Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steven Winter" data-source="post: 7676212" data-attributes="member: 6686829">Mark Painter is/was one of just three TSR veterans still working at Wizards. I haven't heard independent confirmation of this layoff rumor yet, but I've heard enough to believe that it's probably true. All of the remaining TSR vets (including Mark) work on graphics, and none of them works directly on tabletop D&D, AFAIK.I doubt this was a retirement, since Mark is younger than me and I'm not old enough to retire yet. A few years ago, Hasbro offered 'early retirement buyouts' to long-time employees who were over 55 (IIRC). This was a clear attempt to get people at the top of the pay scale off the books so they could be replaced with people at the bottom of the scale -- but that said, it was transparent and voluntary, and the deal was attractive enough that two TSR transplants accepted the offer. The Damocles' sword hanging over it, of course, was the knowledge that Wizards had a history of culling high earners in annual layoffs, and the severance package for a layoff was much less than the buyout. The buyout check looks a lot more attractive when the other hand is pointing an invisible knife at your guts.Wizards is no more evil or uncaring about its employees than most other corporations of its size. Sadly, there was a time when the company was much better than that, but that's not the case anymore. Steve</blockquote>