Sabathius42
Bree-Yark
Perhaps much like it could be someone else's pet peeve to see people being called out for using that phrase in an area devoted to discussion of an entirely unrelated topic.
DS
TSR TSR's Amazing Accounting Department
- Thread starter JamesWard
- Start date
Perhaps much like it could be someone else's pet peeve to see people being called out for using that phrase in an area devoted to discussion of an entirely unrelated topic.
DS
Paragon Lost
Terminally Lost
The insiders's history of these events are fascinating, looking forward to more. On the Monty Haul thing, we were using the term by 1979-80 as I recall for some DnD games. I also recall a comic strip with it at some point. Wikipedia "Let's Make A Deal" with Monty Haul for those of you who weren't alive back then. You'll quickly understand why it was a derogatory term for some DnD games/campaigns.
EthanSental
Hero
Another fun and fascinating read....thanks for sharing!
MechaPilot
Explorer
As an accountant, Just-In-Time (JIT) is popular and can result in reduced storage costs. However, it sounds like this guy missed one of the big rules of directing a company's accounting policy: you need to become intimately familiar with the nature and the workings of the business (and how it interacts with its distributors and customers). He seems to have fundamentally failed to have done this.
Dungeonosophy
Legend
Well played JW...well played... ;-)
evildmguy
Explorer
I was also curious about this. I think he meant 1987 because according to Wikipedia, he left in '96.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ward_(game_designer)
And, yes, TSR was bought in '97.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSR_(company)
So, if we say he meant 1987, the timeline works out much better.
I wouldn't be surprised if this guy thought "finished" in the production department meant there was already inventory in the warehouse, since, again, it's obvious that he didn't look over the spreadsheets to claim the glory of how much he saved the company.
Or even funnier, he made the assumption, pushed his point, and then took a peek to confirm after the fact that he had cut out all that non-existent overhead.
Some day, I'd like to hear about the Buck Rogers fiasco.
Last edited:
Bruce Heard
Calidar Publishing
<<The new crazed head of accounting told me that TSR couldn't afford to be so far ahead in our production schedule. He tried to tell me it was costing TSR money to have products waiting to be sold for months at a time. He wanted to have the products finished exactly one month before the product was released. >>
Your story is a bit misleading. I don't ever recall confronting such an absurd order (I agree -- it was patently unworkable). All the work was scheduled according to resources available. Period. That meant a significant number of projects were unavoidably completed well before the one-month deadline. That certainly was the case when I was director of production planning (perhaps this was after your time at TSR). After the nastiness of dealing with Lorraine's buddy, Mary Abel (you might not have had the pleasure of being acquainted with that character), my authority and responsibilities over the game division's scheduling matters remained essentially unchallenged until TSR went under.
By the way, it isn't an accurate statement that freelancers were late all the time. Many were not. Some of those who did blow their deadlines did so because of conflicting directives from in-house staffers. That did happen often. For that matter, there were a number of in-house staffers who missed their own deadlines as well. And yeah, I did have the unenviable job of cracking down on both sides when delays cropped up. Many of those mishaps weren't necessarily anyone's fault, but rather the result of changes in direction dictated by our upper management.
Bruce
Your story is a bit misleading. I don't ever recall confronting such an absurd order (I agree -- it was patently unworkable). All the work was scheduled according to resources available. Period. That meant a significant number of projects were unavoidably completed well before the one-month deadline. That certainly was the case when I was director of production planning (perhaps this was after your time at TSR). After the nastiness of dealing with Lorraine's buddy, Mary Abel (you might not have had the pleasure of being acquainted with that character), my authority and responsibilities over the game division's scheduling matters remained essentially unchallenged until TSR went under.
By the way, it isn't an accurate statement that freelancers were late all the time. Many were not. Some of those who did blow their deadlines did so because of conflicting directives from in-house staffers. That did happen often. For that matter, there were a number of in-house staffers who missed their own deadlines as well. And yeah, I did have the unenviable job of cracking down on both sides when delays cropped up. Many of those mishaps weren't necessarily anyone's fault, but rather the result of changes in direction dictated by our upper management.
Bruce
LordEntrails
Hero
Thank you James and Bruce for your perspectives. They are quite interesting and appreciate you sharing.
This is the last I'll comment on this because I don't want to derail and I'm the one who originally brought it up. No, this isn't true. Just because many people used it wrong doesn't suddenly make it an acceptable phrase. "I could care less" means you do care on some level. Every time someone uses it, the context was "I don't care at all". They meant the correct phrase "I couldn't care less." It's just like because many people say "irregardless" doesn't suddenly make that accurate. Or how when lots of people say "with baited breath" it doesn't make it suddenly correct when it's actually "bated breath". Or "slight of hand", or "beck and call", or "proof is in the pudding" or "for all intensive purposes" or any other number of cases.
Just because a lot of people make a mistake doesn't mean they are correct, or that our language suddenly changed to make it accurate.
Azzy
KMF DM
I could care fewer.
What's your objection to this?
Dangit! In my speed typing, I gave the right way lol. I meant when we people use "beckon call" instead.
Azzy
KMF DM
Joshua Randall
Hero
If we could travel back in time and introduce Agile and Lean methods, it sure seems like they would've helped TSR.
Joshua Randall
Hero
If we could travel back in time and introduce Agile and Lean methods, it sure seems like they would've helped TSR.
Double posts aren't unusual. But 12 minutes apart? LOL.
Also, I hate Agile. I can see the benefit of Agile, but in my experience using it (I am a project manager for a large company), the actual amount of work you get done compared to waterfall is much less. Spending so much time talking about backlogs and burn down charts and stand up meetings, that you have less time to actually work on your project. Sprint planning never goes as planned or is finished on time, which causes delayed sign off, and people keep trying to change the acceptance criteria after user stories have been signed off. People seem to think that because there is no formalized and approved FSD or BRD, that means requirements are fluid and can change at any time, even after the QA process has begun. It's frustrating. But it's the big thing right now. Like Six Sigma (also garbage for any non-production line environments) was 15 years ago.
Similar Threads
