| 8 people marked this as a favorite. |
The recent departure of two long-time Paizo employees has generated a great deal of public discussion, including a series of accusations critical of the company’s management that range back several years. While Paizo cannot discuss personnel issues in public, we wish to strongly reaffirm the company’s commitment to the ideals of inclusiveness and diversity in gaming, both within our company and in the products we create.
From the day the company opened back in 2002 all the way to the present, POC and LGBTQIA+ contributors and staff have been a critical part of our creative and business operations, and our company has been at the forefront of these issues in the work we publish and the values we espouse.
We are committed to these values and work to do better every day, backed up by a tremendous staff at all levels of the company, all of whom share the values of inclusivity, diversity, and improvement. We are also working actively to listen to those employees and take additional steps to ensure that they feel their voices are being heard. By doing so, we believe we have become better now than we were 5 years ago, and that we will be better 5 years from now than we are today.
--Jeff
| 61 people marked this as a favorite. |
Jeff with the accusations against you and other members of management for not listening to those individuals, it would be best for Paizo if you stepped down, and this statement will probably not get the responses you want.
Even if the allegation against you are false it brings bad attention to the company, which if you truly care about it, you dont want.
| 80 people marked this as a favorite. |
1189 characters yet nothing was said at all.
| 51 people marked this as a favorite. |
Actions speak louder than words. I’d like to know what actions you and Tonya have taken personally to empower staff and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion at Paizo.
| 32 people marked this as a favorite. |
These words ring empty and hollow without showing that any steps are being taken to fix the problems that have been revealed.
| 32 people marked this as a favorite. |
I would like to see more clear, actionable steps put forward by the company. This is pretty empty. Even if you just wanted to throw something up to stop the bleeding, a "we're going to discuss this internally and come back with the steps we're going to take" would be better.
| 27 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Recent departure" certainly is... one of the ways this could've been phrased. Starting the public statements with misleading passive descriptions of what happened really isn't giving me much hope for a proper response here.
| 47 people marked this as a favorite. |
All that statement is missing is a 5% promo code WELOVEU*
* not applicable to subscriptions and non-Paizo PDFs
| 38 people marked this as a favorite. |
This says nothing, Jeff. We’re all aware of Paizo’s stated values; that’s not what this outcry is about.
Not sure why you bothered with this when it’s talking past literally all of the concerns.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.
Can you get them to issue a statement backing that up?
| 55 people marked this as a favorite. |
Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.
'I can't be homophobic, I have gay friends' is not, and never has been, a free pass. We have at least 2 people corroborating this. You're going to have to do better than 'I didn't do it and it's absurd to say that I did'.
| 10 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm less offended by boilerplate statements, PR dumps, and attorney-combed blurbs than most folks are. And I think this is pretty bad.
You're going to leave your employees individually to deal with the fallout from Sara's firing, Jessica's allegations, and all the extra stuff it will stir up. I don't think you're doing what you need to be for your employees.
|
| 14 people marked this as a favorite. |
This is a painfully shallow, disappointing and tone deaf response Jeff. You had the opportunity to get out in front of this, address concerns and more importantly list actual actions that would be taken. You instead gave the scandal 101 corporate response that says nothing and promises vague and I’ll defined attempts to be better. I was withholding dropping my subs waiting on Paizo’s response. Nothing in your statement has convinced me to hold onto those. In fact that lukewarm response with its tepid promise to be better I’m five years than you are today is pushing me further in the opposite direction. While it may have been hopelessly bait of me to think Paizo was better than this I genuinely hoped the culture was representative of the inclusive and progressive work found in your books. This canned response does not support that. I will watch for a more nuanced and perhaps detailed response in the coming days following GenCon, failing that I will be cancelling my subs and moving on.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm less offended by boilerplate statements, PR dumps, and attorney-combed blurbs than most folks are. And I think this is pretty bad.
You're going to leave your employees individually to deal with the fallout from Sara's firing, Jessica's allegations, and all the extra stuff it will stir up. I don't think you're doing what you need to be for your employees.
They can't discuss Sara as it's against the law in Washington.
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
This really isn't getting the scope of the problem, I feel. Bigotry is only one of the problems; the treatment of employees is another that was barely touched on. Many of us also want to know HOW you're going to listen to employees to make the company better. Simply saying you'll listen feels dismissive, as was just stating Paizo's inclusivity mission.
Saying things is one thing. Doing it is another. We want action, not platitudes.
| 18 people marked this as a favorite. |
Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.
Sir, the issue is no matter what, you are only bringing bad publicity to Paizo now. Your empty statement doesnt talk about any actionable steps you or the rest of Paizo are going to take, just what you have done, and one of the allegations is that of taking credit while pushing back on those same ideas. Even if the allegations are false, the doubt will linger in people's minds. When this happens the company needs some kind of change to restore faith. Whether that is an independent investigation of all the claims with transparent reporting of the findings, or a change in leadership that is considered problematic at this time by public perceptions.
| 25 people marked this as a favorite. |
Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.
“I have gay friends” is your play here? Really?
We’ve now upgraded from not talking about the issue to calling those making allegations liars?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
It's good enough for me, coupled with JB response on the GCP discord and Mona's recent reply on the reddit.
GCP discord isn't really public, is it?
| 15 people marked this as a favorite. |
I respect and admire your company for it's past public record on crucial issues.
However, this response falls far short of the professionalism of a company whom I did respect. You do yourself and your employees no credit with such a bland, empty and meaningless response.
This will not die down, bare minimum the company needs to lay out steps and changes it is going to make, and that still may not be enough to change peoples demands for people to step down. But if you don't do this, the pressure is only going to grow.
To say I am disappointed is an understatement.
| 9 people marked this as a favorite. |
Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.Sir, the issue is no matter what, you are only bringing bad publicity to Paizo now. Your empty statement doesnt talk about any actionable steps you or the rest of Paizo are going to take, just what you have done, and one of the allegations is that of taking credit while pushing back on those same ideas. Even if the allegations are false, the doubt will linger in people's minds. When this happens the company needs some kind of change to restore faith. Whether that is an independent investigation of all the claims with transparent reporting of the findings, or a change in leadership that is considered problematic at this time by public perceptions.
Not that I think it's relevant in this situation, but the idea that someone needs to resign over accusations because doubt may linger is a really bad one.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
It's good enough for me, coupled with JB response on the GCP discord and Mona's recent reply on the reddit.links to those please.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
It's good enough for me, coupled with JB response on the GCP discord and Mona's recent reply on the reddit.
Can you quote Bulmahn for us? Most here are likely not on the discord.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
They can't discuss Sara as it's against the law in Washington.I'm less offended by boilerplate statements, PR dumps, and attorney-combed blurbs than most folks are. And I think this is pretty bad.
You're going to leave your employees individually to deal with the fallout from Sara's firing, Jessica's allegations, and all the extra stuff it will stir up. I don't think you're doing what you need to be for your employees.
Whoops. I was just going to say "the fallout from Jessica's allegations" but I wasn't sure that was the full scope of the discourse they might get saddled with.
Anyways. People are gonna be left holding their own bags here, and that's a failure on Paizo's part right now.
|
|
| 12 people marked this as a favorite. |
Not that I think it's relevant in this situation, but the idea that someone needs to resign over accusations because doubt may linger is a really bad one.Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.Sir, the issue is no matter what, you are only bringing bad publicity to Paizo now. Your empty statement doesnt talk about any actionable steps you or the rest of Paizo are going to take, just what you have done, and one of the allegations is that of taking credit while pushing back on those same ideas. Even if the allegations are false, the doubt will linger in people's minds. When this happens the company needs some kind of change to restore faith. Whether that is an independent investigation of all the claims with transparent reporting of the findings, or a change in leadership that is considered problematic at this time by public perceptions.
What people are looking for with a resignation is accountability.
As Jeff's presented no plan of action or clarification, then the call for replacements and resignations won't go away quickly with a boiler plate denial and defaulting to "some of my friends are gay".| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Not that I think it's relevant in this situation, but the idea that someone needs to resign over accusations because doubt may linger is a really bad one.Accusations that I have used offensive slurs about members of the staff are categorically FALSE. Many LGBTQIA+ members of the Paizo staff are close friends of mine, and I would never talk that way about anyone on our staff or in our community.Sir, the issue is no matter what, you are only bringing bad publicity to Paizo now. Your empty statement doesnt talk about any actionable steps you or the rest of Paizo are going to take, just what you have done, and one of the allegations is that of taking credit while pushing back on those same ideas. Even if the allegations are false, the doubt will linger in people's minds. When this happens the company needs some kind of change to restore faith. Whether that is an independent investigation of all the claims with transparent reporting of the findings, or a change in leadership that is considered problematic at this time by public perceptions.
As the head of this company he is responsible for any and all actions taken durig his time as president. How he responds to situations sets the public perception of the company. The allegations leveled against him are serious ones. In cases like this a lot of management step aside so as not to bring the company down amid allegations.
| 17 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hey Jeff, I just wanted to thank you for this. Because after Mona and Bulmahn's decent responses I thought this might all blow over for a minute, but then I see this and my faith is restored that no one is going to let this slide.
| 13 people marked this as a favorite. |
| 12 people marked this as a favorite. |
At least Erik took the accusations head on and came off as reasonable.
Jeff, this response is unbecoming of the company. As others have noted, you'd have been better off saying nothing.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
It's good enough for me, coupled with JB response on the GCP discord and Mona's recent reply on the reddit.Can you quote Bulmahn for us? Most here are likely not on the discord.
Wasn't a statement more of a response... but here goes
"It's fine folks, its a serious matter. I can't talk about it, tbh, but I support you all voicing your thoughts and concerns. If you feel the need to remove me from this community, for your safety, I respect that. I have nothing but goodwill and respect for all of you. And while I can deny all the things said about me, it's impossible to prove a negative. As for the other issues, they are serious and we are having a lot of serious discussion internally about them. I am using my place in the company to push for a better Paizo everyday, and will continue to do so. That's about all I got here. Carry on."
| 25 people marked this as a favorite. |
Erik and JB's replies were reasonable. As someone that knows way too many actual Nazis and white supremacists due to my past and my volunteer work and is brought on by media organizations as an expert on extremism and deradicalization, Erik Mona doesn't smack of anything of the sort.
The OP in this thread, however... was not good. Not good at all. It said nothing about seriously trying to change the issues that led to this.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
I could understand a response that was like:
"I'm very confident these allegations are untrue."
or a response like:
"These allegations are shocking and we will investigate."
But this? I mean, come on. Come on.