I remember Julia Martin for her excellent "Faiths & Avatars" sourcebook.
A few years ago I joked to Michelle that I was an editing fanboy; editing usually is the deciding factor in whether I enjoy reading a book or not, and the editor is usually an unsung hero in a book's success. I'm really going to miss Julia.If I may: Take a moment, and look through your stack of D&D game books for the last seventeen years, particularly the Forgotten Realms products. Pick out your favorites. And then look at the credits page where you rarely go, and read the editors' names. Julia's will be there more often than not.
She is one of the most experienced and dedicated editors I know, and she will be sorely missed.
There's been a few comments about Randy Buehler. I never knew of him from any place but DDInsider. However I wanted to say that once he relaunched the DDI project with his weekly Wednesday columns, I felt a lot more confident about the direction DDI was going in.
I liked him, and I didn't have any baggage coming in with me when I made that assessment. The last few months of DDI have seemed better and stronger, and I was getting hopeful. I credit Randy Buehler for that, right or for wrong.
Major layoffs during the 3e era created some award-winning game companies: Green Ronin, Malhavoc Games, and quite a few more. I can only hope that layoffs during the 4e era do the same.
23 folks were laid off, I believe. Painful.
There is no question it is better. But the early days, were pretty rough.