Ryan Dancey: WotC in Death Spiral
Ubiquitous
Subject: [ADND-L] Ryan Dancey: WotC in Death Spiral
Date: 4/9/09 11:31:01 AM
From: "Mark Oliva" <mark....@STEIGERWALDEDV.DE>
To:ADN...@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU
Ryan Dancey, the former WotC vice president who:
1. Handled the TSR acquisition,
2. Created the Open Game License
3. Created (the already murdered) d20 (TM) system,
Says in part:
This is a classic example of Death Spiral. As things go bad,
the regressive forces inside the organization (lawyers,
commissioned sales people, creative folk who feel stifled by
history, precariously tenured executives) are increasingly
able to exert their agenda. It always makes a bad situation
worse, but there's no magic bullet that would likely make
the bad situation better so you get a rapid unbalance
in the Corporate Force towards the Dark Side.
<SNIP>
Wizards is about to be forced into the D&D end-game which is
something that many publishers have gone through but none ever
with a game the scale and impact of D&D (TSR walked right up
to this cliff but WotC saved them from going over the edge).
To read all of this extremely interesting analysis from someone who
knows the RPG business like few others, go to:
http://www.enworld.org/index.php?page=news
--
It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.
decalod85
> -------- Begin forwarded message --------
> Subject: [ADND-L] Ryan Dancey: WotC in Death Spiral
> Date: 4/9/09 11:31:01 AM
> To:ADN...@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU
>
> Ryan Dancey, the former WotC vice president who:
>
> 1. Handled the TSR acquisition,
> 2. Created the Open Game License
> 3. Created (the already murdered) d20 (TM) system,
>
> Says in part:
>
> This is a classic example of Death Spiral. As things go bad,
> the regressive forces inside the organization (lawyers,
> commissioned sales people, creative folk who feel stifled by
> history, precariously tenured executives) are increasingly
> able to exert their agenda. It always makes a bad situation
> worse, but there's no magic bullet that would likely make
> the bad situation better so you get a rapid unbalance
> in the Corporate Force towards the Dark Side.
>
> <SNIP>
>
> Wizards is about to be forced into the D&D end-game which is
> something that many publishers have gone through but none ever
> with a game the scale and impact of D&D (TSR walked right up
> to this cliff but WotC saved them from going over the edge).
>
> To read all of this extremely interesting analysis from someone who
> knows the RPG business like few others, go to:
>
> http://www.enworld.org/index.php?page=news
Well, these things happen in threes. I thought it would be Steve
Jackson next, but it appears the next to pass is D&D itself...
It seems fitting that D&D probably won't outlive Gygax and Arneson for
long.
w4nder1...@gmail.com
D&D Died when they put out the Fourth CoughWOW tabletop RPGCough
Edition. It stopped being D&D then.
Peter Knutsen
> Well, these things happen in threes. I thought it would be Steve
> Jackson next, but it appears the next to pass is D&D itself...
SJ Games as a whole? Or just GURPS?
> It seems fitting that D&D probably won't outlive Gygax and Arneson for
> long.
--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org
tussock
So, 4e isn't selling that well: corporate press says PHB2 sold out,
but they're in public panic mode over 3k digital copies, and a few
retailers are bitching that books are sitting on the shelf and not moving.
Heh, and to think, they're planning on giving us actual multiclass
characters in the PHB3. They expect me to pay to read their adds about
the concept, which is quite funny, though I guess some suckers don't get
the joke.
Ah well, it's a shame, I'd have rather seen them survive the
experience and produce something better next time. Oh well, long live the
ogl, long live Pathfinder, long live Paizo.
Heh. "Wizards of the Coast will also release a new Internet Sales
Policy on April 6." <pdf sales killed Apr 6> "I know it's the 6th of
April and I can definitely see how the two would appear linked, but the
truth is, this is a completely seperate matter." Yea, /sure/ it is. 8]
--
tussock
U'm iuel p jyx yn chycyipwlaf kyd blvlr ebyg ghpw kyd'rl sdbbp slw.
keith....@gmail.com
>
> To read all of this extremely interesting analysis from someone who
> knows the RPG business like few others, go to:
>
> http://www.enworld.org/index.php?page=news
I notice the link is expired (or rather, replaced with newer news),
and the 'read older posts' link doesn't work. Have you got a
permalink for this story?
Thanks,
Keith
Harold Groot
wrote:
>On Apr 9, 5:36=A0pm, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>>
>> To read all of this extremely interesting analysis from someone who
>> knows the RPG business like few others, go to:
>>
>> http://www.enworld.org/index.php?page=3Dnews
>
>I notice the link is expired (or rather, replaced with newer news),
>and the 'read older posts' link doesn't work. Have you got a
>permalink for this story?
>
>Thanks,
>Keith
The Ryan Dancey stuff is still on the first page (under April 9th).
keith....@gmail.com
> On Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:00:36 -0700 (PDT), keith.dav...@gmail.com
Ah, so it is. I'd missed it because I was skimming subjects, not
looking for 'Dancey'. Thanks.
Keith
smiti...@yahoo.com
Ya know, I'm all with the smiting of 4.Fail, even though we don't see
eye to eye on... well basically everything else.
But why the claims Paizo is actually any different in a relevant way?
Seriously, you were doing so well until you threw that lie in there.
skal...@aol.com
isn't he employed by them anymore?
Sounds like sour grapes from an ex-employee to me.
kru...@cox.net
great Job WotC is doing by how they pulled their PDF sales.
The future is so brite I got to wear shades
Ken
Gygax is to Gaming What Kirby was to comics
Alas poor Elric I was a thousand times more evil then you
WWBYD What would Brigham Young do
Stefan Beate
analysis. He does not stand to gain anything by writing this.
Stopping pdf sales will do next to nothing to prevent pirating,
moreover, it served once more to alienate the customers. Overall, it
looks like a typical panic reaction, disregarding the possible
ramifications.
And WotC just routinely fires some of its employees after a few years,
it seems, so this may be why Ryan Dancey is not working for them
anymore. I don´t think it has anything to do with his qualities.
Stefan
kru...@cox.net schrieb:
Tetsubo
Well, WotC does have a habit of jettisoning people as soon as they are
no longer immediately useful to them. Yet another aspect of their short
sighted business model.
--
Tetsubo
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