WotC may have sent the Pinkertons to a magic leakers home. Update: WotC confirms it and has a response.

[Gradine]

 

[Alzrius]

Hey, um, WotC? The "hired goons" skit from The Simpsons wasn't supposed to be a how-to guide.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Honestly WotC and the Pinkerton's should be criminally charged for what they did, it was straight up theft, harrassment, threatening people with authority they did not possess.

That's exactly why people have hired the Pinkertons historically.

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

Well... jeeze...

Maybe I do need to worry about WoTC raiding my house and stopping me from playing old editions of D&D.

They really are going to come take away my copy of 1E Oriental Adventures!

 

[trappedslider]

@Henadic Theologian @Alzrius


WotC has a leak, they want to plug it, so please tell me which company you think they should have gone with.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

WotC has a leak, they want to plug it, so please tell me which company you think they should have gone with.

This isn't the way to plug a leak.

Honestly, no one should work for a company that goes for armed thugs rather than, say, image files with hidden watermarks.

 

[Alzrius]

@Henadic Theologian @Alzrius


WotC has a leak, they want to plug it, so please tell me which company you think they should have gone with.

One that would have advised them that they'd have been better off working to prevent future leaks rather than bullying someone in a futile effort to put the toothpaste back in the tube, particularly when they're in the middle of trying to repair their relationship with the community after multiple PR disasters.

 

[Guest 85555]

Who would have thought the OGL people would stoop so low

 

[trappedslider]

This isn't the way to plug a leak.

Honestly, no one should work for a company that goes for armed thugs rather than, say, image files with hidden watermarks.

Did you read the article? it wasn't digital files, it was the actual Cards.....

One that would have advised them that they'd have been better off working to prevent future leaks rather than bullying someone in a futile effort to put the toothpaste back in the tube, particularly when they're in the middle of trying to repair their relationship with the community after multiple PR disasters.

So, how do you prevent future leaks without knowing how you're currently leaking?

I get you all have an automatic dislike for WotC.

And as i pointed out this has happened before:

Engaging private investigators to retrieve stolen or missing trading cards is not a particularly new or novel strategy for game publishers. Just last week, Polygon reported on another similar incident dating back to 2021 involving products from The Pokémon Trading Card Game, which were also retrieved with the help of a private investigator.

and WotC got in touch with the content creator and apologized is offering other product.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Did you read the article? it wasn't digital files, it was the actual Cards.....

No, I was working.

And instead of attacking the person who has the cards, who has no ability to obtain them himself -- unless they think he broke into the building, which no one appears to believe -- going after him is an incredibly stupid way to do it.

He has no ability to cause this to happen again and going after him in a predictably Pinkerton fashion is going to just result in him blabbing about it on social media, as happened.

The Pinkertons are not just any old private investigators. They're famously thugs. Anyone who's heard of their brand should know that.

If you reach out to him, go with a soft approach, appealing to his love of the game and the brand, offer him a bunch of swag and work up to getting the fan to "understand" that leaks are bad for the brand overall and seeing if he'd flip on his source. (Even then, checking his social media connections is a lot better way to do that and wouldn't tip him off that he's being investigated.)

So, how do you prevent future leaks without knowing how you're currently leaking?

This was a stunningly stupid way to do it and it predictably blew up in WotC's collective face (again).

But since you asked: You start with creating a list of who had access to the cards, figuring out where this particular batch came from and at what point it could have left the building. All of which could be done in-house (with or without thugs) and which would actually address the disease, not the symptoms.

I get you all have an automatic dislike for WotC.

Not me. I have an automatic dislike for stupid and short-sighted actions, though.