The death of a magazine. Is the printed word really on its way out or was something else at play that caused the demise of the the WoW magazine? Boomjack takes a look in today's Reloading...

Welcome back!  



This is my 84th attempt at this column.  84 is the sum of the first seven triangular numbers (making it a tetrahedral number), as well as the sum of a twin prime (41 + 43). Being thrice a perfect number, 84 is itself a semiperfect number.



I’m John Hoskin, also semiperfect and I won’t go Big Bang Theory on you again for the rest of this column.



“Math is sometimes called the science of patterns.” – Ronald Graham



Everyone can use a feel good moment to start the day.   Let’s go with this…






Thanks for taking some time out of your day to read this column.  I truly appreciate it.    If you happen to use Twitter, you can follow me @BoomjackTTH.   I rarely use Facebook, but I do occasionally post gaming related tidbits on Google+ where you can find me under my real moniker John Hoskin.  



I obviously haven’t been following Google+ closely enough; because today I received an avalanche of well over 100 G+ adds.    I’m working my way through them adding most of you to my Reloading circle and others where appropriate, but please be patient while I get to the end of this rather long list. Note to self, start using G+ more for timely postings to the game community.



I’m one of the dorks who subscribed to the World of Warcraft magazine knowing full well that nothing written in it would be news to me.  My kids love the articles, perhaps because they are written with a younger reader in mind, but more likely because the art direction was simply fantastic.  



Unfortunately, the art direction was the most stunning aspect of the magazine.  The few guests we have to our home would inevitably pick one of the issues up from our coffee table and leaf through it.   The product was wonderful art, but not informative, which is where in my humble opinion it probably lost out on the audience that it needed to survive.  



In a world where I can dig up just about any fact on my smart phone in seconds there is little room for a beautiful magazine, arriving quarterly that doesn’t entertain or inform.  If the editorial staff had been given some nuggets that were not already in the wild, people would have continued to subscribe, but as it stood, it was doomed.  



The official word came down in my email like this:



“Dear Subscriber,



The World of Warcraft Official Magazine is ending its run, and the current issue, #5, will be the last one.



This has been a difficult decision to come to. Although both Blizzard Entertainment and Future US are very proud of the magazines that we have created together, we have each decided to focus our efforts on other areas.



We really appreciate your support for the magazine and would like to offer you a premium based on your remaining subscription term, or, if you prefer, a full refund of your remaining balance instead."




For what it is worth, I didn’t take the refund.  My kids now have six new virtual companion pets that they will never use.  Well played Blizzard.  Well played.  



Did you subscribe to the magazine?  If not, why not?  If so, are you disappointed that it is coming to an end?



That’s it for today.  Thanks again for reading and as always, may your dreams be big and your worries be small.



Until we meet again,

John “Boomjack” Hoskin



As always, you can contact me a number of ways:
  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Website
  • Telepathy (Just make sure it’s during business hours.  I hate to be woken by this stuff)
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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Dissecting and distilling the game industry since 1994. Lover of family time, youth hockey, eSports, and the game industry in general.

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