An open letter to Randy Buehler

[AllisterH]

Randy was quite willing to back up his "D&D cred" at GenCon, first offering to tell us about his characters. I wouldn't be surprised if he posts about this issue specifically sometime soon.

As Fenes mentions, this _IS_ more of a DM than player issue. Like I said, pretty much all of the WOTC people play games and I'm not surprised that he has a couple of character(s).

However, if he is seeing this from the standpoint of a player, he's not seeing it properly.

Best way for him to understand it would be to tell him is akin to forcing a Level 1 judge to go in cold when a new set gets released and even then, I doubt the MTG judge would be at as great a disadvantage.

Still, I do suggest reveal keep making his point as calmly as he has because Randy when he was on MTG Randy would change viewpoints/position on the msgboard if the argment was persuasive enough.

"The public knows MTG better than the company? Do I need to remind you of the fiasco that was Crusade vs Glorious Anthem?"

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Because he's worked himself up FROM R&D to Digital Gaming. Randy started as a "tester/gopher" for M:TG cards, worked himself up to lead designer on a couple of sets, then became LEAD DEVELOPER of all M:TG.
The guy is a gamer made good.

<Snip>

As an aside, weren't we complaining a few weeks ago that WOTC and D&D had been possessed by suits and wasn't run by a gamer? NOW you're saying you don't WANT a gamer involved with it?

I don't doubt his M:tG qualifications. I think that it is great he worked his way up the Magic ladder. All that experience however doesn't necessarily translate to electronic development. I think that it is great to have gamers in charge of things. Those gamers however need to also have experience in the technical aspects of their jobs as well. Randy is great for M:tG, it is his experience with both the full range of gaming required in a multi-genre position of authority as well as his technical expertise in the Electronic aspect of his job that is being questioned.

 

[Joshua Randall]

WotC has a lot of experience with authors submitting work that is somewhat different than the called for stuff.

I think this is a good point.

I also think it's worth noting that the Age of Worms adventure path outlined in the Overload was a bit different than how it actually turned out. Now, these were pretty minor changes, but given how nit-picky a lot of nerds can be, if similar changes end up happening to WotC's AP, I'm sure there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

[Erik Mona]

Funny, when Paizo did Dungeon, there was never, not once, an overview of all the adventures until after the entire AP was released. Why should that change now?

And this, of course, is a lie.

Or perhaps just petulant posturing with no regard for the facts because you can't be bothered to look them up.

Not sure which, not sure which is worse.

--Erik

 

[Erik Mona]

I see Hussar confirmed it himself: Petulant posturing.

Suggestion: In future, if you don't know what you're talking about, keep your mouth shut.

--Erik

 

[rkwoodard]

or

And this, of course, is a lie.

Or perhaps just petulant posturing with no regard for the facts because you can't be bothered to look them up.

Not sure which, not sure which is worse.

--Erik

self corrected out, Non-relevent.

RK

 

[TerraDave]

The guy is a gamer made good.

Not such a big deal. Company was founded by gamers. Some of whom really did make good in the buy out. Practically everyone we know of who works there is one...as mentioned the pay is not so great. Why else would you do it?

And, as has also been mentioned, what does this have to do with digital gaming.

 

[vic20]

And this, of course, is a lie.

Or perhaps just petulant posturing with no regard for the facts because you can't be bothered to look them up.

Not sure which, not sure which is worse.

--Erik

Come now. If you'll read the whole thread, Hussar owns the fact that his post was based on ignorance. Hussar, you might want to edit your original post to head off people calling for your head when they read it.

I can believe that the hesitance to release the over-all story arc summary is much like the already-alluded-to Battlestar Galactica. (NO SPOILERS! I'm still 10 episodes back...) Listening to the Ronald Moore podcast commentary for the season 3 finale last night, I was impressed by how much of the story-critical reveals of the finale weren't finalized until well after shooting for the episode started.

If this parallel hits home, it seems like they definitely need to rethink their decision in the context of the particular needs of DMs running the AP. The big story pieces need to be presented so that a DM can pro-actively stitch the actions and decisions of the players to these big pieces. It's true that any DM should have training in Improvisation, but things need to feel as Epic and personal as possible for the players. The summary seems like it would be one of the most important components for this DM work, granting a +2 utility bonus to Improvisation checks.

This is obviously not an easy task, and it is a testament to Mr. Mona and his team that they provided it for their AP. Hopefully, the team at WOTC will roll up their sleeves and accept the challenge.

 

[AllisterH]

I don't doubt his M:tG qualifications. I think that it is great he worked his way up the Magic ladder. All that experience however doesn't necessarily translate to electronic development. I think that it is great to have gamers in charge of things. Those gamers however need to also have experience in the technical aspects of their jobs as well. Randy is great for M:tG, it is his experience with both the full range of gaming required in a multi-genre position of authority as well as his technical expertise in the Electronic aspect of his job that is being questioned.

Actually, I don't think a Vice-president of digital gaming NEEDS a technical background. It's pretty rare to find a vice president of a NEW division (keep in mind, digital gaming was not even a thought 6 years ago) who actually will have experiences in such an environment.

Closest might be trying to get say a MMO developer and even there, I don't think the vice president actually has to have said nackground.

Beside, more importantly, what does Digital gaming actually have to do with "releasing an overview".


Personally, if anything I still believe the "problem" is that Randy (if this was his decision and I'm not convinced this is true) is simply coming from a MTG viewpoint where even mentioning the theme of a set that is a year off would get you a strange look.

I agree with Fenes. This is more of a "not a DM, only a player" viewpoint.

 

[Erik Mona]

Come now. If you'll read the whole thread, Hussar owns the fact that his post was based on ignorance.

This is true. I'm just growing weary of Hussar speaking from a position of ignorance, especially when it concerns my company or its products. I should have read through the whole thread, but I wanted to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.

I'm glad he copped to his mistake, and hope that he will refrain from strident posting about things he doesn't know much about in the future.

--Erik