D&D General Todd Kenreck Let Go from WotC

[MonsterEnvy]

... yeah this is just a needless attack. But if you want details that support it:

1) Every corporation wants to make as much money for it's shareholders as possible while spending as little money to do it. Cutting their design staff to replace workers with AI would meet those criteria.

2) They have publicly pushed towards AI twice and been rebuked for it and backed down. But the CEO just executes the will of the Board, and the Board wants to use AI.

3) They also tried to slip AI art out without announcing it and got caught and tossed out a boilerplate Mea Culpa over it.

4) Some of their biggest names and publicly facing people are either leaving for a company that -isn't- publicly traded and thus can stand by its moral principles, or just getting laid off or removed.

This isn't paranoia or 'feels'. This is understanding what the animal is and recognizing behavioral patterns.

View attachment 408784
The only thing it missed was "Classes".

Stop assuming my emotional state, or how I feel about a company, Envy. It doesn't make for productive conversation.

1. Something that currently has no basis. Maybe in the far future, but it's just your bias talking right now. Nothing suggests actions like this will be taken.

2. Hasbro's CEO has expressed interest in AI, but once again WotC has not and explicitly has an outright ban on AI content. WotC itself has never "pushed" towards AI, they have had unapproved AI artwork submitted to them and didn't notice (the first time was because it was submitted before there was even discourse about AI).

3. See the above. You just have bias and simply can't believe that they didn't notice that one of the artists they frequently contracted started using AI in his work. Something he freely admitted after being asked, and the Art Director saying looking out for it at time it was submitted was not a thing.

4. They have been at the company for decades and just finished the 50th anniversary revision, retirement is pretty natural. There also seems to be no bad blood, and Crit Role and Wizards are still working together.

This is not recognizing patterns, that's you trying to make your feeling seem like logic when it's not supported.

Also that's not the current format for Fireball so that would be wrong. Edit: Correction that was not even the old format for Fireball so it's double wrong.

 

[dave2008]

3) They also tried to slip AI art out without announcing it and got caught and tossed out a boilerplate Mea Culpa over it.

Wow, what I are you talking about here? The AI art issue I remember was from BGoG and it was an artist who had done art for them for years (well before AI was a thing) and then started using AI to enhance, expedite their work. From all accounts WotC was "fooled" by the artist, they didn't try to slip it in as you say. When it was brought to their attention it was removed and replaced.

So, for clarity, what AI art are you talking about?

Glory of the Giants' AI-Enhanced Art​

 

[dave2008]

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I mean that is just copying, I can do that as fast or faster (and better) than AI probably. However, ask it to make a unique 3rd level D&D spell. It can probably do it, but that is more interesting to me than asking to make fireball. After all, this took me about 15 seconds max (and is 100% accurate):

Fireball​

Level 3 Evocation (Sorcerer, Wizard)
Casting Time: Action
Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S, M (a ball of bat guano and sulfur)
Duration: Instantaneous
A bright streak flashes from you to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into a fiery explosion. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius Sphere centered on that point makes a Dexterity saving throw, taking 8d6 Fire damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.

Flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried start burning.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage increases by 1d6 for each spell slot level above 3.

 

[Morrus]

Here is a bit of insight on how TTRPG books are written:

When I work for EN Publishing or Purple Martin Games or DM Sarah or whomever else wants to hire me (nudge nudge wink wink) I am not told "Write a book"

I am told "Write up some backgrounds within 2,000 words." Or "Write up a class within 10,000 words" or something similar. I have a specific, explicit, target and a word-count limit.

I do my work. I turn it in, I get paid, the employer takes my work and adds it to everyone else's work and that's how you get a TTRPG book. The work of 20 designers is compiled, item by item, into the final book.

Some books.

We at EN Publishing have published books written by a single person, and also books written by a team. I myself have written some books myself in their entirety, and also employed others to do so. When you've worked for us, it has been on a team publication, but that is not how all our books are produced.

There's no set way a TTRPG book comes about. Every book, and every company is different.

 

[Maxperson]

BREAKING: Wizards of the Coast to lay off all employees, and generate all future content with AI.

CHATGPT, is that you?

 

[Steampunkette]

1. Something that currently has no basis. Maybe in the far future, but it's just your bias talking right now. Nothing suggests actions like this will be taken.

There's no basis to assume companies will do whatever they can do to spend as little money as possible to make as much money as possible..?

Riiiiiiiiight.

2. Hasbro's CEO has expressed interest in AI, but once again WotC has not and explicitly has an outright ban on AI content. WotC itself has never "pushed" towards AI, they have had unapproved AI artwork submitted to them and didn't notice (the first time was because it was submitted before there was even discourse about AI).

Hasbro's CEO is a mouthpiece of the Board of Directors. And WotC can say what it wants. Google's slogan used to be "Don't be Evil" but they erased that, didn't they?

3. See the above. You just have bias and simply can't believe that they didn't notice that one of the artists they frequently contracted started using AI in his work. Something he freely admitted after being asked, and the Art Director saying looking out for it at time it was submitted was not a thing.

"You just have bias"

Wrong answer. Again, you're trying to impugn me as a person rather than address the arguments I'm putting forth.

4. They have been at the company for decades and just finished the 50th anniversary revision, retirement is pretty natural. There also seems to be no bad blood, and Crit Role and Wizards are still working together.

Hey, y'know, retiring after 20 years in a high ranking position is pretty normal!

Retiring to go work for a rival company, instead, is less normal. Especially a smaller company that is privately owned.

This is not recognizing patterns, that's you trying to make your feeling seem like logic when it's not supported.

Annnnd here we are, again, with you assuming my emotions and motives. Sincerely, stop it.

Also that's not the current format for Fireball so that would be wrong. Edit: Correction that was not even the old format for Fireball so it's double wrong.

The quantity of facepalm in my soul is almost unbearable.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

It's Fearmongering cause it has no basis beyond paranoia and feels, from disgruntled people who tend to ignore all the details that don't support it.

I am generally closer to the 'side' your espousing in these discussions. In your case, you seem to have taken it a step further and are now arguing based on your 'feels' instead of looking at facts.

 

[Distracted DM]

Sure, but if using AI loses them more money than it saves, they might not do it anyway.

It’s been 9 months since Chris Cocks spoke about AI, and so far we have not seen any changes to the products by WotC.

Just a note, he spoke about AI again in March. So it's definitely on his mind.

 

[Steampunkette]

Some books.

We at EN Publishing have published books written by a single person, and also books written by a team. I myself have written some books myself in their entirety, and also employed others to do so. When you've worked for us, it has been on a team publication, but that is not how all our books are produced.

There's no set way a TTRPG book comes about. Every book, and every company is different.

Fair.

But every player-facing book is still going to have the same mechanical structures. Archetypes, Spells, Feats, Etc.

And AI can be trained to fill those things out to specifications.

Will they be the highest quality? Probably not.

But it'll be cheap and fast. And for corporations that might be 'enough'.

 

[Distracted DM]

Google's slogan used to be "Don't be Evil" but they erased that, didn't they?

I still can't believe that happened. I mean, I guess I can... that's when they started talking about using their stuff for military purposes, yeah?
That it would bother folk high up enough to have that removed, and yet to still go through with the actions that would breach that directive... profit motive, eh?