WotC's Financial Crisis??

[Aaron L]

I like Andy Collins.

 

[Maggan]

Well the do seem to be recruiting

WotC have recently recruited Jesse Decker (of Dragon fame) to work for RPG R&D. And hiring people is not usually considered a surefire sign of the sky falling...

As to who is left, I don't really know. Tweet still is, Wyatt still is. Collins, evidently, Richard Baker. And probelby more than that.

Me, I was surprised they had so many people on board at the first place. In my opinion a RPG company should only have a couple of line developers and a couple of inhouse writers, and a couple of editors, art directors and a full time concept artist.

The majority of the writing and illustration should go to freelance people. That makes it easier to grow and shrink with the ebb and flow of demand.

In my opinion, and with rampant speculation from me, prior to the layoffs (some one year and five months ago, and we're still taking that as a sign of the sky falling. Or at least the roof ), WotC RPG R&D was way to crowded to be a viable business.

Or even a viable development studio. Inhouse people tend to have opinions on things, such as the direction of D&D, and if you have something like 20 knowledgable people arguing about what is best for the brand, AND you have to keep them busy doing things to earn their wages, you end up with a game line that is diverging in brand integrity. Case in point being Ghostwalk, a nice book, but not really a strong brandbuilder or a huge source of income for D&D. Probably a result of differing philosophies.

Oh, the horror trying to manage that group of people!

So keep a core team, and farm the rest of the work out. The trick of course is to keep the right people.

WotC adjusted to a setup which to me looks more healthy, and which incidentally provides income for the community's growing number of freelancers. In my book that is A Good Thing™.

Cheers!

M.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Whatever it is, it's all speculation. Hasbro doesn't report earnings split out amongst it's divisions, so we have no official word on WotC's financial "crisis" insofar as WotC specifically is involved.

Actually, whenever WotC employees post on the subject, they tend to dispel any rumors that WotC as a division is unprofitable or that D&D as a line isn't doing well.

Well, as somebody in the accounting/financial reporting field, I found it very hard to believe that a company the size of Hasbro does not break out their financial results by line of business (LOB). So, I looked online at the SEC website and, lo and behold, they have Hasbro’s 10-K there. It certainly looks like Hasbro reports their finances by LOB to me. The games segment revenue declined 8% from 2001 to 2002, however, it was mostly due to decreases in Pokemon, partially offset by increases in Magic sales (no mention of D&D in that paragraph). The lack of the mention of D&D, to me as a financial person, means that revenue did not change significantly enough between 2002 and 2001 to merit mention in the 10-K.

For those of you with too much time on your hands, you can read the 10-K at the following link – hopefully, it works.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/46080/000104746903010819/a2105770z10-k.htm

 

[ColonelHardisson]

So true. So funny

I recall this conversation before going a little something like this...

(Some guy): "There's always someone running around claiming the sky is falling! There's never any proof or confirmation..."

(Colonel Hardisson): "Yeah, then the sky falls and another round of layoffs hit"

I wonder if another round of layoffs will hit to coincide with this thread (as has been the case in the past). Though honestly: who is left to cut?

Heh. I remember that. It still holds true. It strikes me that the surest way to know a round of layoffs is about to occur at WotC is for someone from WotC to post that no layoffs are imminent. It also seems that whoever posts the reassurance will be gone soon.

However, I think there are still quite a few talented folk left at WotC. I hesitate to post a list, though, because as soon as I do, I'll find out many of those I list are gone...

 

[Desdichado]

Well, as somebody in the accounting/financial reporting field, I found it very hard to believe that a company the size of Hasbro does not break out their financial results by line of business (LOB). So, I looked online at the SEC website and, lo and behold, they have Hasbro’s 10-K there. It certainly looks like Hasbro reports their finances by LOB to me. The games segment revenue declined 8% from 2001 to 2002, however, it was mostly due to decreases in Pokemon, partially offset by increases in Magic sales (no mention of D&D in that paragraph). The lack of the mention of D&D, to me as a financial person, means that revenue did not change significantly enough between 2002 and 2001 to merit mention in the 10-K.

For those of you with too much time on your hands, you can read the 10-K at the following link – hopefully, it works.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/46080/000104746903010819/a2105770z10-k.htm

Yes, but not WotC specific, unless it's further in the report than I was willing to look. The games segment includes Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Avalon Hill and Wizards of the Coast. You can't pull anything out of that report (again, unless it's further down than I've ever seen) about Wizards specifically. Although, as you say, the CCG division of Wizards is stated to have declining revenues.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Remember as well for Hasbro that the definition of non-performance from WotC is not that it is not-profitable, but that it is not profitable enough. If they expect 10% profit and see only 5% that means it is time to cut costs to reach that 10% goal.

 

[astralpwka]

Then again, it could be like the great HUGE corporation that I work for that makes billions every year. The supervisors examine the positions of their employees and choose departments where one guy can do the job of two.

[Side note: Not that someone gets laid off this way at MY job... No... we drug test a guy when my bosses want to get rid of someone. "I never would have imagined that hyster driver was on meth..."]

 

[NewJeffCT]

If you scroll down to Note (19) - Segment Reporting (starting on Page 67), you will find a more detailed breakout. Not perfect, but I am sure some Corporate Accounting/Finance VP or Director at Hasbro, as well as their auditor KPMG, has all the numbers that roll up into what they report there in Note 19.

Any large corporation will have their financial numbers sliced and diced every which way conceivable. I've worked for two companies in the Fortune 100, so I know how it works. Trust me, they have to be prepared to answer when some bigwig wants to know, "Well, Bob, we just bought those D&D folks out last year... my son played D&D, how are they doing?" - You can't tell Mr or Ms Bigwig, "Sorry, we don't report our numbers by line of business..."

 

[Melkor]

And what is your gripe with Andy Collins?

No gripe. Just an opinion.

My opinion stems from personal experience and interaction with Mr. Collins. Something about being "God's Greatest Gift". I'll leave it at that.

If I have a gripe, it's directed at what was done to the revision. Namely, the implementation of his group's unnecessary "house rules" into 3.5 - But that's neither here nor there because my group has chosen to modify 3.0 with what we like from 3.5.

 

[Desdichado]

I agree they have to have it sliced and diced every which way, I know we do that here at Ford. That doesn't mean it's all reported. We don't report seperate Volvo or Jaguar earnings, for instance, although we can get them internally.