[Updated] Chris Sims & Jennifer Clarke Wilkes Let Go From WotC

The details are unclear, but D&D editor Chris Sims has reported that he is now in need of a job, and is willing to relocate. He was hired by WotC in 2005 after working for them as a freelance editor. Part of the D&D 5E launch, he was one of the editors for the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, and was responsible for stat block development in the Monster Manual. The reasons have not been revealed, nor is it clear whether he left or was laid off.

Whether this is an isolated thing or part of more layoffs if unclear right now. More if I hear anything! In the meantime, if you can hire an excellent writer and editor, please do!

For more on ex-WotC employees, please check my list here!

UPDATE: Jennifer Clarke Wilkes is also in the same boat. She has worked on both D&D as an editor and on Magic: the Gathering, and has been working for WotC for many years.

UPDATE 2: Chris Sims confirms here that he and Jennifer were both laid off.

 

[Sailor Moon]

We have very few data points. The data points we have, they tell a story of each edition outselling the previous one, in terms of core book sales. The Red Box in 1989 seems the one anomaly. I can say that the Wizards folks I know well with whom I've talked to (employees who have no reason to blow smoke) have been blown away by the 5E numbers. I could not share specifics, even if I have them.


In all honesty and with respect, I think that's an erroneous line of thinking. Wizards doesn't need to convert a Pathfinder person over to 5E. They don't need to get that Shadowrun player, Numenera player, etc. What they need is to consistently bring in new players as customers and to grow the overall hobby. Most gamers play several games. The edition war concept of Pathfinder vs D&D is mainly false. Tons of gamers play both games. It happens even more when we get to different genres, where gamers often gravitate between 5E and other RPGs (Eclipse Phase for sci-fi, L5R for Asian fantasy, Shadowrun for cyberpunk, Spycraft and Gumshoe for espionage, etc.). Wizards would be making a huge mistake if they were to focus on winning those people solely over to their game. Instead, they should focus on making the game accessible and desirable for a wide variety of gamers and especially for new gamers. As the CEO said, the competition is other forms of entertainment, not other RPGs.

When I travel for work I always visit stores. I do see people who play Pathfinder trying and liking 5E. But, I don't think it is about a switch. Many may very well do that to some extent (playing 5E most of the time - I see plenty of that), but these people are clearly still huge fans of Paizo and still buying plenty of product from them. That's absolutely excellent. The OSR crowd should not decrease because of 5E. In a healthy hobby, both will grow and both will invigorate each other. Look at Gen Con: Paizo and D&D both had their largest organized play attendance ever, in the same year. That's absolutely what we want. It's even what both companies should want! There is no reason why Paizo has to drop in sales for 5E to succeed and no reason why OSR must shrink for any other fantasy RPG to do well.

The store I've started to gravitate to when I travel on my current project has 4 8-person tables of 5E on Wednesdays (and many more on weekends). My DM is a relatively new DM. She began with Pathfinder and is a huge fan, but is enjoying 5E. She's an excellent judge. The combination of PFS and 5E has given her incredible tools and experience to become the judge she is. She's better for the existence of both games. If she ends up digging into classic adventures, whose to say she won't play some OSR and learn even more about that style of play - further benefiting her 5E tables? This is how the hobby should work.

Can I just point out that going for the "brand new fan base" was tried last edition and it doesn't seem to have worked out so well.

Existing gamers are where your customers are. RPG's are a unique hobby and you would think Wizards would know this by now. There isn't a whole flock of new players out there that are going to bullrush their way to buying D&D. It's your present and past fans that you should worry about, especially the middle to older crowd because they have jobs which produce the spending money. Also, since they have jobs then that means less time to game, so they are going to pick the game that appeals to them the most. So yes, you want to target those guys that play Numenara, or PF, or Shadowrun.

 

[delericho]

3E launched a single book out of the gate, not the whole set, during a time when the Internet was just beginning to be leveraged for such things. Ryan Dancey clearly says he has no numbers for 4E while you imply he is speaking to the numbers in your opening paragraph. As to 5E, I hope it is doing well but I honestly see no evidence it is the off-the-charts success you claim it is.

I can't remember where, but I'm certain I saw a quote from Mike Mearls to the effect that the first 4e PHB print run was bigger than the first 3.5e one, which in turn was bigger than the first 3e one.

This was before 5e was a thing, so there's no telling how the numbers for that one compare. But it's also worth noting that Chris Perkins was quoted on this site that they've gone through "a few printings so far" and "There isn't a New York publisher that wouldn't pass out if you told them the number - it's impressive."

The evidence really does suggest that 5e has launched very, very well. What is less clear is whether it will continue to do well, or if it's a spike followed by silence.

 

[mlund]

Currently, we are pushing 60 employees in the company and growing.

Oh no. They did the thing. The thing were you aren't considered a small business operator anymore and the Fed and Washington State dispatch their horde of micro-managers to bring your HR department to its knees.

(For non-US readers: when you cross beyond the 50 employee (non-1099) line you aren't considered a "small business" anymore and are sentenced to Compliance Hell by the government for all eternity.)

Marty Lund

#firstworldproblems
#successproblemsarethebestproblems

 

[DMZ2112]

What do you mean clearly not and what does that photo have to do with people buying Pathfinder products directly from Paizo?

This is what I mean:

Existing gamers are where your customers are.

Yes. And they all bought a Players Handbook.

There isn't a whole flock of new players out there that are going to bullrush their way to buying D&D.

Actually, they all bought Players Handbooks, too.

It's your present and past fans that you should worry about, especially the middle to older crowd because they have jobs which produce the spending money.

Which they used to buy Players Handbooks.

Also, since they have jobs then that means less time to game, so they are going to pick the game that appeals to them the most.

And buy its Players Handbook.

So yes, you want to target those guys that play Numenara, or PF, or Shadowrun.

And also D&D5, because they bought the Players Handbook.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Of course they want to get PF players playing it, but if you like the style of gaming that PF/3.5 does you probably are going to find 5e lacking. I'd rather not game than play PF but I'm looking for something different than what it offers.

 

[Mistwell]

What do you mean clearly not and what does that photo have to do with people buying Pathfinder products directly from Paizo?

SM, you know both PF and 5e can do well simultaneously, right? One does not have to do poorly for the other to do well. Nobody is arguing 5e is doing well and therefore PF must not be doing well. And if there is any question about my thoughts on that topic, I will say outright both appear to be doing quite well right now.

And all this seems a bit unseemly in light of the fact this is a thread that's supposed to be about two people who just lost their jobs. I created another thread about the recent news that Hasbro mentioned D&D as a net revenue gain for Hasbro - perhaps this discussion of "how well are they selling" best belongs there?

 

[billd91]

In all honesty and with respect, I think that's an erroneous line of thinking. Wizards doesn't need to convert a Pathfinder person over to 5E. They don't need to get that Shadowrun player, Numenera player, etc. What they need is to consistently bring in new players as customers and to grow the overall hobby. Most gamers play several games. The edition war concept of Pathfinder vs D&D is mainly false. Tons of gamers play both games. It happens even more when we get to different genres, where gamers often gravitate between 5E and other RPGs (Eclipse Phase for sci-fi, L5R for Asian fantasy, Shadowrun for cyberpunk, Spycraft and Gumshoe for espionage, etc.). Wizards would be making a huge mistake if they were to focus on winning those people solely over to their game. Instead, they should focus on making the game accessible and desirable for a wide variety of gamers and especially for new gamers. As the CEO said, the competition is other forms of entertainment, not other RPGs.
<snip>

The store I've started to gravitate to when I travel on my current project has 4 8-person tables of 5E on Wednesdays (and many more on weekends). My DM is a relatively new DM. She began with Pathfinder and is a huge fan, but is enjoying 5E. She's an excellent judge. The combination of PFS and 5E has given her incredible tools and experience to become the judge she is. She's better for the existence of both games. If she ends up digging into classic adventures, whose to say she won't play some OSR and learn even more about that style of play - further benefiting her 5E tables? This is how the hobby should work.

Sure, tons of players play both PF and 5e (I'm part of that group), but I strongly suspect there are also tons who don't and won't play both and I suspect that group's even larger than the group who plays both. There are lots of gaming groups out there with players who don't have a lot of time for multiple games, much less multiple versions of D&D. And even among gamers who play both, the dollars spent on one can't be spent on the other. So Paizo and WotC are most definitely in competition with each other and have been since Paizo was no longer able to act as a network multiplier for D&D. The facts that the competition isn't particularly rancorous (although you do sometimes see a sarcastic comment or two) and isn't a zero-sum two-player game doesn't mean they aren't in competition with each other. In truth, I figure their relationship is pretty complex with both competition and cooperation (as in both growing and serving a market that both can benefit from ) occurring overall. That too is how the hobby works.

 

[wedgeski]

Please god let this thread die. Every time someone at WotC loses their job, we get the same twenty pages of crap.

 

[PaizoCEO]

How vital is having your own (online) store front? Do you agree with Ryan that this is a key for you?

All channels of sales are important to us. The hobby stores, comic book stores, book stores, online stores (both our own and others like Amazon), PDF sales, convention sales. They all come together to make the company successful. You couldn't base a business on having one of those channels only and ignoring the rest. Even leaving out one or two of those channels would have a big negative repercussion.

The one thing I will say about having our own webstore is that we can control availability, customer service, presentation of the products, and the community around the product much more than we can through any of the other channels. And knowing that you have a place like that to sell your products is important. In all the other channels, we don't control those pieces of the puzzle.

-Lisa

 

[Morrus]

Please god let this thread die. Every time someone at WotC loses their job, we get the same twenty pages of crap.

Then don't read it. Just because you've had a conversation before doesn't mean everybody else has.