Greg Tito Is UHURA!

Former Escapist editor-in-chief Greg Tito is now WotC's new Communications Manager according to D&D Brand Manager Nathan Stewart -- "Please welcome Greg Tito newest member of the D&D team. Greg joins our team as Communications Manager and official bag of holding holder." Greg was laid off from The Escapist a couple of weeks ago. He mentioned his recent layoff, whihc also involved others: "Due to budget cuts at Defy Media, the parent company of The Escapist, Game Front, and GameTrailers, a large number of my colleagues have also been let go. This news sucks for everyone, including those left behind to run these publications. My thoughts are with all of you and I hope you bounce back with a new gig soon."

 

[I'm A Banana]

Yeah, I'm super vague on why this guy is supposedly some sort of unethical monster. A lot of the internet hate for him seems focused around this article....wherein he's actually presenting a new ethics policy? Which is like...the opposite of unethical.

 

[Gecko85]

Yeah, I'm super vague on why this guy is supposedly some sort of unethical monster. A lot of the internet hate for him seems focused around this article....wherein he's actually presenting a new ethics policy? Which is like...the opposite of unethical.

From what I can gather, he originally posted an article about a female game creator claiming she'd been harassed. He later said he didn't do his due diligence. What I can't discern, however, is if the original article was in fact incorrect. The side that is saying it was incorrect seems to have a disproportionally large number of people posting hate-filled diatribes against women...so I'm not sure I'm inclined to believe them. In any event, that's irrelevant. Seems he owned up to his mistake, somewhat apologized, but said he'd continue to fight against harassment in the industry, which seemed to rile people up even more.

Like you said, though, it's all very vague. Lots of he said/she said, not a lot of actual facts.

 

[Lily of the Valley]

I think that's some spin there.

That is irony right there.

I guess in a year we will have a better idea of WotC's business strategy.

 

[I'm A Banana]

From what I can gather, he originally posted an article about a female game creator claiming she'd been harassed. He later said he didn't do his due diligence. What I can't discern, however, is if the original article was in fact incorrect. The side that is saying it was incorrect seems to have a disproportionally large number of people posting hate-filled diatribes against women...so I'm not sure I'm inclined to believe them. In any event, that's irrelevant. Seems he owned up to his mistake, somewhat apologized, but said he'd continue to fight against harassment in the industry, which seemed to rile people up even more.

Like you said, though, it's all very vague. Lots of he said/she said, not a lot of actual facts.

...on the assumption that this is the case...

There's very little that's unethical about being too eager to speak up in the defense of the potentially harassed (given the under-reporting of harassment in general), and there's EVERYTHING ethical about owning up to being a little sloppy and instituting rules so that what little lapse occurred is prevented going forward. So he sounds like a stand-up fellow.

Though being willing to fight against harassment does explain the internet hate-machine (there seems to be a lot of folks out there on the internet who delight harassment, often using misdirection, confusion, evasion, and disingenuous cries about "free speech" as a shield to posture at legitimacy while defending the harassment). Which also explains the 10-page thread....oh, internet hate-machine....

Those ethics + the skills of an editor-in-chief (coordinating disparate teams, delivering content on a schedule, managing a lot of of egos because people take their magical elf games SUPER FREAKING SERIOUS)....sounds like WotC made a pretty great choice, if that's the story! I'm in. Hope they coordinate and deliver!

 

[Dannager]

A communication manager refusing to communicate? What a professional!

There are about three hundred ways Tito could choose to handle external communications. His job is to decide what the best way to go about that is. Coming across as an openly hostile community - which a number of people in this thread seem very, very intent on doing - is the sort of thing that makes his decision much easier.

 

[Lily of the Valley]

There are about three hundred ways Tito could choose to handle external communications. His job is to decide what the best way to go about that is. Coming across as an openly hostile community - which a number of people in this thread seem very, very intent on doing - is the sort of thing that makes his decision much easier.

You did not noticed my sarcasm it would seem.

Anyway, ENworld is not hostile to D&D. It is the opposite really. With some threads getting 100k+ views he would not be a good communication manager if he ignored ENworld altogether. Also, being a professional means you put aside your petty feelings and do what if best for your compagnie. Ignoring ENworld is not what is best for D&D.

 

[Iosue]

I'm just saying, if you're concerned that negative comments on a subject could damage business or other relations, the safest bet is to simply not let people talk about the subject.

In the words of the Federation President, "just because we can do a thing it does not necessarily follow that we must do that thing." It would be nice if we could all be adults and engage in praise in criticism in a civil manner.

As far as Greg Tito and GamerGate goes, I find myself simultaneously understanding and appalled by both sides of the debate. But I think Greg Tito, despite being right in the center of the whole issue from almost the beginning, is one of the few people to come out of it ethically sound and with his dignity intact.

 

[Dannager]

You did not noticed my sarcasm it would seem.

Are you serious? It was practically a bludgeon.

Anyway, ENworld is not hostile to D&D.

EN World isn't hostile to Tito, either. Just a handful of people whose exposure to him begins and ends with a poorly-constructed narrative tied to a single event.

It is the opposite really. With some threads getting 100k+ views he would not be a good communication manager if he ignored ENworld altogether.

I'm sure he won't, but he gets to choose how much he interacts here. If he feels that this community is hostile enough to him that what he says won't be well-received, he will make a rational choice to make EN World a lower priority.

Also, being a professional means you put aside your petty feelings and do what if best for your compagnie. Ignoring ENworld is not what is best for D&D.

It is if interacting with the EN World community involves less talking about D&D and more trying to navigate personal attacks and insults. That's not a productive use of one's time.

Look, at this point you're basically making excuses for treating someone you don't know poorly (and, worse, arguing that he has to put up with it because "it's his job"). That's not really a conversation that I'm interested in having. If you have something to say more substantial than that, go for it.

 

[evileeyore]

DOOMED...DOOMED...DOOMED...DOOMED...DOOMED...DOOMED...DOOMED...

All that Doom being summoned... are we talking about the Fantastic Four?

The side that is saying it was incorrect seems to have a disproportionally large number of people posting hate-filled diatribes against women...

That bolded part isn't actually factually correct. /rubs temples

I know, you said seems, and for that I applaud you.

As far as Greg Tito and GamerGate goes, I find myself simultaneously understanding and appalled by both sides of the debate. But I think Greg Tito, despite being right in the center of the whole issue from almost the beginning, is one of the few people to come out of it ethically sound and with his dignity intact.

Basically. Tito weathered a storm from both sides (initially) and did alright by most of us. It's just a few with a serious hate on for one game dev that never accepted his apology or his efforts at trying to keep The Escapist neutral.

At the end of the day, remaining neutral may have cost him his job. It's sad.

 

[Sunseeker]

In the words of the Federation President, "just because we can do a thing it does not necessarily follow that we must do that thing." It would be nice if we could all be adults and engage in praise in criticism in a civil manner.

I hate that line. It's meaningless political garbage. It could be used as much in favor of Klingon-Human reconciliation as it could be used against it. I love that movie but that line annoys the crap out of me every time I hear it since I usually hear it coming from anti-progress-minded Conservatives (American Republicans) who are arguing against anything and everything in favor of the status-quo. /end political rant

As far as Greg Tito and GamerGate goes, I find myself simultaneously understanding and appalled by both sides of the debate. But I think Greg Tito, despite being right in the center of the whole issue from almost the beginning, is one of the few people to come out of it ethically sound and with his dignity intact.

I can't stand the "GamerGate". Watergate was an issue. GamerGate is a fat load. "Gaming News"(when it comes to video gaming in this case) is a joke and always has been. Gamer News has only become popularized with the advent of it being more interesting to watch someone else play a game while talking about it, than actually play the game yourself. There are always unethical people in every journalistic society, no matter how stringent you are about it. The fact that many "gaming news" sites have been biased towards major companies, their sponsors and anyone who'll get them more attention is not news, in fact it's been this way for decades. There's some issue buried somewhere deep down inside, but the people on one side are using it as a platform to attack some kind of Tumberlized-feminism and the people on the other side are using it to advance some kind of tumblrized-feminism.

It's a complete waste of time and about as relevant to anything as the difference between the names of of George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush.