Tenkar's Tavern: Christmas in July? ENWorld Posts Rumors of WotC Layoffs

Monday, July 20, 2015

Christmas in July? ENWorld Posts Rumors of WotC Layoffs

There was a point where WotC was good for a Christmas Purge like clockwork. That kinda stopped / slowed down as D&D Next / 5e was getting it's polish.

Now that 5e is pretty much all outsourced for it's adventures and just about everything else, should it simply be called D&D OS (for "outsource" of course ;)

Anyway, it looks like art director Mark Painter is one of the victims of the latest round of WotC layoffs.

Read the thread over at ENWorld. It actually has a good list of what WotC is outsourcing these days in the comments section.

4 comments:

sycarionJuly 20, 2015 at 9:40 AM
Is this why we don't have an 3rd party license yet?
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AnonymousJuly 20, 2015 at 10:42 AM
Insane. Either they make so much money D&D is a side project (and thus they can afford some staff), or D&D makes a lot of money (and thus can afford some staff), or D&D loses money and someone needes to be auditted because that just doesnt grok.

Perhaps they should spin D&D (the tabletop rpg only) off into a semi-independant company. Wizards only really seems interested in the other aspects of the property (videogames, eyc).

At least thats mu opinion I coukd be wrong.
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AnonymousJuly 20, 2015 at 10:46 AM
I hope they have someone or some group working on additional monster books at least.
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Doc SavageJuly 20, 2015 at 2:23 PM
They already made the books. all they need is a printer. Why would they need a staff of many?
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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Monday, July 20, 2015

Christmas in July? ENWorld Posts Rumors of WotC Layoffs

4 comments:

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