D&D 5E Don't Throw 5e Away Because of Hasbro

[mamba]

I’m also not sure why you think hearing from a lawyer, or having your YouTube account demonitised is less frighting. That’s the nuclear option.

hearing from a lawyer or the Pinkertons is pretty much interchangeable for me

 

[Faolyn]

You’re describing a fantasy image of the Pinkertons straight out of urban myth. This is 2025 not Red Dead. I’ve known many people who work in security and your associating them with leg-breaking goons is also pretty unpleasant. In his video the streamer described them as very nice and polite. So you don’t need to ‘even if’ it.

Yes, it's a fantasy image. That is the image they have created for themselves. They haven't done anything to try to change--as recently as 2022 they were still engaged in union-busting activities. They probably still are.

A product that isn’t released yet appears on a YouTube channel by an unknown guy saying he’s got hands on something by accident. Of course they’re going to react and try to find out why. I’ll let you into a secret… managers for large companies are not crime fighters. They’re not PI’s. I’m also not sure why you think hearing from a lawyer, or having your YouTube account demonitised is less frighting. That’s the nuclear option.

Why is being contacted by a lawyer or being demonetized less frightening? Because those things don't have nearly as bad a reputation as Pinkertons do.

They could have hired any private detective they wanted. They chose to hire the one that has probably the worst reputation possible.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

DOING BUSINESS WITH THE PINKS IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE.

Bleepin' 'eck, are there still people who need to be told this?

 

[AlViking]

patently false, they would have lost in court

The statement was that wotc was going to break a law by changing the ogl. Since the ogl was neither a license nor a contract it was never enforceable and not a legally binding document therefore no laws could be broken by changing it. If it had been changed and someone ignored it then it could have gone to court but nobody knows what the outcome of that would have been.

 

[AlViking]

doesn’t matter when the suit is in charge, and he still is the CEO of Hasbro too


we just explained it to you, if you still do not understand it (as opposed to agree with it) that is on you

I understand I just disagree.

 

[AlViking]

• Asked YouTube to demonetize him or remove his account. Hasbro's a big company. YouTube probably would have agreed.
• If he's someone who works with WotC (in the sense that they send him things for review), they stop using with him. This will have the effect of causing his revenue stream to dry up by probably quite a lot, if he depends on MtG reviews.
• Hired a lawyer to send him a cease and desist and demand that he remove the video.
• Talked to the distributor to find out how he got the cards early and fix the leak on their end, and chalk the incident up to a an unfortunate accident.

It's not like the cards were stolen in the dead of night by masked bandits and he was hiding them in a hidden safe. He was out in the open about it. WotC didn't need to "hunt it down," especially with a group that invokes images of "leg-breaking goon." Even if the Pinkerton Agents were the nicest, most polite people (actually polite, not "leg-breaking polite") in the world about it, hiring them was a dumb move on their part. At best, it makes WotC look petty, vindictive, greedy, and prone to overreaction.

Who should they have hired? They were trying to track down what they believed was stolen property. Shutting down his site would have been even more vindictive and harmful. I have to ask again did you actually listen to the podcasts?

 

[TwoSix]

Sometimes I wonder if there's a significant overlap of the most outspoken online detractors of WotC and D&D 5e and those who weren't playing the game anyways (ior had already sworn off the publisher and/or 5e lbefore the controversies).

Well, that sort of makes sense, right? A lot of the antagonism comes from people who are fans of D&D "the way it was before", and would prefer to have their preferred style of play as the current marketed one.

 

[AlViking]

Yes, it's a fantasy image. That is the image they have created for themselves. They haven't done anything to try to change--as recently as 2022 they were still engaged in union-busting activities. They probably still are.


Why is being contacted by a lawyer or being demonetized less frightening? Because those things don't have nearly as bad a reputation as Pinkertons do.

They could have hired any private detective they wanted. They chose to hire the one that has probably the worst reputation possible.

The image was largely created by video games and historical incidents when the company was run by people long dead.

 

[TheSword]

Yes, it's a fantasy image. That is the image they have created for themselves. They haven't done anything to try to change--as recently as 2022 they were still engaged in union-busting activities. They probably still are.

Why is being contacted by a lawyer or being demonetized less frightening? Because those things don't have nearly as bad a reputation as Pinkertons do.

They could have hired any private detective they wanted. They chose to hire the one that has probably the worst reputation possible.

So basically your issue with this is that they contracted someone you didn’t like the reputation of.

It wasn’t that they did anything wrong per se, or that the person was badly treated. Just the reputation alone?

I’m not sure this is the burning injustice you think it is.

 

[Bae'zel]

These days, I think you'll find it quite a challenge to convince people that a big corporation isn't as bad as it seems.

I mean, there are several movements in the gaming hobby specifically created as a rebellion against WotC's D&D (and still going strong).