Project Sigil 90% Of D&D’s Project Sigil Team Laid Off

Reports are coming in of a swathe of layoffs at Wizards of the Coast, constituting 90% of the team of the new Project Sigil virtual tabletop platform. In all, over 30 people have been laid off, leaving a team of around 3 people.

Sigil is still in beta, only recently made public three weeks ago. Recent reports indicated that the scope of the project was seemingly being cut back.

WotC’s Andy Collins—who has worked on multiple editions of D&D and other WotC TTRPGs going back to 1996—reported via LinkedIn that he was one of those laid off. He indicated that the small team left behind would continue to work on the project.

More news as it comes in.

 

[Parmandur]

I feel differently, but I realize I'm in an ever-dwindling minority.

Oh, I enjoy it...but the quality gap of home viewing and theatrical screens has closed considerably, but the cost gap has widened. I ha e a 4k, theatrical quality TV that was basically free, while theatre tickets cost as much as a month of Netflix and the concessions are highway robbery for junk.

 

[KYRON45]

If you're not being sarcastic (can't tell, the plight of text chat!)- you've been playing for decades... How did you make characters before DDB existed?

They were easier to make. There wasn’t a databases worth of choices.
If I take the time I’m sure I could make one from the book.

 

[tetrasodium]

They were easier to make. There wasn’t a databases worth of choices.
If I take the time I’m sure I could make one from the book.

Did you switch from d&d to talking about something like DCC or shadowdark? What edition did you start with that you are claiming has easier chargen than 5e?

 

[KYRON45]

Did you switch from d&d to talking about something like DCC or shadowdark? What edition did you start with that you are claiming has easier chargen than 5e?

Older editions. 1st and 2nd.
3e has like 100,000 feats to coordinate.
I never played 4e; but it’s my understanding that char gen there was a bit of a pain.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you need a PhD to make a character. But why wouldn’t I use Beyond? I have a phone and it’s free.
Zip zap bang….character.
I mostly DM now and I strongly suggest my players use Beyond. Mostly so they can never forget their character sheet.
To each their own of course.

 

[AlViking]

Older editions. 1st and 2nd.
3e has like 100,000 feats to coordinate.
I never played 4e; but it’s my understanding that char gen there was a bit of a pain.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you need a PhD to make a character. But why wouldn’t I use Beyond? I have a phone and it’s free.
Zip zap bang….character.
I mostly DM now and I strongly suggest my players use Beyond. Mostly so they can never forget their character sheet.
To each their own of course.

I don't know how many 100% honest mistakes I used to make back when I manually calculated everything. Eventually we had spreadsheets and after a while I made the time to learn how to program them well enough to do much of the math for me. Even then though, I still have to look up quite a few details.

I have a dishwasher in the kitchen that washes most of my dishes for me and probably does a better job than I would. I can afford the appliance, and still have to wash pots, pans and a few other miscellaneous things but it does the vast majority of work for me. Same with DndBeyond. It does a lot of calculations and lookups for me so not only is it easier I also see fewer mistakes.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Did you switch from d&d to talking about something like DCC or shadowdark? What edition did you start with that you are claiming has easier chargen than 5e?

Well, 1e and 2e were certainly easier. So was BECMI, which was where I started.

 

[tetrasodium]

Older editions. 1st and 2nd.
3e has like 100,000 feats to coordinate.
I never played 4e; but it’s my understanding that char gen there was a bit of a pain.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you need a PhD to make a character. But why wouldn’t I use Beyond? I have a phone and it’s free.
Zip zap bang….character.
I mostly DM now and I strongly suggest my players use Beyond. Mostly so they can never forget their character sheet.
To each their own of course.

While true about pre3.x, I think that to some degree you are substituting "can't be bothered to learn the rules or read/skim the chargen stuff" for being unable to make a PC in 5e without ddb because you are no "mathemagician". I don't think that chargen even enters into adding double digit numbers unless you are rolling attributes/hp where you get very good roll(s) & even then it's likely adding a single digit number to a low double digit number.

Well, 1e and 2e were certainly easier. So was BECMI, which was where I started.

I started with 2e/Redbox, we got both around the same time and I don't recall if either was notably ahead of the other).as was already noted above, I also remember a lot of charts and tables in addition to buying all of your equipment from starting funds that we typically rolled for. Barring intentional rule bending creative reading it's almost impossible to fail so hard at 5e chargen even without a "mathemagician" that one should feel unable to make a PC without ddbto do it for them.

There's certainly a place for time & effort saving character generation tools, but players should be expected to learn the rules enough that they feel the need for a "mathemagician" to make one from scratch with the book & an empty sheet.

 

[KYRON45]

While true about pre3.x, I think that to some degree you are substituting "can't be bothered to learn the rules or read/skim the chargen stuff" for being unable to make a PC in 5e without ddb because you are no "mathemagician". I don't think that chargen even enters into adding double digit numbers unless you are rolling attributes/hp where you get very good roll(s) & even then it's likely adding a single digit number to a low double digit number.


I started with 2e/Redbox, we got both around the same time and I don't recall if either was notably ahead of the other).as was already noted above, I also remember a lot of charts and tables in addition to buying all of your equipment from starting funds that we typically rolled for. Barring intentional rule bending creative reading it's almost impossible to fail so hard at 5e chargen even without a "mathemagician" that one should feel unable to make a PC without ddbto do it for them.

There's certainly a place for time & effort saving character generation tools, but players should be expected to learn the rules enough that they feel the need for a "mathemagician" to make one from scratch with the book & an empty sheet.

Roll high good, roll low bad.
That’s the extent of my practical rules knowledge. Anything else I need, I look up.
For me; rules are crutch. I play RPGs so I can flex my creative genius.*

*i steal a lot of my genius from other geniuses…that is its own kind of genius. Right?

 

[EthanSental]

Character gen in 2e before the class kit books came out, which felts like within 4-6 months for some to the PHB? Those kits gave people a lot of reading to see which one fit their minds eye for their character.

For 3e and PF, having the bonkers to hit and Ac additions and feat trees, the etools and hero lab app was essential to me role and level a character. 1e, 2e and 5e…not that big of a deal to me and feel about the same when we rolled up a 2e game a couple years ago.

 

[Micah Sweet]

While true about pre3.x, I think that to some degree you are substituting "can't be bothered to learn the rules or read/skim the chargen stuff" for being unable to make a PC in 5e without ddb because you are no "mathemagician". I don't think that chargen even enters into adding double digit numbers unless you are rolling attributes/hp where you get very good roll(s) & even then it's likely adding a single digit number to a low double digit number.


I started with 2e/Redbox, we got both around the same time and I don't recall if either was notably ahead of the other).as was already noted above, I also remember a lot of charts and tables in addition to buying all of your equipment from starting funds that we typically rolled for. Barring intentional rule bending creative reading it's almost impossible to fail so hard at 5e chargen even without a "mathemagician" that one should feel unable to make a PC without ddbto do it for them.

There's certainly a place for time & effort saving character generation tools, but players should be expected to learn the rules enough that they feel the need for a "mathemagician" to make one from scratch with the book & an empty sheet.

Oh, I agree that 5e isn't that hard, and it's complexity (such as it is) is no excuse not to learn the rules. But I do think 1e/2e/BECMI were easier.