WotC may have sent the Pinkertons to a magic leakers home. Update: WotC confirms it and has a response.

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To be fair, there were some where the entire group seemed to have mutual danger sense for each other a few times!

We should probably move this to a Magnum, PI specific thread soon, but when they announced a remake, I hoped it would be about Thomas' daughter he walked off with in the final episode, and that she was now the PI in Hawaii and periodically her dad would call her with tips or warnings, based on the "little feelings" he got while sitting in his beach house in Maryland.

 

[Lanefan]

What "power" are you referring to? The power to get their products, which were misappropriated (maybe not stolen, but acquired under circumstances which should not have occurred) by others?

So out of curiosity, what would you propose that would be acceptable to both sides? On one side we have WoTC, who does not want people getting merchandise before it is available and wants to ensure that others in the future don't do what this YouTuber did. On the other side, we have a guy who may have accidentally gotten merchandise he shouldn't have, but would like to not be threatened and intimidated by a large and financially capable corporation.

What would it look like for you? What would the process be? What would you do if you were in charge at WoTC? And i'm going to pre-emptively state that saying, "I don't know," isn't a good answer. Because "I don't know" leads to this type of incident. I'm willing to bet that the guy who was in charge of getting this situation handled probably had no idea who Pinkerton was or the reputation they had. So how woud you handle it?

If I'm in charge of WotC it goes:

1. Send a company rep (not a PI, but an actual employee of WotC - preferably someone with some M:tG street cred) to the house with a polite request to see the card boxes, in order to get production/print-run info etc. Otherwise, from the you-tuber's side of things, let it ride for now as a one-off mistake.
2. Use that production/print info plus whatever other internal info we have to investigate the hell out of this and find out how it happened.
2a. If it turns out to be a legitimate mistake on someone's part, have a quiet word with whoever made that mistake then close the book on this.
2b. If it turns out the cards were in fact stolen - be it by an employee, a distributor, or the you-tuber - get law enforcement involved.
3. Be vigilant around the next release.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Then you probably shouldn't be commenting in a discussion where morals are so important to what's going on.

Morals are so subjective. Also, I enjoy a lively discussion. I think I will continue to participate in what has so far been a very respectful discussion from everyone. You are free to ignore my amoral posts, though. I'm not everyone's cup of coffee.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I suggest to you that you have an inaccurate idea of how most managers would respond to "boss, I don't think sending the Pinkertons to this guy's house is a good idea," then.

So, speaking only for myself .... I wouldn't think twice about it.

Do you know why? Because the Pinkertons (part of the larger Securitas AB) is mostly known for general corporate work- from risk assessment to litigation support to in-house investigations. In other words, basic corporate PI stuff. The main "other thing" they are known for is protection- usually in high-risk areas, or just CEOs who need to feel good for having some BS protective detail.

On the other hand, I would recommend against using the Pinkertons in any union-related activity. For two reasons- first, because of the continuing connotations. Second, because corporate anti-union activity is morally indefensible.

 

[MGibster]

I mean, entirely possible. At the same time, when I type 'games workshop' into Google, it offers to autocomplete to 'games workshop warehouse issues'. Plenty of global supply chains are still borked, hobby stuff included.

I can't discount an honest error happening. But when you have a company with a history of "leaks" combined with rampant speculation among fans that a new model for this primarch would be forthcoming it gives me pause.

 

[Velderan]

Who would have thought the OGL people would stoop so low

It's not the OGL people. It was the "$1000 for anniversary cards is perfectly reasonable" people.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

If I'm in charge of WotC it goes:

1. Send a company rep (not a PI, but an actual employee of WotC - preferably someone with some M:tG street cred) to the house with a polite request to see the card boxes, in order to get production/print-run info etc. Otherwise, from the you-tuber's side of things, let it ride for now as a one-off mistake.
2. Use that production/print info plus whatever other internal info we have to investigate the hell out of this and find out how it happened.
2a. If it turns out to be a legitimate mistake on someone's part, have a quiet word with whoever made that mistake then close the book on this.
2b. If it turns out the cards were in fact stolen - be it by an employee, a distributor, or the you-tuber - get law enforcement involved.
3. Be vigilant around the next release.

Thank you. That was very well thought out. I get that a lot of people may have some emotional connection with certain entities (someone mentioned being from Pennsylvania and the trauma that the area has suffered due to Pinkertons), but it's good to see that people can think of ways of getting something done instead of just saying, "Let it go. WoTC bad. thugs, etc."

Thanks.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's not the OGL people. It was the "$1000 for anniversary cards is perfectly reasonable" people.

 

[MGibster]

I just rewatched that whole series. About 80% of the episodes hold up really well, and I have the feeling the other 20% weren't great originally. Very solid series.

"The episodes that were bad thirty years ago are still bad today. The episodes that were good thirty years ago are still good today." -- Leonard Nimoy at a Star Trek convention in Plano, Texas back in 1998 or 1999.

I want to say any vaguely non-bad boss would happy to get a reasonable alternative idea (and have it pointed out about Pinkerton optics).

Bingo. At my current employer, I've never been worried about voicing my disagreement or concerns about a course of action. They don't always heed my concerns, but I've never drawn their ire for bringing them up. But then my company has a culture of consensus building. There are other employers with a management style of "My way or the highway."

 

[billd91]

Companies shouldn't be able to hire people to go ask for product they think is there's back - they should have to go ask themselves?

If I worked for a game company, I'm not sure I'd be thrilled to be sent by my bosses to an unknown situation in order to recover what may be stolen goods. There are legitimate security concerns - concerns that a security company like the Pinkertons are better equipped and trained to handle than a game company. So I'm on board with WotC hiring someone else to go into that situation. The question is: who?