WotC New WotC President Is World of Warcraft's John Hight

After WotC president Cynthia Williams resigned a couple of months ago, taking up the CEO role at Funko, we've been waiting to hear who her replacement will be.

WotC has now announced that John Hight--who previously managed the World of Warcraft franchise for Blizzard Entertainment--is taking over. Like Williams, Hight comes from a video gaming background.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said "I admire John’s career focus on fostering community. He is a true embodiment of our mission to bring people together through play. John’s love of D&D and Magic: The Gathering, combined with his leadership in video games, will be crucial as we expand our digital offerings to deliver what our fans crave."

Hight worked at Blizzard for 12 years, on both World of Warcraft and Diablo. According to Business Wire, his role includes oversight of Hasbro's network of gaming studios and digital licensing agreements.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That community was very worried at the time he left, as he was in charge when a lot of great things happened for them--Mists of Pandora, Shadowlands, Legion, the revival of Classic. Yes, not great things happened on his watch: Battle for Azeroth, but he would have learned lessons from those.

I have never seen "Shadowlands" in the "great" column before. BFA was a lot stronger, both at the time and with 20/20 hindsight.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But does he have any actual D&D experience?

Folks at Blizzard love D&D. Lots of stories of games running in conference rooms at lunchtime and after work.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Considering the direction WoW and Diablo has gone color me yikes.

Even the weakest WoW expansion is at least as good as a WotC hardcover campaign, IMO. They always add lots of new stuff, tend to have a strong storyline (especially with Pandaria and after) while offering a lot of sandbox to play in for those who don't care about the main story.

Even a controversial one like Battle For Azeroth had a wild array of compelling local stories that culminated in world-shaking events.

 

[Scribe]

Even the weakest WoW expansion is at least as good as a WotC hardcover campaign, IMO.

lol facts.

Now, I dont think this guy as WotC President is going to make a lick of difference in regards to the quality of the next 4 D&D campaigns, but lets be real folks.

 

[jayoungr]

I have never seen "Shadowlands" in the "great" column before. BFA was a lot stronger, both at the time and with 20/20 hindsight.

BfA broke my investment in the lore. I just couldn't enjoy playing Horde after they forced us to be war criminals and then shamed our characters for it in-game. Made logging in an exercise in masochism. The only reason I didn't quit was because I had a (n Alliance) raiding group.

By the time Shadowlands came along, I was numb and just wanted to look at the pretty pictures. It seemed harmless by comparison.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Folks at Blizzard love D&D. Lots of stories of games running in conference rooms at lunchtime and after work.

I mean, WoW obviously has deep roots in D&D. There are a bunch of things basically copied wholesale, and there are a lot of other things that are basically D&D concepts with the numbers filed off.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

BfA broke my investment in the lore. I just couldn't enjoy playing Horde after they forced us to be war criminals

I mean, the undead were experimenting on prisoners of war as far back as vanilla.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I mean, WoW obviously has deep roots in D&D. There are a bunch of things basically copied wholesale, and there are a lot of other things that are basically D&D concepts with the numbers filed off.

I demand my +3 shoulderpads!

 

[Scribe]

I mean, the undead were experimenting on prisoners of war as far back as vanilla.

The arc from Vanilla to Wrath for the Forsaken is not twee, thats for damn sure.

I leveled maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaany Undead over those years!

"Kill him, bring me his hands."

 

[Scribe]

I mean, WoW obviously has deep roots in D&D. There are a bunch of things basically copied wholesale, and there are a lot of other things that are basically D&D concepts with the numbers filed off.

Tolkien - D&D - Warhammer - Warcraft, is I believe the lineage.