Layoffs at WotC?


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True enough. I just loved the RI=R'yleh thing. Couldn't resist (but that's why I am an Evil Monkey)

Emerges from the closet and points a finger at Watcher, grimacing fiercely

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houstonderek wrote:
Wow, I can't stand a lot of people. I could supress that for $250 million...

In my experience, a lot of people suppress their hatred of their boss for less than $15/hour...


Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:
Also distributors give out free swag! Random House sure won't do that.

Believe it or not, Jeremy, I have actually gotten free swag from Random House. Of course, it was academic stuff at a conference (and most of it was not really all that good academic stuff) and not the kind of stuff we really want, but it was free. This in no way affects your point, I just love getting free stuff.

EDIT: @ Watcher - Have we passed the point where we properly showed sadness and outrage at the layoffs? If so, we can proceed to arguing and being silly. I'm sure that what those fine folks would want. Someone should do an academic paper on the stages of thread grief.

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Mairkurion {tm} wrote:


EDIT: @ Watcher - Have we passed the point where we properly showed sadness and outrage at the layoffs? If so, we can proceed to arguing and being silly. I'm sure that what those fine folks would want. Someone should do an academic paper on the stages of thread grief.

True. I don't think that humour in this thread suggests a lack of compassion. I'll probably be joking around at my own funeral.

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Lisa Stevens wrote:
Amazon buys directly from WotC's book distributor, which I believe is Random House.

Pretty sure it's MacMillan (FKA Holtzbrinck).


Erik Mona wrote:
Russ Taylor wrote:
GAAAHHHH wrote:
I'm ashamed to have a 2004 road atlas on my bookshelf. I'm not ashamed to have 4th edition D&D. I'm not sure I'll get a chance to play it anytime soon, but I'm not ashamed of any of the games I own.
I'm a little ashamed of owning Cyborg Commando.

I'm not! I bought it off eBay only a couple of years ago, and I'm glad I have it.

I had an idea to run a short lunchtime campaign at work, but after I got a look at the rules.... eyaaah. I think I'll do something else.

Well, I certainly feel a lot better, now I know I'm not the only one!


Russ Taylor wrote:
GAAAHHHH wrote:
I'm ashamed to have a 2004 road atlas on my bookshelf. I'm not ashamed to have 4th edition D&D. I'm not sure I'll get a chance to play it anytime soon, but I'm not ashamed of any of the games I own.
I'm a little ashamed of owning Cyborg Commando.

...I have Daikatana?

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delabarre wrote:
houstonderek wrote:
Wow, I can't stand a lot of people. I could supress that for $250 million...
In my experience, a lot of people suppress their hatred of their boss for less than $15/hour...

I won't even feign mild derision for less than $25 an hour...

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Tarren Dei wrote:
Vic Wertz wrote:
Tarren Dei wrote:
I'm a little ashamed of my Abba collection.
Heck, I'm ashamed of your Abba collection.
I've got a hastily photoshopped image that says otherwise.

Maybe that's why I'm ashamed!

Scarab Sages

Vic Wertz wrote:
Tarren Dei wrote:
Vic Wertz wrote:
Tarren Dei wrote:
I'm a little ashamed of my Abba collection.
Heck, I'm ashamed of your Abba collection.
I've got a hastily photoshopped image that says otherwise.
Maybe that's why I'm ashamed!

Can i have your autograph, I 'LOVED' chess.


Mairkurion {tm} wrote:
Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:
Also distributors give out free swag! Random House sure won't do that.

Believe it or not, Jeremy, I have actually gotten free swag from Random House. Of course, it was academic stuff at a conference (and most of it was not really all that good academic stuff) and not the kind of stuff we really want, but it was free. This in no way affects your point, I just love getting free stuff.

Yeah - I could qualify this statement all day I suspect. The do give out free Swag under some circumstances like industry events for example and they are quick to give any one in acadamia a free review copy of their course books because the whole point of the game is to get the prof to choose to use their text which, of course results in dozens and sometimes hundreds of students having no choice but to buy the text.

That said distributors give out free swag lots of the time - I got Paizo's River into Darkness that way. If I had just been ordering WotC books from Random House I'd have not gotten this.


Lilith wrote:


...I have Daikatana?

Wow.... That took a lot of guts to admit. I'm proud of you. :D


You got the better deal, Jeremy. I'd much rather have River into Darkness any day. Lucky Lobster... ; )

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Mairkurion {tm} wrote:
You got the better deal, Jeremy. I'd much rather have River into Darkness any day. Lucky Lobster... ; )

I'll second that. I'm becoming a big Greg A. Vaughan fan.


Yeah, he's not bad

Spoiler:
For an Okie! ;p


Tarren Dei wrote:
Mairkurion {tm} wrote:
You got the better deal, Jeremy. I'd much rather have River into Darkness any day. Lucky Lobster... ; )
I'll second that. I'm becoming a big Greg A. Vaughan fan.

He so consistenly spins solid gold. Rumplegregskin.

Dark Archive

Lilith wrote:
Russ Taylor wrote:
GAAAHHHH wrote:
I'm ashamed to have a 2004 road atlas on my bookshelf. I'm not ashamed to have 4th edition D&D. I'm not sure I'll get a chance to play it anytime soon, but I'm not ashamed of any of the games I own.
I'm a little ashamed of owning Cyborg Commando.
...I have Daikatana?

Heh...I forgot about that game.

Took some guts to admit you have that...


I am resurrecting this thread, since in the run up to Christmas 2009 another wave of layoffs has apparently hit Wizards of the Coast. *Link to ENWorld thread with further details of this event*

There is also already a thread on the 4E forum of the Paizo boards discussing it: *Link*

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again?


So it would seem...
:(

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Well they have an opening at Paizo for an editor.


I was under the impression that Infogrames (aka Atari Games) and Wizards of the Coast are both Hasbro subsidiaries.

If they're both Hasbro, why can't they work out something for WotC to do DDI?

Of course I could be completely off on them both being Hasbro.


Wolf Munroe wrote:

I was under the impression that Infogrames (aka Atari Games) and Wizards of the Coast are both Hasbro subsidiaries.

If they're both Hasbro, why can't they work out something for WotC to do DDI?

Of course I could be completely off on them both being Hasbro.

Hasbro used to own Atari. Now Infogrames does.


Wolf Munroe wrote:
If they're both Hasbro, why can't they work out something for WotC to do DDI?

Probably for the same reasons that Wells Fargo sued itself. Big corporations adhere to the rule that "none of us is as dumb as all of us."


Those are some considerable layoffs. Wow.


Vic Wertz wrote:
...I have to say I'm always startled by some of the people they let go and some of the people they keep.

Having worked for a Fortune 100 company in the past, I don't see Hasbro being much different than what I've observed.

{wanders over to www.despair.com for cheering up}


Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

Having worked for a Fortune 100 company in the past, I don't see Hasbro being much different than what I've observed.

While true, that still doesn't make it right... Who's helming Hasbro, Ebeneezer himself? Sheesh...


Readerbreeder wrote:
While true, that still doesn't make it right... Who's helming Hasbro, Ebeneezer himself? Sheesh...

Unlike Hasbro, Scrooge actually changed his ways..


Readerbreeder wrote:
Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

Having worked for a Fortune 100 company in the past, I don't see Hasbro being much different than what I've observed.

While true, that still doesn't make it right... Who's helming Hasbro, Ebeneezer himself? Sheesh...

Here. :)

I never said it was right; I just meant it isn't surprising (to me) for a Fortune 500 company like Hasbro.


Just playing devil's advocate here but maybe the people laid off deserved to be laid off. Maybe there work was substandard or unusable? Maybe their attitude was disruptive to others? The timing of the lay-offs suck, Hasbro has a gift for bad timing, but it could be the employees fault.


Xabulba wrote:
Just playing devil's advocate here but maybe the people laid off deserved to be laid off. Maybe there work was substandard or unusable? Maybe their attitude was disruptive to others? The timing of the lay-offs suck, Hasbro has a gift for bad timing, but it could be the employees fault.

I like to play devil's advocate too, but a few of those folks were well respected in their field.. even among those who were not so crazy about 4E.


Watcher wrote:
Xabulba wrote:
Just playing devil's advocate here but maybe the people laid off deserved to be laid off. Maybe there work was substandard or unusable? Maybe their attitude was disruptive to others? The timing of the lay-offs suck, Hasbro has a gift for bad timing, but it could be the employees fault.

I like to play devil's advocate too, but a few of those folks were well respected in their field.. even among those who were not so crazy about 4E.

But hey.. anything's possible.

I don't know names or reps in the gaming community, I can barley name 4 people working here at Paizo, and it’s a non issue with me I only care if the product in hand is of high quality.

Just speaking as an outsider.


Xabulba wrote:

Just speaking as an outsider.

:D

Peace. I was an outsider once too, so I know what you mean. When I started subscribing a few years ago I'd never heard of James Jacobs and Erik Mona. I just liked the product.

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What are the stats for an insider?

Liberty's Edge

Watcher wrote:
Xabulba wrote:

Just speaking as an outsider.

:D

Peace. I was an outsider once too, so I know what you mean. When I started subscribing a few years ago I'd never heard of James Jacobs and Erik Mona. I just liked the product.

Actually, they were one of my draws to Paizo. Many of the books that have their names on them I thought were pretty high quality (both in material and in input) so I bought them and was mostly impressed. When I discovered they were part of a small company working together, I could help but investigate.

That, and we bought Shackled City AP at GenCon 2006 from their booth and got to meet a few of them. We're coming up on 3 full years of gaming in that AP and the campaign is finally coming to a close after all this time.

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Maybe it is a sign that Paizo's audience (share of the market) is growing. :)

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Zuxius wrote:
Maybe it is a sign that Paizo's audience (share of the market) is growing. :)

Mayhap


So what is the reason for this latest round of layoffs? Last year it was blamed on the fact that WOTC always to hire extra people to develop and bring out a new edition, then lets them go. What is it this year? Poor sales for 4e? Poor signup rates for their online stuff?


I'd suspect it's just clearing out people whose salaries have gotten larger because they've been there a while. Standard corporate practice -- along with taking all the money out of pension funds and then declaring bankruptcy, of course.

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