Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sammael" data-source="post: 4669033" data-attributes="member: 4475">Of course Peter and Shoe (and others I do or do not know) are not "hapless lapdogs." But even in the small software company I work for (as the lead developer), where I have a lot of freedom to do my job as I see fit, my ideas sometimes get shot down by my boss. Sometimes things don't work out the way I want them to because the company resources have to be diverted in other ways. Sometimes, a big bad bug slips through our design and QA because of some company decision which I had no influence over. Sometimes, our users send me angry e-mails, telling us that our software is "terrible" and "awful" because of the things I didn't (and couldn't) control.  And I only have two people (the company's co-founders) above me. So, is there no middle ground between "minion" (which word I never uttered or even thought of) and "free-willed artist?" Is it not true that, for all the creative freedom they enjoy, they still have to conform to certain corporate standards, business plans, and directions? All I'm saying is that it seems to me (and you're telling me I'm wrong) that those things are influencing the quality of products more now that they used to. Incidentally, I have quite a few friends in the computer gaming industry who used to work extensively with WotC on licensed properties. The stories they told me about the way WotC operated in those projects are quite different, but maybe WotC has a different policy towards external licensees.Some former WotC employees also stated, in public, that they felt very constrained, for instance, by the directions they received from the Novels department. They felt that their creativity in creating role-playing products was hindered by the limitations imposed by novels.Ultimately, I am very interested in the workings of the company, because it seems (from your words) so different from other corporations I am more familiar with (by virtue of having worked with them). For instance, if the R&D is not happy with how a sculpt turns out, who has the final word on whether it gets made or not? When paint steps get removed, who decides which paint steps? I am not asking for names, I'm asking for more details of the process. I know it's long and arduous and things don't always turn out how they should. I appreciate the hard work. But can you also appreciate that minis now cost more (fact) and look worse (my personal opinion shared by many others) than they used to a couple of years ago and that I, as a customer, find that to be unacceptable? I guess I'm looking for someone to blame and I don't want to blame Peter or Shoe because I know they're doing their best. But you're telling me they are the only ones responsible...</blockquote>

Verification