New WotC Layoffs?

I have been unable to verify any of this, so consider this no more than a "rumour report". However I'm hearing that layoffs have occurred at WotC this week, and that one of the victims is art director Mark Painter. Again, all rumour at this point.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Maybe we should wait and see if this rumor actually has any truth to it and if so, who gets kicked and why, before we (once again) declare the death of D&D and cast Hasbro as the devil himself while we are at it.

I would agree with that, if Hasbro hadn't already fired enough people from D&D in their reign. In other words, I don't care if this is a baseless rumor, they've already done bad. I'm willing to forgive and forget though if they turn around. I don't hold corporate grudges.

Thankfully 5e is good, and has been doing well, miraculously.

 

[Klaus]

Well, D&D isn't doing many books at the moment, so they don't really need an art director., let alone 2-3. All that is handled by the outsourced studios.

Only to a point. You'd be surprised at how much work WotC does even before outsourced studios enter the process.

And the WotC art directors work throughout the process, guiding the outsourced studios and their artists.

 

[S_Dalsgaard]

I would agree with that, if Hasbro hadn't already fired enough people from D&D in their reign. In other words, I don't care if this is a baseless rumor, they've already done bad. I'm willing to forgive and forget though if they turn around. I don't hold corporate grudges.

Thankfully 5e is good, and has been doing well, miraculously.

As you say 5e has done well (in fact incredible well, I would say) and that is despite what some would characterize as a skeleton D&D crew, so maybe Hasbro is actually doing a good job of managing the brand.

 

[justinj3x3]

As you say 5e has done well (in fact incredible well, I would say) and that is despite what some would characterize as a skeleton D&D crew, so maybe Hasbro is actually doing a good job of managing the brand.

I wouldn't consider Hasbro to be doing a good job just because 5e is doing well. I'd say that means WOTC did a good job designing 5e. To say hasbro is doing a good job managing the brand considering they have (or have dictated that WOTC) done (do) little to nothing for a year now. You can say I do a good job taking care of my cat by feeding him and cleaning his litter box, but he needs to be pet from time to time too.

I'm not calling them the devil, but they aren't exactly saints either.

 

[Jester David]

Only to a point. You'd be surprised at how much work WotC does even before outsourced studios enter the process.

And the WotC art directors work throughout the process, guiding the outsourced studios and their artists.

I'm sure they do. Especially with Sasquatch Games. But is it three people's worth of work?
And once they get the look down and build style guides, it's easier.

And, arguably, a lot of it could be done freelance. That's office space costs and benefit payments that go to profits.

 

[Rune]

As much as I appreciate and respect Mike Mearl's work on 5e, I really think D&D has no business being a one man show. As the biggest name in the business it deserves a minimum of 3 or 4 people (I'd prefer more than that) giving it a good portion of their attention. I mean, this is ridiculous to me, considering the size of the team in previous editions.

I think it's about time a billionaire gaming enthusiast buys the brand from WotC/Hasbro so it can have real support (and I'm not talking about a glut of products, I'm actually reasonably satisfied with the slow release rate). As it is now there is always this sense of trepidation that Hasbro is going to just say, "Why do we need anyone working on it anymore?" and just close up shop on D&D, reprinting the current books according to demand. I don't feel they (Hasbro) deserve to be custodians of D&D. They don't "get it."

Huh. It seems to me that part of the problem TSR and the WotC has had in moving D&D past a niche market is that the rules for it keep changing. Now that they have a widely appreciated (among enthusiasts) set, probably the best thing Hasbro could do for the game is leave their current rule set alone and give it time to build a multi-generational familiarity (like their board games have).

Cosmetic changes and additions that don't change the fundamental mechanics of the game could be added over time, allowing some degree of evolution.

Alternate rules or setting assumptions could be marketed as spin-off products (again, as their board games do). Or could simply be released for free online.

 

[Yaarel]

OGL the 5e SRD.

Consider using just the Basic Rules for the 5e SRD. But the 3e SRD already gives access to names such as Wood Elf, High Elf, Monk, Druid, Psion, etcetera. So the 5e SRD might as well supply 5e versions of these too.



With an OGL, fans can supply much of the 5e content.



Note, an OGL doesnt permit the use of proprietary logos.

Even with an OGL, WotC can remain in control of all of its branding logos, including the name ‘D&D’.

Compare how Paizo uses the logo ‘Pathfinder’ to represent its version of D&D, and maintains control of this logo. Paizo doesnt use the WotC logo, ‘D&D’.

Controlling the licensing of a logo helps ensure quality control.

Different groups will use different logos, and players will need to learn which groups tend to have higher quality products.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip) I think it's about time a billionaire gaming enthusiast buys the brand from WotC/Hasbro so it can have real support (and I'm not talking about a glut of products, I'm actually reasonably satisfied with the slow release rate). (snip)

How do you make a small fortune in RPGs? Start with a large fortune.

Unfortunately, there is no *real* money in this hobby at least insofar as the TTRPGs are concerned. It's a niche hobby that last had mainstream success 30-odd years ago before computer gaming came into its own. What is attractive is that there does seem to be some IP there that might be able to be converted into more mainstream products such as films. (I may think R A Salvatore is the hackiest of hack writers but I reckon there's a Drizzt trilogy that, if properly written and funded [to pay for decent actors], could do well. Now, about those movie rights....)

I am sure that Hasbro's PoV as well which is why the D&D TTRPG is run by a skeleton team of designers whose job seems to be managing outsourcing.

Personally, I would like to see the TTRPG in the hands of a private company but Hasbro likes to keep its IP and probably doesn't care enough about D&D to realise they could license out the TTRPG (and it probably wouldn't be worth their while to go through all the paperwork and internal procedures to allow that to happen). And I would be surprised if there are many billionaires around who are D&D fans. The time it takes to make that sort of fortune tends to militate participating in this hobby....

 

[Coredump]

I would agree with that, if Hasbro hadn't already fired enough people from D&D in their reign. In other words, I don't care if this is a baseless rumor, they've already done bad. I'm willing to forgive and forget though if they turn around. I don't hold corporate grudges.

Thankfully 5e is good, and has been doing well, miraculously.

So let me see if I understand your position...

1) Hasbro has fired 'too many' people and "done bad" by DnD..

2) DnD is a good product and doing well....


I dont' think your premise and conclusion quite match up....

 

[I'm A Banana]

MerricB is correct. Without getting into details, this has to do with corporate vision, and restructuring, not some ominous corporate design to warp D&D or Magic. We should give Mark, and his associates our best wishes in these coming days.

No offense, but "corporate vision and restructuring" sounds precisely like "some ominous corporate design." It isn't always but is often enough PR doublespeak for "we are going to be putting several people out of jobs."

I hope everyone out in Redmond is doing OK.