WotC New WotC Statement on Orion Black

[ChaosOS]

Two-tweet thread


Orion has responded


In a reply, they state WotC did not contact them before issuing this public apology

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Sounds like someone actually decided to listen to Greg Tito on the issue - he said he'd been trying to get them to see sense for ages.

It's typical corporate stuff but any kind of acknowledgement and apology is better than stark silence. It's probably got to be a little better for Orion too, it's not what it could be but basic public acknowledgement can mean a lot in this kind of situation.

 

[Count_Zero]

The words are important, what actions (if any) they take after this (and how transparent they are with those actions) are equally important, if not more so.

 

[ChaosOS]

Might as well just tag @Morrus that there's news again

 

[Eltab]

I read Orion's statement (but not the ensuing thread).
Hopefully this clears away Orion's fear of "burning the bridges" and future career being squelched.

Edit: for clarity.
I refer to Orion's statement upon leaving WotC, not the tweet posted above.
The ensuing thread (including that statement) is linked a bit further below.

 

[Oofta]

It's easy to put out a marketing statement, harder to change corporate culture.

As much as we care about the game, for Hasbro it's just a tiny slice of the pie and if the accusations are accurate* the problem and solutions may well go fairly far up the chain.

*EDIT: I have no reason to believe they are not.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Good!

 

[Deset Gled]

I have to admit, I don't understand exactly what the complaints were against WotC in this whole thing. From reading Orion's tweets (only at the beginning, I didn't follow this story for long), I didn't get a clear picture of what exactly anyone had done wrong.

Can someone give a short synopsis of exactly what went down?

 

[MGibster]

It wasn't an admission of fault on the part of WotC and didn't specifically address any of Orion's complaints. Though, to be fair, I read Orion's tweet and they didn't provide much in the way of concrete information for why they felt like a token hire. But still, hopefully WotC will take steps to make sure to provide a more welcoming work environment in the future. And hopefully Orion can get back to work in the industry they love so much.

 

[ChaosOS]

I have to admit, I don't understand exactly what the complaints were against WotC in this whole thing. From reading Orion's tweets (only at the beginning, I didn't follow this story for long), I didn't get a clear picture of what exactly anyone had done wrong.

Can someone give a short synopsis of exactly what went down?

(My understanding only)

tl;dr Orion felt they were brought on as part of a serious push to improve D&D's Diversity and Inclusion. Instead, Orion ran up against an insiders-only culture that Orion felt only brought them on to improve their image rather than make actual change. Furthermore, Orion felt that leadership was inadequately supporting the actual work they did, both through a lack of assignments and through stolen credit. This capped off with WotC's "Diversity" statement that was in part a response to controversies around Orc representation, which Orion publicly criticized as all talk no action. Orion's freelance contract wasn't renewed, which Orion claimed was retaliation for going public with concerns that had been ignored in private forums.