Though I have been an editor in the gaming industry for almost twenty years, I have always found it challenging to let go of a project and send it out into the world. Last week, I sent No Quarter #52 to the printer—the first issue (due on the streets in mid-January) I’ve handled solo as the new editor-in-chief—but given my druthers, I would have tinkered with it for another week…or month…or two. Have you ever heard how James Joyce layered the book Ulysses? He was hoping professors would be debating its depths for centuries to come. While not quite that grand, my vision for No Quarter began epic and was only truncated by the printer’s deadline.

With the creative freedom to pursue new articles and new designs, I made a “Can We?” list. Can we add new RPG columns, like villainous new NPCs and one-shot encounters? (Absolutely.) Can we redesign “News from the Front” to get more info into the same space? (Sure.) Can we do gobbers and archives and card lists, oh my? (Yeah, but only if you promise NEVER to say anything that silly again.)

Damned exciting. And no promises about saying silly stuff.

Inevitably, I had to rein in my own aspirations. There are only so many hours in the day, designers in the company, or pages in the magazine—and we went up from 96 to 112 beginning with this issue, even. But Rome in a day, all good things, and all that jazz. And honestly, if I’d said, “Can we do a pop-up Woldwarden on pages 86 and 87?” I think our design team would have given it their best shot. In the end, I think readers will be pleased with the new content, and I’m listening to what they say on Facebook and in the forums. Next issue I plan to expand what’s possible even more with at least one more new column. And in issue #54 (that’s the June 2014 issue), I expect to take No Quarter to yet another level of growth. Maybe not one James Joyce would appreciate, but then again, Joyce was after centuries of depth; I’m just after 2014. When we get to that pop-up warbeast, though, then I’ll be shooting for centuries.

Joyce to the Wold (and yeah, I was building up to this joke),

Michael G. Ryan
Editor-in-Chief
No Quarter