D&D General When We Were Wizards: Review of the Completed Podcast!

[haakon1]

In 1980, the Federal minimum wage was $3.10, which in theory is worth $12.76 now.

 

[Clint_L]

In 1980, the Federal minimum wage was $3.10, which in theory is worth $12.76 now.

In Canada, it's set by each province. But it's broadly similar between the US and Canada. Point is, TSR was not paying him much!

 

[Mannahnin]

In Canada, it's set by each province. But it's broadly similar between the US and Canada. Point is, TSR was not paying him much!

Haakon did specify Federal, which is a baseline, but each US state may have its own as well, and municipalities can do it too. 34 states have their own higher minimum wages, and the higher always applies.

 

[Bravesteel25]

Just finished all the episodes and the last episode had an interesting bit of information. I had absolutely no idea that Kathleen Kennedy Lorraine Williams and TSR offered to settle with Gary for $3,000/share AND ownership of the trademarks for D&D and AD&D! Wow! I have to say that Gary really shot himself in the foot on that one. He could have maintained control of the game that he loved, but it seems like he let his ego get in the way.

 

[PHATsakk43]

Just finished all the episodes and the last episode had an interesting bit of information. I had absolutely no idea that Kathleen Kennedy and TSR offered to settle with Gary for $3,000/share AND ownership of the trademarks for D&D and AD&D! Wow! I have to say that Gary really shot himself in the foot on that one. He could have maintained control of the game that he loved, but it seems like he let his ego get in the way.

It also really negates any suggestion that Gary was somehow wronged by TSR under Williams. He had already effectively surrendered his exclusive rights in the 1970s. His insistence upon continued royalties likewise was a financial risk to the company that simply was unsustainable, so the actions by Williams and the rest of the board when she took control was really the only course of action.

That they were still willing to allow Gary to remain in the company and effectively be the "design lead" without the baggage of the royalties scheme could have let Gary have most of his cake and a fairly nice knife and fork to eat it with.

 

[MGibster]

To put in context, I got paid $3.00/hour to start as a teenager at McDonalds just a couple years after that ('83). So...that's a pretty low wage!

It's a reminder of just how low paying the RPG industry can be. TSR was all too happy to pay low wages, knowing there weren't many other places employees could go if they wanted to keep working on games.

Just finished all the episodes and the last episode had an interesting bit of information. I had absolutely no idea that Kathleen Kennedy and TSR offered to settle with Gary for $3,000/share AND ownership of the trademarks for D&D and AD&D! Wow! I have to say that Gary really shot himself in the foot on that one. He could have maintained control of the game that he loved, but it seems like he let his ego get in the way.

He really, really did. Hubris, thy name is Gary. He was also offered something like $500,000 a year, for five years, in that same settlement. When Gary lost the court case, he had no leverage and had to settle for something much less. He just felt so strongly that D&D was 100% his lock, stock, and barrel he couldn't accept it belonged to TSR.

It also really negates any suggestion that Gary was somehow wronged by TSR under Williams. He had already effectively surrendered his exclusive rights in the 1970s.

There was still a fair amount of skullduggery in how Williams took over the company. Don't get me wrong, I'm not painting Gygax as a poor, sweet innocent lamb beset upon by wolves. He reaped what he sowed. As a famous Scotsman once told me, "He was the otter of his own fat."

 

[Bravesteel25]

It also really negates any suggestion that Gary was somehow wronged by TSR under Williams. He had already effectively surrendered his exclusive rights in the 1970s. His insistence upon continued royalties likewise was a financial risk to the company that simply was unsustainable, so the actions by Williams and the rest of the board when she took control was really the only course of action.

That they were still willing to allow Gary to remain in the company and effectively be the "design lead" without the baggage of the royalties scheme could have let Gary have most of his cake and a fairly nice knife and fork to eat it with.

I completely agree! Up to this point, it doesn't appear that Kathleen Lorraine was as much of a monster as people made her out to be. The Blumes made some questionable decisions, but then again so did Gary.

What this really makes me want is a second series of these, but for the post-Gary TSR era. I think that era is not talked about much and it would be extremely interesting to listen to.

 

[Nikosandros]

I completely agree! Up to this point, it doesn't appear that Kathleen was as much of a monster as people made her out to be. The Blumes made some questionable decisions, but then again so did Gary.

What this really makes me want is a second series of these, but for the post-Gary TSR era. I think that era is not talked about much and it would be extremely interesting to listen to.

Why are you calling Lorraine Williams as Kathleen Kennedy? Is it because Kennedy has been also attacked by rabid Star Wars "fans"?

 

[PHATsakk43]

There was still a fair amount of skullduggery in how Williams took over the company.

Lorraine was an investor in the firm and given her interest in exploiting the IP she personally possessed with Buck Rogers, it was also not a particularly bad company to be holding the reigns. As I stated earlier, Gary knew the number of outstanding shares. He knew that the Blumes were effectively out regardless of any other outcomes. He also knew that this required them either selling their shares to someone else or the company going bankrupt and everyone's shares becoming effectively worthless. He also knew that the Blumes were looking to unload their shares. He had personally attempted to negotiate a purchase, but did not have the sufficient capital.

Really, Lorraine was one of a handful of investors that had both a reason and the means to actually purchase those shares. Had she not done so, the likeliest outcome would have been bankruptcy by 1986 and liquidation of all the remaining assets of TSR. I simply can't consider that skullduggery. Really the only question about her decision is if Lorraine actually sat down and did the math on her investment and performed a proper cost analysis and risk modeling of the outcomes or if she was motivated by a mix of sunk-cost and emotion. If it was solely the latter, then we could say that she was acting at least out of spite if not malice. Otherwise, it looks like a business risk decision that became realized, and the return was not commensurate with the outlay. Even this may not be the case, as she may have been able to personally recoup her investment with the internal licensing of the Buck Rogers IP.

 

[Marc Radle]

Just finished all the episodes and the last episode had an interesting bit of information. I had absolutely no idea that Kathleen Kennedy and TSR offered to settle with Gary for $3,000/share AND ownership of the trademarks for D&D and AD&D! Wow! I have to say that Gary really shot himself in the foot on that one. He could have maintained control of the game that he loved, but it seems like he let his ego get in the way.

Kathleen Kennedy???