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."

 

[Zak S]

I don't know ANYTHING about his wider views, but in his dealings with us when we were working on I Hit It With My Axe Greg was very decent and definitely into RPGs.

And, for the record, he WASN'T part of the culture I describe here:

http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.co...howComment=1424820263372#c8358420138466973730

 

[Dannager]

By the way, folks, Tito will almost certainly read this thread, if he hasn't already. Just something to keep in mind when deciding what to say here.

 

[Lily of the Valley]

Self-censorship? For what? Actually liking a product? Unless you have proof otherwise, the story here is: Guy worked at media outlet and wrote about something he was a fan of (D&D) decided to apply at the company whose work he liked and got the job.

Say there was a judge who found BP not guilty of any wrong doing in the oil disaster that occured in the Gulf of Mexico. Later that judge quits her job as a judge and goes working for BP. Would you find that acceptable? Why should our expectations be different for a journalist?

It is not a question of proof. It is a question of conflict of interests and the appearance of conflict of interest. Journalists who review products have the public's trust. That trust relies on many things. One of them is the expectation that journalists do not receive benefits from the compagnies or individuals who's products have been reviewed. This man received a job from WotC.

I do agree that comparing journalists to judges is a somewhat of a false equivalency, of scale and social impact, but integrety is still central to both jobs. In this case, the journalist and the magazine's integrity have taken a hit.

 

[Lily of the Valley]

By the way, folks, Tito will almost certainly read this thread, if he hasn't already. Just something to keep in mind when deciding what to say here.

Good. Maybe he will reconsider his job.

 

[darjr]

Congratulations. Can't wait to hear more about D&D!

 

[bmfrosty]

My current understanding of gamersgate is that it went like this:

Basic Situation: Teenage boys who were into video games and afraid of women started sending women in the games industry rape threats, and then managed to at the same time claim that the women in question were having sex with games journalists in order to get better metacritic ratings, and in the process confused anyone that wasn't paying much attention.

Branch A: Confused people supported them until they realized it was about scared teenage boys being horrible people. Upon realizing that they were supporting teenage boys in making rape threats, most of them changed their tunes.

Branch B: Some people continued to support the horrible teenage boys despite them being horrible.

Branch C: Saw the horrible teenage boys for what they were right away.

From what I've seen so far Greg Tito is part of Branch A. Unfortunate that he didn't do enough research before supporting the horrible people, but at least he realized what was going on and changed his tune.

Hope that he makes a good communications officer for WoTC.

 

[EthanSental]

I was going to go the other way and say...does this mean that 5E is a blockbuster in sales since WoTC laid off 2 others and people thought it was due to lackluster5e sales. Maybe we can start yet another thread and have it go 96 pages of back and forth of how this 1 hire must mean 5e sales are higher compared pathfinder, 3e/3.4 4e and whatever else to and use the same amazon and ivc2 rankings.

 

[Sunseeker]

By the way, folks, Tito will almost certainly read this thread, if he hasn't already. Just something to keep in mind when deciding what to say here.

So? It's the internet, his job is communication. I don't really feel one way or the other about the guy, but if he can't handle the internet, he probably needs a different job. Like an accountant.

 

[evileeyore]

As a #GGer I have no issue with Greg Tito. Dude kept The Escapist fairly neutral on the "gaming culture war" front (while posting articles that were semi-progressive, they also kept the forums open to discussion instead of censoring the [EXPLETIVE] out of them). He also seemed to be the primary push behind all the RPG articles The Escapist ran, many of which were pretty good.


I was a bit saddened he was let go from, so here's hoping he does a good job for WotC.

 

[Mistwell]

he was involved in the creation of the Adventurer, Conqueror, King system.

I don't know ANYTHING about his wider views, but in his dealings with us when we working on I Hit It With My Axe Greg was very decent and definitely into RPGs.

And, for the record, he WASN'T part of the culture I describe here:

http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.co...howComment=1424820263372#c8358420138466973730

Well I find both of those things reassuring.