[DomStLeger]

Ok I read the lastest issue of The Inventory and have to say I'm unimpressed. This publication has had 8 issues, yet the fundamental problems with it have still not been ironed out (infact I'd say they're not even aware of their existance).

The main problems imo are,

1. It's extremely colourful; with many large photographs. It's very nice to look at, but this is a major problem because not only does it make the PDF file large (3mb) but for a publication that you're supposed to be able to print it would use up excessive amounts of Ink, especially colour ink. And if you were to use greyscale you will still waste a great deal of ink and probably get something unreadable as there is no reference to contrast in the page design.
   
2. The use of english is not very good. As the editor's grasp of the english language is perhaps not up to proof reading; he should consider finding someone else to do that part of his job. Funnily enough one of the letters to the "editor" is actually a query regarding a typo: "Amerzone's story will leave a sweat taste in your mouth..." hehe
   
3. The whole thing seems to remain a mouth piece for Dimi's (the editor) personal views on adventure games. Remember when he graced these very forums with his presence a year or so ago? As I recall he was vocally (and irrationally imo) very against Broken Sword 3 because of its decision to use Direct Control. Well unfortunately hes let is own bias cloud this endevour of his; I haven't seen a single mention of BS3 in any of the issues of the inventory. It suprises me that Randy Sluganski gives the publication hosting while it continues to do this as it reflects badly on Justadventure.

It's a real shame imo, because the idea itself is a rather nice one; an easy to download publication for people to read at their own pace and in their own time offline. And while I disagree with Dimi's opinions on adventure, I'm in no doubt he loves the genre and wants it to prosper. It's be nice if this idea could succeed but I honestly don't think it's much use in its present form. Pity.

What does everyone else think? Agree/disagree? Or am I just being silly and picky?

EDIT: I just had a thought a few mins after I posted this. Why doesn't adventuregamers.com do a similar thing; except instead of new content just republish everything major from the last month in an easy print and view form? Or is that too much work? Random idea anyway.

[ragnar]

Originally Posted by DomStLeger

It's be nice if this idea ...

And that comes from someone complaining about other peoples use of the English language.

What does everyone else think? Agree/disagree? Or am I just being silly and picky?

I have only read the first issue. I thought it rather immature and not fully up to a good standard. And from what I've read from other people, this has not changed. So I don't read it. Also I dislike reading pdf:s, if there were a html-version I might have read it more. They are simply too large and are hard to read on a computer. And I wouldn't waste paper on this publication by printing it out.

[pleto4_ryan]

Have read only 2 issues, but i agree...

(is his english as "bad" as mine )

[jannar85]

I kind of disagree, and find this negative - since you DO NOT tell this to him personally. How can he know your feelings about it, if he'll never get to know...?

Big pictures.. hmmm.. you mean the cartoon? well, there IS an option for leaving some sites from being printed, if you don't want to throw away ink. You don't need to print it though.

The use of english... Well, maybe you want to help him with that?

Personally, I don't see why an adventure game mag should tell everyone about every game being produced, even though BS3 looks good, it had some kind of negative effect on Cecil's words. (...It was not because of DC...it was cecils statement about point and click) Even on me, but I get the info I need from various other BS3 sources - so why don't you find them as well, if you really want to find out more about it?

I think Dim's commitment to the genre is quite positive, and the same goes to JA for hosting it. An editor decides which games should be in it, and I don't blaim Dim for leaving BS3 about because of that statement..

It still bugs me as well, since there still are several point and click games being released (Syberia, Tony Tough, Runaway...)

So tell him, instead of us. End of story.
(I don't think he'll be reading this, since I think he's left this forum...)

[SamandMax]

I completely agree with you. It's a great idea, and Dimi means well, but the magazine just isn't what it should be.

"If however it turns out that the sequel to The Longest Journey is an action/adventure, we will stop covering it."

It's quotes like that which make me wonder if he just wants to sound important because he's making a stand. I wish Dimi well in continuing with the magazine, but I really really hope he hires more writers, and starts to be more lenient with his views. Just because it's an 'action/adventure' like BS3, doesn't mean you have to stop covering it.

[Erwin_Br]

I agree on the printing issue. One thing that could make the Inventory stand out is the ability to print it and read it in your comfy sofa. Appearantly Dimi never bought ink cartridges because that they're expensive is an understatement. I could buy 5 new HP printers from all the ink I've bought in the past 2 years.

I also agree that his writing can be improved. I'm not only talking about grammar and spelling, but also about the way he constructs his articles. They need to have a more distinct beginning and ending, IMHO.

Anyway, I remember some nice features and great interviews he did so I can't really complain about the content. I really enjoyed his interview with tierra, for example.

The Broken Sword 3 thing is his personal choice and frankly I suspect that your opinions about dimi and the Inventory are slighly influenced by this, thus not really objective. I could be wrong though

--Erwin

[DomStLeger]

Originally Posted by jannar85

Big pictures.. hmmm.. you mean the cartoon? well, there IS an option for leaving some sites from being printed, if you don't want to throw away ink. You don't need to print it though.

Actually I meant the front cover, contents page, review pages (with their half page screen shots); advert at the end etc.

Originally Posted by Erwin_Br

The Broken Sword 3 thing is his personal choice and frankly I suspect that your opinions about dimi and the Inventory are slighly influenced by this, thus not really objective. I could be wrong though

Oo below the belt I'll admit that perhaps I don't see eye to eye with Dimi on BS3 (I wonder if I'll get Understatement of the Year 2003?). But I have tried to be objective, honestly the problems I listed are not influcenced in any way by that and I think I've been fair. I apologise if I haven't or come across as being heavy handed to him. I suppose the tone of my post was rather negative, but I do actually want his venture to succeed, but those problems have to be solved first.

To be fair though, he's decided to publish his work (which is apparently endorsed by justadventure) yet he hasn't made his own opinions clear or tried to be impartial. And it isn't just that he's anti BS3. For example he also seems to show favouritism for games he personally likes (i.e. Syberia). There is truely nothing wrong with bias imo, as long as you make it clear you're biased; which I don't think he has done. Basically he hasn't made the publications editorial position clear and that, imo, is unhelpful to the reader.

I wonder if he'll post my letter next month?

[DomStLeger]

Originally Posted by jannar85

I kind of disagree, and find this negative - since you DO NOT tell this to him personally. How can he know your feelings about it, if he'll never get to know...?

Personally, I don't see why an adventure game mag should tell everyone about every game being produced, even though BS3 looks good, it had some kind of negative effect on Cecil's words. (...It was not because of DC...it was cecils statement about point and click) Even on me, but I get the info I need from various other BS3 sources - so why don't you find them as well, if you really want to find out more about it?

I think Dim's commitment to the genre is quite positive, and the same goes to JA for hosting it. An editor decides which games should be in it, and I don't blaim Dim for leaving BS3 about because of that statement..

It still bugs me as well, since there still are several point and click games being released (Syberia, Tony Tough, Runaway...)

So tell him, instead of us. End of story.
(I don't think he'll be reading this, since I think he's left this forum...)

Yes I agree with you, he doesn't have to cover every game ever produced. What I mean is that he should make his own position clear to readers. I'm well aware of his opinions from past discussion on this forum, but I imagine most readers at JA+ aren't (Dimi's over at JA+ Forums, but I doubt most people who visit the site enter the forums; like most sites with forums)

And I have emailed him; but I thought I'd just share my thoughts on the issue with others too. I think mainly because I felt a little exasperated after reading it and seeing it hasn't changed; which honestly I think is a pity because it could work well.

[Moosferatu]

Let's try to keep this civil this time.

Dimi and I don't see eye to eye on everything, but that doesn't make everything that he says bad. I have downloaded every issue, but never read a whole issue. There are often interesting tid-bits in it, like the interview about the KQ fan game in the last issue (at least I think it was the last issue, I can't remember). I also like looking at all of the pictures in. I would never dream of printing it so I perfer it the way it is. I can't imagine how much work he must put into it, so you should give him some credit just for that.

Dom, AGers does do something like that. It's called a newsletter.

[Erwin_Br]

I'll admit that perhaps I don't see eye to eye with Dimi on BS3 (I wonder if I'll get Understatement of the Year 2003?). But I have tried to be objective, honestly the problems I listed are not influcenced in any way by that and I think I've been fair. I suppose the tone of my post was rather negative, but I do actually want his venture to succeed, but those problems have to be solved first.

I agree on a lot of points you made in your post, but when I read point number 3 you became rather personal towards him. Specifically, mentioning his history on our forums Other than that, I think you remained quite objective.

There is truely nothing wrong with bias imo, as long as you make it clear you're biased; which I don't think he has done. Basically he hasn't made the publications editorial position clear and that, imo, is unhelpful to the reader.

I agree.

He needs to be more clear about what he's trying to tell his readers. He needs to ask himself if he's trying to convince the reader of something, to provide the reader with information about something or to entertain the reader. (Hey, I've studied this for my writing classes you know!)

I wonder if he'll post my letter next month?

Don't hold your breath

--Erwin

[m0ds]

I'm in favour of anyone showing their support for the genre.

[Erwin_Br]

Just to be clear; I think certain things can be improved, but that doesn't mean I don't support Dimi's work. I hope my comments are experienced as constructive and objective.

--Erwin

[Stinger]

Originally Posted by DomStLeger

I just had a thought a few mins after I posted this. Why doesn't adventuregamers.com do a similar thing; except instead of new content just republish everything major from the last month in an easy print and view form? Or is that too much work? Random idea anyway.

We must continue to provide reasons for the site to be visited on a regular basis (other than the forums). Potential advertising revenue as well as goodwill from publishers often depends on site traffic. We were denied preview materials from a certain publisher earlier this year because our Alexa number was too low (and yes, by too low I mean too high). I think there's too much danger of people who would rather just wait for something they can print out rather than visiting the site regularly.

However, I do like the idea of The Inventory in theory. I think in the future, we may pursue doing something like this with original content unavailable on the site. That's a thought for 2004, though.

By the way Moos, the newsletter we publish is nothing like what Dom was talking about. None of our articles are fully reprinted there; it's only a series of links.

[Tyler Durden]

I admit that Inventory isn't perfection, yet. However, I should remind you something 'small'. I don't care if you want to believe it or not but adventure games are slowly dying believe it or not. So my point is why you are so mean against such efforts? I have a strange feeling that you aren't against the magazine but against the guy who writes it! I don't like that. You just judge and do nothing yourselves...

[Marek]

Dom: you can print out any article on Adventure Gamers by following the 'printer version' link at the bottom.

Although adventure games are not dying commercially, they may be dying creatively. I think The Inventory is very much in 'adventure gaming activism' mode, trying to promote the genre as much as it possibly can (without profiling itself so much as a fanzine). I'm not sure if that's a good thing. We ought to be more critical.

Of course those are just my (completely unofficial) 2 cents. In general, the more adventure sites there are, the better.

[Tyler Durden]

Originally Posted by Marek

Of course those are just my (completely unofficial) 2 cents. In general, the more adventure sites there are, the better.

That's much better

[Starflux]

I don't think any genre can "die". Unless we're speaking in egyptian ways, dying is somewhat a permanent state of not-being-around. Whereas any genre can be brought back easily with only one game appearing. See it more as a temporary shift into stasis.

[Ariel Type]

I think it is a good thing, these journals. It has quite a lot of enjoyable material, and now it even has Al Lowe! Though I don't agree with everything they write (Runaway difficult level - medium/high - ha! and story - 96% - ha!ha!), I think people make a good work. Interveiws are also usually interesting to read. But I hope in feauture they'll write more reveiws on some old, classical games.

[Wajus]

Just one wish: to meet this dimidimi snob on a basketball court.

The Inventory is only passable as a source for informations but never as an another, alternative point of view. It's simply too paranoid at times.

[DomStLeger]

Originally Posted by Tyler Durden

I admit that Inventory isn't perfection, yet. However, I should remind you something 'small'. I don't care if you want to believe it or not but adventure games are slowly dying believe it or not. So my point is why you are so mean against such efforts? I have a strange feeling that you aren't against the magazine but against the guy who writes it! I don't like that.

I'm sorry you feel that way. Even if you think my judgement is clouded in some way all of my points were valid imo, though perhaps number 3 could have been expressed better. I never said I was against the magazine; I said I was unimpressed that after 8 issues it still had the same major problems. I also said I think it's a nice idea and want it to succeed.

And Are you saying we should all praise everything just because it's about adventure games? I'm sorry but I think criticism is actually helpful; and the day we start pretending everything is wonderful just to spare everyones feelings is the day the high standards seen in the adventure community disappear imo.

Originally Posted by Tyler Durden

You just judge and do nothing yourselves...

It's a pity you feel that way too. I don't see why I can't express my opinions about his magazine; I'm a reader like anyone else. Also I don't see why, to support the genre, you must have written or published something as you seem to imply, There are a large number of people on this forum and others, including myself, who support the genre by simply taking part and reading things within the community. Maybe it's not a major thing, but we all try to keep the genre and community going in our own small ways. Not everyone has the time or perhaps the inclination to do more.

Originally Posted by Ariel Type

I think it is a good thing, these journals. It has quite a lot of enjoyable material, and now it even has Al Lowe! Though I don't agree with everything they write (Runaway difficult level - medium/high - ha! and story - 96% - ha!ha!), I think people make a good work. Interveiws are also usually interesting to read. But I hope in feauture they'll write more reveiws on some old, classical games.

Yeah I agree the interviews are one of it's strengths, and it also has a nice news round up page which is useful. Also his passion for the genre comes through, which is good to see.