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WotC's Annual Xmas Layoffs
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5750468" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>More than that, actually. It's a very short-sighted practice. It only makes economic sense for one year. In the long term, it actually costs you significantly.</p><p></p><p>Because the value of an older, more experienced employee is that the 10 years or so experience they have in the industry has granted them a deep, longitudinal, experiential knowledge that cannot be matched. They know game design. They live and breathe it. It has made up their livelihood for a big chunk of their existence on this planet. It saves you money by doing things like avoiding newbie mistakes and by thwarting attempts by the marketing department to take over everything and by giving you a grounding in the work that you do, day in and day out. Older employees provide leadership, guidance, and skills that come from simply having more years of experience. </p><p></p><p>Those benefits are difficult to quantify in absolute dollar terms (the benefits are more social, quantum, and structural, and though they result in absolute dollar savings, it is an indirect influence), so as far as the bean-counters are concerned, they're worthless. </p><p></p><p>I get that when the axe drops, someone's head has to roll, and better it be a well-paid dude with good connections and a solid resume then someone in a more precarious position.</p><p></p><p>But if I were a WotC employee, I might want to start asking why the axe has to drop so often, why so many heads have to roll, and where the head of this hydra lies, because it's not like Rich Baker or Steve Winter were <em>poor performers</em>. If D&D wasn't meeting expectations, I can't imagine the blame lays at their feet. It's higher up and deeper in. The problem appears to be systemic within WotC. It's not like Paizo has to lay off a handful of old hats right before the holidays every year, and while Pathfinder is doing swimmingly, I'm confident WotC still pulls in a bigger profit at the end of the year, with or without the yearly firings.</p><p></p><p>It is as if the very organization of the company is hostile toward the concept of an employee working there until they retire. </p><p></p><p>But <a href="http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/21063.html" target="_blank">lets hear Greg Leeds spin this news circa three months ago</a>: </p><p></p><p></p><p>When I think of "stability," I generally don't think of the last 15 years of D&D, honestly...from TSR to WotC to 3e to 3.5e to 4e to Essentials to now maybe 5e, and with christmas firings on a yearly basis, "stability" isn't really the word I think of.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 5750468, member: 2067"] More than that, actually. It's a very short-sighted practice. It only makes economic sense for one year. In the long term, it actually costs you significantly. Because the value of an older, more experienced employee is that the 10 years or so experience they have in the industry has granted them a deep, longitudinal, experiential knowledge that cannot be matched. They know game design. They live and breathe it. It has made up their livelihood for a big chunk of their existence on this planet. It saves you money by doing things like avoiding newbie mistakes and by thwarting attempts by the marketing department to take over everything and by giving you a grounding in the work that you do, day in and day out. Older employees provide leadership, guidance, and skills that come from simply having more years of experience. Those benefits are difficult to quantify in absolute dollar terms (the benefits are more social, quantum, and structural, and though they result in absolute dollar savings, it is an indirect influence), so as far as the bean-counters are concerned, they're worthless. I get that when the axe drops, someone's head has to roll, and better it be a well-paid dude with good connections and a solid resume then someone in a more precarious position. But if I were a WotC employee, I might want to start asking why the axe has to drop so often, why so many heads have to roll, and where the head of this hydra lies, because it's not like Rich Baker or Steve Winter were [I]poor performers[/I]. If D&D wasn't meeting expectations, I can't imagine the blame lays at their feet. It's higher up and deeper in. The problem appears to be systemic within WotC. It's not like Paizo has to lay off a handful of old hats right before the holidays every year, and while Pathfinder is doing swimmingly, I'm confident WotC still pulls in a bigger profit at the end of the year, with or without the yearly firings. It is as if the very organization of the company is hostile toward the concept of an employee working there until they retire. But [URL="http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/21063.html"]lets hear Greg Leeds spin this news circa three months ago[/URL]: When I think of "stability," I generally don't think of the last 15 years of D&D, honestly...from TSR to WotC to 3e to 3.5e to 4e to Essentials to now maybe 5e, and with christmas firings on a yearly basis, "stability" isn't really the word I think of. [/QUOTE]
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