D&D General Lorraine Williams: Is it Time for a Reevaluation?

[Zardnaar]

I think a lot of people associate her with 2e and the 90s, but yeah, her tenure predates all that. Forgotten Realms Campaign setting, Waterdeep and the North, The Magister, the Manual of the Planes, the Gazetteers line. And that's before we even get to the greatest hits of 2e.

Rules Cyclopedia and early Dungeon was on a roll as well.

 

[MoonSong]

As a counterpoint, we could reframe some of the known facts:

Lorraine hated gamers/geeks.-> First let me tell you, I'm part of this community, but boy some geeks are very hard to love! I mean have you been to an event in an LGS? You will find lots of crass guys with poor personal care, lack of self control and creepy attitude... working everyday with lots and lots of them -especially for a non-gamer- wouldn't be easy. Second, even the anecdotes about Lorraine acting all snob and putting the community down are nebulous. Then we have the facts that, well, Lorraine sold rights for very little if she was on it just for the money. Would a corrupt businesswoman give the chance to a small indie studio (SSI) over bigger companies with larger pockets (like EA)? Would a greedy woman truly give the movie rights to a friend of her brother who needed his first break for "a song"? Why would she keep an employee in deep need in the payroll if not out of the goodness of her heart? In conclusion, she liked geeks, and supported them when it mattered, despite most of them getting on her nerves.

Ousting Gary. Yes, she ousted Gary, and the Blumes. They all needed to go. TSR was in the brink of bankruptcy and about to be taken apart by the banks. She didn't need to go to help manage TSR, she didn't need to put her money into TSR, she could have just gone her merry way. But somehow, she believed in TSR and saw it worthy of being saved and having her money put into it. She saved D&D!

The Buck Rogers fiasco... It wasn't really that farfetched. Take into account there was a relatively recent remake at the time, and it was getting overdue for a revival of sorts. (Heard of the five year rule?) She had to attempt a revival under her watch! (More so with her brother being busy writing movies to be much of a caretaker for the franchise) And as maligned Buck Rogers XXVC was within out community, the fans and collectors of Buck Rogers actually value the line. It didn't pan out, but it wasn't this huge harebrained scheme. Maybe the terms of the actual deal weren't the best possible ones, but it isn't even close to the Blume's mismanagement.

Dungeon Dice, as derided as this product was, it was a successful if overproduced line. Scratch that, they are still being produced to this day! It wasn't that bad of a product or decision. It all came to having proper expectations and not overproducing.

She made an effort to grow the audience. She put D&D into bookshops! She impulsed growth and diversification in D&D. The novel line, the settings, the comics... all of her doing (from an executive point of view). A lot of that stuff kept D&D going in the aftermath of 4e, and If TSR had survived just a little longer into the internet era, they would be making a killing and she would be hailed as a hero. (Couple with this, despite being described as a control freak, she was fairly hands off for a control freak, she allowed the designers free reign to do tons and tons of stuff we still love today!)

And the sanitization in 2e was needed to get new players after the witch hunts. Even the derided "she wanted the movie to sell toys" was a good thing! The reason many beloved franchises die is because there aren't enough children into them. (And really if you love something go buy the effing toys! These are what keeps the lights on in pop culture)

Finally, as bad as the C&Ds were, I can't blame her for them. 1) her family's fortune was always tied into IP, she being overzealous with the IP was expected. Besides, the first instances of D&D in the internet were piracy, at a time when TSR really needed the money. Ok, she -and assuming it was all her- went overboard in the end, but it was kinda justified and few people truly understood internet.

 

[Zardnaar]

As a counterpoint, we could reframe some of the known facts:

Lorraine hated gamers/geeks.-> First let me tell you, I'm part of this community, but boy some geeks are very hard to love! I mean have you been to an event in an LGS? You will find lots of crass guys with poor personal care, lack of self control and creepy attitude... working everyday with lots and lots of them -especially for a non-gamer- wouldn't be easy. Second, even the anecdotes about Lorraine acting all snob and putting the community down are nebulous. Then we have the facts that, well, Lorraine sold rights for very little if she was on it just for the money. Would a corrupt businesswoman give the chance to a small indie studio (SSI) over bigger companies with larger pockets (like EA)? Would a greedy woman truly give the movie rights to a friend of her brother who needed his first break for "a song"? Why would she keep an employee in deep need in the payroll if not out of the goodness of her heart? In conclusion, she liked geeks, and supported them when it mattered, despite most of them getting on her nerves.

Ousting Gary. Yes, she ousted Gary, and the Blumes. They all needed to go. TSR was in the brink of bankruptcy and about to be taken apart by the banks. She didn't need to go to help manage TSR, she didn't need to put her money into TSR, she could have just gone her merry way. But somehow, she believed in TSR and saw it worthy of being saved and having her money put into it. She saved D&D!

The Buck Rogers fiasco... It wasn't really that farfetched. Take into account there was a relatively recent remake at the time, and it was getting overdue for a revival of sorts. (Heard of the five year rule?) She had to attempt a revival under her watch! (More so with her brother being busy writing movies to be much of a caretaker for the franchise) And as maligned Buck Rogers XXVC was within out community, the fans and collectors of Buck Rogers actually value the line. It didn't pan out, but it wasn't this huge harebrained scheme. Maybe the terms of the actual deal weren't the best possible ones, but it isn't even close to the Blume's mismanagement.

Dungeon Dice, as derided as this product was, it was a successful if overproduced line. Scratch that, they are still being produced to this day! It wasn't that bad of a product or decision. It all came to having proper expectations and not overproducing.

She made an effort to grow the audience. She put D&D into bookshops! She impulsed growth and diversification in D&D. The novel line, the settings, the comics... all of her doing (from an executive point of view). A lot of that stuff kept D&D going in the aftermath of 4e, and If TSR had survived just a little longer into the internet era, they would be making a killing and she would be hailed as a hero. (Couple with this, despite being described as a control freak, she was fairly hands off for a control freak, she allowed the designers free reign to do tons and tons of stuff we still love today!)

And the sanitization in 2e was needed to get new players after the witch hunts. Even the derided "she wanted the movie to sell toys" was a good thing! The reason many beloved franchises die is because there aren't enough children into them. (And really if you love something go buy the effing toys! These are what keeps the lights on in pop culture)

Finally, as bad as the C&Ds were, I can't blame her for them. 1) her family's fortune was always tied into IP, she being overzealous with the IP was expected. Besides, the first instances of D&D in the internet were piracy, at a time when TSR really needed the money. Ok, she -and assuming it was all her- went overboard in the end, but it was kinda justified and few people truly understood internet.

She went after Gygax as well after she had forced him out.

Gygax was salty but justifiably so. Even if you buy into the hostile takeover she chased him out of the rpg market.

 

[darjr]

Yea, she did. That was bad.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

As a counterpoint, we could reframe some of the known facts:

Lorraine hated gamers/geeks.-> First let me tell you, I'm part of this community, but boy some geeks are very hard to love! I mean have you been to an event in an LGS? You will find lots of crass guys with poor personal care, lack of self control and creepy attitude... working everyday with lots and lots of them -especially for a non-gamer- wouldn't be easy. Second, even the anecdotes about Lorraine acting all snob and putting the community down are nebulous. Then we have the facts that, well, Lorraine sold rights for very little if she was on it just for the money. Would a corrupt businesswoman give the chance to a small indie studio (SSI) over bigger companies with larger pockets (like EA)? Would a greedy woman truly give the movie rights to a friend of her brother who needed his first break for "a song"? Why would she keep an employee in deep need in the payroll if not out of the goodness of her heart? In conclusion, she liked geeks, and supported them when it mattered, despite most of them getting on her nerves.

Ousting Gary. Yes, she ousted Gary, and the Blumes. They all needed to go. TSR was in the brink of bankruptcy and about to be taken apart by the banks. She didn't need to go to help manage TSR, she didn't need to put her money into TSR, she could have just gone her merry way. But somehow, she believed in TSR and saw it worthy of being saved and having her money put into it. She saved D&D!

The Buck Rogers fiasco... It wasn't really that farfetched. Take into account there was a relatively recent remake at the time, and it was getting overdue for a revival of sorts. (Heard of the five year rule?) She had to attempt a revival under her watch! (More so with her brother being busy writing movies to be much of a caretaker for the franchise) And as maligned Buck Rogers XXVC was within out community, the fans and collectors of Buck Rogers actually value the line. It didn't pan out, but it wasn't this huge harebrained scheme. Maybe the terms of the actual deal weren't the best possible ones, but it isn't even close to the Blume's mismanagement.

Dungeon Dice, as derided as this product was, it was a successful if overproduced line. Scratch that, they are still being produced to this day! It wasn't that bad of a product or decision. It all came to having proper expectations and not overproducing.

She made an effort to grow the audience. She put D&D into bookshops! She impulsed growth and diversification in D&D. The novel line, the settings, the comics... all of her doing (from an executive point of view). A lot of that stuff kept D&D going in the aftermath of 4e, and If TSR had survived just a little longer into the internet era, they would be making a killing and she would be hailed as a hero. (Couple with this, despite being described as a control freak, she was fairly hands off for a control freak, she allowed the designers free reign to do tons and tons of stuff we still love today!)

And the sanitization in 2e was needed to get new players after the witch hunts. Even the derided "she wanted the movie to sell toys" was a good thing! The reason many beloved franchises die is because there aren't enough children into them. (And really if you love something go buy the effing toys! These are what keeps the lights on in pop culture)

Finally, as bad as the C&Ds were, I can't blame her for them. 1) her family's fortune was always tied into IP, she being overzealous with the IP was expected. Besides, the first instances of D&D in the internet were piracy, at a time when TSR really needed the money. Ok, she -and assuming it was all her- went overboard in the end, but it was kinda justified and few people truly understood internet.

Yeah, I mean people seem to forget Gygax-run TSR sacked a higher percentage of its employees than Williams-run TSR did. (though I think Hasbro might have them both beat, look at the designer-to-profit ratio of WoTC now as opposed to TSR in any year. By modern standards the place was overstaffed)

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Weirdly it seems Blumes-era TSR was responsible for Dragonlance...

 

[MoonSong]

She went after Gygax as well after she had forced him out.

Gygax was salty but justifiably so. Even if you buy into the hostile takeover she chased him out of the rpg market.

Ok, I can't think of a way to reframe that!

 

[Zardnaar]

Ok, I can't think of a way to reframe that!

Yep you can't really whitewash that. She had her flaws but there's plenty you can on her (or Gygax).

 

[Ogre Mage]

Egad. Looking through search results I’ve found a group of folks hating her FOR selling to WotC. That the sale itself destroyed D&D.

Yeah, I never understood that line of thinking either. Granted, Willliams bears significant responsibility for the destruction of TSR. But at the time of sale, TSR was bankrupt. What was the alternative? Let D&D die and fade away into a nostalgia game? It seems to ignore the fact that at that point, most of the ship had sunk beneath the waves. I am glad she sold to WotC.

 

[Zardnaar]

Yeah, I never understood that line of thinking either. Granted, Willliams bears significant responsibility for the destruction of TSR. But at the time of sale, TSR was bankrupt. What was the alternative? Let D&D die and fade away into a nostalgia game? It seems to ignore the fact that at that point, most of the ship had sunk beneath the waves. I am glad she sold to WotC.

I think they probably wanted an AD&D 3E.

I still think you could make such a game these days and it would be better than 3.0. Hell some ISR games in a lot of ways are AD&D 3E.