D&D General Lorraine Williams: Is it Time for a Reevaluation?

[darjr]

All due respect to Gygax, but I'm not sure that would have necessarily worked out so well in the end, either.

Probably. Maybe. It definitely would have been different.

 

[MoonSong]

This Gygax tangent got me thinking on something more aligned to the thread. The very public "reconciliation" that WotC had with the creators made players hyper aware of the names and early history of the game. This inevitably brought Gygax departure from TSR to the public eye. Which coupled with the recent C&Ds and TSR failure on recent memory created a narrative of "ding dong the witch is dead" that maligned and vilified Lorraine Williams. In an effort to be seen as the rightful keepers of the game, WotC ended up casting Lorraine as the evil corporate villain that had kept the game hostage and it was now being rescued by the true gamers!

At least it seems to be a possible reading of the situation.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

This Gygax tangent got me thinking on something more aligned to the thread. The very public "reconciliation" that WotC had with the creators made players hyper aware of the names and early history of the game. This inevitably brought Gygax departure from TSR to the public eye. Which coupled with the recent C&Ds and TSR failure on recent memory created a narrative of "ding dong the witch is dead" that maligned and vilified Lorraine Williams. In an effort to be seen as the rightful keepers of the game, WotC ended up casting Lorraine as the evil corporate villain that had kept the game hostage and it was now being rescued by the true gamers!

At least it seems to be a possible reading of the situation.

I don‘t know how to respond to this. That’s a thesis!

So I will just give you my most profound, Keanu, WOAH.

 

[darjr]

That is interesting. It at least gave room for it anyways.

 

[Blue Orange]

This Gygax tangent got me thinking on something more aligned to the thread. The very public "reconciliation" that WotC had with the creators made players hyper aware of the names and early history of the game. This inevitably brought Gygax departure from TSR to the public eye. Which coupled with the recent C&Ds and TSR failure on recent memory created a narrative of "ding dong the witch is dead" that maligned and vilified Lorraine Williams. In an effort to be seen as the rightful keepers of the game, WotC ended up casting Lorraine as the evil corporate villain that had kept the game hostage and it was now being rescued by the true gamers!

At least it seems to be a possible reading of the situation.

So they made Lorraine the fall gal so they could smooth over the natural suspicion anyone would have toward the new owners of D&D?

Sounds plausible at least! Of course, the only people who would know are the WotC management team back then, and they probably wouldn't admit it. You'd have to find some 'smoking gun' email, and if they were at all smart about something like that they wouldn't have left records.

 

[darjr]

I doubt very much it was on purpose or targeted. For instance they didn’t reach out to business only folks at TSR but creatives, specifically THE creators of D&D. That would leave her out altogether.

Also to her credit she did make the sale instead of doing something spiteful and refusing to and ending up selling to the banks piecmiel, which was an actual fear. That very fear in part helped bring the OGL.

 

[Blue Orange]

Also to her credit she did make the sale instead of doing something spiteful and refusing to and ending up selling to the banks piecmiel, which was an actual fear. That very fear in part helped bring the OGL.

So that's what that was all about? I was wondering why anyone would do that. I'm pretty happy they did--I enjoyed reading all the wild and wooly d20 stuff out there--but it didn't seem to make any sense as a business model.

 

[MoonSong]

So they made Lorraine the fall gal so they could smooth over the natural suspicion anyone would have toward the new owners of D&D?

Sounds plausible at least! Of course, the only people who would know are the WotC management team back then, and they probably wouldn't admit it. You'd have to find some 'smoking gun' email, and if they were at all smart about something like that they wouldn't have left records.

Not saying it was intentional. More like she was collateral damage in WotC's attempt to legitimate their ownership of D&D, which helped canonize st Gygax in the player base and put a face on the failure of TSR: "They are paying homage to Gygax" ->"Wait, why is the creator of D&D not producing D&D?"-> "Oh, they sacked him."-> "wait isn't this Williams person that sacked him the same that ran TSR into the ground?"-> "Oh, the same that kept sending those C&Ds to fan forums."-> "Then f*** this Williams woman!". In a way Lorraine became the personification of everything that led to the demise of beloved TSR.
(I mean, are we even sure she personally ordered every single C&D? couldn't have that been the work of an overzealous legal department?)

So that's what that was all about? I was wondering why anyone would do that. I'm pretty happy they did--I enjoyed reading all the wild and wooly d20 stuff out there--but it didn't seem to make any sense as a business model.

From what I read, it was part of it. Adkinson had a real fear of D&D getting stuck on a legal limbo should things go sour. But the OGL served more than one purpose; it also helped to mend the relation with the community as it was a way to have a strong fan policy after years of C&Ds and it cushioned the blow of WotC cutting many product lines and supplements. It also served as a way to concentrate the 3P publishers under WotC's ecosystem, they would support D&D by doing low profit supplements for free instead of creating competing systems that way.

 

[darjr]

So that's what that was all about? I was wondering why anyone would do that. I'm pretty happy they did--I enjoyed reading all the wild and wooly d20 stuff out there--but it didn't seem to make any sense as a business model.

Yup, it was close at one point. If TSR had went to the banks the fear was that D&D would get carved up and sit as a list items in vaults never to see publishing.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Yup, it was close at one point. If TSR had went to the banks the fear was that D&D would get carved up and sit as a list items in vaults never to see publishing.

Remember as well that TSR was wary of a buyout from WoTC. In effect, the company hid behind a bogus offer from the makers of the Legend of the Five Rings.