TSR Lorraine Williams, unfairly lambasted?

[Zardnaar]

You are glossing over the fact that Williams owned the company for almost TWELVE years. Yeah, Gygax was a terrible businessman, but I don't think he deserves any blame for the collapse of TSR over a decade after his departure.

Groundwork was laid in the 70s.

1. Gary took money from the Blumes.
2. Random House book deal.

 

[Lanefan]

Groundwork was laid in the 70s.

1. Gary took money from the Blumes.
2. Random House book deal.

No-one disputes this, I don't think.

That said, while I'm not sure Ms Williams could have undone anything about the Blumes she must have had an opportunity sometime during those 12 years to have reopen and renegotiate the Random House contract; or to move to a different book company.

 

[Zardnaar]

No-one disputes this, I don't think.

That said, while I'm not sure Ms Williams could have undone anything about the Blumes she must have had an opportunity sometime during those 12 years to have reopen and renegotiate the Random House contract; or to move to a different book company.

The contract was good, TSR abused it.

 

[S'mon]

This is really not true at all. (From the people who were involved) It was almost TSRs version of Atari's ET game.

Have you actually read the module? I got it when WoTC had it available as a free pdf.
Frankly those TSR designers dumping on Wells sound like jerks.

 

[S'mon]

There is an interview of the author of that adventure before she died. As I listened it dawned on me thst there was a lot of resistance to a woman game designer. Some of it rather nasty. Darlene’s interview at GaryCon strikes a very similar tune. Darlene of all people.

That's certainly the impression I get from the Wired piece.

 

[Quartz]

So yeah, her business practices ultimately led to the demise of TSR, but she is hardly the only one at fault, or even mostly at fault.

Sorry, but she was the one in charge. What went before isn't relevant. She had the ability to rectify the situation and rescue the company, and didn't. Her time was a litany of bad decisions. She and she alone bears responsibility. That's why CEOs get paid the big bucks.

 

[Dausuul]

You don't get to keep blaming your predecessor for 11 years. Williams had plenty of time to right the ship, and the turnaround under WotC proves that the ship was in fact rightable. She just didn't do it.

As for Gygax, he made a lot of bad choices, but it's worth keeping in mind that many of them were made when TSR was being run out of his basement.

 

[Parmandur]

Have you actually read the module? I got it when WoTC had it available as a free pdf.
Frankly those TSR designers dumping on Wells sound like jerks.

At least one of the guys interviewed in that article has been run out of the comics industry for over the top misogyny, soooo....

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Umbran]

This is something that's bothered me for a while. Lorraine Williams is often attacked to this day of single handily destroying TSR. Whenever people talk about the TSR failing, it's always, and only, Lorraine they talk about.

It seems to me to be the opposite. Every singe discussion of TSR business I have seen for the past year or more has included how bad a position the company was in before Williams.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Blue]

Williams took over in 1985. So here's the thing. Think of everything from 1985 (or, if you prefer, from Jan 1, 1986) through 1997.

Forgotten Realms. Second Edition. The Gold Boxes. The Novels. The MANY SETTINGS (from Al Qadim to Planescape). The art. Everything.

From some of the financials articles, the many settings was actually a direct part of the problem. They were splintering their user base, and making products that would only appeal to a fration of them at a time, but still had all the costs of making something that could appeal to them all.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Quartz]

The point being that no one excoriates other CEO/owners quite like this;

She was there at the fall. The problems started before her time, sure, but she had the opportunitiy to stop the rot and she did not. It was up to her and she failed.

 

[Parmandur]

getting on board the stupid card game train too late

On this point, TSR didn't get on the train too late: Spellfire was the second CCG to market, from what i heard, after Magic invented the field. And I hear it was good, too?

And who was there to pull the trigger to make that happen?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Parmandur]

I have to admit, my knowledge of stupid card games is limited.

I'm not a big aficionado myself, really. Spellfire seems to have been interesting for it's use of decades of top D&D art for the cards, which helped it sell well at the time. Not sell as well as M:tG, but Magic is something truly extraordinary.

 

[darjr]

This thread has made me reevaluate my understanding and feelings about this topic. I agree with more of the OP than I did originally. I absolutely do think that she was disproportionately hated because she is a woman.

 

[jayoungr]

Lorraine Williams is often attacked to this day of single handily destroying TSR. Whenever people talk about the TSR failing, it's always, and only, Lorraine they talk about. (snip)

I guess it just makes me crinkle my eyebrows whenever I hear how she got blamed for everything, and is the only one ever blamed.

I don't think the blame is that one-sided, at least not these days. I've never read up on the whole thing in detail, but what I've gotten from osmosis is that a lot of bad decisions happened over a course of several years, and the combined effect of all of them dragged the company down.