World of Warcraft: The Magazine needs a new Editor-in-chief
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 1st 2009 at 2:00PM
Does this mean the magazine is in trouble? True, it can't be good for the captain of a ship to move on just as it's heading out to port, but we've heard everything is still on course -- the first issue of the subscription (that quite a few people have already bought) is under Blizzard's scrutiny right now, and the second issue is well underway. Everything we hear still says they're aiming to release it sometime this month, but obviously if we hear anything else, we'll let you know. In the meantime, if you're in San Francisco, have a few years' publishing experience, and know a whole lot about World of Warcraft, we have this job you might want...
Filed under: Virtual selves, Blizzard, Economy, Rumors
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Urza Dec 1st 2009 2:01PM
Is it too late to get my money back?
Nieker Dec 1st 2009 2:09PM
/facepalm
they better make the magazine damn good!
kunukia Dec 1st 2009 2:19PM
I haven't bought it yet. But am going to, splitting it with my son. Maybe we will see how the first issue is received...
Cheese Rations Dec 1st 2009 2:21PM
I subscribed to this a couple months back and look forward to receiving the first issue. It doesn't look good that the editor-in-chief is leaving, but I'd imagine that it's not totally bad either. Future US is a huge publisher and when they're working with Blizzard directly I doubt there's much that could happen that would cause it to fail.
It's a quarterly mag that relies purely on subscription fees to operate. There's no ads or ad sales they have to worry about, and there's not going to be a problem with printing more issues than they'll sell since there's no shelves to stock.
As expensive as it may be ($40 for 4 issues), this is probably what's going to help ensure long term survivability in a floundering magazine subscription market.
mtsadowski Dec 1st 2009 2:23PM
Get your resume ready, Mike Schramm. I think you can use us all for a reference. Turpster can be your Assistant Editor!
Mike Schramm Dec 1st 2009 2:39PM
Heh. I considered it, but two things: it's in SF, and I don't have plans to move again (I'm in LA), and Blizzard doesn't like me much. Something about guessing all their release dates and calling out all their leaks, I dunno.
mtsadowski Dec 1st 2009 3:18PM
I hear that. You're in a better place anyways, because you have freedom to write what needs to be written. I can imagine what would happen when a writer with your spirit goes and works for Blizzard.
Article One: Censored.
Article Two: Censored.
All this magazine will be is a way where the READER will pay for Blizzard's ads. They will never be critical of anything they do.
Seriously, all that magazine will be is this:
Interviewer: In your own words, how great is Blizzard?
Interviewee: Oh, it's really great.
Interviewer: I know, right! What about what you're working on? Can you give us a sneak peak into the next expansion.
Interviewee: Oh sure, here's something that I (gets punched by security)... um, that's not ready to be shown, but know that it's going to be great!
Interviewer: Wow! That was compelling and excellent. (interviewer's robotic battery dies and needs to be recharged again).
What I'm getting at is this: Mike Schramm is not a robot.
Plan Dec 2nd 2009 10:08PM
They're all censored to one degree or another anyway.
Schramm (who I happen to like, from what I've read) agreed to an off-the-record conversation with one of Blizzard's server people, then posted about how cool the server tech is, but how unfortunately he couldn't tell us about it.
Then the NYT went and did a story on the same server tech, and they did not take Blizzard's refusal to talk about it as an excuse -- the reporter got on the phone and called experts and people who were peripherally involved, and got a damn good story.
Likewise, we've all heard about the WoW bloggers (independent, not wow.com) who signed non-disclosure agreements in exchange for getting info on the next expansion.
So really, no WoW blog or fanboy site is going to be an independent source for real in-depth coverage of this stuff. It always falls to the professionals to do that, because, 1) That's their job, 2) They're used to getting stonewalled anyway, and 3) They don't let ANYONE serve as the "official source," so they certainly aren't going to start doing that with Blizzard.
Sure, the media seems more and more like a relic from days past, but every now and then a great story comes around, and it becomes obvious that no blogger or part-time quasi-journalist would have produced that same story.
Mike Schramm Dec 3rd 2009 1:28AM
I usually ignore trolls, and you're bordering on it, but since you said you like me, I'll answer anyway. Two things:
1) That one issue -- which is correct, I didn't follow up with Oracle or any big mainframe server companies after I had that off-the-record conversation with the Blizzard IT guy -- doesn't mean that we never do our own followup/research work here on the blog. We do followup and independent research all the time (look for "told us" or "we heard from" in our posts), and some of it you don't ever hear about because we do a followup and then decide there's no story there. Just because of one issue, don't say we never do our own research.
2) And this isn't an excuse, but an observation: even when we do our own research, there's a difference between us saying "Hi, this is Mike from WoW.com," and them saying "Hi, this is Mike from the New York Times." Oracle isn't likely to tell us inside information about their biggest systems, but they are much more likely to tell the NYT about it, because potential customers do read that paper. I agree that they're pros, but they have resources and a reputation that we haven't been able to build up yet (and likely never will -- we're a site that reports on video games). That doesn't mean we aren't pros, just a different kind.
You make a good point that we should do our own research, and I will retort that we do, though because of time and money, not necessarily as often as I'd like.
Also, haha, no of course I am not a robo-- zzzZZZ---
*FALSIFICATION SYSTEM ERROR CODE 394802*
*REBOOTING UNIT*
Stormtamer Dec 1st 2009 2:26PM
Not sure if im confusing the title of Editor and Editor in chief, or if the WoW mag has different content in each area and would require multiple editors.
As last i heard Tim Edwards from PC Gamer UK is the Editor of the WoW Mag, meaning that either he's second in command to Dan Amrich when it comes to the UK release, or a magazine with no advertisements has an entire team in each country making content for it, and the US version has lost its Editor in chief and nobody else will be impacted
Bunnyears Dec 1st 2009 3:01PM
Julian Rignall is the Editorial Director of the whole project and our division. Tim Edwards is the European Editor and is definitely involved, both in writing content/brainstorming ideas and helping get the right writers for the right stories -- but he's not doing the day to day tasks on the magazine. Josh Augustine is a full-time editor on the project here in the US and will be helping run the daily stuff while they fill the EIC position.
So, the EIC is below Julian and above Josh, and Tim helps from afar.
My moving to Activision is unrelated to my working on a licensed Blizzard project. And really, the mag is very nearly done; it's just detail stuff on Blizzard's end at the moment. As soon as those approvals go through, we can start showing you what you paid for months ago!
Izzy Dec 1st 2009 6:14PM
Nice to hear it from the source, thank you.
Sean Dec 1st 2009 7:03PM
Likewise I appreciate hearing this and am excited to see Josh Augustine moving up from former intern at PC Gamer to what sounds like an integral role on a major new publication. Best wishes to you and all the rest at Future.
Lowangel Dec 1st 2009 2:43PM
So.... Just curious.... did the entire Wow insider staff all apply? Come on fess up! Who posted your resume?!?!
Better yet, why not just have Blizz just hire all Wowinsider and do it right!
Durane Dec 1st 2009 2:59PM
Exactly what I was thinking. I'd much rather come here for information than what for a quarterly magazine, though
Lowangel Dec 1st 2009 2:47PM
Ms. Harper is walking around the office with a baseball bat right? Post anonymous LOL
Josin Dec 1st 2009 2:54PM
Rossi for EIC. WoW the Magazine needs a manly, hairy EIC.
elvendude Dec 1st 2009 3:18PM
This bodes poorly. Entering a dying media format that's already really hard to break into when your ideal consumer is already used to constant and instant updates through the internet...
And then your EiC jumps?
This smells like Doom to me.
However, if it were ten years ago, I would probably jump ship at my cushy publishing job if offered this. Now, you would have to pay me a *lot* of money to go down with the WoW Magazine ship.
elvendude Dec 1st 2009 3:31PM
Though, to be fair and honest, this smelled like Doom to me from the moment it was announced.
Who starts a print magazine these days? Sounds like a great way to lose money.
I'm perfectly happy to be proven wrong, though.
Bunnyears Dec 1st 2009 5:08PM
But this is not a standard print magazine, and certainly not following the rules or methods of ten years ago. This magazine has no ads and no newsstand presence -- it's print-on-demand, subs only, quarterly, and all content. The whole point behind this business model is to try something new because, as you note, the old print model is no longer viable. This is a good test bed for what might be viable going forward, since print still has its charms.
Here's a short summary of the main differences: http://mashable.com/2009/08/20/world-of-warcraft-magazine/