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RPG Evolution: Where Are the Board Gamers?
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 8899316" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p>Alta Fox and Hasbro both have ideas of what makes an effective Board member. But their definitions of what makes a gamer qualified for their Board of Directors varies.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]272679[/ATTACH]</p><h3>Meet Hasbro's Board of Directors</h3><p>For the longest time, Hasbro's Board of Directors seemed to be more focused on managing the company financially than managing its products. On the Hasbro web site, each Board member's qualifications are listed, touting a variety of financial, brand, and business skills. Until recently, none of them had any gaming on their resume.</p><p></p><p>The question of the Board's game expertise didn't come up in financial circles, because Hasbro didn't defined itself more as a toy company than a game company. Hasbro's products encompassed board games and toys, and while board gamers are certainly a hobby, they are not necessarily playing the same board game. As <strong>Magic: The Gathering</strong> and <strong>Dungeons & Dragons</strong> became ascendant, Hasbro rapidly transformed from a company that manages games to a gaming company. Most emblematic of this shift was Wizards of the Coast itself. Chris Cocks, current CEO of Hasbro, <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/a-new-digital-direction-for-wizards.664135/" target="_blank">moved up the ranks as President of WOTC since 2016</a>, and President and Chief Operating Officer of WOTC and Digital Gaming in 2021.</p><p></p><p>Digital is quite important to Hasbro, as is apparent from the word "digital" mentioned in <a href="https://investor.hasbro.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors" target="_blank">Cocks' profile on Hasbro's site</a> five times (three in the quote below alone):</p><p></p><p>With so much money locked up not in just games but gamers, Cocks was the leader Hasbro was looking for, but the Board he joined didn't reflect this new digital direction. It wasn't long before shareholders noticed the discrepancy.</p><h3>Card Players</h3><p><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-signs-were-there.694460/" target="_blank">We previously covered</a> how Alta Fox proposed a slate of new board members as part of its activism to shake up Hasbro. The activist shareholder emphasized that the Board was lacking gaming and capital allocation experience. On the gaming side, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220217223826/https://freethewizards.com/directors/" target="_blank">Alta Fox touted Jon Finkel</a>, the "Michael Jordan" of <strong>Magic: The Gathering</strong> "with a large following in the community":</p><p></p><p>Things didn't work out <a href="https://twitter.com/AltaFoxCapital/status/1618597255786942470" target="_blank">quite the way Alta Fox planned</a>. Their proposal was rejected, but it struck a nerve.</p><h3>Video Gamers</h3><p>Prior to Cocks' appointment as CEO of Hasbro, there was one board member already in the digital gaming space: Hope Cochran, <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160628006647/en/Hope-Cochran-and-Mary-Beth-West-Join-Hasbro%E2%80%99s-Board-of-Directors" target="_blank">appointed back in 2016</a>. Hope Cochran is the Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group, a technology-focused venture capital group.</p><p></p><p>Shortly after Alta Fox proposed new Board members, Hasbro appointed two board members with digital gaming experience. The week after Hasbro turned down Alta Fox's proposal, two Board members <a href="https://pbn.com/2-hasbro-board-members-to-retire/" target="_blank">stepped down</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/hasbro-adds-two-directors-plans-keep-wizards-unit-2022-04-04/" target="_blank">were replaced by Blake Jorgensen and Elizabeth Hamren</a> (pictured above). Blake Jorgensen is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of PayPal Holdings, Inc:</p><p></p><p>Elizabeth Hamren is Chief Operating Officer at Discord, Inc.</p><p></p><p>Hasbro's Board of Directors now numbers 13. Of those, four of the Board members have gaming experience. And yet as the stewards of the D&D and M:TG brands, there's something missing.</p><h3>Where's the Tabletop Gamers?</h3><p>Scott Thorne at ICv2 <a href="https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/36577/rolling-initiative-pre-releases-future-wotc" target="_blank">noted a curious discrepancy in Cocks' announcement</a>:</p><p></p><p>It's clear that for Hasbro, the nearest analogue to dealing with tabletop gamers is the digital gaming space. That may well explain <a href="http://ogl.battlezoo.com/" target="_blank">why there was so much focus on digital products in the leaked OGL</a>:</p><p></p><p>While the Open Game License shares much in common with <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-open-game-license-a-case-study-in-open-source-markets/" target="_blank">open licenses used in software</a>, one place where they differ is the small, creator-owned space. D&D encourages every Dungeon Master to be their own designer, so it's not surprising that thousands of them have gone on to publish their own content on <a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/" target="_blank">DMs Guild</a> and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?filters=45326_0_0_0_0&src=fid45326" target="_blank">DriveThruRPG</a>. In its rush to get the bulk of fandom onto the D&D Beyond platform, it's clear Hasbro's video game-focused leadership didn't take that nuance into account.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 8899316, member: 3285"] Alta Fox and Hasbro both have ideas of what makes an effective Board member. But their definitions of what makes a gamer qualified for their Board of Directors varies. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="HasbroBOD.jpg"]272679[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [HEADING=2]Meet Hasbro's Board of Directors[/HEADING] For the longest time, Hasbro's Board of Directors seemed to be more focused on managing the company financially than managing its products. On the Hasbro web site, each Board member's qualifications are listed, touting a variety of financial, brand, and business skills. Until recently, none of them had any gaming on their resume. The question of the Board's game expertise didn't come up in financial circles, because Hasbro didn't defined itself more as a toy company than a game company. Hasbro's products encompassed board games and toys, and while board gamers are certainly a hobby, they are not necessarily playing the same board game. As [B]Magic: The Gathering[/B] and [B]Dungeons & Dragons[/B] became ascendant, Hasbro rapidly transformed from a company that manages games to a gaming company. Most emblematic of this shift was Wizards of the Coast itself. Chris Cocks, current CEO of Hasbro, [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/a-new-digital-direction-for-wizards.664135/']moved up the ranks as President of WOTC since 2016[/URL], and President and Chief Operating Officer of WOTC and Digital Gaming in 2021. Digital is quite important to Hasbro, as is apparent from the word "digital" mentioned in [URL='https://investor.hasbro.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors']Cocks' profile on Hasbro's site[/URL] five times (three in the quote below alone): With so much money locked up not in just games but gamers, Cocks was the leader Hasbro was looking for, but the Board he joined didn't reflect this new digital direction. It wasn't long before shareholders noticed the discrepancy. [HEADING=2]Card Players[/HEADING] [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-signs-were-there.694460/']We previously covered[/URL] how Alta Fox proposed a slate of new board members as part of its activism to shake up Hasbro. The activist shareholder emphasized that the Board was lacking gaming and capital allocation experience. On the gaming side, [URL='https://web.archive.org/web/20220217223826/https://freethewizards.com/directors/']Alta Fox touted Jon Finkel[/URL], the "Michael Jordan" of [B]Magic: The Gathering[/B] "with a large following in the community": Things didn't work out [URL='https://twitter.com/AltaFoxCapital/status/1618597255786942470']quite the way Alta Fox planned[/URL]. Their proposal was rejected, but it struck a nerve. [HEADING=2]Video Gamers[/HEADING] Prior to Cocks' appointment as CEO of Hasbro, there was one board member already in the digital gaming space: Hope Cochran, [URL='https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160628006647/en/Hope-Cochran-and-Mary-Beth-West-Join-Hasbro%E2%80%99s-Board-of-Directors']appointed back in 2016[/URL]. Hope Cochran is the Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group, a technology-focused venture capital group. Shortly after Alta Fox proposed new Board members, Hasbro appointed two board members with digital gaming experience. The week after Hasbro turned down Alta Fox's proposal, two Board members [URL='https://pbn.com/2-hasbro-board-members-to-retire/']stepped down[/URL] and [URL='https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/hasbro-adds-two-directors-plans-keep-wizards-unit-2022-04-04/']were replaced by Blake Jorgensen and Elizabeth Hamren[/URL] (pictured above). Blake Jorgensen is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of PayPal Holdings, Inc: Elizabeth Hamren is Chief Operating Officer at Discord, Inc. Hasbro's Board of Directors now numbers 13. Of those, four of the Board members have gaming experience. And yet as the stewards of the D&D and M:TG brands, there's something missing. [HEADING=2]Where's the Tabletop Gamers?[/HEADING] Scott Thorne at ICv2 [URL='https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/36577/rolling-initiative-pre-releases-future-wotc']noted a curious discrepancy in Cocks' announcement[/URL]: It's clear that for Hasbro, the nearest analogue to dealing with tabletop gamers is the digital gaming space. That may well explain [URL='http://ogl.battlezoo.com/']why there was so much focus on digital products in the leaked OGL[/URL]: While the Open Game License shares much in common with [URL='https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-open-game-license-a-case-study-in-open-source-markets/']open licenses used in software[/URL], one place where they differ is the small, creator-owned space. D&D encourages every Dungeon Master to be their own designer, so it's not surprising that thousands of them have gone on to publish their own content on [URL='https://www.dmsguild.com/']DMs Guild[/URL] and [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?filters=45326_0_0_0_0&src=fid45326']DriveThruRPG[/URL]. In its rush to get the bulk of fandom onto the D&D Beyond platform, it's clear Hasbro's video game-focused leadership didn't take that nuance into account. [/QUOTE]
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