WotC Cuts and Ryan Dancey Its over!

[gamerguru]

WOW! This is insane! http://www.GamingReport.com just posted that Wizards has cut ALL ties to Ryan Dancey...


Ryan has posted a message on their Forums!

A huge post.... What is up with that!!!! He's no longer on Master Tools or OGL... DAMN!!

Wizards is wacked............

 

[Henry@home]

WOW! This is insane! http://www.GamingReport.com just posted that Wizards has cut ALL ties to Ryan Dancey...

I must honestly say that WotC has now cut ties to one of their most capable resources that they possibly have.

This may well be the darkest week for d20 Gaming in its short history. Anthony may have much skill at damage control, but with this many holes bursting in the dike at once, even a master like Anthony can only do so much.

I don't know the reasons behind all ties between WotC and Ryan being cut, nor DO I CARE. All I know is that WotC has apparently decided to go very, very far on this particular "slash and burn" campaign, loosing some of their top talent. Ryan was what made me care so much about d20, in part. If is wasn't for his willingness to relate with us on a "personal" level, I might have never supported WotC as ardently as I used to.

Man, if Eric was upset over Sean K Reynolds' layoff, then he must be beside himself with this news. Along with Anthony V, Keith Strohm, and Erik and Chris, Ryan Dancey was the best PR manager that WotC ever had.

I wonder what the status of Organizedplay is now with WotC? Are they still going to rely on them to organize Gencon and Origins, or have they taken over those functions in-house, too?

 

[Mortaneus]

I know that everyone has probably been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements, but.....


WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AT WOTC????? Has the management taken collective leave of their senses? A large chunk of the best talent is either jumping ship, or is getting laid off. What is going on over there? This is a company that managed to take D&D, the golden-child of gaming, and give it new life. And now, everything is falling apart.

What's going on? Who's responsible for this? Is it some ego-laden executive? Is it the Hasbro-goon-squad? Is it just sheer idiocy?

*sigh* Sorry. Stuff like this that gets under my skin, when people with obvious talent get screwed, and something that had so much promise (wotc) falls so short. It's depressing.

What makes matters worse is the spin-doctoring going on. I know that Anthony V. is doing everything in his power to control the damage, and I heavily commend him for his efforts, hurculean as they are....

I just wish we could find out what's really going on. All we can do is piece together bits and pieces from various statements, and try and figure out what the whole picture looks like. I'm getting the feeling that it's really pretty ugly.

 

[darkbard]

certainly things look grim. taking into account mr. dancey's statement and comments by sean k. reynolds, however, it seems there is far more here than meets the eye. perhaps in time some of the reasons for what is going on will come to light. in the meantime, speculation is going to feed rumors that will obfuscate what is really going on. let's not lose our heads here.

 

[Wuxia]

certainly things look grim. taking into account mr. dancey's statement and comments by sean k. reynolds, however, it seems there is far more here than meets the eye. perhaps in time some of the reasons for what is going on will come to light. in the meantime, speculation is going to feed rumors that will obfuscate what is really going on. let's not lose our heads here.

Whatever the reasons, the result is ugly, sorry. Ryan, Sean, Chris... They were not only employees; for many of us, they were WotC. Now what's left?

 

[darkbard]

i don't intend to diminish what's happening. i'm simply saying that most of us know absolutely nothing about what is actually going on. until those with a more intimate persepctive can share information with us (assuming such a time comes to pass), wild speculation is going to feed the frenzy and cause any useful discussion to devolve into false rumors, name-calling, and an eventual shift off-topic that will not help the truth come to light.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Remember the rule: No riots until Morrus or Eric declare one is needed. Until we hear otherwise, I suggest we sympathize, but don't go overboard.

And, no, I'm not particularly happy with this. But I have a great deal of 1E, almost everything I'd want from 2E (some Al Qadim and Dragonlance stuff to go, maybe one or two other products), and almost everything 3E. And while I own a lot of RPG stuff, I don't actually play with any of it. So I have enough to keep my imagination going for a while. If need be, I'll start my "house rules" conversion of the stuff to some amalgamated system I would like to use. A little here, a little there, and so on.

 

[Agamon]

Aw, geez. Enough already, enough. I mean, I felt bad enough for these guys the last couple of days, but I'm starting to get really peed off at Wizards...

Would this be the swarm of locusts, or are the seas boiling yet?

 

[smetzger]

I guess Jack Chick finally got wind of his secret project. I am sure that Jack Chick's enormous political and financial clout(not to mention his ties to the Yakuza) was not unnoticed by top Hasbro executives. They had no choice but to terminate all relations with Mr Dancey.

WOTC also terminated the secret project, The Book of Exalted Deeds. But, we can infer from SKRs comments that he has 'aquired' an advance draft of the document, before he left. One can only hope that Sean will never use the book. Although, it may be tempting to use the book to gain divinity, the book is not complete and if it were to be used the whole world would be plunged into the deepest darkness.

*:> Scott

 

[coyote6]

It's all like a bad fantasy novel/comic book/soap opera/RPG plot -- at the next Hasbro stockholders' meeting, they'll announce they're appointing a new head of WotC, and out will step -- Lorraine Williams.

<cue Vader's theme>