[Blunger1]

I'll be brief.

I was thinking it would be very cool if MarkUp could exist not only in the cyberworld, but also in real, living, PRINT!

I know. I know. Hold the applause. (That was a joke)

Ah. If life were that simple. Elaborating from my point of view, I understand YoYo is a not-for-profit organization (or something of that sort), and money may become an issue. I don't know. I'll let those guys at MarkUp decide. Maybe there could be a subscription fee, or something.

I believe there are several advantages to having a physical copy of MarkUp. First of all, you could refer to it any day of the week.

• If your computer breaks, and you can access those downloaded PDFs
• all you have is your laptop and version seven of GM
• you were building that hyper-uber-mega awesome game
• you need it done in three weeks (which is the approximate return time of your precious computer)
• all the information was in issue 12 of MarkUp.

What do you do? You whip out your MarkUp issue 12 in physical form!
Although this would seem like a 1 in infinity chance, it is entirely possible.

Also, MarkUp makes great reading material.

So, I've put a poll way up there (^Up There^). Please poll your opinion, and if you can, reply.

I would love to hear from the MarkUp staff, if at all possible.

Dedication forever,
Blunger1

[Blake]

Hey Blunger,

First off, from your post, it seems you are getting YoYo Games and GM King mixed up. GM King is deeply affiliated with YoYo Games, but the MarkUp magazine falls strictly within the duty of GM King. So, if we were to distribute printed versions, it would be directly from us, with no help from YoYo Games.

Second, I believe we had this idea brought up somewhere before, and was shot down immediately. It just doesnt make economic sense for GM King, a strictly private out-of-pocket driven organization, to buy the things required for such a service. Another complication to that is the fact that we are an international site, with staff and readers in many different locales.

Blake

[Blunger1]

I figured as much, but I thought I might as well raise the idea.


Thanks Blake.

[Leif902]

I agree that a print version of MarkUp would be nice; I hate reading on a screen and I adore printed media, however, I honestly don't think you would get enough interest to sell a print version of MarkUp.

However, if a way can be found I will help it along as much as I can and undoubtedly pay for a subscription.

[Robin]

We actually did do a single print copy of MarkUp once, which I have safely under lock and key here. I'll check out the print costs again to see if it's any better today; but last year when I checked it would have cost about $17 an issue to print, and $7 an issue if we printed 250 in bulk.

Robin

[Rappybas]

I will subscribe if there's an option for paying via alertpay,
It's a safe money tranfering, I think it's better than paypal ^.^

And I can subscribe because I have 90$ there =D

[Eyas]

The issue right now against printing is that we dont think enough people would be interested to pay for a print version. We need at least [as robin mentioned] about 250 interested so that we can request printing in bulk.

[Robin]

Yeah, 250 is a minimum. Not to mention we'd probably need to be a bit more strict with release schedules.

Robin

[Rappybas]

Maybe do a poll on the main site?
So you can see how much people are interested!

[Blake]

Even better, make a waiting list on the site so that interested people can sign up when/if we decide to do it.

So, printing cost is factored out. I apparently overestimated the price of it. How about postage?

[halfmillennium]

The idea doesn't work if you look at it beyond the surface.

[Danny]

I think this has been discussed more than once. I don't see Mark Up doing it. It's a nice idea in theory but it will cost them money meaning it will cost the user money then you have to add in shipping. Most people just wont pay (no matter how cheap it is) because they can get it free off the internet.

[Robin]

Ideally, using the thin mag paper, using matte colors, making it as cheap as we can with the most optimistic bulk prices and shipping (also, assuming the ideal case, in the US or Canada) it would cost $6.50 per copy, that's $78 for a year. Not very economical

I have been looking into something else though, might be interesting and expand out target audience

Robin

[Caniac]

well, I do know,
that I would subscribe if it was reasonable.
I personally hate reading PDF stuff, PDF is the worst format since ... ummm... well, alltime worst.

[Danny]

If there were a way that I could get a year long subscription for $14-$20 I would no doubt do it. However I don't see that happening as Robin had said.

[Blake]

well, I do know,
that I would subscribe if it was reasonable.
I personally hate reading PDF stuff, PDF is the worst format since ... ummm... well, alltime worst.

Is there a format you would prefer? We might be able to acomodate some alternative formats.

[Robin]

As it is, we do PDF and XPS (XPS is basically PNGs and XML, so it's lossless quality)

Robin

[Caniac]

well, unfortunatly I can't think of another format, I just don't like the way PDF scrolls.
I would personally prefer a regular printed mag. but that isn't possible, so I will just live with PDF.

[Forest]

This is a great idea! But sadly it would cost way to much.... So what if I, and a bunch of other game maker freaks printed the mag out our self on reg paper and stapled it? Then we could send the mag out for the cost of shipping. Would any one be interested? And it would be way bedder than reading an old PDF. Hey, maybe some one would pay for it. (just to cover the could of paper and ink). Would GMking have a problem with this?

[Robin]

We've encouraged folks for a long time to go ahead and print and distribute copies of MarkUp. (Schools and universities, your dentist's office, wherever you can find a spot).
The only thing is, you cannot alter the content in anyway, except you CAN:
1) Scale the content to fit on the page by the printer.
2) Print in black and white
3) Print on both sides of a page.
You also cannot add pages inside the magazine, but you can at the end if that's your thing

Lastly, you can only charge a reasonable fee for the cost of ink, supplies and duplication. Probably somewhere around $1-2, depends on your printer.

All the conditions are in the Creative Commons text, a link to which is at the bottom of every MarkUp issue (or, for the first 2 or so issues, at the bottom of the cover).

Good luck!
Robin