In my post about issue #30 of Polyhedron, I promised I'd do write a summation of my thoughts about the RPGA newszine before taking up my next series about a gaming periodical (more on that below). A combination of distraction and forgetfulness led to my not following through on that promise until today. As it turns out, this delay was probably for the best, as it's given me more time to reflect on my feelings about Polyhedron – why it worked, why it didn't, and its place within the history of the early hobby.
As I've explained before, I joined the RPGA around the time issue #8 was published (October 1982), which would have been just shy of my thirteenth birthday. I did so almost entirely to gain access to Polyhedron, which I (mistakenly) saw simply as another gaming magazine akin to Dragon, to which I was already subscribed. At that particular point in my life, I lived and breathed everything TSR, so it seemed only natural that I'd want to subscribe to their other RPG periodical. I had zero interest in the RPGA itself. I was not a regular attendee of gaming conventions – I wouldn't actually attend one until 1991 – and had no interest in tournaments. My only reason for joining was to get Polyhedron delivered to my mailbox.
Consequently, I was frequently disappointed in Polyhedron. Not only was it much shorter than Dragon in terms of page count, but its content was also often too focused (in my opinion anyway) on matters of little interest to me, like the results of Dungeons & Dragons tournaments, changes to the scoring system for these tournaments, and similar ephemera. If you look back over my recent reviews of the 'zine's issues, some of that disinterest is still very much in evidence there. I never understood why it was that so many pages were given over to covering cons and subjects related to them. To me, that seemed like a waste of space that could have been better served by the inclusion of new articles about TSR roleplaying games.
While I portray this as my problem, I get the impression that quite a number of people who subscribed to Polyhedron felt similarly. That's why, as time went by, its page count expanded and its content started to include of the material that I'd always been looking for. I was especially pleased when I'd see articles penned by TSR employees, like James M. Ward or Frank Mentzer, because they carried with them an air of authority that, in my younger days, was important. It seems silly in retrospect, but, as a good disciple of "TSR Gary," I'd accept no substitutes when it came to my gaming material. If it didn't come from TSR or someone associated with the company, I'd have no part of it. Polyhedron thus filled an important role of (eventually) providing me with more TSR-approved content for its RPGs.
Even so, the content in Polyhedron was wildly inconsistent, even when penned by luminaries of the hobby. While I, for example, appreciated all the new Gamma World articles that appeared in Polyhedron over the course of the years I subscribed to it, a lot of those articles felt like filler rather than carefully considered content. This was true of the articles published to support other games, too. That's not to say there weren't numerous excellent pieces – far from it – but, compared to Dragon or White Dwarf, they were fewer. The quality of the articles became even more wildly inconsistent as more of its articles were written by RPGA members rather than TSR staffers. This is understandable, since, as I've noted before, Polyhedron did not pay for its articles. Any writer of real talent would thus focus his attentions on getting published in Dragon instead.
Based on my re-reading of the first thirty issues of Polyhedron, I don't think TSR ever really had a clear sense of what to do with Polyhedron. Initially, the goal was probably to produce a short periodical to keep members of the RPGA abreast of its activities, with some "exclusive" content to make members feel special. Once people like me started joining the RPGA solely for access to that exclusive content, its editors responded – haphazardly, it's true – with constant expansions and innovations intended to appeal to this new group of members. The result was a periodical that varied a lot from issue to issue, both in terms of content and quality. Polyhedron was constantly reinventing itself and it showed.
That said, I still have an affection for Polyhedron. I wouldn't have devoted so many posts to covering it if I hadn't. Nevertheless, I also view it as more of a mixed success than Dragon or White Dwarf, both of which eventually settled into a solid consistency. That's why I subscribed to both of them longer than I did to Polyhedron and why, even now, I'm much more likely to reference articles or ideas that first appeared in their pages rather than those in Polyhedron.
Which brings me to the next series I'll be undertaking: The Articles of Dragon. Longtime readers might well ask, "Haven't you already done an Articles of Dragon series?" Yes, I have, but I will be taking a slightly different tack with this "relaunch." In the past, I focused only on a single article from each issue and then summarized it. Now, I wish to write about each and every article that made an impression on me in my younger days and why. This might mean I will linger over one issue for several posts, while other issues will be skipped entirely. The only consideration is whether or not an article had an impact on me or my gaming. This series is, therefore, as much about my own development as a roleplayer and referee as it is about the articles themselves. We'll see if this slightly different approach proves to be appealing or not ...
"I don't think TSR ever really had a clear sense of what to do with Polyhedron."
ReplyDeleteI think this pretty much applies to TSR generally in the early days! But it was also a very experimental time with them forging a road out of nothingness...
You're right. This applies very broadly to almost all of the people and companies of the early days of the hobby. This also explains why those days are so compelling.
DeleteEspecially if as a consumer, you were old enough to have attended the jazz concert festival that it was. Whether you had front row seats, floor seats, or were like most, up in the nosebleed bleachers, re-reading these original sources puts you right back to whence you first heard that song, now with the perspective of many years later when hearing the bootleg.
Delete"We'll see if this slightly different approach proves to be appealing or not ..." - as if there's any doubt it will be appealing. For me, it's like learning that Ken Burns is starting a new project (YMMV).
ReplyDeleteMy reason for becoming an RPGA member was the same as you, to get Polyhedron. But the best benefit I got from the RPGA was that they published a member directory (maybe only once?) and because of that I met two people who are among my dearest friends to this day.
ReplyDeleteI completely forgot about the member directory! I'm glad it was useful to you. Some of my oldest and dearest friends I met through gaming as well.
DeletePolyhedron's rightful place was as a fan club zine, for people already into the hobby who wanted to get more involved. They probably should have gone lighter on the gaming content and gone harder on tournaments and networking gaming communities. Maybe done more with questions of dungeon design and campaign mechanics. The boring stuff, unless you are a referee or a person who wants to create content.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if they weren't paying the authors, it was a disservice to market something as if it were a bonus issue of Dragon magazine, and then just half-ass it.
I never saw an issue of polyhedron in the wild of the UK. Was it distributed over here at all?
ReplyDeleteThe idea of D&D as a point scoring game is both puzzling and intriguing to me. Is the RPGA still about, and if not, when did it and polyhedron Peter out?
The RPGA continued well into the 3e D&D era, though Polyhedron ceased to be an independent periodical, instead becoming a section of Dungeon. With the launch of 5e, the RPGA ended and was replaced by the Adventurers' League, about which I know next to nothing.
DeleteSeems like the original intent would have been better served by a simple newsletter. Have to wonder how much effort went into making Poly more than just a way to keep the RPGA devout up to date that might have been spent better elsewhere. Hard to say how much of the other content was coming from Dragon's slush pile.
ReplyDeleteNever miss an opportunity to make money from advertising - at least back then. Some insights from my experience of working with a 501(c)3 in the 90s regarding newsletters. In order to get the non-profit bulk mail rates back then, your newsletter couldn't contain advertising. As cheap as it could be, a newsletter is all expense. Was the RPGA a non-profit? The money that could be made from ads may have justified selling it through distributors as a mag. Not sure how much any of that applies here.
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