Maybe Hasbro will buy Pathfinder, and make that 5e??
For sure, the departure of Bill Slavicsek is going to bring a looooot of speculation...
After all, gamers are known to have a lot of imagination ;)
Wait and see, wait and see...
WotC usually doesn't fire people before announcing a new edition.
They do that *after* the new edition is out. ;)
Maybe Hasbro will buy Pathfinder, and make that 5e??
Oh, please, no. Don't even bring that up in jest; now I may have to cry myself to sleep tonight...
Maybe Hasbro will buy Pathfinder, and make that 5e??Unlikely. For starters, Pathfinder is not for sale.
Thank you, thank you, thank you...
I'm always suspicious when an announcement like that doesn't include what a person is going to do next, even though those often are an attempt to make things look smoother for everyone concerned.
The implication that this means a new edition is still just wild internet speculation though.I don't think anyone disagrees. In fact, I specifically stated as much upthread. ;)
It probably means something big. 5E is one possibility; a new direction for 4E and/or DDI is equally possible. The only certainty is that with new people will come a new focus.
It was just something I heard at FreeRPG day...like I said rumors...
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Maybe Hasbro will buy Pathfinder, and make that 5e??Unlikely. For starters, Pathfinder is not for sale.
I'm working on a hostile takeover.
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I'm trying to get my head around what gaps they are going to leave behind.
Bill Slavicsek was the Director of Roleplaying Design and Development. Was he the "boss" of D&D - the man in charge? That was the impression I got when 4e was rolling out, but I could be wrong.
Stephen Schubert was the lead developer for the Dungeons & Dragons. Michelle Carter was the Senior RPG Editor/D&D Lead Editor. Aren't they the core of the D&D RPG group that was created last may? Didn't Mr. Schubert replace Mearls as lead developer just over a year ago or so? Why fire someone you just promoted?
Dried up?If I were the betting type, I'd have money on either this GenCon or the next for their big announcement.My money is (and has been) on this GenCon. I thought the writing was on the wall as soon as the release schedule dried up.
That's not even all of it. The canceled magic item book was re-added to the schedule, but hasn't yet been added to that page.
Not to say that they won't announce 5e at GenCon (they won't), but historically when WotC works on a new edition, they don't lay anyone off until after it comes out.
I just got a tweet from Chicken Little. Evidently the Sky is Falling.
Maybe Hasbro will buy Pathfinder, and make that 5e??
If that happened I would never buy another D&D/Pathfinder book again...
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How unfortunate. With his history I'm sure Bill won't have trouble doing something else if he's so inclined. I would think this cements the non-future of any further Star Wars products? He was the walking SW encyclopedia, after all.
It's interesting you mention Stephen and Michelle as well. That's "Director", "Lead" and "Senior" titles. Smells of cutting based upon salary savings, or a shake-up in product direction, or both. Seems troubling, especially since it's not even Christmas yet.... :-|
I'm trying to get my head around what gaps they are going to leave behind.
Bill Slavicsek was the Director of Roleplaying Design and Development. Was he the "boss" of D&D - the man in charge? That was the impression I got when 4e was rolling out, but I could be wrong.
Stephen Schubert was the lead developer for the Dungeons & Dragons. Michelle Carter was the Senior RPG Editor/D&D Lead Editor. Aren't they the core of the D&D RPG group that was created last may? Didn't Mr. Schubert replace Mearls as lead developer just over a year ago or so? Why fire someone you just promoted?
Being run by a major corporation, such as Hasbro, when a product doesn't meet continuing sales that meet investor expectations, directors tend to get replaced for a new team.
If it's 5e, or just a shake up to get new blood in, and take the product in a new direction, who knows, all I know is I heard rumors, and now I see executives being laid-off.
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How unfortunate. With his history I'm sure Bill won't have trouble doing something else if he's so inclined. I would think this cements the non-future of any further Star Wars products? He was the walking SW encyclopedia, after all.
It's interesting you mention Stephen and Michelle as well. That's "Director", "Lead" and "Senior" titles. Smells of cutting based upon salary savings, or a shake-up in product direction, or both. Seems troubling, especially since it's not even Christmas yet.... :-|
Some unknown company has licensed rights to make a star wars rpg IIRC.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Maybe Hasbro will buy Pathfinder, and make that 5e??Unlikely. For starters, Pathfinder is not for sale.
I'm working on a hostile takeover.
That's the beauty of having private ownership. There is no publicly available asset share to buy. Lisa and Vic are the only owners of Paizo, so they are the only ones from which it can be bought. If they don't want to sell it, there is nothing to buy. :)
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I'm trying to get my head around what gaps they are going to leave behind.
Bill Slavicsek was the Director of Roleplaying Design and Development. Was he the "boss" of D&D - the man in charge? That was the impression I got when 4e was rolling out, but I could be wrong.
Stephen Schubert was the lead developer for the Dungeons & Dragons. Michelle Carter was the Senior RPG Editor/D&D Lead Editor. Aren't they the core of the D&D RPG group that was created last may? Didn't Mr. Schubert replace Mearls as lead developer just over a year ago or so? Why fire someone you just promoted?
Being run by a major corporation, such as Hasbro, when a product doesn't meet continuing sales that meet investor expectations, directors tend to get replaced for a new team.
If it's 5e, or just a shake up to get new blood in, and take the product in a new direction, who knows, all I know is I heard rumors, and now I see executives being laid-off.
Haven't seen any layoffs from the D&D New Business team. Which would be James Wyatt, Chris Youngs, Bruce Cordell, Peter Lee and I think Rodney Thompson.
I don't think editors and developers count as executives.
I didn't realize that Carter was part of the editing team. I wonder if Greg Bilsland will replace her as Lead. I'm surprised he wasn't already.
I'm trying to get my head around what gaps they are going to leave behind.
Bill Slavicsek was the Director of Roleplaying Design and Development. Was he the "boss" of D&D - the man in charge? That was the impression I got when 4e was rolling out, but I could be wrong.
Stephen Schubert was the lead developer for the Dungeons & Dragons. Michelle Carter was the Senior RPG Editor/D&D Lead Editor. Aren't they the core of the D&D RPG group that was created last may? Didn't Mr. Schubert replace Mearls as lead developer just over a year ago or so? Why fire someone you just promoted?
Being run by a major corporation, such as Hasbro, when a product doesn't meet continuing sales that meet investor expectations, directors tend to get replaced for a new team.
If it's 5e, or just a shake up to get new blood in, and take the product in a new direction, who knows, all I know is I heard rumors, and now I see executives being laid-off.
Haven't seen any layoffs from the D&D New Business team. Which would be James Wyatt, Chris Youngs, Bruce Cordell, Peter Lee and I think Rodney Thompson.
I don't think editors and developers count as executives.
"Director of Roleplaying Design and Development" Directors are typically executives...might be differnet in RPing, but it's not the R&D Team , it's the director of them. While in RP circles that means the Director is also a worker, but it's probably still an executive position.
I didn't realize that Carter was part of the editing team. I wonder if Greg Bilsland will replace her as Lead. I'm surprised he wasn't already.Why are you surprised?
From what I've seen, he does a lot of solid work and makes a lot of appearances on behalf of the game. I don't really know anything about Carter, but Bilsland seems like an easy choice for Lead Editor.
I wonder why no one ever provides sources of these "rumors".
I get all my stories from the Higgs Boson, but everytime I try to look it up for further info...
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From what I've seen, he does a lot of solid work and makes a lot of appearances on behalf of the game. I don't really know anything about Carter, but Bilsland seems like an easy choice for Lead Editor.I didn't realize that Carter was part of the editing team. I wonder if Greg Bilsland will replace her as Lead. I'm surprised he wasn't already.Why are you surprised?
According to her bio she's been editing at TSR and WOTC since 1992.
According to her bio she's been editing at TSR and WOTC since 1992 and is married to Bill Slavicsek.From what I've seen, he does a lot of solid work and makes a lot of appearances on behalf of the game. I don't really know anything about Carter, but Bilsland seems like an easy choice for Lead Editor.I didn't realize that Carter was part of the editing team. I wonder if Greg Bilsland will replace her as Lead. I'm surprised he wasn't already.Why are you surprised?
Ahhhhh. I wonder if one of them was laid off and the other chose to leave his or her job because of a planned move or some such.
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That's the beauty of having private ownership. There is no publicly available asset share to buy. Lisa and Vic are the only owners of Paizo, so they are the only ones from which it can be bought. If they don't want to sell it, there is nothing to buy. :)
You are completely underestimating the power of Klondike ice cream bars.
Maybe Hasbro will buy Pathfinder, and make that 5e??Unlikely. For starters, Pathfinder is not for sale.
Mechanics wise, mostly they wouldn't need to buy anything... so I hope Wizards sticks to the WoW type editions, and we can all continue supporting Paizo! :)
Some unknown company has licensed rights to make a star wars rpg IIRC.How unfortunate. With his history I'm sure Bill won't have trouble doing something else if he's so inclined. I would think this cements the non-future of any further Star Wars products? He was the walking SW encyclopedia, after all.
It's interesting you mention Stephen and Michelle as well. That's "Director", "Lead" and "Senior" titles. Smells of cutting based upon salary savings, or a shake-up in product direction, or both. Seems troubling, especially since it's not even Christmas yet.... :-|
Star Wars d20ish by Paizo would be soooo awesome.
so I hope Wizards sticks to the WoW type editions
Let's not do this, shall we?
WotC usually doesn't fire people before announcing a new edition.
They do that *after* the new edition is out. ;)
My feeling too. Who would write it if they are laying off people?
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so I hope Wizards sticks to the WoW type editionsLet's not do this, shall we?
Flag and ignore. Your ulcer will thank you.
It probably means something big. 5E is one possibility; a new direction for 4E and/or DDI is equally possible. The only certainty is that with new people will come a new focus.The implication that this means a new edition is still just wild internet speculation though.I don't think anyone disagrees. In fact, I specifically stated as much upthread. ;)
Maintenance is a possibility as well. Editions have historically done better if you really wait for a long time - get it to the point where the whole fanbase is eager for something new. While I generally think that Hasbro gets more blame for WotC decisions then is at all warranted it is worth pointing out that Hasbro is no stranger at all to sitting on a brand name for very long periods before making a move to put it back into play with a lot of fan fair, they are good at it and it has made them fortunes in the past.
If they bring things down to 4 or 5 books a year, a few bigger more jazzed up releases and keep up with the DDI they can insure that the product makes enough to be viable and then you just wait for demand to build for the new edition. Takes years but the money you make in the end may well be worth it.
Another reason to suspect that 5E is still some ways off is that Essentials did not appear to do as well as expected. One of the books in the Essentials line go cancelled shortly after the first few books hit the market and other products got cut back. Much of that material was later released on DDI and some got put back on the schedule but it seems pretty clear that the customers are not buying in the numbers hoped and that would indicate that there is no appetite at this time for a new edition.
All that said I'm still hoping for a perpetual evolving game model based on the DDI.
Hmmm....as much as i hate Bill's work and his destruction of whatever he gets his hands on, i am sad that a man lost a job. Hope that Paizo doesn't take him in though.
He created TORG, and for that he will always be on my good side. Let's hope he lands on his feet!
Maintenance is a possibility as well. Editions have historically done better if you really wait for a long time - get it to the point where the whole fanbase is eager for something new. While I generally think that Hasbro gets more blame for WotC decisions then is at all warranted it is worth pointing out that Hasbro is no stranger at all to sitting on a brand name for very long periods before making a move to put it back into play with a lot of fan fair, they are good at it and it has made them fortunes in the past.
If they bring things down to 4 or 5 books a year, a few bigger more jazzed up releases and keep up with the DDI they can insure that the product makes enough to be viable and then you just wait for demand to build for the new edition. Takes years but the money you make in the end may well be worth it.
Another reason to suspect that 5E is still some ways off is that Essentials did not appear to do as well as expected. One of the books in the Essentials line go cancelled shortly after the first few books hit the market and other products got cut back. Much of that material was later released on DDI and some got put back on the schedule but it seems pretty clear that the customers are not buying in the numbers hoped and that would indicate that there is no appetite at this time for a new edition.
All that said I'm still hoping for a perpetual evolving game model based on the DDI.
Going into a maintenance mode does seem more likely than 5E this close to the release of Essentials. That or the formal release of the VTT and a greater focus on DDI now that all of the tools are more or less in place.
It was just something I heard at FreeRPG day...like I said rumors...
How reliable is your source? Personally, I never believe anyone who doesn't have a neckbeard thread-count of at least 800.
;-)
so I hope Wizards sticks to the WoW type editionsLet's not do this, shall we?
You love it and you know it.
Going into a maintenance mode does seem more likely than 5E this close to the release of Essentials. That or the formal release of the VTT and a greater focus on DDI now that all of the tools are more or less in place.
That's kind of what I'm thinking too. 4e isn't that old at all, it's barely 3 years old. They just brought Essentials out not too long ago, so that right there was the "directional change", I don't see them doing that again so soon.
I'm all about a 5e coming, but I'm not deluded enough to think it'd be anytime soon.
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Hmmm....as much as i hate Bill's work and his destruction of whatever he gets his hands on, i am sad that a man lost a job. Hope that Paizo doesn't take him in though.Bill did a great work in the times of 2nd Ed.
That was 2nd edition. He ruined everything that could be ruined in 3rd edition and other d20 systems he got his hands on, expect d20 modern which wasn't a complete failure and was quite fun for a while...especially star wars, until somebody wizened up and made the SAGA edition.
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Would it be wrong of me to point out at this point that there are other reasons to leave a job then being "laid off" or "fired"?
If 5e comes out, I plan to stick with Pathfinder for a long time. 3.5 is a good system. Paizo just made it better with Pathfinder.
If 5e comes out and I find it a good, fun game, I'll gladly play it alongside PF. I don't see any reason to dedicate one's self exclusively to one game(finances permitting). We played Star Wars Saga Edition for years right alongside 3.5/PF on different nights.
Whats most thoughtworthy is that the next edition war will stand between conservative 4th-lovers who lament that the clear party roles and the mini-focused classes are gone, and the 5dventure-crowd...
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That was 2nd edition. He ruined everything that could be ruined in 3rd edition and other d20 systems he got his hands on, expect d20 modern which wasn't a complete failure and was quite fun for a while...especially star wars, until somebody wizened up and made the SAGA edition.Hmmm....as much as i hate Bill's work and his destruction of whatever he gets his hands on, i am sad that a man lost a job. Hope that Paizo doesn't take him in though.Bill did a great work in the times of 2nd Ed.
For one thing, that is a harsh judgment and methinks unfounded.
For another, you seem to think that game design is one person job. It isn't. One person, no matter how creative or anticreative can not do anything by herself or himself in any job that requires any amount of creativity. Every finished product is a team effort. Slaviscek may have been the guiding hand on projects that you despise, but my knowledge of publishing industry, even as small as Serbia's publishing is, tells me that whatever he did for good or ill, he didn't do it alone.