Reasons for WOTC's layoffs

[Wulf Ratbane]

Layoffs are always a sign of a problem. Layoffs are never positive. Despite the fact that there are an awful lot of unhealthy companies in this country, a healthy company should never have to resort to layoffs.

There are only two reasons for layoffs: (1) You core business is in trouble (which may or may not be management's fault). (2) You hired a lot of unnecessary people, which probably means you've got some managers of questionable talent.

In trying to paint the most positive light on this, here's what I came up with:

The core rulebooks are out, and WOTC doesn't need to maintain a lot of full-time, professional, dare I say "high priced" designers. At this point the d20 license and 3rd party developers are all they need to keep driving business back to their core rulebooks.

Dropping designers actually seems like an efficient move to me. I would not be at all surprised if they chose to pick these guys up for the occasional freelance project. They've done so with Monte, after all; and it doesn't seem like anyone is burning any bridges.

There just doesn't seem to be a need for full-time designers.

That's my positive spin... I haven't completely bought it myself though.

Wulf

 

[Florin]

I like it, except that this is supposedly an across-the-board cut. People have been cut from cards, miniatures, and RPGs. I think they are just down-sizing to cut costs.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I'm really only concerned with the 3e layoffs. Simply trying to refute the premise presented that 3e is hurting or in any danger.

 

[der_kluge]

Here's a scary "what-if" thought.

What if they did kill the RPG division? Maybe they don't sell it, rather just hold onto it, but don't do anything with it. I mean, the D&D trademark is pretty well-recognized, so selling it would seem silly. Rather, like G.I.Joe, they might just sit on it, and do a revival 20 years from now or something.

What would that do the game?

 

[der_kluge]

Another question -

If kids aren't playing M:TG or Pokemon anymore, what ARE they playing?

XBOX and Playstation?

 

[Imperialus]

Well, my youngest cousin, who is in 9th grade now, I think, used to collect Pokemon cards. He never actually played the game, but he liked to collect them. Now, he's moved onto actually playing Magic. I was very surprised that he brought a couple of decks with him to the family Christmas party. I then pulled out my shoebox of cards and proceeded to whip him.

It was really cool to watch his eyes get as big as saucers over my Chronicles stuff. It was nice to play with him, though, because it was the first time I'd played in like 2 years. So, thank you WotC for giving me something to share with my little cousin.

I did almost the exact same thing except it was with the kid of one of the people my dad works with. I blew the dust off my sengir deck and watched his jaw hit the floor when I started dropping the Homlands, Baron senger, a revised edition Sengir, a revised Doppelganger, revised clones. I felt bad for demolishing his 6th ed deck so compleately I let him go through my cards and pick a bunch that he liked and deck protecters for his entire deck... I must have given him about 50 bucks worth of cards, ahh well I was mostly keeping them for sentimental value anyhow.

 

[Kichwas]

What if they did kill the RPG division? Maybe they don't sell it, rather just hold onto it, but don't do anything with it. I mean, the D&D trademark is pretty well-recognized, so selling it would seem silly. Rather, like G.I.Joe, they might just sit on it, and do a revival 20 years from now or something.

What would that do the game?

This has been my concern since the day TSR sold to WotC.

Any one of the various companies could do this.

At present we have half an SRD to keep us going even if they kill off DnD.

That would mean that if DnD were to 'end' today the rest of the industry could take those portions of the OGL that have been released and put them in a book along with new rules to fill out a complete game.

As there isn't that much of the SRD finalized yet this new game would not look as much like DnD as we all might like.

And it wouldn't be able to call itself DnD or d20... so they've have to find some other name that still kept people thinking it was the same thing.

No idea how well that thing could keep going.

It wouldn't kill the hobby though even if all DnD and OGL based games ended; it would just shrink the industry notably for a few years until the hobbyists found a new 'standard'.


This is all of course predated upon a worst case scenerio coming to bear.

 

[RFisher]

Maybe they don't sell it, rather just hold onto it, but don't do anything with it. [...] What would that do the game?

I think the industry would look much as it did during the period between AD&D2e and D&D3e when there weren't many compelling products with the D&D name on them. (And don't read that as a knock on 2e. I liked 2e. I just didn't like it as much as some alternatives.)

If products stopped appearing with the D&D name (or if products with the D&D name stopped being compelling), then gaming would just become a "quieter" world again. We'd still have the D&D3e stuff we've already bought. (And new players could pick them up on ebay.) We'd still have GURPS and White Wolf and some minor RPGs. Fewer new players will be attracted to the hobby. Big bonus, though: We now have the d20 system, which could continue to live without whoever owns the D&D name.

Since WotC has shown how valuable the D&D brand can be when put on compelling products, I doubt this "what-if" will come to pass in the near future. Never, however, underestimate the potential for incompetent decision making in US corporations.

PS: One other point I want to make here. As little as I know about how Hasbro and WotC actually operate, I have to say that it's really refreshing to see how WotC really does appear to have survived as an organization within Hasbro. It's so sad to me to see what Hasbro has reduced Avalon Hill to.