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

[jdrakeh]

Yeah, theybare gross, and hiring them is a PR gaffe. But, bend, not break: this was thuggish, but not illegal as described.

Gotcha. Yeah, it's not illegal, but it's certainly on brand for Pinkertons (bullying/threatening/thuggish behavior). Not a good look for WotC/Hasbro.

 

[trappedslider]

Fine you guys win wotc did bad evil company burn in hell 1000 yt bad juju

 

[Pedantic]

Fine you guys win wotc did bad evil company burn in hell 1000 yt bad juju

Would you prefer we be okay with hobby game companies hiring private investigators to behave like law enforcement, because someone managed to purchase their cards a few weeks early? That's really not acceptable behavior, and I would be equally outraged if Asmodee started doing the same thing when someone managed to buy an early release copy of a board game from their FLGS.

By all means, they could have quietly called the guy, asked him nicely to stop, and/or for information on where he purchased the cards to try and sort out a problem in their supply pipeline if they had one. Instead, they sent intimidating men to harass him, which is a crazy thing for a company that makes toys to do.

 

[overgeeked]

So someone in WotC or with access to the cards before release shipped a box to this guy by mistake and so, being completely reasonable, WotC hires thugs to go to the guy’s house and steal them. Wow. Clearly WotC is the good guy victim here. I already don’t want to support these people. Way to drive another nail in the coffin.

This reminds me of something kinda similar. I remember a few years ago the BBC accidentally shipped a few hundred Doctor Who DVD sets to people in the US early. Like the final episode of the series hadn’t aired yet and was included on the DVD. So, being reasonable friendly people, they called each and every person who received the DVD set and asked they not spoil the finale. And, since they asked nicely, no one spoiled the finale. Not one single person.

WotC maybe take notes. Hiring thugs: bad. Reaching out and being human: good.

 

[Tonguez]

Would you prefer we be okay with hobby game companies hiring private investigators to behave like law enforcement, because someone managed to purchase their cards a few weeks early? That's really not acceptable behavior, and I would be equally outraged if Asmodee started doing the same thing when someone managed to buy an early release copy of a board game from their FLGS.

By all means, they could have quietly called the guy, asked him nicely to stop, and/or for information on where he purchased the cards to try and sort out a problem in their supply pipeline if they had one. Instead, they sent intimidating men to harass him, which is a crazy thing for a company that makes toys to do.

well I’d rather a couple of guys politely knock on my door and inform me that the goods I have were stolen than for Hasbro to have gone to police laid charges of theft and then police come to arrest me and put the matter in to court

 

[MGibster]

well I’d rather a couple of guys politely knock on my door and inform me that the goods I have were stolen than for Hasbro to have gone to police laid charges of theft and then police come to arrest me and put the matter in to court

Why would I trust a couple of random people who showed up to my house telling me I received stolen goods? Go to the police, they're not going to raid my house just because some private dicks say I received stolen goods.

 

[Alzrius]

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

Did you read the article? It just said that the guy received the cards, not that he stole them. Maybe it would have been smarter for WotC to figure out how he got them rather than taking them back. Leaks happen; finding and punishing the leaker(s) is one thing, bullying the people they leak things to is quite another.

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

What does "knowing how you're currently leaking" have to do with sending hired muscle to the guy's house to demand the cards back? You're telling me WotC doesn't know any other way to investigate? They really couldn't anticipate just how bad of an idea that was, and how incredibly bad it would look?

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

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You think they'd have learned by now that it's better not to damage their relationship with the community to begin with than to try and make up for it afterwards.

 

[trappedslider]

Leaks happen all the time in entertainment. Series 8 of Doctor Who had the first 5-6 episodes have their scripts leak (and some episodes had their no-effects cuts leak too), but the BBC didn't send a detective agency behind whoever leaked the scripts. Genshin Impact, a gacha game made in China, has leaks from its beta testing constantly, and while people get banned or lose access to future builds because of that stuff, even they don't do something as pointless as what WotC allegedly did. If this is true, this is beyond defensible.

Leaks like this from the MTG side of WotC which some of you may know a little about RARELY happen on this scale and with this amount of product. Using an outside agency to look into stuff like HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.

The only reason this got any traction is because 1. It was a content creator and 2. It was WotC.

And you all because the way WotC treats the D&D community automatically think bad. Call it hyperbole but I honestly think some of you would believe it or wouldn't give them the benefit of the doubt if someone told you WotC kicks puppies and kitten.

WotC has taken steps similar in nature to pervious MTG leaks like this. Spoiler

Time Spiral​

In December 2005, Daron Rutter, under the name "rancored_elf", posted an image of three Time Spiral playtest cards on MTG Salvation, nine months before that set was released. This leak led to legal action against Rutter and ten John Doe defendants, which was settled out of court.

On April 20, 2011, the entirety of New Phyrexia was leaked when unauthorized players gained access to the set's "God Book". The "God Book", an item containing each card in the set, had been provided to Pro Tour player and journalist Guillaume Matignon for his use in writing for Lotus Noir. Matignon shared it with Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, after which it became available to the wider internet. Wizards then accelerated their normal preview schedule, providing official previews for the set over the course of a single week. Ultimately, four players, including both Matignon and Wafo-Tapa, received DCI suspensions for their part in the leaks, though Matignon's was later shortened.

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate​

On April 15, 2022, eight weeks before the release of Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, someone opened five stolen Collector Boosters on TikTok. Multiple cards and mechanics were revealed. After being threatened with legal action, he created other accounts on TikTok and revealed even more cards.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

My Takeaway: Huh. Pinkertons exist outside of Westerns. Who knew?

 

[jdrakeh]

In none of those past instances did WotC/Hasbro pay a notorious group of thugs to go bully/threaten somebody who leaked product, to my knowledge.