Forked Thread: layoffs? Randy Buehler's last column from today

[Admiral Caine]

Forked from: layoffs?

There is no question it is better. But the early days, were pretty rough.

Dave was replying to me, somewhat defending Randy Buehler's work on DDI. I had said that in recent months that the DDI program had steadily been improving.

This morning, there was no DDI News Column from Randy. Since then, one has been posted. It does not mention any layoff..

Randy does write:

Those of you who are not yet subscribers will get to try out the Character Builder soon, probably next week. The feedback we’re getting from the Closed Beta continues to be outstanding and I’ll be honest, it feels good to deliver a product that’s so well received after a year in which we failed to accomplish all the goals we set for ourselves in the digital space.

Say what you will, but I thought that was a classy admission, while still promoting his product.

 

[mudbunny]

It was up last night shortly after midnight eastern.

 

[Admiral Caine]

It was up last night shortly after midnight eastern.

::shrug::

What can I say? I didn't see it this morning when I specifically looked for it, and then a few hours later, there it was.

Either the board glitched, which we all know sometimes happens, or...

...I'm just wrong. Which also sometimes happens.

Besides, that isn't even the salient point in my post. Did you think I created a thread to just say, "Hey, there was no post this morning and then a few hours later there was"?

You're Forum Moderator over at the WOTC site, Mudbunny, is that all you got to say?

I'd rather you say I was flat out wrong, or that you disagreed, or that you do in fact did agree with me.. then just point out a possible technical inaccuracy. That doesn't contribute anything. Though I do regret said innaccuracy whatever the cause.


EDIT: Hey.. I'm sorry, it's not my intention to come off as a jerk. I don't dispute that maybe I just didn't see but it was there all the time. I'm only human. But I was just hoping for a more meaningful reply. Perhaps I'm the only one that feels this way. If so, so be it.

 

[Verys Arkon]

No, I didn't see it either for a while this morning...the only way I got to it was through the link set up in the feedback forum thread on WotC boards.

I wonder if Randy knew it was going to be his last update when he wrote it? I'm guessing not. I thought the DDI news was a great line of communication to help us keep in the loop, without a lot of obfuscations. I hope his successor continues to be forthright.

I hope all the DDI layoffs doesn't derail their progress.

 

[Admiral Caine]

I wonder if Randy knew it was going to be his last update when he wrote it? I'm guessing not. I thought the DDI news was a great line of communication to help us keep in the loop, without a lot of obfuscations. I hope his successor continues to be forthright.

I hope all the DDI layoffs doesn't derail their progress.

Me too.

From a few other threads, I doubt many people will agree with me about Randy.. and I'm okay with that. I actually didn't accept 4E until fairly recently, so I don't have that year of frustration behind me. So I can appreciate that not everybody feels that good about him.

But you've hit upon an important point.

The recent Wednesday updates were good. I did feel like we were being kept in the loop. Yeah, some of it was marketing, but there was also back and forth feedback. Communication was a step in the right direction.

That might have been too little too late, but I really hope for DDI that someone picks up all the positive trends that we were seeing in the last few months.

 

[crash_beedo]

I couldn't find the DDI newsletter this morning either...

It's unfortunate for the digital folks, I agree that since the editorial calendar and the weekly DDI update posts, a positive spirit towards DDI started to develop between the community and the staff, and progress was made (my subscription was certainly worth it, to me).

On a selfish note, I hope these layoffs aren't the first step towards dismantling the DDI initiative completely...

 

[TerraDave]

As I touched on in the other thread, this turn around in the DDI was a long time coming.

At Gencon 07 the emphasis was on the virtual tabletop, Gleemax, and Dungeon and Dragon three times a week. Only the latter worked out, after a really long delay. (Its worth noting that the Compendium is really nice).

Of course, I can't and don't "blame" any one person and I don't know the inside story. WotC track record on things digital is week in general.

It is my understanding he knows a lot about ccgs, which remain a viable niche, and I hope that things work out for him

 

[mudbunny]

::shrug::

What can I say? I didn't see it this morning when I specifically looked for it, and then a few hours later, there it was.

Either the board glitched, which we all know sometimes happens, or...

...I'm just wrong. Which also sometimes happens.

Besides, that isn't even the salient point in my post. Did you think I created a thread to just say, "Hey, there was no post this morning and then a few hours later there was"?

I normally spend most of my time on the WotC forums. I get *lots* of posts/PMs like that. I sometimes forget the difference in quality of posts from there to here. My apologies.

You're Forum Moderator over at the WOTC site, Mudbunny, is that all you got to say?

Believe me, I wish I could say more. Also, and this is just a nit, I am not a moderator. I can't delete, edit, or do anything that moderators on ENWorld could do. I am a bit more than a user, a lot less than a moderator, but that is not the topic of the thread.

I'd rather you say I was flat out wrong, or that you disagreed, or that you do in fact did agree with me.. then just point out a possible technical inaccuracy. That doesn't contribute anything. Though I do regret said innaccuracy whatever the cause.

It was there last night when I went to bed, it was there this mornring when i went to re-read it when I was more awake.

:shrug:

EDIT: Hey.. I'm sorry, it's not my intention to come off as a jerk. I don't dispute that maybe I just didn't see but it was there all the time. I'm only human. But I was just hoping for a more meaningful reply. Perhaps I'm the only one that feels this way. If so, so be it.

I didn't read it as coming off as you being a jerk. My experience with the DDI forums has led me to, unless I *know*, not say anything at all, as cries of "apologist", "shill", and various other labels rapidly get thrown my way.

I do know that some people, with a variety of browsers, have been having problems getting anywhere past the wizards.com home page. When I had that problem, clearing my cache and temp files solved the problem.

The recent Wednesday updates were good. I did feel like we were being kept in the loop. Yeah, some of it was marketing, but there was also back and forth feedback. Communication was a step in the right direction.

That might have been too little too late, but I really hope for DDI that someone picks up all the positive trends that we were seeing in the last few months.

I couldn't find the DDI newsletter this morning either...

It's unfortunate for the digital folks, I agree that since the editorial calendar and the weekly DDI update posts, a positive spirit towards DDI started to develop between the community and the staff, and progress was made (my subscription was certainly worth it, to me).

On a selfish note, I hope these layoffs aren't the first step towards dismantling the DDI initiative completely...

As far as I know, that is not the plan. As the VCL for the DDI forums, know that I will be doing my *very* best to keep the information flowing between the community and WotC.

 

[Admiral Caine]

My apologies.

Not necessary. I was being crabby. Being pleasant on a messageboard is a discipline for me, not an innate skill.

I respect that you can't comment, and note that you're not a moderator.

That in fact is one of the things I find confusing about those boards. That is, who is in charge and what everybody's role is..

...and why you can find top level Brand Managers and R&D over here, but seldom over there. Not that I am trying to discourage them from posting over at EnWorld.

Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

 

[mudbunny]

I will try to explain what VCLs over there do.

First, as noted, we are not moderators per se. We cannot edit someone's post, nor can we delete posts or threads on our own. The actual moderators (ORCs) do that.

What we are in charge of is ensuring appropriate editorial content in the areas for which we are responsible. That is to say, if a thread is in the wrong area, we can ask the ORCs to move it. If a thread is wildly off-topic, we can ask that it be closed.

We cannot ask for posts to be deleted, nor can we ask for posts to be edited.

We are also tasked with keeping WotC up-to-date on the mood/feelings of the community. More than once, Solice contacted me before she had meetings about DDI to ask if there is anything that she should be hammering them over. More than once, the things I mentioned were responded to in a Digital Insider column.