Rate WotC as a company

[Alt F4]

In my view there are a few things a company needs to do to keep their customers happy. Make products which meet or exceed the customer's expectations. Make the customer feel like the company is there to serve the customer, not themselves. Deliver on their promises.

Thinking about all of those things, I was torn between giving WotC either a 2 or a 3. I wound up voting 2 because I feel like WotC is on a downhill slide in all of those criteria right now. If I'd felt they were improving, I'd have given them a 3 instead.

Here's the thing. I want to like Wizards of the Coast. I want them to do well. They're the leader in a hobby that I have lot of time, money, creative and emotional investment in. When they succeed the hobby succeeds. But they don't get a free pass when they fail. Right now, in my opinion, they're failing more than they're succeeding.

 

[Darrin Drader]

As of right now, 47% of the people who took the survey give them a 2 or lower.

 

[Woas]

Uhh... quick question.

This is the General RPG Discussion forum on EN World right?

How does this thread relate to RPGs in any way, shape or form? It's just an asinine internet popularity check. It really needs to be closed/deleted or moved to an off-topic forum.

 

[jdrakeh]

I cast a vote of 5. While there are definitely some areas that they could improve in (e.g., software development and support), they pretty much lead the current industry in terms of interacting with fans directly (i.e., via forums, email, etc), incorporating customer feedback into game design, publishing extremely high quality physical products (i.e., the high physical production qualities of their books are matched by few publishers), and adhering to a regular release schedule.

 

[Maggan]

As of right now, 47% of the people who took the survey give them a 2 or lower.

So the majority thinks that WotC are doing an ok or better job as a company. Aint statistics fun!

/M

 

[Darrin Drader]

So the majority thinks that WotC are doing an ok or better job as a company. Aint statistics fun!

/M

If you consider a 3 to be doing OK. Personally, I seriously think that the WotC of 8 years ago would have had at least 70% at 4 or higher.

 

[wayne62682]

So the majority thinks that WotC are doing an ok or better job as a company. Aint statistics fun!

Remember, 81% of statistics are made up on the spot

 

[Lazybones]

2 and falling. Like many others here I base my perception of the company entirely on my interaction with it; i.e. through the D&D line of products. I do think it is fair to do that; are those who disagree saying you can't judge a company unless you do business with all of its subsidiaries/product lines?

I do like 4e, and if this poll had come up a year ago I would have probably given the company a 4. I'm not really that concerned about the GSL as I don't purchase many 3rd-party products, but for me it's probably -1 for declining product quality (both in the sheer quantity errors and in the physical products themselves), and another -1 for poor customer service (including things like the DDI fiasco). If the character sheets thing is indicative of where the company is going in the future it will probably be a "1" by the end of the year.

 

[Maggan]

If you consider a 3 to be doing OK. Personally, I seriously think that the WotC of 8 years ago would have had at least 70% at 4 or higher.

Well, on a scale of 1 to 5, yes I do consider the middle option to be "doing ok" (0 and 6 being the extremes for the lovers and the haters).

They're doing ok as a company, but need to get on the ball in regards to getting their overall strategy together. Right now it's too fractured and confused, and not clearly communicated.

There are things to like, and things to dislike. A bit more things to like than to dislike, IMO. So 3 is what I put as my "grade". The next six months will be at least as interesting as the ones leading up to the release of 4e was.

/M

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

I gave them a 2, though I'd be willing to go up to 3 depending on the day. I just don't see the current Wizards of the Coast being the market leader it should be in our hobby industry. Big Corporate practices have trickled down the Hasbro line to standarize the running of this company and have in turn made it a "less fun" place than it was (and this is totally an opinion based on perception). I miss the the Adkinson years of WotC: the big castle at Gen Con, the little company that went huge before it knew what the heck to do with itself, the one that irradiated bravado in their games and their newly-found position in the market. Now they have a muted presence at Gen Con, don't even appear at Origins, and simply put do not carry the mantle of market leader well, if at all.

This was all so evident to me as I watched the E3 press conferences last week and a saw how market leaders improve their own products and practices, work with and appreciate their publishing partners, and inspire the consumer masses and the developers, both internal and 3rd-party, to new heights and pride in their product.