Dungeons & Dragons Employees FIRED in Another Hasbro Purge!

[@DeathsjesterKMNP]

If they're the same employees that have spent the last few years hollowing out D&D to make it palatable to the "modern audience" by tearing out it's soul and everything that made it unique and interesting...good riddance!

[@Veteran_Nerd]

I know I shouldn't be happy because people lost their jobs, but after what they've done to DND (and other nerd stuff) over the years... F THEM!

[@3-2bravo49]

To hell with it, my fellow nerdy veteran. These people freaking hate us and they make no qualms about letting us know. How many times have these same people directly or indirectly told you to end yourself for liking or disliking something?

[@josuesepulveda6850]

​@@3-2bravo49 they hate the white,straight and male fan base that created and maintain the hobby for decades.

[@setoredan]

Really hope that sell that IP off to people/company that appreciates the history of Basic D&D and AD&D

[@robotlegs]

Worrying about people losing their jobs is just a way for people to use emotions to manipulate the market. Been at two companies that experienced major lay offs. It’s a frustrating and embarrassing day but the people get new jobs in short order unless it’s the middle of a recession. The result of a layoff is ultimately either that a good company is no longer weighed down by its least productive employees *OR* good employees are free from the constraint of their bad management. Either way it is a market correction and net good by the time it happens.

[@jrr3787]

You should absolutely be happy. There are no innocents working in an evil company like WOTCEE. The "Vhe vas just doing our jobs" excuse died 80 years ago.

[@TheMyrmo]

The OGL debacle was the end of WotC. This shit is just dragging out the inevitable.

[@falguard]

Hasbro doesn't want to make toys, WotC doesn't want to make games... Hiring Xbox people because you want your company to make video games is basically asking for self-destruction.

[@cachos-story-lab]

Yeah especially since even Microsoft is thinking about axing their XBox... Considering how they totalled Halo... It's no surprise. DEI is like watching a corporate version of one of those mass suicidal cults. I imagine much like those, the people imposing this stuff will probably course correct with all their competition turned into rubble and a ton of IP in their pocket.

[@TheOtherDerek]

Fun Fact: Hasbro is $3.7 billion in debt.

[@marcar9marcar972]

Good

[@OMAGAICE122]

​@@marcar9marcar972 indeed

[@NefariousKoel]

Brought it upon themselves. Hopefully they hit bottom so hard they have to sell off the game IPs they've ruined or ignored. There's a decent chance new owners would do better.

[@mikeg5039]

Modern audience didnt show up again eh? Lol

[@fridayrestday]

Say what 😮

[@RaisinBran-ir4iq]

If a company forces their employees to sign a non-disparaging contract, who the heck would believe a word out of said employee's mouth?

[@dantespicysausage9615]

But what about the ghey dwarves!? Whaaaat!? THAT didn't help them either!? Who could've guessed

[@harbl99]

"They're putting chemicals in the Bugmans that turn the freakin' dwarves!" -- Wastri, the frog prophet

[@EbenezerEibenhardt]

"Seems perfectly normal to me." -Blibdoolpoolp

[@Intercaust]

I would've bought all the new D&D, but they didn't have a trans orc. I have to draw the line somewhere.

[@MrKezzerdrix]

​@@IntercaustTBF I do dig the idea of orcs being mexican.

[@minakatahizuru]

​@@harbl99Alex is right

[@MnemonicHack]

I have all the 3.5 books I'll ever need. I require nothing else from DnD and WOTC. They'll never have any of my money again.

[@IRaoulDuke]

3.5 for life!!!

[@jackcarterog001]

Fire the CEO for allowing it to get this far

[@grantbarday5760]

Why? The Board of Directors agree with him.

[@slaapliedje]

It officially became lame after they decided the various character races were just cosplay humans.

[@crazyman8472]

“We’re Hasbro and WOTC, out of touch with greed…” 🤑

[@SeanBotha]

Not greed. They wanted to use it as a political tool. They lost money and now are desperate to make it profitable

[@Beesean05]

Hasbro 😡👎👎👎

[@sureberferber9101]

Hasbro: (*Rolls a 1) Hasbro Employees: NANI!?

[@JohnE9999]

I play 1st edition, have all the books, and don't give an f what WotC says or does.

[@strawberryhellcat4738]

Agreed - I run BECMI and have the books. For new content, I adapt material from a growing number of OSR creators. Our group's 3.5 and 5e DMs have switched to third party sources too. WotC has nothing we want or need.

[@Mordante69]

Amen. I still have ALL my TSR stuff from the 80s, D&D, AD&D hardbacks, Top Secret, Boot Hill, Gamma World, Gang Busters, Star Frontiers, Conan, and Advanced Marvel Super Heroes, along with others like Stormbringer, Pendragon, Call of Cthulhu, Star Trek, Talislanta, Ars Magica, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Chill, Judge Dredd etc. They can F-up all of it and it won't affect me because I have hard-copies along with 111 gigs of PDF scans.

[@jacobyrassilon]

@@Mordante69 Omg! Gamma World and Star Frontiers....I remember playing those games back in the day. Good memories!

[@murdockberk8888]

also have a large collection of pre-3e material. Last real big purchase I need to make is the three Priest Spell Compendiums. I can do it with less than half a paycheck, but 350-450$ is still a big drop

[@MrKezzerdrix]

​@@jacobyrassilonwhat is stopping you from playing now?

[@NorrisMilstead]

I'll celebrate when they file for bankruptcy..

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

DEI hires should be fired instead. Merit hires know that fantasy should be separated from reality. There is a chance stores will stop selling bloat products to make room for quality stuff.

[@tannhausergate7162]

Yeah, but if you are the right mix of creative, competent and driven, now is the time to try and get a competitor established. A property you control and make money with, rather than wasting your talent in service of Hasbro.

[@manubour]

The industry is by now far too plagued by them omnipresent at every decision step in management to get rid of them that easily

[@Mupyeong]

There are tons of competing franchises right now and new systems are created regularly. The merit workers should just walk out and do their own thing, advertise themselves as the classic DnD staff. Boom, people will flock to it.

[@RokuroCarisu]

I strongly doubt that those influencers were merit hires.

[@putitawo74]

I doubt there are any merit hires left. These companies tend to run them off pretty quickly.

[@steelmongoose4956]

There are amazing tabletop RPGs in the indie market these days. I prefer to support independent creators who love the hobby, rather than a soulless corporation that wants to change into a subscription model cash grab.

[@strawberryhellcat4738]

I ordered "Beyond Corny Gron" from Nerd Sirens yesterday. VERY highly recommended by Professor Dungeon Master. The art alone is worth getting the book, and the charts look completely next level. Plus, they have background ambience music available! The games from indie ttrpg creators are knocking it out of the park.

[@akumaking1]

D&D died a long time ago. Nothing-not even Baldur’s Gate or Dungeon Meshi-can save the franchise from the woke slop.

[@Yayofangamer16]

@@akumaking1 Baldur's Gate is woke, regard.

[@loke6664]

Did they license a Dungeon Meshi sourcebook or something? Because Dungeon Meshi is kinda the opposite of One D&D so I don't really see how it could help sell the new edition otherwise. But yeah, D&D have had a few too many strikes. Strike one was when they ousted Gygax, Strike 2 was when Wizards bought TSR, strike 3 was 4th edition and since then, it have been too many to count. There is nothing of the original game left any more besides a few very generic basic rules and Pathfinder is closer to D&D then D&D nowadays (still far off). At least they could license out the AD&D IP, a third edition by someone who cares would be nice. They have lost Critical roll and Larian now as well, their last 2 good sources for new players. The Grognars have either moved on to other systems or keep playing old editions so no sales there besides some small royalties for reprints and the "modern audience" is as usually not spending much money. Add to that the fact that 2024 is a very bad year to release DEI infested slop and they are in trouble now. All the recent scandals doesn't help them either. They are pretty much screwed now.

[@BaseDnD]

Wotc is not D&D D&D is not dead we just need to take it back

[@lyianx]

@@Yayofangamer16 Examples of this?

[@dashampelstielzchen1239]

​@@lyianxAll the characters look like the LARP-Club at your average californian university for example.

[@mistermysteryman107]

I am a gay man. I also refuse to partake in leftist horse shit messaging that has infected every single form of entertainment I used to enjoy.

[@glebtsoy4139]

Nice to meet a fellow non-BUYnary.

[@drackestalentorgen166]

Im a Demisexual and i fullhrartely agree with you

[@SPAMLANWALKER]

AGREED these crazy people seem to want to make what they do with they genitals thier whole life , sad gits

[@omlo9093]

Same, it's annoying. 😂

[@Rathkryn]

I got banned from DnDBeyond's forums because I posted that the artwork of an adventurer in a wheelchair was too much virtue signaling because the _Raise Dead_ spell brings someone back from the dead, but the _Regeneration_ spell apparently doesn't allow that adventurer to walk again. The mod said this was "Flaming" to justify the ban. Granted, the average farmer can't afford to have Regenerate cast on them. But, according to the artist, that wheelchair counters any detriments to not being able to walk. If the adventurer is thrown out a window, the wheelchair automatically casts _Feather Fall._ If he needs to go up stairs, the wheelchair automatically casts _Floating Disk._ That makes the wheelchair a magical artifact that would cost way more than Regenerate would. They're even changing _The Forgotten Realms_ lore to fit the woke. It's ridiculous.

[@tuorofgondolin8235]

DEI of the Coast. Shameful.

[@kematch935]

At least we won't hear from those idiots working at this once good company

[@AureoleWebweaver]

'associate influencer manager' wtf does that person even do🤣

[@kematch935]

@@AureoleWebweaver I have no idea, maybe ready to become the royal fool

[@LunarValkyria]

@@AureoleWebweaver from my understanding that position's role is to seek out content creators like youtubers and streamers to advertise for them and maintain relationships with CC for events and such. Problem with those though is they tend to prioritize people who think just like them and only give opportunities to those they deem worthwhile.

[@help_im_trapped_in_a_square]

Wizards will be back to screw up just wait for a month or so

[@RevanR]

"Prepare for trouble! And make it double!" -Clowfish TV crews I have my condolences for people that get laid off, but -Hasbro- WotC can't get away Scott free of this nickel and dime DnD

[@coffeelover7687]

I'm not a tabletop gamer but I have a lot of respect for DnD since It popularized RPGs which in turngave us some of the best video games ever made.

[@Meh-j9s]

Yep.

[@wolflordkanan9720]

I would say "The King is Dead" but this effing games been dead for years now

[@Brush4000]

I'm sure this news will inspire the modern audience to come and spend money on D&D. Any minute now. Annnnnny minute now.

[@TheBHAitken]

Are these the same people that were demeaning Magic the Gathering?

[@Neil.02]

Can you feel how SAD i am? Have they considered making something their (existing) audience ACTUALLY cares about?

[@Incab]

The Associate Influencer Manager got laid off? Oh noes! Never fear dear gamers. Plenty of sensitivity readers still on the rolls to keep you safe from scary words.

[@l33tninja1]

Well the people running wotc and hasbro want all AI and digital no workers so this is fine.

[@RollForTuraco]

Hope you feel better soon,Kneon

[@skyknight0408]

If Hasbro doesn't want to make tabletop, then why did they buy WotC in the first place? Let creators own their own IPs and iif that doesn't sell, let them die in peace instead of gobbling up all of their brand names and making them unrecognizable!

[@andrewtaylor940]

They also shitcanned John Warden, the main Creative Designer on Transformers Toys. They had just brought him back to the Transformers line after dispatching him to try and save the Power Rangers. He also has some hands on with GI Joe. Besides being an amazing toy designer, he was also the primary known voice out to the power Rangers and Transformers fan communities, and was known and respected by the Joe community. I'm kind of wondering or hoping that Bobby Vala might have his number (and be on decent terms with him) he seems to good to drive out of the business.

[@Lazy_Viking]

Companies have become insanely bloated. Despite ai and digitalization the office floor keeps growing. Whenever they are downsizing it's always the ppl on the bottom that has to go. People that go to work wearing a suit is never affected and there are so many of them. All those assisting junior consulting managers that they keep hiring without having anything for them to do.

[@Yayofangamer16]

BUCKBROKEN D&D

[@theghostofmaximumvolume3414]

Buck-back broken?

[@harbl99]

"No Tariq. Why? You only ever want to play modules A1-4!"

[@maragaretman2]

Brokebacken

[@AL-ws5yi]

It’s inevitable how they ran their company into the ground.

[@DanRamosDR]

Is Hasbro slowly transforming into just a legal holding company now?

[@simplysteve68]

They are U.N.I.C.R.O.N. Unbelievable Nothings In Completely Ruining Our NERDINESS!! 😡

[@jrr3787]

D&D died in 1989.

[@IlIIIlllIlIlllI]

As a DM I've tried to filter out the obvious parts of wokeness in pre-written modules as good as possible.

[@Hachaimenesch]

haven't touched any D&D products newer than AD&D 2nd edition. I wonder, just what the woke stuff would look like? Can you please provide an example? Are overweight Ogres of rather inventive genders with noserings, tattoos and blue or purple-colored hair a thing? I might introduce these to my current campaign as an invading force for some epic battles, like the players getting insulted until they go berserk 😂.

[@korbyynbear5592]

Was this guy one of the "we can't get rid of people like me fast enough" mentality?

[@cobinizer]

I am so sick of Halloween being erased by Christmas layoffs.

[@Incab]

Just dress up as Santa for Halloween. Should balance out.

[@guyyoung4388]

They've been making so much money on the magic arena that they want the same for d&d, and it's just not going to happen. d&d is totally a physical product

[@Underworlddream]

Best news I heard all day.

[@zimtage1744]

We're only at the beginning of an economic downturn and they're dropping like flies.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

the downturn began in 2021, we are well into it

[@blesseddrones9852]

It has been bad since 2008.

[@quietguyjosh4643]

Switched to pathfinder 2e almost 3 years ago But i just use whatever and make it up as we go Stopped buying dnd over 10yrs ago The game died with the late 90's early 00's

[@roygoodman1077]

This couldn't happen to a better group of people.

[@brandonknight7773]

The memory of D&D will not be forgotten, as well as the many many species it contains

[@barryon8706]

Unfortunate for the good people caught up in all this.

[@CJ-kg7yq]

The good people already left.

[@aikighost]

Once D&D One was announced me and my whole RPG group moved to the Dragonbane TTRPG instead.

[@NefariousKoel]

Fine choice! I've been impressed with it.

[@xdragoonzero0]

I spent possibly a bit too much money on physical books for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition because of this. I had looked into some other old school style D&d-like RPGs but there's just design philosophies I can't stand.

[@rodimussupreme2329]

John Warden is a guy that worked on Transformers during the late 2010’s and he got laid off, and the amount of people acting all sad like he died is pathetic.

[@pakeshde7518]

What are they going to have left less and less workers and more dei/ai workers to make product no one wants. I mean the rush to become bankrupt is impressive but they are killing games I like darn it.

[@Joemantler]

Gravy, Kneon, you still sound bad! Glad you made it through! I hope you get all better soon!

[@chrisbaker8533]

Oh no, how terrible, oh no... I'll stick with first and second edition, bleep wotc and hasbro.

[@Coconut-219]

Went looking for 'modern audiences', only found 'modern employment-status'.

[@project9701]

The only way that Hasbro can save D&D is to completely purge everything and start from scratch. Resurrect some of the older IPs like Eberon and Dark Sun and Spelljammer and Forgotten Realms and aim it squarely at the nerd gaming crowd. Anything else is just only going to make it's end more lingering.

[@harbl99]

They tried reviving _Spelljammer._ The three book memberberry farce they released had no ship combat or quick world generation rules! You know, the setting about exploring new worlds in your flying ship.

[@Jonathonconroy]

this brand is dead, and it's on the chopping block waiting to be sold for pennies on the dollar.

[@TheChaosOneX]

I saw someone crying that westmarch servers don't want to update to D24

[@Runfromsnek]

"we where together the whole time just not on air" Lmao. IDK what the rumors are but from just following YT videos of you guys...seems like a pretty solid marriage 💍

[@dashwhatchamakalit]

Looks like the 'i' and 'e' are starting to trade places for Hasbro's DEI BS.

[@jeffnichols5841]

Thank god I quit playing and paying for that stuff decades ago.

[@whitedude6602]

Glad you to hear from you k. Hope you get better quickly.

[@williambennett7935]

Time for your Weekly Woe from Wizards of the Coast

[@SchwererGustavThe800mm]

Damn, this sucks to hear.. I'm brand new to D&D and I was excited to play my first session... now I dunno If I want to anymore after finding out how gross WOTC are..

[@NefariousKoel]

Plenty of alternatives, many better at doing the same thing. Get some of the other many tabletop roleplaying games, you'll be happier with them.

[@ChaoticDarkness1]

Hopefully I can at least have an Armada Jetfire to combine with Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime before Hasblow finally goes out of business :3

[@harbl99]

Huh, that's really strange. Where is that "Why have us do any more of your imagining for you?" coming from? Why does it sound like Gary Gygax?

[@patrickdees5256]

It seriously aint WoTC's year

[@georgeawestjr.9087]

Glad you're feeling better, Kneon! 🤒

[@kalashnikovdevil]

Fucks given: 0 Come and take the books! Also try Castles & Crusades, Troll Lord Games was the last place Gary put his work in at.

[@conradojavier7547]

They're selling D&D on a Heritage Auction.

[@Darkwintre]

I take it their new edition isnt selling well then?

[@0Defensor0]

It would be funny if the fired people would set up a new company out of spite, and start blatantly plagiarizing Hasbro's stuff.

[@ditzydoo4378]

Pulling the strings... yes Kneon, Geeky is the puppet master. ^~^

[@Rathkryn]

Virtually everybody knows Critical Role's next campaign is going to be using Daggerheart instead of Dungeons & Dragons. And their viewers are a large chunk of the D&D player base. Just give it a few months for people to learn Daggerheart while watching Critical Role and there goes the fanbase.

[@frostreaper1607]

Let's see if it works out, their fandom is one of the worse around and has been vocally displeased, but the system looks interesting imo.

[@xdragoonzero0]

​@@frostreaper1607Outside of the game being so focused on "The Collective Narrative of the Game™", I like the whole aspect system but I feel like it just doesn't go in enough for me. I think when I looked at the playtest you ended up getting like 8 or so total "cards" but only used 5 or so used at a time by the higher levels. Considering some are passives and that there's a lot of early game cards you'd probably like to use your entire career, you can end with a bunch of stuff you would really like to use but can't because you're already full on the best stuff.

[@BertrumArthur]

I wonder if there are any members of M.A.D.D. still around, and are they aware of the state of things?

[@emeryweaver3796]

I think I'll call you fluorescent, kneon. Until your voice gets better.

[@Jan-v2m9o]

I don't think HASBRO wants to be in business AT ALL. Good thing they can't send the Pinlertons to collect all our D&D books.

[@marionneary1128]

Kneon & Geeky Sparkles✨together again they are like Oil & Vinegar😀

[@SixshotRevan]

Hasbro also laid off John Warden, a 25-year Hasbro veteran and head of the Transformers design team for the past 6 months. He had a heavy focus on G1 characters when he was head of the Transformers design team previously, but they rotated him to other company divisions for a few years. There are a few Transformers fans celebrating that Transformers won't be all-G1 all-the-time again, but I appreciated his work and think they're exaggerating. No idea what's happening internally for him to be gone now, and as far as I know, he's the only one gone from Transformers.

[@Wanderinpaladin]

Slap their names on everything.....Have you seen the Dungeons and Dragons Adventurer's Rations? It's a line of Beef Jerky from Mythical Meats.

[@size15shoeswinkwink]

Pathfinder is more fun anyway.

[@mythmakroxymore1670]

My nicest compliment on some of the art is that the Archfey Warlock is peak mystery, the Druid of the Stars is like the best in the book, right next to druid of the sea which… woah okay that’s on the same 2 pages XD. And then there’s the lady for the College of Lore Bard, she either looks like she was baking cookies or was part of one of those Glory choirs that sang Salve Regina all funky with clapping and all.

[@stue2298]

There is so much content out there for the various D&D editions that AI can use that to recreate that content for the latest edition or the AI can create ‘new’ stuff for D&D. It will be a lot cheaper to have D&D set up this way and who knows the AI written adventures could be better than the crap they have done in the last few years.

[@TaranTatsuuchi]

"IP! IP! IP!" They sure did piss away any goodwill they had...

[@lonesoul663]

All the changes they have made to DnD are lame.

[@Purplesubmariner]

And this is why our DM has been building his own TTRPG format to publish for the past few years

[@JustinJTime]

Thank goodness that nowadays we have a nice and decent plethora of pen and paper RPGs we have now. The biggest alternative is of course Pathfinder but their are many others like Everyday Heroes for modern settings, FATE for pretty much anything, etc. etc.

[@Ender7j]

D&D will never die as long as you have the books on a shelf and some dice to go with them. I still run 3.5 campaigns…

[@genial24]

Kneon ranting about DND I missed that, glad you are in better shape

[@GabrielBadwolf]

This sort of thing is exactly why we’re not getting a Baldur’s Gate 4 or at least not from Larian. Sven even made a supple dig at them talking about how mass layoffs like this is the result of bad planning and you end up loosing experienced people

[@conradojavier7547]

How will they Roleplay their Favorite Characters & their Matching Beard Tattoos?

[@kadishevdox]

Stop buying their stuff. Go to other games: Pathfinder, Shadowrun (personal favorite of mine), Call of Cthulhu, Mutants & Masterminds, Cyberpunk, etc. etc. Just walk away and you’ll be better off.

[@LB-yg2br]

Fun fact: I have spent ZERO dollars supporting anything DnD after 3.5 E and I ordered a bunch of old palladium books off eBay and even got a 30th anniversary edition of palladium rifts. My children won’t even know what DnD is. We will just play palladium fantasy , heroes unlimited and palladium rifts.

[@JustTooDamnHonest]

Not even Baldur's Gate 3 can save this disaster.

[@harbl99]

Larian: makes the first successful, talked-about D&D computer game in years. WOTC: "We don't do that here." [cuts ties]

[@JustTooDamnHonest]

@@harbl99 That was their biggest mistake.

[@yb554]

As someone who is still stuck at 3.5... I haven't seen this affect me.

[@justingraves1291]

Can't feel bad for DnD or WotC employees, these people are basically Enron Employees. 😂

[@ThePhoenix743]

I wasn't going to get the new version of the player's handbook because they changed up quite a bit of classes and only a couple truly benefitted from it. Most had light changes or horizontal power shifts, while some were given way less effort than they needed. Still lookin for the good Ranger! It would have been wiser to release the new books as a 5.5e if anything but they can't do that, theg have invested so much and have so many modules using the 5e system with their logo on it even so dropping 5e for a new edition would hurt them more than it would benefit them.

[@komocakeps527]

why did I read that title as Dungeons & Dragons Employees FIRED in Another World

[@aftermath21360]

Just remember, it's the CEO and board that took the company down the DEI road

[@jamesbarton1969]

The way to ruin a business is to put someone in charge who does not understand the business. CEOs are not interchangeable.

[@Dave_L913]

I have my hard cover printed books. If they want to go to the "everything online, you will own nothing" model, good luck

[@forgottenprime79]

This is why I love having old books.

[@aethertoast4320]

I don't think that you can enforce an "In Perpetuity" clauses in the US, especially when it comes to speech related things. You might not be able to for years, but eventually, courts will tell the one side to screw off.