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| The latest copy of Gear Up now available. For FREE!!! |
So yeah this is another Heavy Gear article, but please bear with me over my latest gaming obsession because this one won't cost you a penny, or cent or rupee or whatever currency it is that you utilise in your particular economic system. Why? Because Gear up magazine is free. Not free as in please would you sign away your right to privacy free, or free as long as you sign up to this telephone contract for 2 years free either. Oh no this is genuine Gods honest truth free, just Go to the Dream Pod 9 website here:
You can see the contents of the various Gear Up magazines. You can also then click on a link, which will take you to Drive Thru RPG where you'll be able to download you free PDF's. What? You want me to post links to each one! You cheeky little f...
So there you have it. They've just released Gear Up Issue 5, which is a rollicking good read and I've been rapidly catching up on the back issues too.
So what do I think of the magazine? Well it's actually not that bad a publication you know. I actually have a bit of a thing about 'officially branded' games magazines, they tend to give me an allergic reaction. Perhaps it's due to the fact that White Dwarf turned itself into a shameless sales rag, and Games Workshop then had the audacity to ask you for your first born child to purchase the damn thing before you could read it, it was, and is so expensive for such a poor quality publication. I also happen to think that No Quarter magazine from Privateer Press is little better too, although it does at the very least include rules articles and the odd interesting hobby guide. Still I resent having to pay for the privilege of somebody advertising to me, especially when decent hobby related articles are more than enough to get me wanting to spend cash as it is, so why so many blatant adverts and infomercials? So on the first grumble I have to say at least I'm not paying for the privilege of being advertised at! The other thing that needs mentioning is that the magazine itself generally contains less 'overt' adverts than the likes of White Dwarf and No Quarter, which is doubly commendable given the fact that it's a free magazine. So all those at Dream Pod 9 give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back.
So apart from adverts what does it contain? Well lots of different stuff actually. There are some really good little painting guides in the various magazines, as well as the odd 'how too' scenery guide. I've always liked Hobby articles so I'm pleased to see them here. There are the usual tactics articles and whatnot, which is to be expected because we're all hopeless us gamers and we need a helping hand... 'oh right! I'm meant to shoot the other guys army. Yeah that would work'... and there are various unit profile discussions and pointers, which are genuinely useful and interesting to someone who is new to the game and Heavy Gear world like me. Most interesting to me though are the 'Field Testing' articles that actually give out optional rules to their community to test out and feedback before they become official. This new fangled idea is apparently called a 'dialogue', this quaint idea actually supposes that Dream Pod 9's customers aren't complete moron's and actually might know what they're talking about. I know it's a really 'sweet' idea, Canadians 'eh', Games Workshop has already proven the best way to develop rules is to hire a crack team of gibbons and keep them in total isolation... oh yeah and only give them one typewriter. Obviously I jest, we all know they employ Chimpanzee's. Any way, I like it, and if any of you lot are interested in Heavy Gear Blitz or Arena I urge you to give it read. I mean what have you got to lose apart from a little bit of spare time? Peace out!
Yep its a nice free mag. I do love mags i can hold in my hands. But for free i'm not going to complain.
ReplyDeleteYeah I can understand wanting to have print copies of your rules and stuff in hand, but I guess I'm so used to reading Blogs and stuff now that I don't really care about having a magazine in 'print'. Plus as you say, for free you can't really grumble!!!
DeleteI do find it quite nice, that even though the minis are kinda pricey for HGB, that dp9 supports the game with both Gear Garage and Gear Up being free to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteJust as you said about White Dwarf, why pay your left nut for a magazine that overtly advertises the product you're probably going to buy anyways? Ugh, it all looks soo awesome though... curse you FLG!! :P
I'm going to go on record right now and say that after having seen their miniatures in my hand and worked it out per mini... DP9's prices aren't that bad. Certainly it's not the cheapest game on the market, and their individual miniatures aren't the cheapest either... BUT... they're not the most expensive and many of their miniatures are comparatively priced to other competitors product.
DeleteThe Gear Up mags are good reads indeed, the new TV values for beta testing in Gear Up 5 are interesting, and at least gives all the players the option to field test rules and give feedback on the changes to the game. It isn't some "here is a hint of what you can expect in the next revision", rather "Help us help you make a better game".
ReplyDeleteI can certainly appreciate that mindset.
I wholeheartedly concur. I much prefer a company that has a dialogue with its gamers as opposed to the monologue we get from some. i always think it wise and commendable when any has the guts to ask for feedback on their work... even mre so when it is game designers.
DeleteI do like gear up, a free mag that's pretty good and as you say I like the dialogue between people with the field testing, though at times it can leave the rules a bit scattered until they get consolidated.
ReplyDeleteAs someone mentioned it, I should probably point out that dp9 doesn't do gear garage, it's actually a forum user who originally did it, and still does and dp9 host it etc. I don't know if they have a dialogue or anything, that I couldn't comment on.
Yeah I think it's a good little magazine or E-zine if that's the correct term. I'm certainly going to attempt to get maybe my NuCoal force featured in the "Show me your colours section". Now there's a target!
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