Monte has left the building:How do you feel about the direction of the game?

[Aehrlon]

Heheh, seems to me that most folks on here either like Monte's work (as you and I do) and D&D fans who are not fans of his work. Yes, I know some are on the fence Re: his work. With his departure my enthusiasm did wane a little bit but I'm staying optimistic... at least for now.

 

[Baron Von Mandrick]

To me it's not about whether I liked or didn't like Monte's work. But when one of the main developers of a project leaves in the middle of design, it usually is a negative to that project.

That's not true of all projects, and I will keep my hopes high.

 

[Fifth Element]

Heheh, seems to me that most folks on here either like Monte's work (as you and I do) and D&D fans who are not fans of his work.

Probably just selection bias. Those with strong feelings one way or the other are more likely to post in a thread about it.

 

[enrious]

Monte leaving gives me pause.

However, not as much as if the upcoming open playtest is riddled with problems.

And if the open playtest points the way to a very good game system, then I won't care.

 

[hbarsquared]

I (for one) am glad Monte left.

I recognize and respect his style, and his creativity, definitely. I just rarely agreed or appreciated his actual design work (from what I could glean from his 3e and Malhavoc days).

His L&L articles always, always, left me feeling sick to my stomach. His undisguised revulsion of 4e and of game mechanics that I appreciated about D&D was turning me off to the future of the game like nothing else. His leaving revitalized my interest, and I hope it goes in a more positive direction than what he conveyed.

I'm glad he was only on for a few months. He wasn't a part of D&D Next when design began, and he wasn't a part of it for long enough to make a huge impact (I hope).

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

But when one of the main developers of a project leaves in the middle of design, it usually is a negative to that project.

That is what gets me about this - nothing in the early announcements suggested his presence would be short term? The dynamics which made him feel leaving was a good idea may taint the final product.

 

[Sunseeker]

That is what gets me about this - nothing in the early announcements suggested his presence would be short term? The dynamics which made him feel leaving was a good idea may taint the final product.

There's no particular incentive to release the terms of Monte's contract before they've been filled. It could have been a short 6-month contract with an option to renew at the end. We don't know. The reverse of your last statement is also true since we have no information one way or the other. Monte may very well have been impeeding the process.

To be honest, I find the fact that he is working on his own project rather suspicious. I wager that his contract said anything he creates is WOTCs, and their attempts to get their fingers on his brainchild may be the cause of his leaving. Honestly, anyone who's under contract with a major company should know better than to develop personal side projects during said contract.