WotC Is Mike Mearls Happy Hour still a thing?

Rellott · May 14, 2019

bedir than said:
It's not just the Happy Hour that disappeared, but Unearthed Arcana as well. Supposedly that moved from monthly to just "when needed." But there was word that the next UA would be an expansion on the Artificer, and wellllllll........ it's been 3 months since the latest Artificer

I don’t think Mearls being pulled from public eye would affect that. I think that’s just them doing exactly what I predicted would happen when they moved the date to the end of the month: “We’re gonna try to put one out every month, but if we don’t make it, we’ll try again the next month... Oops, we missed this month’s deadline, so we’ll get something out next month... Oops, we missed this month’s deadline, so we’ll get something out next month........”
Taking away the hard deadline makes it easier to skate past all the people that would rage at them whenever they would miss a deadline in the past.

epithet · May 14, 2019

Eubani said:
Mike forwarding the evidence and complaints to Zak S was not someone else's actions, those actions and poor decisions were his own. The resulting anger after the what was considered a poor apology and failing to take ownership were the natural consequences.

I don't know what, if anything, was actually forwarded to Zak by Mike. Do you? Does anyone who is indulging in this "resulting anger" you're justifying? Let's be clear--at the time, Zak was coming under fire for being a tool to people online. That's it. Mike was asked to look into it, and my guess is that he said to Zak "you've been accused of doing the following things... do you have an excuse or justification?" Maybe it was apparent to Zak who had complained, based on the nature of the accusations, I don't know.

Mike was never, as far as I can tell, in the position of investigating accusations of domestic abuse, which is what Zak is now in trouble for. I find it difficult to imagine that Mike would be asked or would agree to conduct that kind of enquiry.

So what we've got is a situation where Zak said some crap to and about some people on the internet. Mike was asked to look at the situation and was mostly dismissive. Years later, Zak is accused of domestic abuse, and now people are screaming that Mike should have taken steps to "deplatform" Zak back then, because apparently Mike should have known that someone who was saying crap on the internet was also abusive in real life. People who don't know Zak, his (ex)girlfriend, any of the people who Zak was talking crap to or about, or Mike, are nevertheless feeling all kinds of entitled to their share of the "resulting anger" without any obligation to know what the hell they're talking about.

To be clear--if Zak harassed you and Mike was dismissive of that harassment, you have every right to be angry. If you have done your homework and become knowledgeable about this issue (with respect to actual facts, not just accusations) then you are absolutely entitled to hold and share a strong opinion. But if you're just mad because you haven't seen Mike apologize enough for something you heard he might have done which may have empowered a scumbag to be a bigger scumbag and that's suddenly relevant because you've heard that scumbag has been accused of some horrible (but unrelated) stuff, then it seems to me that you're just joining an outrage mob for the opportunity to vent your spleen on someone without repercussion.

Morrus · May 14, 2019

epithet said:
I don't know what, if anything, was actually forwarded to Zak by Mike. Do you? Does anyone who is indulging in this "resulting anger" you're justifying? Let's be clear--at the time, Zak was coming under fire for being a tool to people online. That's it. Mike was asked to look into it, and my guess is that he said to Zak "you've been accused of doing the following things... do you have an excuse or justification?" Maybe it was apparent to Zak who had complained, based on the nature of the accusations, I don't know.

Mike was never, as far as I can tell, in the position of investigating accusations of domestic abuse, which is what Zak is now in trouble for. I find it difficult to imagine that Mike would be asked or would agree to conduct that kind of enquiry.

So what we've got is a situation where Zak said some crap to and about some people on the internet. Mike was asked to look at the situation and was mostly dismissive. Years later, Zak is accused of domestic abuse, and now people are screaming that Mike should have taken steps to "deplatform" Zak back then, because apparently Mike should have known that someone who was saying crap on the internet was also abusive in real life. People who don't know Zak, his (ex)girlfriend, any of the people who Zak was talking crap to or about, or Mike, are nevertheless feeling all kinds of entitled to their share of the "resulting anger" without any obligation to know what the hell they're talking about.

To be clear--if Zak harassed you and Mike was dismissive of that harassment, you have every right to be angry. If you have done your homework and become knowledgeable about this issue (with respect to actual facts, not just accusations) then you are absolutely entitled to hold and share a strong opinion. But if you're just mad because you haven't seen Mike apologize enough for something you heard he might have done which may have empowered a scumbag to be a bigger scumbag and that's suddenly relevant because you've heard that scumbag has been accused of some horrible (but unrelated) stuff, then it seems to me that you're just joining an outrage mob for the opportunity to vent your spleen on someone without repercussion.

I think you’d be surprised at the sheer number of people with personal stakes in this.

And no, people weren’t asking Mearls to go back in time and not have enabled him. They were asking for a decent apology.

It’s important who the representatives of the flagship game in our hobby choose to associate with, and who they choose not to. It sends a message. And, unfortunately, it’s been the wrong message more than once.

lkj · May 14, 2019

bedir than said:
It's not just the Happy Hour that disappeared, but Unearthed Arcana as well. Supposedly that moved from monthly to just "when needed." But there was word that the next UA would be an expansion on the Artificer, and wellllllll........ it's been 3 months since the latest Artificer

In other news, they released a new UA for the artificer today:

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/artificer-returns

SkidAce · May 15, 2019

It just arrived today [MENTION=6789971]bedir than[/MENTION] .

bedir than · May 15, 2019

SkidAce said:
It just arrived today [MENTION=6789971]bedir than[/MENTION] .

I'm taking credit for the timing.

jamesstreissand · Oct 4, 2019

Sorry for necroposting but going over this thread makes me depressed.

Mearls was the one designer who looked fun to engage with when it came to tinkering with the rules, engaging with the fan base on underperforming content (as opposed to dismissing them). This is right around the time I was gettign disillusioned with 5e as a whole, and Mike's content (whether I was building a new system or reworking 5e) was incredibly valuable for inspiration and feedback. Most of all he felt so tapped into the more hardcore fanbase, especially players who love mechanics/combat focused games, which gave me the sense of this being a whole lot less corporatized.

I wish I could see him on SM again. Of any kind, really. But by now, I think they've probably brought in a freelancer (and I'm thinking of one in particular) to phase him out.

It's sad, and I can't think of anyone who benefited from the situation besides a few people who enjoyed some high engagement tweets.

Hope those internet points were worth it.

cbwjm · Oct 4, 2019

From what I understand, he's been busy consulting on Baldur's Gate 3. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back in the future for HFH or other streaming content.

Parmandur · Oct 4, 2019

jamesstreissand said:
Sorry for necroposting but going over this thread makes me depressed.

Mearls was the one designer who looked fun to engage with when it came to tinkering with the rules, engaging with the fan base on underperforming content (as opposed to dismissing them). This is right around the time I was gettign disillusioned with 5e as a whole, and Mike's content (whether I was building a new system or reworking 5e) was incredibly valuable for inspiration and feedback. Most of all he felt so tapped into the more hardcore fanbase, especially players who love mechanics/combat focused games, which gave me the sense of this being a whole lot less corporatized.

I wish I could see him on SM again. Of any kind, really. But by now, I think they've probably brought in a freelancer (and I'm thinking of one in particular) to phase him out.

It's sad, and I can't think of anyone who benefited from the situation besides a few people who enjoyed some high engagement tweets.

Hope those internet points were worth it.

He's not been pushed out, he was promoted and got off of social media.

He's done quite a few interviews about BG3, and is involved in more behind the scenes high-level franchise development now.