D&D 5E Kate Welch on Leaving WotC

Kate Welch left Wizards of the Coast a few days ago, on August 16th. Soon after, she talked a little about it in a live-stream.

She started work at WotC as a game designer back in February 2018, and has contributed to various products since then, such as Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Descent into Avernus, as well as being a participant in WotC's livestreams. In December 2019, her job changed to that of 'senior user experience designer'.

"I mentioned yesterday that I have some big news that I wouldn't be able to share until today.

The big news that I have to share with you today is that I ... this is difficult, but ... I quit my job at Wizards of the Coast. I no longer work at Wizards. Today was my last day. I haven't said it out loud yet so it's pretty major. I know... it's a big change. It's been scary, I have been there for almost three years, not that long, you know, as far as jobs go, and for a while there I really was having a good time. It's just not... it wasn't the right fit for me any more.

So, yeah, I don't really know what's next. I got no big plans. It's a big deal, big deal .... and I wanted to talk to you all about it because you're, as I've mentioned before, a source of great joy for me. One of the things that has been tough reckoning with this is that I've defined myself by Dungeons & Dragons for so long and I really wanted to be a part of continuing to make D&D successful and to grow it, to have some focus especially on new user experience, I think that the new user experience for Dungeons & Dragons is piss poor, and I've said that while employed and also after quitting.

But I've always wanted to be a part of getting D&D into the hands of more people and helping them understand what a life-changing game it is, and I hope I still get the chance to do that. But as of today I'm unemployed, and I also wanted to be upfront about it because I have this great fear that because Dungeons & Dragons has been part of my identity, professionally for the last three years almost, I was worried that a lot of you'll would not want to follow me any more because I'm not at Wizards, and there's definitely some glamourous aspects to being at Wizards."

She went on to talk about the future, and her hopes that she'll still be be able to work with WotC.

"I'm excited about continuing to play D&D, and hopefully Wizards will still want me to appear on their shows and stuff, we'll see, I have no idea. But one thing that I'm really excited about is that now I can play other TTRPGs. There's a policy that when you're a Wizards employee you can't stream other tabletop games. So there was a Call of Cthulhu game that we did with the C-team but we had to get very special permission for it, they were like OK but this is only a one time thing. I get it, you know, it's endorsing the competition or whatever, but I'm super excited to be able to have more freedom about the kinds of stuff that I'm getting involved with."

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Sorry, you don't get to claim that offensive language is only offensive if you mean it offensively.

Some language can be reclaimed - if done so by the people it's been weaponized against and only if they are using it purposefully for reclamation - but when we get into "Oh, but I'm not meaning it in an offensive way so excuse me, princess…" we're heading down a dark rabbithole of sexism. Please don't go there.

Patriarch is an explicitly Christian religious title, harking back to the Pentarchy. The biggest problem was D&D trying to mix it with titles like "Lama". (lol, wut?)

 

[neobolts]

I'm not sure I agree with the "new user experience" being poor in terms of game design. 5e has been characterized by accessible rules and explosive growth. It relies on word-of-mouth, but no more than any other hobby or sport. I'm guessing she's eluding to concerns about inclusivity and gatekeeping rather than the nuts and bolts of 5e.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I wonder what she would think of the "new user experience" of someone who decides to take up golf, or fishing, or knitting, or a musical instrument?

Pretty much all of them require a significant investment in materials, and probably paid lessons unless you have friends who are already adept and willing to teach.

 

[Alzrius]

I know that "patriarch" and the "patriarchate" are a thing with some people who object to male dominance of society (which can be pretty objectionable)... but I'm not responsible for their misuse of the language.

Some language can be reclaimed - if done so by the people it's been weaponized against and only if they are using it purposefully for reclamation

And all of a sudden we're in a sketch from Clerks II. (NSFW for language)

 

[Marandahir]

That dark rabbit hole is not what I'm talking about.

At the core of it is a matter of definitions. When two people are arguing about a term with different personal definitions they are talking past each other about different things. My objection to the use of terms like "patriarch" has nothing to do with male dominated society. Personally I think that's a bad thing. But when you use a term like this to mean that and the other person doesn't... what's the point of the argument? If a term has a meaning for you (and others), explain it. Then maybe you'll have fewer arguments, or at least fewer meaningless ones. That's what my rant is about.

If you explain your objection by defining a term and explaining what it means to you (and many other people) you present a good reason for the non-use of that term. Maybe then you (both of you) decide to use another term, like say ecclesiarch, which is hopefully inoffensive and meaningful. That's the problem with the reclamation of offensive terms, it's confusing. If you have a specific definition for a term, explain it. Do not assume the other person shares your definition or even knows of it. When you read a textbook on, say economics, they mangle the English language pretty well. If you just read it your left wondering what they are talking about. Fortunately they define the terms in these books so you can understand it. Then it makes sense. Then you can have a conversation or argument.

The worst for this are academics. Until the word achieves widespread general usage it's pretty useless in arguing with people outside of your field.

"The Patriarchy" is not academic jargon. It's widespread use in English languages, and not targeted to refer to the Orthodox Churches.

Patriarch is an explicitly Christian religious title, harking back to the Pentarchy. The biggest problem was D&D trying to mix it with titles like "Lama". (lol, wut?)

And it's still used today for the Eastern Orthodox Churches' specifically male leaders.

But by and large it's MUCH more frequently used to refer to the male leaders holding sway in a sexist family/community/society/nation/world culture.

We don't get to choose the development of language. We may disagree with it, but individuals cannot "take it back" to where the word originated once its meaning has shifted in broad culture.

Patriarch and Patriarchy are sexist concepts, and have no place in D&D books. You're welcome to run a game that has "Patriarchs" in it, with the term carrying good or bad connotations for your own game, but it has no place in a wide audience-facing text that sets the standards of the game (let alone in a new user experience text like the basic rules or starter sets!).

And all of a sudden we're in a sketch from Clerks II. (NSFW for language)

Thank you. I'd argue that the film tries to have its cake and eat it too, by making one of its leads list off a LOT of despicable slurs (cringeworthy to watch), but at least the film's POV very clearly sides with his coworkers and the guests and not with his ignorant continuity of his grandmother's racism.

Not saying that Patriarchy is a slur by any means. But reinforcing the Patriarchy in a D&D book is a big no-no.

 

[Guy Icognito]

She was also hired as a rules person despite no prior gaming credits. Even on the Guild
I believe Crawford said they could teach that easily enough. But I've seen enough terrible design online to know not everyone is a good rules designer or has a head for mechanics

I wonder if she just couldn't cut it on the books. And was moved to another position so Wizbro could keep her on staff. And she then decided that job wasn't for her
But that's just me slappin on my tin foil hat

 

[Haffrung]

I'm not sure I agree with the "new user experience" being poor in terms of game design. 5e has been characterized by accessible rules and explosive growth.

'Accessible' maybe by hardcore gamers. But D&D is expanding into the general public, people who balk at playing boardgames that have more than 10 pages of rules. I've seen how the boardgame hobby pulled back from more complex, lengthy games as it grew massively in popularity in recent years. Anyone who thinks 5E (or any modern iteration of D&D) is an accessible rules set has an extremely skewed notion of the average person's preferences and capabilities.

More people are playing D&D owing to its prominence in the zeitgeist and the popularity of live-streaming. But in my experience, a great many new players aren't really engaging with the mechanics, they're just rolling whatever dice the DM or alpha player tells them and calling out the results. Which often works, because there are enough D&D uber-nerds who will memorize its rules that a table will often have one or two of them to hold everyone else's hands. But what about when a group doesn't have an experience DM or uber-nerd? When a new DM tries to run a game without the aid of an alpha? That's where it sounds like Welch has run into trouble in her own experiences.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Let's also not forget that Kate was hired by Nathan Stewart. And with him now gone from the direct lead of the D&D team to his full VP status over the WotC brand, perhaps she did not see eye-to-eye with new head Ray Winninger on how things should progress for new players? That's oftentimes a reason why people leave a job... the stylings of their new manager just doesn't click.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

But what about when a group doesn't have an experience DM or uber-nerd? When a new DM tries to run a game without the aid of an alpha? That's where it sounds like Welch has run into trouble in her own experiences.

What if someone tries to learn to play the trombone without a teacher?

 

[ChaosOS]

I wonder what she would think of the "new user experience" of someone who decides to take up golf, or fishing, or knitting, or a musical instrument?

Pretty much all of them require a significant investment in materials, and probably paid lessons unless you have friends who are already adept and willing to teach.

D&D is a game made by a for-profit company, the examples you list aren't owned by anyone in particular. It is in WotC's direct financial interest to invest in expanding the hobby through an improved new user experience. Furthermore, even for the hobbies you list there are tons of people making entire careers off of introducing them to newbies as you mention! New user experience is hugely important and you're leaving money on the table if you ignore issues with it.