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Mike Mearls Laid off From WotC! Other Also Let Go During the XMas Purge

Started by GhostNinja, December 12, 2023, 08:36:23 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Shipyard Locked

Quote from: honeydipperdavid on December 13, 2023, 09:54:34 AM
MTG sales are up 20%

Given how shitty MTG has been lately, this stat makes me scowl at the consumers responsible for it.

Last few booster packs I  bought were full of smudgy, dusty, blurry excuses for cards. The mechanics on them weren't much better either.

Brad

Quote from: Shipyard Locked on December 13, 2023, 03:32:21 PM
Given how shitty MTG has been lately, this stat makes me scowl at the consumers responsible for it.

Last few booster packs I  bought were full of smudgy, dusty, blurry excuses for cards. The mechanics on them weren't much better either.

You can blame people like me for that. I haven't played Magic for well over 10 years but dropped $100 on a couple LotR sets. I imagine there are tons of people buying up the Dr. Who sets, Jurassic World, and whatever else they have slated. Literally just collectible cards that will probably sit on a shelf unplayed since I have yet to even use the ones I did get, I play the online version and scanned the code.
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

Cathode Ray

Quote from: honeydipperdavid on December 13, 2023, 09:54:34 AM
MTG sales are up 20%, however WotC's revenue only rose by 3% this quarter, I wonder what is dragging down WotC's profitability - eyeing D&D failing sales.
Factoring in inflation, 3% is a revenue loss!
Resident 1980s buff msg me to talk 80s

THE_Leopold

Quote from: GeekyBugle on December 13, 2023, 03:27:14 PM


Low toy sales hurt Hasbro, which in turn puts more pressure in WotC, but as far as I know WotC doesn't make toys. Unless you count the minis and terrain at 3 dollars a pop in Ollies.

I stocked up on stocking stuffers for pennies on the dollar and giving all those products to people.  why? Cause each product was $2. The lil pogs and terrain are worth it it, the case is portable and the card stock is quality.

NKL4Lyfe


Venka

Quote from: Brad on December 13, 2023, 03:37:23 PM
[You can blame people like me for that. I haven't played Magic for well over 10 years but dropped $100 on a couple LotR sets.



You know there was something about that set that didn't make want to own a box or whatever.


honeydipperdavid

Quote from: GeekyBugle on December 13, 2023, 03:27:14 PM
Quote from: honeydipperdavid on December 13, 2023, 10:21:15 AM
Quote from: Reckall on December 13, 2023, 10:07:33 AM
Quote from: honeydipperdavid on December 13, 2023, 09:54:34 AM
MTG sales are up 20%, however WotC's revenue only rose by 3% this quarter, I wonder what is dragging down WotC's profitability - eyeing D&D failing sales.

I think that the biggest hit was making toys tied to Disney movies.

Toys hurt them, but they just got their cut from BG3 sales for D&D, and gee somehow WotC only had a 3% yoy revenue growth.  It likely means that D&D is tanking and tanking very hard and hurting WotC's overall sales.

Low toy sales hurt Hasbro, which in turn puts more pressure in WotC, but as far as I know WotC doesn't make toys. Unless you count the minis and terrain at 3 dollars a pop in Ollies.

This is what people keep missing you read this:

MTG is up 20%
Wotc is only up 2%

Out of their divisions, the cash dump is D&D, that is what most likely ate MTG's lunch and took MTG's 20% profit and lowered it to 2% for all of Wotc.  Now given, a good portion of that has got to be for the digital push of D&D but the other good portion is their shit books aren't selling and that is tanking everything.  Their 50 year publishing deal is dead, I don't buy WotC did this voluntarily.  You don't drop a business partner of that long because you have very favorable trade terms due to negotiations every couple of years to maintain.

Venka

I know it's not normally a thing to discuss here, but I'll point out that two of the latest book offerings- Glory of the Giants and Book of Many Things - both offer AD&D 2e-esque levels of power creep in one particular dimension, the Background

In 5e, the PHB tells you, right before the sample background list, To customize a background, you can replace one feature with any other one, choose any two skills, and choose a total of two tool proticiencies or languages from the sample backgrounds.
Each of the sample backgrounds then has a background feature, helpfully labelled Feature.
The fact that you are intended to make your own background hasn't stopped the 5e community from being confused about that and using the preexisting ones as if they are like, classes or feats- reasonably immutable things.

The latest books offer a Feat as part of their new backgrounds.  One of them, Rewarded, grants you a pick from a list that includes Lucky, an extremely powerful feat.

Now, maybe their ideal table exists- the DM runs everything dndbeyond, the DM is fine with whatever the players bring, and the players can only add stuff from books to their dndbeyond sheet if they buy the book.  In that world, the book is essentially pay2win, and while I'm sure WotC knows that this is a very small percent of table, maybe they had that thought, you know?

Anyway, I'm not 100% sure that's why. Splatbooks tend to powercreep like crazy at the end of any edition, and we are staring at 5.5 in just a few months here.  So it could just be that.

Reckall

While it is true that BG3 was an unexpected raft for Hasbro, let's not forget how it could also hurt their VTT initiative.

I stopped following BG3 shortly after launch due to family matters but I still remember a statement made by Larian at the time. Paraphrasing:

"We don't plan to devote [to BG3] the effort needed to turn it into a VTT. However, the opportunity to do so is in the code. A group of talented modders, given enough time and patience, can achieve this result."

At once, everyone and his dog remembered how a "minor" part of the OGL fiasco was that, under the new rules, only Wizards/Hasbro could program VTTs for D&D. This was repelled and - if things didn't change while I was away - now their VTT initiative could be in jeopardy. Also, WotC wanted a model riddled with microtransactions (of course), while Larian doesn't. It will be interesting to see how things will evolve.
For every idiot who denounces Ayn Rand as "intellectualism" there is an excellent DM who creates a "Bioshock" adventure.

GeekyBugle

Updated list of the people fired:

Dan Dillon Pronoun Wearer
Mike Mearls Woke
Chris Lindsay ???
Liz Schuh Woke White Liberal Woman
Bree Heiss Woke
Natalie Egan ??? Probably not?
Amy Dallen Pronoun Wearer
Jesse Hill ??? Probably not? Posted only MtG shit
Larry Frum ???
Eytan Bernstein Pronoun Wearer
Deserae Dawn Pronoun Wearer Blue haired Feminazi landwhale
Vanessa Cuanan ???
Michael Rexford Pronoun Wearing suporter of Burn Loot Murder
Ellie Lockhart (It's a man man!) Pronoun wearer
Jana Hodgins ???
Megan Galbraith Donahue ???
Mike Vaillancourt ???
David McDarby Pronoun Wearer, pro "Muh Represhentashun!"
Paul Cheon ???
Quote from: Rhedyn

Here is why this forum tends to be so stupid. Many people here think Joe Biden is "The Left", when he is actually Far Right and every US republican is just an idiot.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

― George Orwell

Brad

Quote from: Venka on December 13, 2023, 06:07:41 PM
You know there was something about that set that didn't make want to own a box or whatever.

Yeah, there are multiple things about the set that are obnoxious and fucktarded, but I watched some videos that detailed The One Ring mechanics and decided why not...Magic actually IS a fun game, but only if you actually play Magic. Some of the videos I've seen are nothing more than "how can I win this game instantly" instead of playing a card game. There was one video with Richard Garfield playing with some champion. power guys or whatever and his face is just, "WTF is going on here," like he couldn't believe what was happening. ANYWAY, they got me, what can I say.
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

GeekyBugle

McFarlane Toys to produce action figures for Hasbro



Either Hasbro is in worst shape than we think or they want to switch from toys to video games.
Quote from: Rhedyn

Here is why this forum tends to be so stupid. Many people here think Joe Biden is "The Left", when he is actually Far Right and every US republican is just an idiot.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

― George Orwell

honeydipperdavid

Quote from: GeekyBugle on December 13, 2023, 09:59:51 PM
McFarlane Toys to produce action figures for Hasbro



Either Hasbro is in worst shape than we think or they want to switch from toys to video games.

Come on now, we are talking about Hasbro, they want to switch from toys to buttplugs.

Grognard GM

Quote from: honeydipperdavid on December 13, 2023, 10:01:25 PM
Quote from: GeekyBugle on December 13, 2023, 09:59:51 PM
McFarlane Toys to produce action figures for Hasbro



Either Hasbro is in worst shape than we think or they want to switch from toys to video games.

Come on now, we are talking about Hasbro, they want to switch from toys to buttplugs.

Any toy's a buttplug if you're brave enough.
I'm a middle aged guy with a lot of free time, looking for similar, to form a group for regular gaming. You should be chill, non-woke, and have time on your hands.

See below:

https://www.therpgsite.com/news-and-adverts/looking-to-form-a-group-of-people-with-lots-of-spare-time-for-regular-games/