Jeremy Crawford Also Leaving D&D Team Later This Month

Jeremy Crawford is leaving Wizards of the Coast later this month. Screen Rant (via me!) had the exclusive announcement. Crawford was the Game Director for Dungeons & Dragons and was one of the guiding forces for D&D over the past decade. In the past year, Crawford has focused on the core rulebooks and leading the team of rules designers. He has also been a face of Dungeons & Dragons for much of 5th Edition, appearing in many promotional videos and DMing Acquisitions Incorporated Actual Play series.

He joins Chris Perkins in leaving the D&D team in recent weeks. Perkins, who was the Creative Director for D&D, announced his retirement last week. Both Perkins and Crawford appear to have left Wizards on their terms, with Lanzillo very effusive with her praise of both men and their contribution in our interview.

On a personal note, I've enjoyed interviewing Jeremy over the years. He was always gracious with his time and answers and is one of the most eloquent people I've ever heard talk about D&D. I'll miss both him and Chris Perkins and look forward to their next steps, wherever that might be.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I really should heed this advice more often!

I've been trying a lot harder lately to do so whenever there's due cause. The cumulative effects are kind of hilarious. Some thread pages only have 2-3 posts now unless I force the vanished stuff into visibility.

Perhaps some degree of restraint is in order...

 

[AlViking]

Examine again the last four words of the post you responded to.

Hope springs eternal but it doesn't turn trash into gold.

 

[kayakingpoodle]

Hope springs eternal but it doesn't turn trash into gold.

Plenty of people throw gold in the trash, but few know they are.

 

[Parmandur]

I've been trying a lot harder lately to do so whenever there's due cause. The cumulative effects are kind of hilarious. Some thread pages only have 2-3 posts now unless I force the vanished stuff into visibility.

Perhaps some degree of restraint is in order...

Honestly, if it is only the posts that you won't feel a need to argue with....more focused?

 

[Queer Venger]

Wow. The two Grandaddies of 5E both going. Colour me shocked.

I suspect this will be a herald of great change. Whether you like that or not will depend on the person.

When multiple senior people go it usually means they didn’t like the future direction (or they were caught up to no good - unlikely here)

(buys even more DCC & SD products...)

 

[Faolyn]

The people writing the rules for a game are not being "forced" into certain decisions.

OK, then where are the psionics?

Three different UAs, and psionics ended up being reduced to a couple of subclasses because the fans decided that they didn't like those UAs and WotC says that they won't publish something that doesn't have above a what, 70% approval rating?

Developers of all stripes throw out all sorts of ideas and discuss multiple options all the time. Sometimes these are just brainstorming sessions other times it's getting feedback from the target customer. Iterative development and refinement of ideas is just one aspect of creating something new and it doesn't mean they aren't happy to implement the results. Any company that wants to stay in business has to take into consideration what their target audience wants.

And this is exactly what I said.

The creators don't get to just create whatever it is they want. They have to do what will make the company the most money. Rephrasing it in this way doesn't change what I said.

So if you want a game where that need for money is not preventing the creators from creating what they want, you have to stick with indie games. If you're fine with some amount of desire for profit, then you go with smaller game companies, because they generally don't have a board of directors who cares more about endless profit than they care about the game.

 

[grimslade]

D&D is not going to innovate or change any sacred cows. The last time for that was D&D Next. The rules are 'good enough' to continue to keep the game in print for longer than I will be on this good, green earth. And compared to some of the iterative designs of D&D Next, 5E is very toned down. And it worked, the rules worked to draw new people to the hobby and not squander the zeitgeist boost of 'Stranger things' and actual plays like Critical Role.
So if you are Chris Perkins or Jeremy Crawford who went through that scary/ exhilarating time when D&D was in danger of going into maintenance mode so we better make this next edition be able to stand the test of time, what does the future hold in store for you to rival that? I am not surprised that Perkins and Crawford are willing to sail into the west from WotC. When you wildly succeed at a long shot, what possible glory is there to being a caretaker? Better new challenges let new voices rise for the next battle.

 

[grimslade]

(buys even more DCC & SD products...)

And I wept, for there were no more SD products to buy... -Alexander the Geek supposedly

 

[kayakingpoodle]

OK, then where are the psionics?

Three different UAs, and psionics ended up being reduced to a couple of subclasses because the fans decided that they didn't like those UAs and WotC says that they won't publish something that doesn't have above a what, 70% approval rating?


And this is exactly what I said.

The creators don't get to just create whatever it is they want. They have to do what will make the company the most money. Rephrasing it in this way doesn't change what I said.

So if you want a game where that need for money is not preventing the creators from creating what they want, you have to stick with indie games. If you're fine with some amount of desire for profit, then you go with smaller game companies, because they generally don't have a board of directors who cares more about endless profit than they care about the game.

UA's , IMHO will be the death of the current and arguably best D&D game ever sold.

Focusing on the minority that wants change over a good game is the deadlst path forward. The majority is far more reactive than proactive. Focusing on the squeaky wheel without replacing it is a far faster death than acknowledging it a making minor corrections than jerking the wheel at every perceived reef, there is a lot to be said for waiting for the high tide, than reactive measures applied during the middle of a tide change, that is a good way to get beached and render your ship unseaworthy!!!!

 

[AlViking]

OK, then where are the psionics?

Three different UAs, and psionics ended up being reduced to a couple of subclasses because the fans decided that they didn't like those UAs and WotC says that they won't publish something that doesn't have above a what, 70% approval rating?


And this is exactly what I said.

The creators don't get to just create whatever it is they want. They have to do what will make the company the most money. Rephrasing it in this way doesn't change what I said.

So if you want a game where that need for money is not preventing the creators from creating what they want, you have to stick with indie games. If you're fine with some amount of desire for profit, then you go with smaller game companies, because they generally don't have a board of directors who cares more about endless profit than they care about the game.

I have no issue with you not liking WOTC, although I do question why you're active on a forum dedicated to their game if that's the case. But there is no magic formula to creating a game. No matter how much you insist that the magic ingredient is love of the game I'm going judge a product on whether or not I and the people I play with have fun.

As far as psionics, they realized there was a demand but they could never come up with a solution that would satisfy them or their target audience. Sometimes when you develop a product there simply isn't a good solution and rather than putting out crap that will please almost no one you shelve it.

I don't agree with every decision they've made, far from it. But there is no way any game ever developed could have the right solution for everyone. Meanwhile we're having fun playing D&D and I don't care if they want to make money like every other company.