More lay-offs at WOTC! [Merged]

[greymarch]

The official WOTC messageboards just went down. They are upgrading to UBB 6.3. Here is the message you get when you try to read the boards:

"The boards are down as announced last week for an upgrade to 6.3 UBB. We expect to be back up again at end of the day, barring complications. --Boards Admin ::elevator music plays:: (Thursday, Sept. 5 2 pm PT) "

If those boards dont come back up, that will be a really, really bad sign. I am quite hopeful they will though.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

In the gaming industry, names like Monte Cook and Jeff Grubb are some of the reasons people BUY the books.

I am not sure if that is true beyond fans like us- people who participate in our hobby through this website and others like it.

I have some doubts the casual player even notices- last night I had to explain to the two casual players in my group who Gary Gygax is and what he did for d&d.

Respectfully submitted
FD

 

[greymarch]

I agree. The names Jeff Grubb and Monte Cook mean something to the hard-core, internet savvy players, but to most players, they are meaningless. The books with good art, good production values, lots of crunchy stuff (rules, prestige classes, magic items, monsters, etc..) are what sell.

 

[Cougar]

Re: Re: The Sage? Gone?

Um, what do you expect them to do? There isn't anything else for them to write really.

They have the 3 core books, (PHB, MM, DMG)
They have the meta-books out (ELH, DDG, PsiHB, MotP)
They have the expansion books (The splatbooks)

There really isn't much to put out.

While I am saddened to hear that so many designers got fired (really, who is left?) unless there is something for WOTC to produce, you can't simply just keep them on staff.

Explain to me why Jeff Grubb and Skip Williams have worked through TSR, WotC, and now Hasbro? Why weren't they laid off long before now?

The scary thing to me, and I think a lot of people, is that the corporate machine that is Hasbro doesn't seem to care much for ANYTHING beyond sales. Not continuing customer support, not rich and detailed campaign books with few "crunchy bits". This may be smart in a corporate world, but I don't think the corporate world should be producing D20 or D&D. Let's ask Monte Cook and Sean Reynolds if they agree with me.

 

[the Jester]

I just want to add Bruce Cordell to the list of must-buy authors.

Don't think he got the boot, though... not yet, anyway.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Re: Re: The Sage? Gone?

This may be smart in a corporate world, but I don't think the corporate world should be producing D20 or D&D.

I am very pro-corporation, but I would agree with this.

It is such niche hobby, that is would be better served by being outside of the corporate mechanics.

FD

 

[Squire James]

I guess it remains to be seen whether these particular layoffs is a dumb move or not. My gut tells me it is pretty stupid to lay off a large group of "named" workers, note that profits are dropping, then lay off some more! I mean, perhaps that first layoff CAUSED the profit drop?

Citing the economy is not good enough. My experience is that D&D gets MORE popular when the economy is bad, because people who play have more time to play it! The "dead days" of D&D just happened to be a long period of general prosperity in the U.S., and perhaps that is no coincidence. While coorelation is not equal to causality, one should NOT ignore coorelation!

I can only shrug and say "it's their company". If WotC goes under tomorrow, I have campaign ideas enough for 2-3 years. Mostly, I'm concerned about whether or not I will still be a homeowner at the end of this year (well, yes, if I crack all my IRA's...).

 

[Maraxle]

Re: Re: Re: Re: The Sage? Gone?

It is such niche hobby, that is would be better served by being outside of the corporate mechanics.

Well, if it stops being profitable, you can be sure that they'll spin it off or sell the rights. Hopefully it'll go to a smaller company.

 

[Cougar]

Are things that bad in Orlando for you, Squire James? I am here and haven't felt a pinch, but I am not sure what industry you are in.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

Names:

In the gaming industry, names like Monte Cook and Jeff Grubb are some of the reasons people BUY the books.

The names themselves are selling points that will boost the number of books sold.

WoTC is also allowing these "famous" individuals the opportunity to compete for a share of the gamer wallet. With every layoff, they are decreasing sales (based on name recognition) and increasing the competition.

Sure, they will hire some lower paid designers to create new, even good sourcebooks - the market has gotten tougher to compete in.

Just my thoughts - from a Financial Analyst.

I am sorry, but the general gaming public isn't going to care who the author is. Yes, they do good work, but that only makes an impact with the people that actually know and recognize the names. Just a guess, but I would say that Monte Cook's Malhavok Press' best selling adventure or supplement has no where near the sales of the worst selling WoTC adventure or supplement.

The general gaming public, strangely, also isn't into the gaming news enough to have heard or even thought about the news.

This is not a death-knell for DnD, sorry, hate to disappoint, but DnD will be around for a while. WotC and a variety of other companies have been laying people off and going to contract (read: freelance) work to save on a variety of costs (mostly insurance).

As someone that has been involved with running a business (until just recently) I can honestly say that insurance costs have gone through the roof. Liability, comp, everything has sky-rocketed. Paying someone the same "wage" as a freelancer can still save vast amounts of money vs having them as an employee. It does put the person losing their job in a bad situation though, they have to purchase their own health insurance, etc.

Personally, I don't like seeing these folks go, but my personal opinion isn't going to make their company profitable.

Just some random thoughts,
Patrick