D&D 5E Mike Mearls is back on the D&D RPG Team

Three weeks ago, WotC's Jeremy Crawford told us that Mike Mearls was no longer working on the tabletop RPG, and hadn't since some time in 2019. Today, the (newish) D&D head Ray Winninger said on the company's Twitch livestream that Mearls is now back full-time on the tabletop game.

Mike Mearls is back full time on the RPG again. He was splitting his time working on some computer game stuff for us, but he’s back.

He still doesn't appear to be back on social media since his final tweet back in 2019.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

And now would be a great time to see Star Frontiers and Gamma World developed by Mike, while Ray handles D&D.

I don't think we're going to see Gamma World in 5E. The 4E version did what, okay? But it wasn't some sort of mega-hit. And culturally, the sort of gonzo mutation-centric deal that Gamma World was all about, that was huge in the 1980s and even still a bit in the 1990s is just not something that's really cool or interesting anymore, I'd suggest. I see no evidence that it's coming back, either.

Star Frontiers would be interesting, but would have to be a more or less "from the ground" reboot, and would probably end up being a lot more "D&D in space", like Starfinder is. Certainly nothing about the original Star Frontiers system or setting is likely to have much value in 2020. It's a solid name at least.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Or just normal business where a high-ranking employee will work on different projects depending on where he's needed the most.

Somebody with actual familiarity with corporate practices chimes in!

 

[Umbran]

I'm not talking about politics. I'm talking about things like Ferguson.

Rhetorical question, because this is otherwise a derailing - don't answer this publicly, but... Really? You honestly think events like that don't attract politically-motivated misinformation?

 

[Umbran]

That's not really normal, though. High-ranking employees typically have well-defined purviews....

Plus it sounds like he's working more directly, not managing, which is kind of unusual/interesting.

YOu may have hit the point right there. High ranking managers have well-defined purviews.

And, while WotC overall may have a lot of hard fences between people, I am not sure that the D&D team itself is large enough to make that a viable strategy.

 

[Sadras]

The ability for people to easily get outside of their filter bubble

Hillarious.

 

[polyhedral man]

Very happy with the news. Even more so after all the idle, unfair speculation in the previous thread. And even more so, because i have a lot of respect for Mearls as i do for Winninger. A winning team, good job Wizards. Make sure to keep them inspired and happy!

 

[atanakar]

Very happy with the news. Even more so after all the idle, unfair speculation in the previous thread. And even more so, because i have a lot of respect for Mearls as i do for Winninger. A winning team, good job Wizards. Make sure to keep them inspired and happy!

I second that!

 

[Retreater]

Nothing at all against Mike Mearls, but I guess I was just hoping for things to shakeup at Wizards and to take D&D in a new direction. I'm aware that 5e has been highly successful, and Mearls deserves a bit of the credit for that. But I personally would like a new direction than what we've been getting. 5e now has way too much "celebrity/pop culture influence" for my grognard sensibilities: celebrity written sourcebooks, celebrity livestreams, and multiple products based on TV shows. I'd much prefer a Bruce Cordell written adventure (for example) than one by Deborah Woll, for example. I think writers should have to hone their craft before getting a book deal based on their popularity or name recognition. Woll's adventure might be fantastic, but it's a risk when you have a new writer to give them a hardcover book.
Game design isn't something just anyone can do, and I would like to see Wizards get back to its roots of solid game design instead of trying to be a pop culture fad.

 

[Xenonnonex]

Some animosity between Crawford and Mearls?

 

[mjsoctober]

There is evidence that serious allegations were made against Zak S to WotC through Mike Mearls. There is also evidence that Mike Mearls passed on the emails he received from the people alleging assaults to Zak along with their unredacted personal information, thus allegedly doxxing them. The evidence is freely available online. If it is real, and if the allegations are true against Zak, then it would appear that Mearls may have provided the victims' personal information to the alleged offender.