Stephen Schubert is the new D&D Lead developer

[avin]

I wasn't aware of that:

Last week, Stephen "WotC_Shoe" Schubert officially assumed the duties of Lead Developer for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.

Stephen steps into the position formerly occupied by Mike Mearls, who recently took on the mantle of D&D Lead Designer.

Stephen joined RPG R&D as an Associate Developer in 2004 after eight years spent as a programmer and systems analyst with IBM. His first D&D development projects included Weapons of Legacy and Dungeon Master's Guide II for 3rd Edition.

Stephen is best known publicly for his extensive work on the D&D Miniatures Game, where he worked on 10 sets and two rules revisions and also wrote numerous preview articles teasing fans with hints and bad puns regarding upcoming miniatures.

Stephen was also a key contributor to the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons, particularly in the design and development of monsters for the game. His name appears on the cover of the 4E Monster Manual as well as the upcoming Monster Manual 2 (scheduled for release this May), reflecting the significant impact of his leadership on those two books.

"I'm excited to have Shoe leading the development team," said Andy Collins, manager of D&D development and editing. "He and I have worked together since the day he joined the department, and I know his steady, calm approach to development will be the perfect balance to Mike's aggressive method of design."

For his part, Stephen says that he "still can't believe that people are paying him to do this, and is constantly expecting to wake up and realize that he has to jump on a 3 am conference call."

WotC Names Stephen Schubert as D&D Lead Developer

 

[Obryn]

Well, cool! And good on Mearls, for getting a promotion.

I was going to say, "Who?" but the blurb explains it. Both Weapons of Legacy and DMG2 were incredible books.

-O

 

[avin]

The fundamental question is: does he likes Modrons?

 

[Mark]

The thread title says designer and the blurb says developer.

 

[Rechan]

Those Modron lobbyists are fast.

 

[aurance]

Those Modron lobbyists are fast.

We are many. We know your addresses. Look for our fliers in your mailbox. May Primus keep your life in order. Hugs and kisses! -#9873919BT-Alpha

 

[Nahat Anoj]

For those who know more than I about the gaming industry, what is the difference between a Lead Developer and a Lead Designer?

 

[Herschel]

The funny thing is I hated 3E and played minis from Harbinger until the "end" and had to try and remember 'who's Mike Mearls'.

 

[Mouseferatu]

For those who know more than I about the gaming industry, what is the difference between a Lead Developer and a Lead Designer?

While there's an awful lot of overlap, as a very general rule, you might think of the designer as the writer and the developer as the "editor of mechanics."

For instance, if I write an article for Dragon, I'm the designer on that article--I created both the story/flavor, and the crunch. But when the article goes through development, the crunch I created is taken apart, tested, considered (both in groups and by people with better mechanics than I), and put back together--often with substantial changes.

That may make it sound like "development" is entirely passive, but the development team often comes up with fundamental mechanical systems that the designers are then asked to work with. Take any major subsystem in the game, and there's a decent chance it originated with a developer, not a designer.

But again, these are very loose distinctions, and the two often overlap.

 

[TwinBahamut]

For those who know more than I about the gaming industry, what is the difference between a Lead Developer and a Lead Designer?

According to the WotC system, designers create stuff, and developers tweak it until it works, basically.

The entire scheme comes from Magic the Gathering, I believe, where designers are the people who make cards, and developers are the people who take the original card designs and either balance them so they all work or discard what doesn't. I have seen a lot of different good essays about why they use this system and have separate roles. The biggest reason is that the two roles require different skills: good designers need creative skills and good developers need solid mathematical and analytical skills, and few people excel at both.

Edit: And Mouseferatu beat me to it.