layoffs?

[Brown Jenkin]

Originally Posted by Noumenon

Firing two top designers at least should tell you they're not already working on D&D 4.5...

[Conspirasy]Or that they need to get rid of the old gaurd so that they can bring in new people with new ideas who are less resistant to change.[/Conspiracy]

See, you can never stop the conspiracy folks.

[xechnao]

Originally Posted by Brown Jenkin

[Conspirasy]Or that they need to get rid of the old gaurd so that they can bring in new people with new ideas who are less resistant to change.[/Conspiracy]

See, you can never stop the conspiracy folks.

For the last 8 years it has been all about the D20 systemt. Where and how are they going to find trustworthy people with trustworthy NEW ideas?

[Noumenon]

Or that they need to get rid of the old gaurd so that they can bring in new people with new ideas who are less resistant to change.

I can imagine that they picked the people who were great at designing paper RPGs, but didn't seem like they'd be any good at designing computer-based RPGs, and got rid of them. I mean, an electronic subscription D&D would be so much more profitable than one based on books. How can you make money selling books? They're PDFs in paper cases.

[Wulf Ratbane]

Originally Posted by Kid Charlemagne

On the other hand, their expertise with that system would make them some of the best choices to design 3rd party products for it. The relative lack of 3rd party support means that if someone does it right, they stand to reap big gains.

I would be stunned if Goodman or Paizo were not salivating at the chance to add these names to the credits of their products.

[Eytan Bernstein]

I don't mean to minimize the events because being laid off is always terrible and many great people are now unemployed, but I do think it's important to point out that Wizards is not the only company doing this. Tons of companies experience this phenomenon around the holiday season, including other publishers (especially in periods of economic stress). Random House and Simon & Schuster, two of the biggest publishers in the world laid off numerous people. I work for Pearson (the company that owns Penguin, the Economist, the Financial Times, Prentice Hall, and numerous other subdivisions), and we had layoffs as well. None of this should be seen as an endorsement of the layoffs. It's just an unfortunate reality for many major companies.

All of that said, my heart goes out to all involved, and I hope that the RPG community can find ways to help you if find that you need us.

[occam]

Originally Posted by Brown Jenkin

So how do we punish them? Should we spend more money on their products, because that seems more like a reward.

It's like imposing economic sanctions on a country; they never hurt the people who made the decisions leading to those sanctions. My point is that if your intent is to hurt WotC with a boycott, the first to feel it would be the employees you're claiming to stand up for.

[occam]

Originally Posted by Friadoc

Second, either make a trip to the Washington State Employment Security Department, or hit their website, and apply, immediately, for your benefits, even if you do not feel you need them just yet. You have paid into it and it is your right to access it, guilt free.

A post full of good advice, including this. If you're laid off, don't fall into the trap of thinking "I'll find another gig soon, I won't need unemployment benefits, and it's a pain in the butt anyway." Especially in an economy like this, it's very easy to find yourself in crisis mode a few weeks or months later, kicking yourself for not filing for unemployment while you're trying to figure out how to pay your bills. File for unemployment right away, even if you don't think you'll need it.

Also, try to view the requirement to record a certain number of job prospects every week as a support system rather than a burden. Looking for a new job is hard, usually harder than an actual job, made worse by emotional and financial stress. The job-search requirements can help instill the self-discipline you'll need to keep going through this difficult process.

As you can tell, lots of people have gone through this before. Keep your chin up, lean on your friends and family, and good luck!

[Fifth Element]

Originally Posted by justanobody

I think it just shows that WotC is a bit more mature to not beg for money for screwing up but taking responsibility for their actions by trying to make the money themselves.

Or perhaps WotC would have zero pull with the government? The auto industry employs thousands and thousands of people. The RPG industry just doesn't compare.

Not saying they would be begging if they were much larger, I just don't think it's a realistic comparison.

[Fifth Element]

Originally Posted by occam

It's like imposing economic sanctions on a country; they never hurt the people who made the decisions leading to those sanctions. My point is that if your intent is to hurt WotC with a boycott, the first to feel it would be the employees you're claiming to stand up for.

That's very true, and it's why boycotts generally don't work against large companies. The people to feel the hit are the non-management employees who get laid off when profits drop, and they had nothing to do with the decision-making to begin with.

[Moniker]

Given some thought on this subject overnight, I believe this was inevitable. Not only because of the economy, but the push for WotC to reduce costs on material production by moving their share of effort into the digital market. With that in mind, I would not be surprised to see another round of layoffs in early spring. The SG&A alone will justify the cuts.

Digital printing is the 21st century, kiddies. I highly suspect that paper books will not be the majority line item in their gross profits within the next few years.

[billd91]

Originally Posted by occam

It's like imposing economic sanctions on a country; they never hurt the people who made the decisions leading to those sanctions. My point is that if your intent is to hurt WotC with a boycott, the first to feel it would be the employees you're claiming to stand up for.

There is some truth to this, but to subscribe to it fully ultimately leads to paralysis. Unless you can take your grievance directly to the persons responsible for the decision (and good luck even finding out who to contact, getting their contact information, and actually being heard), there is nothing you can do to hold the company responsible for decisions you consider unethical, immoral, or otherwise wrongheaded.

It's a lot like trying to sue a corporation for liability. It doesn't matter if they were really responsible for a dangerous product that killed your whole family, any settlement you get out of them is passed on to the consumers via price increase or to the employees with layoffs.

But I would submit that it is still worthwhile doing so, voting with your purchasing dollars or suing for real liability. You've got to do something rather than just moan, groan, and protest. It may be that the buzz generated by the protest is the real agent of changing a corporation's decisions, should the publicity become too much or the protest gain too much support for the corporation to risk the extra loss of sales (why else do a lot of corporations impose gag rules in return for settling out of court for civil lawsuits). But it's your commitment to backing it up with personal actions that provides the protest/boycott/whatever with respectibility. People don't respect your talking the talk unless you walk the walk.

[Baz King]

Can anyone tell me what products have had Johnathan Tweet's design credits on them in the last couple of years? Genuinely curious, and slightly out of the loop.

[DaveMage]

Originally Posted by Moniker

I highly suspect that paper books will not be the majority line item in their gross profits within the next few years.

Is it the majority item now?

[Fifth Element]

Originally Posted by DaveMage

Is it the majority item now?

I've always heard MtG is a bigger part of their business than D&D.

[Moniker]

Originally Posted by DaveMage

Is it the majority item now?

Note that they qualified the layoffs as a "digital consolidation".

I should have been more specific - MtG likely have a very high cost of goods, and D&D as well with the cost of material. Since they're moving towards an online version of Magic and the gametable for Dungeons and Dragons, I believe it's easy to figure out where they want to be in 2009.

[AllisterH]

Originally Posted by DaveMage

Is it the majority item now?

That's a good point.

Doesn't MTGO now account for something like 35% of MTG sales and it is increasing....

[TerraDave]

Originally Posted by Mokona

...
Reached for comment by ICv2, a WotC spokesperson noted, “Wizards of the Coast consolidated its digital game organizations to streamline execution of digital growth strategies for core brands.”

Wizards of the Coast President Greg Leeds also weighed in. “Consolidating internal resources coupled with improved outsourcing allows us to gain efficiencies in executing against our major digital initiatives Magic Online and D&D Insider,” he said. “Wizards of the Coast is well positioned to maximize future opportunities, including further brand development on digital platforms. The result of this consolidation is a more streamlined approach to driving core brands.”
...

This could most politely be described as dilbertesque.

[rowport]

Originally Posted by Vaeron

You have it exactly backwards. Non-essentials are the FIRST thing people cut out of their budget. During a recession people spend their money on things like food, or rent, or mortgage, or clothing, or electricity, or gas. But the fact that WotC isn't in congress begging for $700 billion like the banks, or threatening to go out of business and lay off thousands upon thousands of employees like the car industry, suggests they're doing much much better by comparison.

Vaernon-

Not trying to be confronational, but curious; is this conjecture or based on economic data? My understanding matched Zil's, that low-cost entertainment like movies, games, etc. have lots of staying power in bad economic conditions because folks need the escape. High-ticket non-essentials like new cars, big televisions, etc. are unquestionably impacted-- you are right about that-- just not sure about the RPG market, since I would describe that in the former category.

[Fifth Element]

Originally Posted by TerraDave

This could most politely be described as dilbertesque.

Eh, that's pretty standard corporatespeak. It basically means "We decided we had too many full-time people working on the digital stuff, and figured it could be handled just as well with fewer of our staff, supplemented by contractors as needed."

But you can't get your Corporate President license talking like that. They have quotas for "efficiencies", "core brands", and "streamlined", you know.

[Fifth Element]

Originally Posted by rowport

Not trying to be confronational, but curious; is this conjecture or based on economic data? My understanding matched Zil's, that low-cost entertainment like movies, games, etc. have lots of staying power in bad economic conditions because folks need the escape. High-ticket non-essentials like new cars, big televisions, etc. are unquestionably impacted-- you are right about that-- just not sure about the RPG market, since I would describe that in the former category.

I think it makes sense that games would be among the last entertainment items to be cut from the budget. But if the economic downturn is bad enough, they can still be affected.