D&D 5E Kate Welch on Leaving WotC

Kate Welch left Wizards of the Coast a few days ago, on August 16th. Soon after, she talked a little about it in a live-stream.

She started work at WotC as a game designer back in February 2018, and has contributed to various products since then, such as Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Descent into Avernus, as well as being a participant in WotC's livestreams. In December 2019, her job changed to that of 'senior user experience designer'.

"I mentioned yesterday that I have some big news that I wouldn't be able to share until today.

The big news that I have to share with you today is that I ... this is difficult, but ... I quit my job at Wizards of the Coast. I no longer work at Wizards. Today was my last day. I haven't said it out loud yet so it's pretty major. I know... it's a big change. It's been scary, I have been there for almost three years, not that long, you know, as far as jobs go, and for a while there I really was having a good time. It's just not... it wasn't the right fit for me any more.

So, yeah, I don't really know what's next. I got no big plans. It's a big deal, big deal .... and I wanted to talk to you all about it because you're, as I've mentioned before, a source of great joy for me. One of the things that has been tough reckoning with this is that I've defined myself by Dungeons & Dragons for so long and I really wanted to be a part of continuing to make D&D successful and to grow it, to have some focus especially on new user experience, I think that the new user experience for Dungeons & Dragons is piss poor, and I've said that while employed and also after quitting.

But I've always wanted to be a part of getting D&D into the hands of more people and helping them understand what a life-changing game it is, and I hope I still get the chance to do that. But as of today I'm unemployed, and I also wanted to be upfront about it because I have this great fear that because Dungeons & Dragons has been part of my identity, professionally for the last three years almost, I was worried that a lot of you'll would not want to follow me any more because I'm not at Wizards, and there's definitely some glamourous aspects to being at Wizards."

She went on to talk about the future, and her hopes that she'll still be be able to work with WotC.

"I'm excited about continuing to play D&D, and hopefully Wizards will still want me to appear on their shows and stuff, we'll see, I have no idea. But one thing that I'm really excited about is that now I can play other TTRPGs. There's a policy that when you're a Wizards employee you can't stream other tabletop games. So there was a Call of Cthulhu game that we did with the C-team but we had to get very special permission for it, they were like OK but this is only a one time thing. I get it, you know, it's endorsing the competition or whatever, but I'm super excited to be able to have more freedom about the kinds of stuff that I'm getting involved with."

 

[R_J_K75]

DMing is seen as a responsibility someone has to accept.

Someone has to be Beatle Paul, only reason he played bass was because no one else wanted to.

 

[ART!]

The terms are confusing to new players. Saving throw? DC? AC? Even after explaining it for 3-4 sessions people are still confused. D&D takes a lot of buy in and is in no way intuitive for the new player. They have to struggle against what they can and cannot do (which is nothing, they can do anything, that's what you have to convince them!) and the book does a bad job of doing this.

I feel like I should get paid for every time I try to explain to a new player that you don't get 5th level spells when you get to 5th level. Bonus pay for then going in to spell slots. Double time for every dull, glassy-eyed reaction from the new player.

I totally agree that WotC could make it easier for new players to learn the rules and the books should be redesigned. My point was that at some point the onus lies on the players to read and attempt to learn the game. I've seen many players show up to play and have no clue what's going on because they haven't read the PHB. IME its almost expected that the DM will walk the new players through the learning process every step of the way. Which is unrealistic and unfair. No matter how well written the core rule books are with examples of play and walk throughs if the players dont take the initiative to learn the game, how can WotC be faulted for that?

Maybe the problem is that the uninitiated don't realize that D&D is an order fo magnitude more complex than the best-known, family boardgames or card games. They hear about it, maybe even watch an actual play, and it probably doesn't even occur to them that there's an investment beyond maybe reading something the length of Catan rulebook.

I don't Kate's words about New User experience being piss poor. I agree with so many that said the PHB could after a much better layout. I always thought starting with character creation was odd. Here let us tell you how to calculate all these values AC, HP, Attack Bonus.... oh and pick from these traits which you have no understanding of yet. Yes starter sets are great but imagine the amount of kids with disabilities or don't know others who would be willing to play. I love D&D and simply want everyone to have the opportunity to experience how awesome it is. That being said the barriers to many kids specifically those with disabilities are really high. I have come across kids with dyslexia to difficulties with math are quickly turned off the rules even though I know they would love the "spirit" of D&D. It amazes me with the available technology WOTC doesn't have direct links on their website to dozens of tutorials... quick play throughs, simple building guides, visual spell descriptions and the like. Not to mention having or at least guiding New Users, Players, Customers, etc. towards online games with others, its not like 10 year old kids don't have access to the internet.

I ran a game for my son and some of his friends once, and one of them has a learning disability whose name escapes me now. He was basically fully functional, but didn't always catch on to cues, and had pretty significant reading and math issues. I didn't take this into account (I had less experience with him at that point) when I started the game. I gave them all character sheets and walked them through character creation, sort of skimming through the PHB and reading giving them super-quick summaries of their options.

When we were done with that chargen process, I looked at their sheets, and his was basically empty except for a few mostly-illegible bits.

I don't expect WOTC to take into account every single variation of every single possible disability (or should I?), but there's got to be a way to make that easier.

In Chainmail, Gary used the term Spell Complexity. I've always been fond of it.

This has the huge advantage of being very straightforward and "plain speaking".

 

[Morrus]

Why is being picky about who plays at one's table gatekeeping? Should I be expected to invite everyone who wants to try the game to my house?

That's not what gatekeeping is. However, given your history of anti-inclusive conduct on this site, I fully believe that you know that perfectly well. Don't play that game here, please.

 

[R_J_K75]

I feel like I should get paid for every time I try to explain to a new player that you don't get 5th level spells when you get to 5th level. Bonus pay for then going in to spell slots. Double time for every dull, glassy-eyed reaction from the new player.

I'm surprised this hasnt been changed yet. I've the same problem time and again. At first I was confused that priest had access to all spells in their spheres, which was contrary to a wizard only knowing a handful of spells per level. In 2E when we first started using kits, I'd never seen them before, it took me a minute to realize it was free and you weren't getting a second class.

Maybe the problem is that the uninitiated don't realize that D&D is an order fo magnitude more complex than the best-known, family boardgames or card games. They hear about it, maybe even watch an actual play, and it probably doesn't even occur to them that there's an investment beyond maybe reading something the length of Catan rulebook.

D&D isn't for everyone, and takes a modicum of commitment for the game to be successful. I've certainly had players who joined games as their first time playing only to drop out because it wasn't what they expected and they werent willing to put in the time or effort.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

So is perhaps the decision to leave based on decisions around new user experience?

I doubt it. In this sort of situation, I don't think she'd talk directly about the thing that is the reason for her leaving.

 

[Deset Gled]

I doubt it. In this sort of situation, I don't think she'd talk directly about the thing that is the reason for her leaving.

Y'know, if this thread is any indication of what managing "new user experience" was like for Kate Welch, I can see why she might have burned out after three years.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

That's not what gatekeeping is. However, given your history of anti-inclusive conduct on this site, I fully believe that you know that perfectly well. Don't play that game here, please.

I looked up gatekeeping. It wasn't what I thought it was - apparently. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[thatparanoidguy]

I still think spell depth is better then spell level... either that or go back to 4e spell level equals class or character level

If we were to change the term from spell "level" to something else I'd like it to be circle.

At "x" level you expand able to cast "x"th circle spells always sounded more flavorful to me than spell level.

 

[Zarithar]

There are 3 basic stripped down starter sets. The Starter box, the Essentials box and Rick and Morty. How many more do they need? With all the live streams, starter sets and picking up the game should easier than ever these days. I don't think this actually rules based, and theres more her leaving than we'll ever know.

And Stranger Things.

 

[Zarithar]

Genuinely surprised by this. She seemed like a champion for the game and a very visible presence on their Twitch/YouTube channels. I did notice she backed off from Twitter quite a bit, but then... who can blame her (or anyone else) for that? All the best to her in any case.