. We did that, before. But, the desire has to be there.
Why start a new magazine, if it is going to simply meet the same fate as this one? Why resume the same publication, with such a large gap in months published?
As with many things in PBM, why not let the magazine just stay dead? Why not call it a day, and be done with it?
Currently, we have a missing body. Is that a bad thing, though?