What will become of "The Sage"?

[Uller]

Forgive me for putting this on the Rules Forum, but I think this affects this portion of the board the most since this is where the Sage's opinions and statements are debated the most....

Apparently Skip "The Sage" Williams no longer works for WotC...Which I take to mean he is no longer the official rules judge.

What does this mean? Will he carry on with his column in Dragon? Where do we send questions? Is he still to be considered the "final word" when it comes to rules disputes?

For me, I never took Skip's words as gospel anyway. I always looked at Sage Advice as exactly that...advice. If I was unsure how a rule worked in a certain situation, I'd look at what he had to say about it and consider it...and remember that he has been involved in D&D rules design for a very long time...

But Skip is not the DM of my game...I am (and I've been a DM for a very long time as well). So sometimes I'd agree and use his ruling, other times I'd think he was off his rocker and ignore him. This applies to other rules gurus even on this forum. Caliban's opinions carry a lot of weight, but I've not always agreed with him either...

So anyway...I'm just rambling I guess (waiting for the coffee to kick in so I can concentrate on _work_) but I'm just curious how these layoff's will affect our discussions here...

 

[Aurianna]

I would imagine that someone else would just take over Skip's advice column. Which, when it comes down to it, is only relevent to Tournament play anyway.

I've always balanced his views against those of the authors, anyway. Skip says one thing, Sean says another, Monte says that either way is fine. Use the advice that's given, and draw your own conclusions.

 

[Christian]

I would imagine that someone else would just take over Skip's advice column. Which, when it comes down to it, is only relevent to Tournament play anyway.

Are you sure? WOTC doesn't own Dragon any longer ... unless there was some provision in the sales contract, they may not have a say in who writes the Sage Advice column ...

 

[Aurianna]

No, I'm not sure. Skip's been writing for Dragon for a LONG time, way before WIZARDS even entered into it, so you're right: he'll probably continue his column.

 

[Umbran]

What'll become of the Sage? *shrug*

The guy lost his main job yesterday. Perhaps it'd be wise (and kind) to give the guy a little time to work out what he wants to do before worrying about such things?

 

[AGGEMAM]

I've always balanced his views against those of the authors, anyway. Skip says one thing, Sean says another, Monte says that either way is fine.

FYI, Skip is one of the authors, and IIRC a member of the D&D Rules Council.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

How many other people left?

 

[Anubis]

What's going on? I haven't heard anything about any of this.

 

[Christian]

Check out the news page of ENWorld ... Big layoffs (again) at WOTC, including veteran D&D writers Skip Williams and Jeff Grubb ...