Grind 3 Demo is here!
THE MAGAZINE IS OUT… AGAIN!
The GRIND trilogy is completed by a monumental release: if the first issue represents an attempt to merge games journalism with the art catalogue format, and the second is a true homage to LEVEL, PC Games and Xtrem-PC magazines from the early 2000s (but with a twist somewhere in the middle), then GRIND 3 aims to be bigger, more current, and more collaborative.
Now we once again have more pages, more games, and more editors. Thanks to the efforts of Leo Luția (who carried about 90% of the heavy lifting and even travelled to Brașov to connect with ex-LEVEL editors), we have the honour of presenting you with the most spectacular games magazine you will see in 2023.
It is thick (we estimate over 150 pages of content), it is glossy (because we stubbornly insist on offering trees a dignified afterlife, printing on 150g paper that will never end up in the bin) and it is spectacular (because the graphics look better than ever).
What hasn't changed about GRIND magazine is our stubbornness in offering everyone free content in digital format. Ultimately, we produce the only gaming magazine in Romania, and we take our role seriously in bringing joy and optimism to the community. There should be no material barrier, and you will continue to have the freedom to read, distribute, modify, print your own copy, and even sell it. Our only request is that you correctly acknowledge and cite the authors, so that the Caesars receive the admiration they deserve.
What has changed about GRIND magazine is our determination not to lose money anymore. The project's goal is not and (most likely) never will be to make a profit. After all, when printing a single copy of the magazine costs somewhere between 50 and 100 lei, it's only a matter of recovering production costs. Moreover, GRIND is an artistic project, and we have never sold magazines: we have given them as gifts to our supporters and made sure that each copy was unique (signed and numbered).
To slightly ease the process of receiving donations, we have also created a Patreon page. Here you will find categories for all budgets and interests. It is not mandatory to donate money to us, and you always have the alternative of printing your own copy of the magazine at the quality that satisfies you or seems more accessible. But if you still believe that our work is valuable in any way and brings you enough joy, then you are free to make donations. Clearly, the money will not be enough for us to quit our jobs and "run off with subscribers' money". After Patreon and PayPal take their commissions, banks profit from exchange rate differences, and ANAF claims 45% in the next fiscal year, we will be left with less than half of the donated amounts. But even if we are not a business and do not intend to enter the print media market, we still want to be honest citizens.
We will say it again, so there are no ambiguities: WE DO NOT SELL MAGAZINES. Donations are a way to cover printing costs and to determine demand for printed publications. But we have not set out to make a business out of this, we offer no legal guarantees, and we rely entirely on the reputation we have mutually built over the years.
Furthermore, GRIND magazine remains a hobby for everyone involved in the project. We do this because we want to produce the only gaming magazine in Romania, and although we print fewer than 100 magazines per issue, we have a rigorous quality standard that makes us act as if we had millions of readers. As the preface to GRIND 2 says, we don't do this because it's easy: but precisely because it's hard and represents the kind of challenge we enjoy.
But let's save the praise for later. Today, 4 October 2023, we are pleased to present a 60-page demo for GRIND 3 magazine. We still have a few articles to finalise and some corrections to make. But it's important for you to be convinced of the quality of the articles and the splendour of the graphics. And if you want to join the GRIND community on Discord, here's an invitation.
