More lay-offs at WOTC! [Merged]

[WCT-1]

Anyone have any news on how this layoff will affect Chainmail v2.0?

One of the previous posts indicates that the miniatures division was affected.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TiQuinn]

There's a Chainmail 2.0????

 

[fett527]

I thought Chainmail was going by the wayside.

 

[Fenrir]

Hey, there's nothing like the smell of a new White Wolf book....and mine have held together perfectly for years.

Personally, I think WW acquiring the D&D license could be the best thing now. WW is a company of gamers run by gamers- they know how to put out a quality, cost effective product. Their d20 branch, Sword and Sorcery studios, has been a critical and commercial success. It's been proven with the EverQuest RPG (at least by what I've seen, I don't own it and don't plan to) that they can put out a book with high production values at an EXTREMELY low cost compared to similar books. (Has anyone SEEN that thing? It could be used as a bludgeoning weapon, full color glossy pages, and clocks in at 25.00 at the local Borders).

Although Justin Achilli is famous for his occasional jabs at D&D, he's smart enough to know that D&D equals a great deal of money for him. And since Sword and Sorcery enjoys a great deal of autonomy, they'd be able to do what they wanted.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Chainmail was cancelled a while ago.

 

[Celebrim]

Anyone that would fire Skip and Stan! simply has no business sense whatever. All Skip and Stan! are going to do is go out, produce that product that they know the fans would want, and make money. Just having Skip William's name on the cover is worth $5 bucks. I suspect Skip is going to become the biggest thing since, well, Monte Cook.

But you know what this means don't you.

The next step is rescinding the OGL. I can hear this discussion in the Hasbro board rooms alread, "This D&D thing would be as big as Pokemon if they hadn't given it away."

 

[gordonknox]

Didn't Monte predict more WOTC layoffs a few articles ago?

gk

 

[Thaumaturge]

Chainmail was cancelled, but WotC stated it would have another mini game that was backward compatable and more closely tied to the D&D brand out in 2003. I would point you in the direction of the WotC boards, but they are down. There is much speculation on the type of game and the quality and composition of the minis. This next game has no actual name yet, so people call it Chainmail 2.0.

Thaumaturge.

Edit: This is the press release from WotC on the matter.

 

[The Sigil]

The next step is rescinding the OGL. I can hear this discussion in the Hasbro board rooms alread, "This D&D thing would be as big as Pokemon if they hadn't given it away."

Not to belabor the point, but Hasbro CAN'T do that. Let's nip the speculation in the bud. Hasbro can no more rescind the OGL than I can. Anything that is OGC is stuck as OGC, under version 1.0a of the OGL, until it falls into the public doman (IOW, it's under the OGL forever since nothing will ever fall into public domain again).

The worst they can do is refuse to approve the remainder of the SRD - but since there are a plethora of OGC spells, monsters, and treasures out there already, they're screwed on that count, too.

Intentional or not, Dancey in his push for the OGL also managed to put the system "out into the public arena" and permanently out of the hands of Hasbro - or any other corporation that purchases the rights to D&D. IMO this is a good thing... play your cards right and YOU could be the company making money off the system. Survival of the fittest - and best games - makes for a better RPG industry, WotC notwithstanding.

BTW, I can't remember the last time I bought a WotC book over a 3rd-party book. WotC has, IMO, already gutted themselves to the point of non-competitiveness... their stuff is dry and rehashed. 3rd party stuff is edgier and pushes the boundaries of the system. It's anecdotal evidence to be sure, but it's evidence to me that WotC has already made the moves that seal its doom as relates to D&D remaining profitable. I can't think that I'm the only one who is seeing his discretionary income going to other companies because "well, I compared the WotC supplement and the Company X supplement on the subject, and frankly, the WotC supplement sucked."

--The Sigil

 

[UniversalMonster]

I can't believe Skip Williams is gone. Thats pretty much it. I mean Jonathan Tweet is still there- but really- for rules stuff, it was always Skip or Monte I would think of as the main-gun.

This guy has been the Sage Advice guy since the TSR days too. Who is going to do Sage Advice?