Re: 2e Drow Deathspider

>I agree Pokemon is a root cause. They didn't plan for the obvious
>slump. But it's just that 'so what if we lose some, we get more'
>attitude which is destroying them. They could have posted the exact
>same article without slamming old players and I would have been
>happy. Just like they could have produced 3e without slamming old
>products. They didn't have to lose old players like myself. They
>could have had my money and your money too. They can sing the 'you
>are too picky' hymm all day long, but that won't make the layoffs go
>away.

You do make a really good point about that article.  It wouldn't have hurt
them to say 'there just wasn't enough room in polyhedron for everything in
spelljammer, so we had to leave some stuff out' instead of 'we took out the
silly stuff'.  That was pretty poorly handled on their part.

>Evidence:
>1. The merging of Polyhedron/Dungeon.
>2. The disappearance of Greyhawk Journal and the reduction of RPGA
>from a real resource for gamers (a magazine and module a year) into
>basically a method for WotC to accept donations from consumers. (RPGA
>offers nothing aside from convention Living campaigns now).
>3. Disappearance of Star Wars Gamer magazine.
>4. Two rounds of massive layoffs at WotC.

Others have already poked around that these are more signs of trouble in the
RPGA and a reorganization of WotC in general than they are evidence that the
company is on the verge of failure.  The RPGA and Star Wars mag were not
profitable.  As much as it sucks to have your favorite gaming line canceled,
even RPG's are a business, and if you're not making money from something
you're publishing, you've got to cut it off.  I'd rather see Star Wars Gamer
get the axe than have WotC lose money to publish it.

>These are all clear signs. Maybe it won't go under, but I certainly
>wouldn't bet on it. And like I said, given their treatment of old
>gamers, specifically the treatment of old gamers by new designers
>like Sean Reynolds or Andy Collins, I can't say I feel too bad.

I agree with you on some of this point.  I really like the 3e products I've
seen so far, and think the WotC stuff is the cream of the d20 crop.
However, most of it was in development back before a lot of the big names
left.  We've yet to see the products that this slimmed down staff puts out,
and there may well be a drop in quality.  I'm scared of the direction
chainmail may be going now that Chris Pramas is gone.  If production values
plumet, and quality falls, then, yes, the company will probably have a rough
go of things.  However, that does not appear to have happened as of yet.

But ultimately, we're talking Apples and Windows here.  I'm happy with the
direction WotC has been going.  I think 3e is the best thing since the red
box, and am fairly content with what's on the schedule for the next couple
months.  There are things they do that I don't care for, but for the most
part I'm a satisifed customer, and that fact colors my perception of their
success.  You seem to be in the opposite camp, unhappy with 3e and not
particularly fond of WotC's dropping of 2e players.  Seeing them fall on
their face would probably be poetic justice to you.  :)

Anyhow, I'll drop out of the discussion now.  It's not like either of us is
going to prove that WotC will last forever or fail tomorrow.  :)

Sebastian

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