Mari Kolkowsky (D&D Art Director) got laid off yesterday

[The Human Target]

They somehow always manage to lay off the wrong people.

You just said... I... but....

 

[Umbran]

I'm not talking about the lay off in general. If she was doing her job well then she wouldn't have been laid off. Art is a major section of D&D and I'm sure she wasn't laid for cut back reasons.

Given WotC's history of Q4 layoffs? If she were let go at any other time of the year, perhaps. But as the end of the year comes, it seems more apt to be about the balance sheets than performance.

 

[Morrus]

Mari Kolkowsi (D&D Art Director) got laid off yesterday

Given WotC's history of Q4 layoffs? If she were let go at any other time of the year, perhaps. But as the end of the year comes, it seems more apt to be about the balance sheets than performance.

I think they took a year off the annual layoffs last Xmas. But I could be misremembering.

 

[TwoSix]

You just said... I... but....

Try not to think about it too much, it's easier that way.

 

[Herschel]

Not much help after the migraine has set in.

 

[Piratecat]

Jon Schindehette, WotC's senior creative director, stepped down recently to go to a different firm. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that Mari worked closely with Jon, and his replacement needed someone else in that position. At the very least, it seems unlikely to me that Jon's departure is unrelated to Mari's layoff.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Given WotC's history of Q4 layoffs? If she were let go at any other time of the year, perhaps. But as the end of the year comes, it seems more apt to be about the balance sheets than performance.

Art has always been a big part of D&D, especially in the later editions. Why would you lay off an art director to balance the books?

Who's to say they weren't happy with where it was going.

WoTc is owned by a major corporation, let's not pretend that all people that get let go are faultless.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

So, just to clarify, you think that the following people, going back to 2000, were all laid off because they were doing their jobs poorly? That's a really inappropriate thing to say in response to somebody's bad news.

[TABLE="class: cms_table, width: 100%"] [TR] [TD]Lisa Stevens[/TD] [TD]2000[/TD] [TD]Brand Manager, Star Wars RPG[/TD] [TD]Lay off[1][/TD] [TD]Paizo Publishing[/TD] [TD]Pathfinder[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE="class: cms_table, width: 100%"] [TR] [TD]Owen K.C. Stephens[/TD] [TD]2001[/TD] [TD]Designer, Star Wars RPG[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Super Genius Games[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Jim Butler[/TD] [TD]2001[/TD] [TD]Creative Director[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]Troon Worlds[/TD] [TD]RIFT[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Chris Pramas[/TD] [TD]2002[/TD] [TD]Creative Director for Miniatures R&D[/TD] [TD]Lay off[5][/TD] [TD]Green Ronin Publishing[/TD] [TD]Mutants & Masterminds, Dragon Age RPG, A Song of Ice and Fire,
True20, Freeport, and more[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Skip Williams[/TD] [TD]2002[/TD] [TD]Senior Designer, 3E[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Freelancing [6][/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Penny Williams[/TD] [TD]2002[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Crystal Unicorn Enterprises[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]JD Wiker[/TD] [TD]2002[/TD] [TD]Lead Designer, Star Wars RPG[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]The Game Mechanics[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Jeff Grubb[/TD] [TD]2002[/TD] [TD]Designer[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]ArenaNet[/TD] [TD]Guild Wars 2[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Sean K Reynolds[/TD] [TD]2002[/TD] [TD]Designer[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Paizo Publishing[/TD] [TD]Pathfinder[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Stan! (Stan Brown)[/TD] [TD]2002[/TD] [TD]Designer[/TD] [TD]Lay off/Rehired[/TD] [TD]Super Genius Games, WotC [7][/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Anthony Valterra[/TD] [TD]2003[/TD] [TD]Category Manager for RPGs[/TD] [TD]Lay off[8][/TD] [TD]North Seattle Community College[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Chris Toepker[/TD] [TD]2003[/TD] [TD]Category Manager for Miniatures[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Kuboo[/TD] [TD]Kuboo[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Charles Ryan[/TD] [TD]2005[/TD] [TD]Brand Manager, D&D[/TD] [TD]Lay off[9][/TD] [TD]Monte Cook Games[/TD] [TD]Numenera[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Scott Rouse[/TD] [TD]2008[/TD] [TD]Brand Manager, D&D[/TD] [TD]Lay off[10][/TD] [TD]Microsoft[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Jennifer Paige[/TD] [TD]2008[/TD] [TD]Online Community Manager[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Microsoft[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Julia Martin[/TD] [TD]2008[/TD] [TD]Editor[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Microsoft[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Linae Foster[/TD] [TD]2008[/TD] [TD]Associate Brand Manager[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Passport Game Studios[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Dave Noonan[/TD] [TD]2008[/TD] [TD]Designer[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Sasquatch Games[/TD] [TD]Primeval Thule[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Jonathan Tweet[/TD] [TD]2008[/TD] [TD]Lead Designer, 3E[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Fire Opal Media[/TD] [TD]13th Age[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Rob Heinsoo[/TD] [TD]2009[/TD] [TD]Lead Designer, 4E[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Fire Opal Media[/TD] [TD]13th Age[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Stephen Radney-MacFarland[/TD] [TD]2009[/TD] [TD]Developer[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD] Paizo Publishing[/TD] [TD]Pathfinder[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Logan Bonner[/TD] [TD]2009[/TD] [TD]Designer[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Paizo Publishing[/TD] [TD]Pathfinder[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Chris Sims[/TD] [TD]2009[/TD] [TD]Designer[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE="class: cms_table, width: 100%"] [TR] [TD]Torah Cottril[/TD] [TD]2010[/TD] [TD]Editor[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Bill Slavicsek[/TD] [TD]2011[/TD] [TD]Director of RPG Design & Development[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]ZeniMax Online Studios[/TD] [TD]The Elder Scrolls Online[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Michele Carter[/TD] [TD]2011[/TD] [TD]Editing Manager, D&D Group[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Richard Baker[/TD] [TD]2011[/TD] [TD]RPG Group Manager[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Sasquatch Games [11][/TD] [TD]Primeval Thule[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Stephen Schubert[/TD] [TD]2011[/TD] [TD]Development Manager, D&D[/TD] [TD]Lay off[/TD] [TD]Sasquatch Games[/TD] [TD]Primeval Thule[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Steve Winter[/TD] [TD]2011[/TD] [TD]Designer[/TD] [TD]Lay off/Rehired[/TD] [TD]Wizards of the Coast [12][/TD] [TD]
[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showwiki.php?title=Ex-WotC-Employees#ixzz2k57FtJ4d

Mighty big reply to something I didn't even say.

 

[Herschel]

WoTc is owned by a major corporation, let's not pretend that all people that get let go are faultless.

Erm, wha? Have you ever actually worked for a major corporation, or heck even read a Dilbert cartoon?

 

[Morrus]

Mighty big reply to something I didn't even say.

Sure you did:

If she was doing her job well then she wouldn't have been laid off.

Am I - and the other people who replied to that post - completely misunderstanding it?