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.

 

[SteveC]

Fair enough, but my point is that I see no inherent value to knowing the rules any more than necessary to play the game. I happen to enjoy reading and understanding stuff, even with classes I'll never run. I don't expect that from anyone else. Meanwhile there are people who seemingly will never remember the rules no matter how many times they read or are told what they are.

I think this is so important! In my current group, we have a player who has trouble with the rules. His fighter character had to be reminded of things like Action Surge and Second Wind ... every session. He is a great roleplayer and a smart guy overall, so there's just something about the rules that he has issues with. I know he really doesn't enjoy reading rules so that may be it.

Now we were playing Feng Shui. As soon as he figured out how to make checks, he became so involved with action scenes and came out of his shell entirely. It was like he became an entirely different player.

I guess my point is that 5E really needs a class for that type of player. The player who just doesn't see the point of knowing the rules more than at the most basic level. If we move to the 2024 rules, I wonder what that player of ours will do, since the fighter got more complicated.

 

[kayakingpoodle]

I would also note that for many people looking up information on DndBeyond is easier than pulling out books. DndBeyond and reading the rules are also not mutually exexclusive.

I'd wager those that feel it is easier to find something on DDB than in a physical book are not using the search function on DDB.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Fair enough, but my point is that I see no inherent value to knowing the rules any more than necessary to play the game. I happen to enjoy reading and understanding stuff, even with classes I'll never run. I don't expect that from anyone else. Meanwhile there are people who seemingly will never remember the rules no matter how many times they read or are told what they are.

I would also note that for many people looking up information on DndBeyond is easier than pulling out books. DndBeyond and reading the rules are also not mutually exclusive.

I guess I don't really have a horse in this race anyway. Don't really see any value to D&D Beyond personally, and that was true before I broke from WotC's version of 5e. I just object to the presentation you provided that you either don't know the rules to make your own PC or it's "rules mastery" you're after, as if those are the only two options.

 

[Micah Sweet]

There is also a difference between the context of a statement and the need to be offended by it.

People are I feel responsible for the words they use, but I'm not offended, just confused about the poster's intentions with their phrasing.

 

[KYRON45]

I guess I don't really have a horse in this race anyway. Don't really see any value to D&D Beyond personally, and that was true before I broke from WotC's version of 5e. I just object to the presentation you provided that you either don't know the rules to make your own PC or it's "rules mastery" you're after, as if those are the only two options.

Hyperbole, sarcasm and even being offended is the price we pay for free speech in a public forum.

 

[SteveC]

I'd wager those that feel it is easier to find something on DDB than in a physical book are not using the search function on DDB.

I am not a DDB user but I have heard the stories. It seems like this should be a strength of the site but it's just not. Since all my groups play online, I just do an Internet search for it. Sometimes, I get answers from EnWorld! Playing in-person I like to keep tech tools away from me but for Pathfinder Society sessions where the rules are pretty thick sometimes, I'll search the archives when the GM asks or it it's not my turn.

 

[SteveC]

Hyperbole, sarcasm and even being offended is the price we pay for free speech in a public forum.

And when it gets too annoying, there's the Ignore button. I find using that helps me not get more annoyed than minimally necessary. I'm sure many folks have done the same with me...

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think this is so important! In my current group, we have a player who has trouble with the rules. His fighter character had to be reminded of things like Action Surge and Second Wind ... every session. He is a great roleplayer and a smart guy overall, so there's just something about the rules that he has issues with. I know he really doesn't enjoy reading rules so that may be it.

Now we were playing Feng Shui. As soon as he figured out how to make checks, he became so involved with action scenes and came out of his shell entirely. It was like he became an entirely different player.

I guess my point is that 5E really needs a class for that type of player. The player who just doesn't see the point of knowing the rules more than at the most basic level. If we move to the 2024 rules, I wonder what that player of ours will do, since the fighter got more complicated.

I don't see a problem with having such a class in WotC 5e, but I also don't see why 5e needs it. Games can be different with different priorities. Does every game need such a class, or just WotC 5e?

 

[KYRON45]

People are I feel responsible for the words they use, but I'm not offended, just confused about the poster's intentions with their phrasing.

Who are we responsible to?
Not everyone parses their language the same way. If I had a nickel for every time some excited teen started a sentence with “I literally…..”.

 

[SteveC]

I don't see a problem with having such a class in WotC 5e, but I also don't see why 5e needs it. Games can be different with different priorities. Does every game need such a class, or just WotC 5e?

It depends on the game. If you want your game to be widely accessible, you should probably design around it in my opinion (as anytime I don't state something as objective fact, you can assume I'm doing...) I play and have played a ton of games. Many of them limited themselves in player base by being too complicated. I love me some RoleMaster but not everyone can play it simply by having to do the math. I also love the Hero system, but it grew from being reasonably simple to complicated enough that locked it out of a lot of playgroups.

For games like BECMI or other OSR games, this is sort of a given and just baked into the game. I played a lot of 13th Age and not only do they do it, they also tell you about it.

Does a game need this sort of class? No, but if you want to appeal to a very large base (which D&D obviously does), I think you do need it. And your mileage may vary as always.