WotC Penny Arcade and the layoffs.

[FitzTheRuke]

I just think it's funny that everybody thinks they know better than the people with the information that are making the decisions.

I would normally applaud any attempts to teach people to listen to experts. However, in cases like this, it often doesn't look like anyone knows what they're doing. It's just chaos.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I would normally applaud any attempts to teach people to listen to experts. However, in cases like this, it often doesn't look like anyone knows what they're doing. It's just chaos.

The people making those decisions aren't experts though.

 

[overgeeked]

I just think it's funny that everybody thinks they know better than the people with the information that are making the decisions. And then they try to present their obviously biased personal opinions as some type of journalism.

Corporate downsizing to boost profits for shareholders. Nothing more involved than that. They do know what they're doing. That makes it worse. Not better. They're greedy gits who care more about profit than the people involved or even the product. There's no need to charge to the defense of suits with fat bank accounts. They don't need defending. They certainly don't deserve any.

 

[Umbran]

I just think it's funny you think the people running these companies always know what they're doing.

So, herein lies one of the problems. Define "success".

Most of us here are basically working stiffs of various sorts. We can understand corporate desire for success, so long as it is defined in terms of "getting the nominal job we are here to do done."

Executive leadership has different measures of success. Getting the nominal job done is only one aspect of that success, and sometimes it isn't even the highest priority aspect. A lot of that has to do with stock prices, banks, and balance sheets, as others have outlined. They are working in different systems than most of us, with different rules.

So, those executives can know what they are doing. What they are doing may not even be a mistake - even when it has negative impact on getting the nominal job done. It just has little relation to our own notions of success.

The basic problem lies there - in how the financial frameworks corporations work in has gotten so divorced from getting those nominal jobs done.

 

[mamba]

I just think it's funny that everybody thinks they know better than the people with the information that are making the decisions.

because WotC has such a stellar record for decision making

 

[LordEntrails]

Cool, cool. So we can safely assume that you have never, and will never made any type of comment regarding any kind of news or event?

You can safely assume I've never claimed to be an authority on gossip. Cuz that's pretty much all this opinion piece is.

There are plenty of academic writings that studied, from an expert position, the impact of layoffs and has concluded that most of them were disasters as implemented.

And we won't know the truth of this lay-off until it is evaluated by experts in hindsight of time and information. Nothing coming out now has any of that. No one has a complete picture, or even a comprehensive one. It's all just emotional reactions. "Ooh, corporation evil, see proof!"

I just think it's funny you think the people running these companies always know what they're doing.

Never maid such a claim. But given the successful track record of WotC/Hasbro it really hard to argue that they don't. i.e. they are in business, generally making money, generally growing. Let's see all the naysayers manage a similar feat.

I would normally applaud any attempts to teach people to listen to experts. However, in cases like this, it often doesn't look like anyone knows what they're doing. It's just chaos.

That's because we the public don't know more than gossip and a few individual points of view. Hence why claiming to know if this is good or bad, motivated by greed or anything else at this time is just BS.
Sure, I get it, we are now a world of near-real-time information and the half formed opinions that come with it. It's the power and potential of the internet for world peace and justice for all. But until the masses get to the point where they understand they need to wait and evaluate events critically for the truth, all this flood of info will just continue to lead down the path of extremism and misinformation. (And none of that is helped by the algorithms.)

Corporate downsizing to boost profits for shareholders. Nothing more involved than that. They do know what they're doing. That makes it worse. Not better. They're greedy gits who care more about profit than the people involved or even the product. There's no need to charge to the defense of suits with fat bank accounts. They don't need defending. They certainly don't deserve any.

Maybe. But as @Umbran says it better than I, different people and different positions have different priorities and realities.

I'm not anywhere ready to equate them, but I find it interesting how people can be so tolerant of others sexual and social differences, but so adamant their own views of right and wrong are absolute when it comes to evaluating corporate actions.

 

[LordEntrails]

because WotC has such a stellar record for decision making

Actually, at a corporate level they apparently are very good at making decisions. One can argue with individual actions, but the world as a whole rates WotC and Hasbro as successful. As exhibited by their undisputed market leadership and share prices.

 

[mamba]

Actually, at a corporate level they apparently are very good at making decisions. One can argue with individual actions, but the world as a whole rates WotC and Hasbro as successful. As exhibited by their undisputed market leadership and share prices.

there are more markets they have their fingers in than just D&D, and equating popularity with quality is a pitfall anyway. Let’s just say the market share of 5e is not reflective of it being that much better as a TTRPG.

As to the stock price, that doesn’t look so great either, since Jan 22 it is basically going downhill (with some ups and downs along the trajectory)

 

[LordEntrails]

there are more markets they have their fingers in than just D&D, and equating popularity with quality is a pitfall anyway. Let’s just say the market share of 5e is not reflective of it being that much better as a TTRPG.

Defining success with quality is a bottomless pit Corporate success is not defined by the products it produces. It is defined by the financial profit. And D&D is simple an outstanding success over the last 10 years.

As to the stock price, that doesn’t look so great either, since Jan 22 it is basically going downhill (with some ups and downs along the trajectory)

I looked at the wrong chart. Yes, even over 5 years Hasbro's stock price is significantly down (~$80 to $50). I will just have to retreat to the D&D market share

 

[mamba]

Defining success with quality is a bottomless pit Corporate success is not defined by the products it produces. It is defined by the financial profit. And D&D is simple an outstanding success over the last 10 years.

ok, works for me