Charles Ryan (and others) out at WotC?

MerricB said:

Bizarre. Not sure what to think.

It's probably time for more threads of "the sky is falling".

However, in this case, they may well be right. Getting rid of so many top people does *not* bode well.

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Especially when 2 of the 5 are your senior vp and vp of marketing. Sales aren't where they should be at, maybe?

And brand manager of a product line...

Banshee

Steel_Wind said:

Looking at the seniority of the people axed from WotC, I think this looks like a pure salary dump.

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I'll second that. Unless they are dumping D&D outright or having a major restructuring of how they work, they really can't do without a D&D Brand Manager, so cutting Charles Ryan in favor of a more junior replacement could be a purely cost-saving move. It's mercenary and cold, but it's something a very cutthroat large corporation like Hasbro would do.

It's been WotC's style if you look back, to fire longtime employees (who go on to success in the d20 market) and bring in newer, presumably cheaper, employees. How many Brand Managers has WotC gone through since 3e, isn't Ryan the 3rd in 5 years? How often has WotC announced layoffs?

So...while it may suck to be a game retailer right now , or a publisher, or a former employee of WotC - I'm not sure that those of us on the consuming end of things have ever had it better.

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This I'll also agree with. All the "grim future of gaming" threads seem to quickly polarize into two sides, one which sees things as brighter than ever, once that sees everything in shambles, and I think this is why. A consumer of RPG's has a huge variety of games to choose from, with loads of settings, high production values and an abundance of suppliments. It's easier to use minis in your game than ever before, and the internet makes finding new gamers and discussing your games far easier. Things on the other end of things are feeling the crunch from a slow economy, the burst of the "d20 bubble", and a market that is very dominated by D&D.

No matter how good it gets, people will complain it could be better, and no matter how bad it gets there will always been some hopeful gamer who will stake it all on a start-up company to make some games and hope to break even at it all.

Hello, everybody.

Just thought I'd stop by and confirm what you've already heard. Today was my last day with Wizards of the Coast. Although I will still be active on these boards and in the D&D community, I am no longer a spokesman for D&D or WotC.

Please don't be too hasty to draw conclusions about the health of D&D from this turn of events. Wizards of the Coast is a large company with a dozen or so brands and major business operations on every continent. The company operates very much as a team, and in that environment, a single brand can be affected by the fortunes of other brands, even when it's doing well.

I'm sad to no longer be involved professionally with D&D. I'm very proud of my accomplishments during my tenure as Brand Manager (and as a member of the R&D team before that). This has been a very exciting two years for the D&D brand, and though I'm sorry not to continue participating in D&D's future, I'm honored to have had the opportunity that I did to lead D&D's fortunes during two very exciting years.

My wife and I are expecting our second child soon, and I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with my family over the next few weeks. I don't yet know where I'll go from there, but I can tell you this: I will always be a diehard gamer and an outspoken fan of D&D!

Thanks for serving as conductor on the D&D train, Mr. Ryan. We'll see you around.

CharlesRyan said:

Hello, everybody.

Just thought I'd stop by and confirm what you've already heard. Today was my last day with Wizards of the Coast. Although I will still be active on these boards and in the D&D community, I am no longer a spokesman for D&D or WotC.

Please don't be too hasty to draw conclusions about the health of D&D from this turn of events. Wizards of the Coast is a large company with a dozen or so brands and major business operations on every continent. The company operates very much as a team, and in that environment, a single brand can be affected by the fortunes of other brands, even when it's doing well.

I'm sad to no longer be involved professionally with D&D. I'm very proud of my accomplishments during my tenure as Brand Manager (and as a member of the R&D team before that). This has been a very exciting two years for the D&D brand, and though I'm sorry not to continue participating in D&D's future, I'm honored to have had the opportunity that I did to lead D&D's fortunes during two very exciting years.

My wife and I are expecting our second child soon, and I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with my family over the next few weeks. I don't yet know where I'll go from there, but I can tell you this: I will always be a diehard gamer and an outspoken fan of D&D!

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I'm sorry to hear this. Even though I don't play 3.e and buy no Wizards products I can sympathise with losing ones job during the holidays. Anyone who says it can be a blessing has never been canned right before Christmas. Good Luck and hopefully you land a high paying position somewhere.

Condolences on your job, and congratulations on your forthcoming blessing.

Keep your chin up, Charles. Maybe you can get another job in the area *cough*Green Ronin*cough*

My sympathy and support to you, Mr. Ryan, and to you, Mrs. Lyons, and all of the rest of you who lost your jobs.

Edena_of_Neith

Mr Ryan,
Good luck on finding a job to replace the one you have lost. Congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family. Kids are great.

I'm he'll have no trouble finding work with nearly any big d20 company.

CharlesRyan said:

I'm very proud of my accomplishments during my tenure as Brand Manager (and as a member of the R&D team before that). This has been a very exciting two years for the D&D brand, and though I'm sorry not to continue participating in D&D's future, I'm honored to have had the opportunity that I did to lead D&D's fortunes during two very exciting years.

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You did good Charles, and it was an honor working with you. I'm sorry Hasbro gave you the shaft, but hey, my lack of trust in them as an employer is about 80% of why I chose to leave. Good luck. I hope we haven't seen the last of you in RPGs.