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."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Then it's poorly designed.

Are golf, knitting, embroidery, tennis, quilting, fishing, hunting, driving, dancing or playing a musical instrument "poorly designed"?

I would argue that any pastime that can be learned by reading a four page booklet is too simplistic to be worth bothering with.

The problem is not on my end. It's lies with those who won't/don't read* - in a game so heavily based on reading. I refuse to lower my standards. Others can simply improve theirs

Now this is gatekeeping!

D&D isn't based on reading, it's based on speaking and listening.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

If you think you can write a "beginner book" that actually works, I suggest you do so. In my experience, "beginner books" aren't worth the paper they are printed on, and are no substitute for a teacher.

It's still better than trying to noodle about on your own without either. And just because it will never match a teacher, is no reason to not produce the best possible guide you can for those not fortunate enough to have a teacher.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It's still better than trying to noodle about on your own without either. And just because it will never match a teacher, is no reason to not produce the best possible guide you can for those not fortunate enough to have a teacher.

And if you think you can do significantly better than WotC's basic rules, I suggest you do so.

 

[Zardnaar]

You can design toast the rpg and some people gonna find it to complicated.

By now D&D more or less cones down to three books and each book is going to be over 300 pages.

That's D&D, you could tweak the PHB a bit but there's only so much you can do before you need 6E.

 

[MGibster]

I don't know why anyone would be hostile towards the idea of a Player's Handbook that was better organized and/or written in a manner as to be more friendly to new players. While I believe most new players come aboard with someone to teach them how to play, there are likely some new players who learn the game on their own and end up teaching it to others. It's nice that they can consult YouTube these days but if the PHB can be improved then why not?

 

[Wasteland Knight]

Quick question - page 1 talks about Kate Welch leaving, then the next couple of pages head off in tangential discussions. Does anywhere else in the 25 pages of this thread touch back on the original subject of Kate Welch leaving? I just don't have the time to read through a 25 page thread and I have a suspicion if I've read page 1 I've read all the pertinent information on the subject of the thread. But if more information popped up, I'd appreciate a page number!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't know why anyone would be hostile towards the idea of a Player's Handbook that was better organized and/or written in a manner as to be more friendly to new players.

It's more a case of thinking that the idea that shuffling that information around would make the slightest bit of difference to "the new player experience" is stupid.

How rules are presented is a matter of taste. I found the 4e rules inaccessible because they where presented as the rules to a combat boardgame rather than the chattier, storytelling approach of 5e.

But the fact is D&D has too many rules for any new player to absorb in one go. It doesn't matter how you present it, it is the amount, not the manner of presentation that makes D&D hard to learn without someone to teach it to you. I would also add that I don't see that as a problem. Things that are easy are rarely worth spending time on.

That being the case, the only possible way to make D&D more accessible is to take an axe to the rules and massively reduce the number.

Hence the hostility. People who claim that equating "improving the new player experience" and "dumbing down" is a strawman are living in cloud cuckoo land. It is not possible to do one without the other.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Quick question - page 1 talks about Kate Welch leaving, then the next couple of pages head off in tangential discussions. Does anywhere else in the 25 pages of this thread touch back on the original subject of Kate Welch leaving? I just don't have the time to read through a 25 page thread and I have a suspicion if I've read page 1 I've read all the pertinent information on the subject of the thread. But if more information popped up, I'd appreciate a page number!

No, no further information.

 

[wicked cool]

Welch has not clarified her position? has she followed up on social media at all

It is sad that the kids from the 70's and 80's could teach themselves how to play D&D (Thaco was not easy)and this generation cant or is complaining at all. These starter editions are easier than 90% of the boardgames out there nevermind roleplaying games (i'd argue its easier than magic the gathering)

Im going to be that guy-Back in my day we didn't have a computer or a phone to help us with rules. We were able to jump from D&D to traveler to Star Frontiers, Gangbusters, James Bond, etc and I feel confident that we got the rules mostly right

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Welch has not clarified her position? has she followed up on social media at all

It is sad that the kids from the 70's and 80's could teach themselves how to play D&D (Thaco was not easy)and this generation cant or is complaining at all.

That's kind of a misrepresentation. The younger players in my group have never complained.

I think some people think "more people would engage in [my hobby] if only [...]". It could be D&D, it could be sports, it could be whatever. The fact is, some (many) people are never going to be interested in an activity, no matter how "accessible" you make it. Different people like different hobbies. And that is a good thing. Pretty much everyone I know either plays D&D or would never-in-a-million-years play D&D, no matter how simple the rules where.