Bob the World Builder Interviews Kyle Brink

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sure. That isn't what happened, however.

What actually happened is that someone's boss said in an interview that if someone who leaked confidential company documents to disastrous effect on the company were to come see him directly, he'd pursue a course of action that doesn't end in their immediate termination, which is...what would normally happen. Like without any room for doubt.

These are two very different things.

He's literally offering an olive branch to someone or a group of someones that he doesn't want to have to fire, but who he absolutely would normally have to fire. He probably had to convince his Rawson and/or Williams to even allow it.

Having known a lot of whistleblowers in my time -- more than a dozen of them, easily -- I find it hard to believe that these people did not come to him ahead of time.

Whistleblowers don't want to hurt their business. (The people who are telling you otherwise tend to be the people who really, really don't want anyone blowing the whistle on them, for good reason.) All of the folks I know have been true believers who have gone through all the steps internally that are supposed to work and it didn't change anything.

Feeling betrayed by an organization they believe in and whose espoused values they are seeking to uphold more than the powers of be often are, only then do they leak something.

The time to stop a leak is before it happens -- by actually solving the problem in the method you tell staff is the way to do it -- rather than waiting for it to be in the Washington Post first.

 

[Yaarel]

Maybe they can just turn over Dark Sun to another publisher or the DMs Guild?

I dont see how this can happen. The problem with the Dark Sun setting is the setting itself. WotC doesnt want to perpetuate it.

WotC seems to have tried to update the setting to todays ethical sensibilities for 5e. But the "update" was less true to its source materials.

For example, is it possible to have Dark Sun without slavery? Would it still be Dark Sun?

It is too bad. In other ways, the setting is progressive. For its era, the setting has gender equality. Its global climate conscientiousness seems ahead of its time.

 

[darjr]

It’s gotta be surreal for Kyle right now.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, sure, but the internal leaks here are automatic big trouble: my manager loves me, but if I leaked internal team information to a YouTuber (and they exist for out company!), then I would be in deep doodoo.

Honestly it might not come out for years, if ever, hopefully.

For folks wanting to leak more safely -- say, current Wyrmwood employees -- please see this post.

 

[Yaarel]

It’s gotta be surreal for Kyle right now.

Brink expressed WotC is in a good place "today", but wishes WotC arrived here without the mistakes.

 

[Parmandur]

It’s gotta be surreal for Kyle right now.

Honestly, je may be regretting working so close to his actual hobby about now.

 

[Retreater]

For example, is it possible to have Dark Sun without slavery? Would it still be Dark Sun?

Dying world, polluted by magic, heavy reliance on psionics, species outside the norm of high fantasy D&D, focus on survival. Yeah it can do that, and be extraordinarily relevant to pop culture and the modern world rebuilding after a pandemic. It's IMO the BEST setting for these times.
Yes, there would be the end of slavery. Talk about it. Update the social hierarchy. Freedom fighters can be heroes. Focus on a part of the world where they've already won the fight.
There's so much that can be done.

 

[Yaarel]

Dying world, polluted by magic, heavy reliance on psionics, species outside the norm of high fantasy D&D, focus on survival. Yeah it can do that, and be extraordinarily relevant to pop culture and the modern world rebuilding after a pandemic. It's IMO the BEST setting for these times.
Yes, there would be the end of slavery. Talk about it. Update the social hierarchy. Freedom fighters can be heroes. Focus on a part of the world where they've already won the fight.
There's so much that can be done.

I want this setting. Is it "Dark Sun" tho?

My favorite aspects of Dark Sun are psionics and nontheistic elementalism.

Regarding a "dying world" and "rebuilding" it, I want a way for players to "restore the world", even if focusing on achieving this locally.

 

[Parmandur]

Dying world, polluted by magic, heavy reliance on psionics, species outside the norm of high fantasy D&D, focus on survival. Yeah it can do that, and be extraordinarily relevant to pop culture and the modern world rebuilding after a pandemic. It's IMO the BEST setting for these times.
Yes, there would be the end of slavery. Talk about it. Update the social hierarchy. Freedom fighters can be heroes. Focus on a part of the world where they've already won the fight.
There's so much that can be done.

It's doable, and I think the way that Brink answered it suggests that he's been involved in conversations about how to do it. UT doing so while staying PG-13...?

 

[Faolyn]

Having known a lot of whistleblowers in my time -- more than a dozen of them, easily -- I find it hard to believe that these people did not come to him ahead of time.

Whistleblowers don't want to hurt their business. (The people who are telling you otherwise tend to be the people who really, really don't want anyone blowing the whistle on them, for good reason.) All of the folks I know have been true believers who have gone through all the steps internally that are supposed to work and it didn't change anything.

Feeling betrayed by an organization they believe in and whose espoused values they are seeking to uphold more than the powers of be often are, only then do they leak something.

The time to stop a leak is before it happens -- by actually solving the problem in the method you tell staff is the way to do it -- rather than waiting for it to be in the Washington Post first.

Having been a whistleblower, the reason for not going to one's boss is if the boss is the problem, the company's atmosphere is so toxic that doing so isn't safe, or both.

There were reports (or tweets, at least) of people saying WotC had become a hostile work environment. Perhaps that was (or still is) true, and people didn't feel that they could go to Brink and not suffer retaliation for it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Dying world, polluted by magic, heavy reliance on psionics, species outside the norm of high fantasy D&D, focus on survival. Yeah it can do that, and be extraordinarily relevant to pop culture and the modern world rebuilding after a pandemic. It's IMO the BEST setting for these times.
Yes, there would be the end of slavery. Talk about it. Update the social hierarchy. Freedom fighters can be heroes. Focus on a part of the world where they've already won the fight.
There's so much that can be done.

There can still be plenty of fights even if the slavers' backs have been broken. There are dragon kings, unrepentant defilers doubling down on sucking the planet dry, wars caused the fight over increasingly scarce resources, natural hazards, etc.

That said, if WotC doesn't want to do it, someone else should jump in and make their own climate change + psionics swords and sandals setting.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Having been a whistleblower, the reason for not going to one's boss is if the boss is the problem, the company's atmosphere is so toxic that doing so isn't safe, or both.

There were reports (or tweets, at least) of people saying WotC had become a hostile work environment. Perhaps that was (or still is) true, and people didn't feel that they could go to Brink and not suffer retaliation for it.

I would count that as the process failing the whistleblowers, but you're right, I did not include that nuance.

 

[Parmandur]

Having known a lot of whistleblowers in my time -- more than a dozen of them, easily -- I find it hard to believe that these people did not come to him ahead of time.

Whistleblowers don't want to hurt their business. (The people who are telling you otherwise tend to be the people who really, really don't want anyone blowing the whistle on them, for good reason.) All of the folks I know have been true believers who have gone through all the steps internally that are supposed to work and it didn't change anything.

Feeling betrayed by an organization they believe in and whose espoused values they are seeking to uphold more than the powers of be often are, only then do they leak something.

The time to stop a leak is before it happens -- by actually solving the problem in the method you tell staff is the way to do it -- rather than waiting for it to be in the Washington Post first.

Well, odds are fairly high the leakers aren't on his team: considering how violently the Designers reacted to the leaker claims about playtest surveys.

Aa.it stands, this felt.more like an olive branch of any of the leaders is on his team, that he may be able to save their job.

 

[JEB]

Maybe they can just turn over Dark Sun to another publisher or the DMs Guild?

Considering their professed concerns about the integrity of the D&D brand, I'd be very surprised if they did this. It wouldn't really shield them from criticisms over any problematic elements in the derivative products, either, especially if those criticisms were rooted in elements from older material.

(I honestly wonder at times how much longer they'll keep the full library of older editions up there on DM Guild, for that matter. It's already caused PR problems for them.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, odds are fairly high the leakers aren't on his team: considering how violently the Designers reacted to the leaker claims about playtest surveys.

You're assuming the YouTubers characterized things perfectly, which I don't think we can assume, not knowing exactly what they were told and in what format.

 

[Parmandur]

You're assuming the YouTubers characterized things perfectly, which I don't think we can assume, not knowing exactly what they were told and in what format.

True: we don't know seems Kyle doesn't either. Hopefully for the leaders ir just blows over.

 

[bedir than]

You're assuming the YouTubers characterized things perfectly, which I don't think we can assume, not knowing exactly what they were told and in what format.

I know y'all are tired of hearing this, but the person in question who made the claims that playtests were never read is the exact same person who said that they manufactured quotes and that they exchanged seven novels worth of information in just two weeks.

We don't need to consider that individual an authentic sharer of true information.

 

[Faolyn]

I would count that as the process failing the whistleblowers, but you're right, I did not include that nuance.

Oh, sure. Whistleblowers aren't supposed to be retaliated against, but yeah, we are.

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

You haven’t worked in corporate America have you?

I don't know. My experience in corporate America has been: yes, people talk and spread things. And yes, it is absolutely used to delineate what faction you belong to when it comes to the axe. If you're 'mine' or 'theirs'. I feel that way going through where I work currently - what department is going to be left holding the excrement once redundancy hits.

 

[Retreater]

I want this setting. Is it "Dark Sun" tho?

I don't see why not. We can't expect the same product from 2E AD&D, nor should we want it.
I think thematically you can certainly get the feel of Dark Sun, maybe with the hope of rebuilding the dying world from the sins of the old and empowered.
It's the perfect setting for our era.