WotC Ray Winninger Is Head of D&D RPG Team; Mike Mearls No Longer Works on RPG

People have been wondering where Mike Mearls has gone for quite some time. It seems that he has not been working on the D&D tabletop RPG since some time last year, and the new head of the team and Executive Producer is Ray Winninger.

Winninger is an RPG industry veteran. Amongst other things, he was co-designer of DC Heroes and Torg, and wrote the Dungeoncraft column for Dragon Magazine. He has worked at a number of RPG companies including TSR, Mayfair Games, West End Games, and more.

Winninger is Chris Perkins' and Jeremy Crawford's boss. And in further comments, Chris Perkins says that Mike Mearls has not been part of the tabletop RPG team since some time last year.


That explains why Mearls' Twitch shows, like Happy Fun Hour, have disappeared. Although he's made a couple of retweets since, his last tweet on Twitter was February 13th, 2019. He still works at WotC on the D&D brand in some capacity, but not the tabletop RPG itself (he did an interview about Baldur's Gate 3 on Polygon last year).

Ray Winninger introduces himself in the latest issue of Dragon+, WotC's online magazine. "My name is Ray Winninger and I’m the new Executive Producer in charge of the Dungeons & Dragons studio at Wizards of the Coast. In just a few months on the job, I’ve already been impressed by the skills and the passion of the designers, artists, editors, and production staff who bring you our terrific D&D products. They are a uniquely talented group, and it is an honor to work alongside them."

 

[gyor]

So the consumer shouldn't get to decide anything? Great! I agree with you!

The consumer did not decide this though, the company did.

So the consumer shouldn't get to decide anything? Great! I agree with you!

The consumer did not decide this though, the company did.

WTFA, I really think you got what I wrote at all, but that is fine. It's time to move on, before I get in crap from Morrus. Why can't anyone catch a hint and move on, to back on topic.

 

[teitan]

So Ray is solid. He’s designed a lot of great games like DC Heroes and that line was also well known for some fantastic sourcebooks. I think we will see a continuation of adventures and what’s worked and considering his willingness to experiment, some more experimental stuff as well so we may see Dark Sun yet but I also see him trying to more intimately tap D&D history to carry that over.

 

[Jester David]

I have mixed feelings about Mearls.

Clearly he effed up with the Zak S situation. He took Zak’s side and bad mouthed the people sharing their stories of problematic interactions with Zak. And shared their emails with Zak, allowing him to harass them in retaliation for speaking out against him.
But he also cut ties with Zak in 2014, apparently having learned his lesson and realizing his mistake. WotC never worked with him again. And we’re uncertain if he shared email addresses out of malice, or just negligence being unaware of what a dumpster fire ZS was. (Not being aware of how internet bullying work, it’s easy to imagine him not redacting email addresses or metadata.)

I was super hard on Mearls in 2019 for his part in the Zak affair when it came out Zak was also a sexual predator.
But then I realized I was bullying Mearls and part of an angry internet mob and pulled back. I don’t like being part of a mob.
Plus... everyone deserves a second chance. Mearls effed up, but as long as he learned from that and didn’t make the same mistake again I think I’m okay with him. And it really seemed like Mearls realized he had goofed by trusting Zak.

Still... too late now. It seems like WotC quietly moved Mearls to another less public position and brought someone else in.

 

[gyor]

So Ray is solid. He’s designed a lot of great games like DC Heroes and that line was also well known for some fantastic sourcebooks. I think we will see a continuation of adventures and what’s worked and considering his willingness to experiment, some more experimental stuff as well so we may see Dark Sun yet but I also see him trying to more intimately tap D&D history to carry that over.

I'm curious what you mean by "trying to intimately tap D&D history to carry that over"?

 

[Jester David]

Of course not, HR is usually run by an people who couldn't find productive work to do, so instead they run HR.

But anyways, I'm trying to move on from this topic, catch the hint. This thread is supposed to be about Ray, not Zak.

Apologies.
I read the first part of your post but the second paragraph didn’t register. I didn’t mean to poke.

 

[gyor]

Apologies.
I read the first part of your post but the second paragraph didn’t register. I didn’t mean to poke.

Thank you, apology accepted.

 

[teitan]

I'm curious what you mean by "trying to intimately tap D&D history to carry that over"?

He worked on DC Heroes which was well known for how well it captures the DC Universe in its source material, they were so well done that DC themselves used them as references for their comic books. I think that tells us he has a respect for history and lore and how to turn that into a good product. Essentially I think we will see products that develop classic settings a little more in depth than we have so far, as far as say, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance & other classic settings are concerned. If he gets them off the ground that is. Essentially building off what came before to make something new, yet iconic.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Plus... everyone deserves a second chance.

In general terms, there are some things that are done that should mean the guilty party never gets a second chance, but that is what lifetime prison terms are for or legal decisions that are supposed to prevent a predator from ever again being near their chosen prey.

But on a lighter note, since Ray is back with WotC, he obviously deserved a second chance to work on D&D again. So let's hope this time around, he will be in charge of a lot of good things happening.

 

[Parmandur]

I have mixed feelings about Mearls.

Clearly he effed up with the Zak S situation. He took Zak’s side and bad mouthed the people sharing their stories of problematic interactions with Zak. And shared their emails with Zak, allowing him to harass them in retaliation for speaking out against him.
But he also cut ties with Zak in 2014, apparently having learned his lesson and realizing his mistake. WotC never worked with him again. And we’re uncertain if he shared email addresses out of malice, or just negligence being unaware of what a dumpster fire ZS was. (Not being aware of how internet bullying work, it’s easy to imagine him not redacting email addresses or metadata.)

I was super hard on Mearls in 2019 for his part in the Zak affair when it came out Zak was also a sexual predator.
But then I realized I was bullying Mearls and part of an angry internet mob and pulled back. I don’t like being part of a mob.
Plus... everyone deserves a second chance. Mearls effed up, but as long as he learned from that and didn’t make the same mistake again I think I’m okay with him. And it really seemed like Mearls realized he had goofed by trusting Zak.

Still... too late now. It seems like WotC quietly moved Mearls to another less public position and brought someone else in.

I think Mearls made big, serious mistakes in handling the interactions around Zak S and some other public issues. Here, the punishment seems to fit the crime: not handling public interactions anymore.

It's too bad, since I enjoyed a lot of his design talk, but he was out of his depth with that sort of thing.

 

[Todd Roybark]

I’m unaware of this affaire d’ Zak. Mike Mearls used to post on Enworld, back in the 3x days, when he was just a freelancer, hoping for regular work in the industry.

His posts were polite, inventive, and easy to read.
I think the same could be said for his work in the RPG industry.

 

[Lanefan]

...I kinda liked Keep on the Shadowfell.

I converted it and ran it in my game not long after it came out.

As an adventure: in terms of design, layout (i.e. floorplan), monsters, etc. for a low-level dungeon I've seen far better and I've also seen far, far worse.

As a publication: in terms of writing, content, editing, layout (i.e. what's on the page), etc. it varied between OK and nonsensical. Some of that, I learned later, was due to 4e's weird ways of doing stuff; but some of it was simply a case of very obviously running out of space before running out of things that needed to be detailed (final boss encounter, I'm looking right at you as I say this).

 

[TerraDave]

Mearls new position is probably a promotion.

Not payback for the early days of 4E.

 

[Dethangels Shadow]

So what you're saying is that sometime last year Mearls successfully made his Hide and Move Silently checks and crept quietly out of the room...

Nope... they got rid of those back before 4e... he made his "Stealth" check.... don't you know that already, you neanderthal?

 

[Zardnaar]

Sunless Citadel is fun -- Meepo forever! -- although there are theme park rides that are less on rails. But it's not even in the same league as Phandalin.

Lost Mines pretty much copied Pathfinder format.

Go grab part I of a lot of Pathfinder APs going back to Rise of the Runelords and the Savage Tide.

WotC figured it out. Paizo copied WotC so it's all good

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I've looked, and while I find a screencap of an email Mearls sent to Zak which people don't like, it does not reveal the names of accusers. And Zak later said Mearls did not reveal the names of accusers to him. So, is there actual evidence Mearls revealed the names of accusers, or is that just one of those rumors which grew into a belief that's what happened over time?

Ok, not what I'd call hard proof, but so far my searching has turned up this Twitter thread where several people replying to Mearls tweet accusing Mearls directly of sharing their emails detailing Zak S's harassment of them with Zak S himself -

 

[polyhedral man]

I really appreciated Ray's work back from the Dungeoncraft days. Good advice was hard to find in those days, and this column was consistently excellent. It's someone who knows their craft.

So is Mearls. He will be missed. In my mind he is a true professional. His design style, overall approach, and also the big impact he had in course-correcting D&D will not be forgotten by the fans. (And i have to say that reading some of the comments with ill willed "speculation" was nauseating. Please don't cast aspersions like that, it's very bad).

Conclusion: Welcome Ray. Thank you for everything Mike - we appreciated it and wish you the best in your new role.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I think it's time that someone starts asking the hard questions: What does Ray Winninger think about Bonus Actions?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Lost Mines pretty much copied Pathfinder format.

Go grab part I of a lot of Pathfinder APs going back to Rise of the Runelords and the Savage Tide.

WotC figured it out. Paizo copied WotC so it's all good

To be fair the "Adventure Path"-type format had been evolving since at least the very early '90s, both in D&D, and in other RPGs (you can make a case for further back, but I think it's a weaker one, because the adventure series of the 1980s tend to be less connected, and have a lot less story). It's not like Paizo plucked it out of thin air, they just gave it a specific name.

 

[Morrus]

To be fair the "Adventure Path"-type format had been evolving since at least the very early '90s, both in D&D, and in other RPGs (you can make a case for further back, but I think it's a weaker one, because the adventure series of the 1980s tend to be less connected, and have a lot less story).

The Dragonlance AP was, what, mid-80s?

 

[DEFCON 1]

I converted it and ran it in my game not long after it came out.

As an adventure: in terms of design, layout (i.e. floorplan), monsters, etc. for a low-level dungeon I've seen far better and I've also seen far, far worse.

As a publication: in terms of writing, content, editing, layout (i.e. what's on the page), etc. it varied between OK and nonsensical. Some of that, I learned later, was due to 4e's weird ways of doing stuff; but some of it was simply a case of very obviously running out of space before running out of things that needed to be detailed (final boss encounter, I'm looking right at you as I say this).

It must have been weird to write the adventure, because Mike had six battle maps either given to him or that he had to find from WotC's collection to then somehow incorporate into the module. So I'm sure the narrative had to be twisted around to give reasons why the PCs were at these locations, and story that came out of them would not necessarily flow from one to another. It was almost like individual adventure pieces a la each chapter of Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Not necessarily cohesive as a whole and the threads pulling you from one to the next were fairly taut and didn't players or DM much flexibility (aka "felt like railroading").

It's a situation that I think many dungeon designers would actually find intriguing to try and do "Here are six battle maps, use all of them plus one map you can design yourself and create an adventure!", but trying to do that plus all the other design work I'm sure Mike was doing at the time to help get 4E finalized and out the door probably didn't give him much time to massage its form into a better place.