Saturday, December 31, 2011

The End of an Era: Final Issue of Beckett's Massive Online Gamer

A couple of weeks ago I got the notice from Jason Winter, head editor of Beckett's Massive Online Gamer (MOG) that this next issue would be the last issue. MOG, to me, was not only a great news source for MMOs, but also a staple food in the Wizard101 Marketing diet. It wasn't unusual for W101 to take out large advertising spreads in MOG. In fact, Doug Kale (a past editor of MOG) had even done a voice in Wizard101. MOG and Wizard101 shared a booth at PAX East. MOG and Wizard101 were buddies! At least it felt that way to me.


So for me, it's with great pride that I hold this last issue of Beckett's MOG in my hands. It was a great run, and I will always have my freelancing days writing for this magazine notched in my resume. It's been a huge learning experience and led to a great many things for me, including a trip down to Austin where I was able to interview the fine people of KingsIsle for an article and to tour the place.

Sadly, with the passing of MOG, it really feels like print media for this niche gaming market is on its last legs. Magazines can't keep up with the speed of instant news that sites like IGN, Kotaku, 1up, MMORPG, Massively, etc. (But nothing is cooler than a print mag in your hands that you can "feel" or shadowbox and put on your wall, you know?)

This is a great issue regardless. On the cover is a great picture featuring Star Wars The Old Republic, and inside is a huge spread on this new MMO that's making all the gamers fire up their lightsabers and rattle off a few rounds of their bounty hunter's favorite weapon. (Even Stephen Spiritcaller is doing it.)

Of note to Wizard101 players, on page 6 there's the 2011 Readers' Choice Awards. Wizard101 again took the Best Kid-Friendly/Family MMO of the year.

To be expected with MOG there's a good amount of pages devoted to WoW. (You know, because, well, it's WoW . . . you can't have a magazine about MMOs without mentioning the MMO some see as THEE ONLY MMO EVA . . .)

One of my favorite articles (besides my Wizard101 article) is the huge spread on all things MMO news from 2011. It's a fun look back and definitely a good read for the New Year. As a compliment to this article, there's also some grand predictions for the MMOs of 2012. Man, I can't wait for Guild Wars 2. :)

There's a chance Wizard101 players will also really like the code from this magazine. This magazine's code will reveal one random dragon-related prize. It could be dragon wings, a dragon mount, a dragon hoard pack, a dragon pet, and who knows what else. I picked up a pretty awesome dragon pet myself with the code. Check him out!


Thanks to Beckett's Massive Online Gamer Magazine for bringing me on and letting me write about the game I love and collect a bit of money for it as well. It's been great working with KingsIsle's Marketing on these articles. Even though it could be draining (nothing quite like pressing deadlines around the Thanksgiving holiday season to make a dad of 3 sweat), I'll miss it.

Happy Dueling!

10 comments:

M.W.S said...

It's unfortunate that MOG is sending out their last magazine (issue). I agree with you on other gamer sites being faster, up to speed. Honestly, I was looking forward to more issues from MOG, wish they hadn't quit, bleh.

Well, I'm glad their last issue is off with a bang and some surprising Wizard101 accessories. Good luck to MOG's business,

Rowan WindFlower said...

I will also miss Beckett's Massive Online Gamer Magazine very much. I have been getting it for the past 3 1/2 years. I am wondering where Wizard101 will advertise to replace their ads there, which I have always enjoyed, not to mention the item codes, which I always look forward to. I will really miss your articles, as they are very informative and great reading and have really helped me to get more out of playing Wizard 101. I hope you get another venue for your game writing.

Duncan Battleblood said...

What's the code for the dragon?

Stingite said...

@Rowan: Thanks!

@Duncan: It's a one-use code in the magazine. You have to buy one to get the code.

Icy Wiz said...

I was really sad to hear about Beckett turning out the light. I started buying it for Wizard101, and then Beckett turned into one of the reasons I tried out so many other games. Their enthusiasm for online games was infectious. I know that publishing any printed coverage is challenging up against the instant-news coverage on the internet. It's also expensive, sort of unfairly so with all the costs of printing and mailing which websites avoid. But there is nothing like the printed page: you can't tuck an internet article next to your bed to re-read six months later. I wish Beckett could have developed an ios product. Your articles will always be favorites in my family. Stormy still reads your article about floating furniture.

Duncan Batteblood said...

@Stingite: Beckett Magazines are only available in the US, right? Well, I can't buy them because I live in the UK.

Benjamin nightfist said...

I remember when Beckett pokemon magazine was shut down

Tessa Brinkman-Gilmartin said...

I was wondering Is Fun online games magazine also ending? and What about those of us who have paid for a subscription? Do we get credit back to our accounts or are we just out the money?

Stingite said...

@Tessa: Fun Online Games is now called Game Strategyst and is still in publication. From what I understand, MOG subscribers will receive an alternate magazine for the remainder of their subscription (I think it might be one about mobile phones and mobile gaming? I'm not sure about that though . . . you should probably contact Beckett's directly with those questions.)

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