WotC: Mike Mearls and Rob Heinsoo change roles.

[Scholar & Brutalman]

Rob Heinsoo has this short post up on his staff blog:

I made an interesting choice a couple weeks ago.

I've been the lead of the mechanical design team, but I haven't been as happy or as productive in that role as I'd like to be.

I've opted to step aside and work as a regular designer. Design work is what I enjoy most and it plays to my strengths.

Mike Mearls steps into the role of lead mechanical designer, which is wonderful because it gets him working on design, as he should, and I think he'll do a better job as team lead.

 

[Mark]

I wonder if Mike will be paring back his job description to just the Duties and Responsibilities he can likely manage in a single encounter?






Best of luck to you both and I hope the adjustment ensures greater happiness.

 

[wedgeski]

This seems like a good move to me, given what I see as both guys' respective strengths. Anyway, hope you two gentlemen enjoy your new jobs!

 

[JoeGKushner]

So what does a regular designer do as opposed to a mechanical design person?

 

[pedr]

I think but could be wrong that what's happening is this:

Mike is moving from the Development (tweaking, testing, checking, revising, poking, prodding) team to the design (crazy ideas, odd thoughts, new stuff, drive developers crazy) team. He's also going to be leading that team.

Rob is giving up leading the team, and going (back?) to being a member of it - so he gets to do more design than Mike (and than he was doing before) as Mike gets the leadership/direction/strategic/managementish stuff to do.

That's just based on the words used in the post though - there could be other stuff going on, I'm just trying to interpret what was said.

 

[Ethalias]

I don't know much about Rob Heinsoo, but I wish him well. Going on what I heard from the Mike Mearls interview as posted here on ENWorld, he sounds like a good man for the job. Congrats Mike!

 

[Plane Sailing]

So wait, Mike is changing to the 'leader' role and Rob is becoming a 'striker'?

Or is Mike a 'controller' now?

It's so confusing!

 

[doctorhook]

So wait, Mike is changing to the 'leader' role and Rob is becoming a 'striker'?

Or is Mike a 'controller' now?

It's so confusing!

What's clear is that The Rouse will remain WotC's 'defender'.

 

[Greg K]

What's clear is that The Rouse will remain WotC's 'defender'.

I thought the WOTC 'defenders' were not WOTC employees, but those individuals on these boards saying, "Don't think too hard about fantasy".

 

[TerraDave]

I have had the pleasure to meet and talk with both, together (inside tips: the healing surge mechanic is mearls favorite 4E inovation, and Jonathan Tweet is not an eazy DM).

I wonder if the key word here is "mechanical". Mearls will be a designer now, originating ideas, but the focus is still on mechanics. Heinsoo will be out of the mechanics box, and able to design a wider range of things (or maybe not worry so much about how everything works together?). This would fit, based on my own first impressions.

EDIT: though Heinsoo also mentions "team leader"...on this point, I couldn't really say anything.