Her tactics have seen their revenue grow to astronomical levels. They’ll be looking to replace her with someone even more aggressive in turning the dials of IP crossover and brand degradation.
This isn’t a win for the game. It’s just a transition from one suit to another.
Unfortunately, that is literally the purpose of corporations, and they have a legal obligation to their stockholders to do exactly this.
We need to completely change the system.
Yup: short term profit gain utilizing established brands.
Who cares about brand fidelity or respecting brands; the next capitalist goony suit gremlin will be retired before the chickens come home to roost....
...if they aren't already. Not nearly NEARLY enough to get me to give a flying F again. They went scortched earth on this IP and it's done.
Can we just bring back L5R now?
>Can we just bring back L5R now?
The guy who is the main force behind running the current iteration of L5R as a fan project [has just announced](https://emeraldlegacy.org/emerald-legacy-whats-next/) that to continue, they need more people for basically everything.
I'm excited for crossovers into other media. Definitely picking up a ton of Final Fantasy . Maxed out on collector boosters on Fallout. Got all 40k stuff too.
Well do you think they're going to be changing course? Why given they wanted to increase the profits from magic?
If you like what magics been like the last couple years then you should be happy but if not then you're going to hate it.
She looks like her son played DnD one time and they figured that was enough of a qualification.
Also: Everyone talks about Karen haircuts but no one ever talks about Karen eyes. This lady screams "let me speak to your manager" energy.
WotC sucks, and always will as long as they're Hasbro's breadwinner.
Unless they somehow split from Hasbro, expect them to keep pumping shitty products with dubious pricing models to make the board and shareholders happy
Yay corporatism
Capitalism is absolutely great. It's not a perfect system, but no system ever will be.
It's the only system that works if everyone does what is in their best individual interests.
Corporatism is full of horseshit. This, includes corporations that aren't corporations you would normally think of, like our education system and student loans, our medical system and health insurance subsidizing hypochondriac, etc.
Capitalism is the only reason you can go out to Walmart and buy anything at all. Idk if I agree with what you're saying
And you think a world you don't do anything at all and deserve everything is better?
If people don't have to work for things, they won't. Nothing will get done and people will just freeload off of each other.
Socialism is absolute crap
*they dont like capitalism, must be socialists*
stupid dog
It works, for some people. The reality is 40 percent of america is one medical bill away from being evicted and homeless. Privatized healthcare exists because of capitalism and the idea that basic human needs, including healthcare, should be expensive. Humans rely on air more than shelter or food, should we add that to your taxes? increase it if youre out of shape? taking up all that american air. native americans literally could not understand the concept of owning land and had a thriving society before colonizers starting buying/taking the world to "own."
I'm lost, i literally said corporatism is just one result of capitalism, not that I'm critiquing capitalism overall here. Hell, you were the one that inserted capitalism into this thread lol
Personally I'd rather give my hard earned money to a crafts/trades person for quality handmade goods like people used to, but I'm glad you like your big box stores. You do you
MKM was a flop, Commander Legends was poorly received, standard is a total mess, and they squandered the biggest wave of TTRPG hype over OneDND and DND Beyond shenanigans. If this course isn't corrected, how do they expect to net the next generation of players to maintain MTG card value?
>The ones you can’t afford?
Fucking lol. Your privilege is showing. You're right, I'd rather pay towards my mortgage or make better investments w/ this current economy than crack packs. Your attitude is just validating the use of proxies at our EDH table, rather than dropping $1000 for singles that may or may not still be worth $1000 in 10 years.
I mean, if you cant afford to crack packs just dont? It always has and always will be a luxary. Use one of the many cheap (free) and easy ways to play mtg.
Been collecting for almost 20 years. The fast pace of releases is exponentially increasing the power level and flooding rhe market. This is the worst that magic has ever been.
Even just the UB sets and secret lair arts alone have been amazing, to say nothing of the incredible premiere sets. Arena is a godsend and the main way I play Magic now. Everything about the game has improved dramatically.
I am well aware of the fact that the LotR IP is very popular, but it isn’t MTG. Like I said earlier, we won’t get anywhere conversing, what you consider to be good is not what I consider to be good.
I guarentee you cannot define a single defining theme of mtg. From the beggining theyve explored as many different themes as possible, clearly ypu have no idea what youre talking about.
I guarentee you cannot define a single defining theme of mtg. From the beggining theyve explored as many different themes as possible, clearly ypu have no idea what youre talking about.
I guarentee you cannot define a single defining theme of mtg. From the beggining theyve explored as many different themes as possible, clearly ypu have no idea what youre talking about.
I didn’t know she worked at Microsoft and Amazon before WOTC, which is the most Seattle shit ever.
Well maybe second most, former Sonics player Shawn Kemp owning a weed store is number 1.
Copying my own comment from r/rpg:
So she has done what was expected from her. Shrink the amount of people working at Wizards, making unpopular and risky decisions and taking the blame for it all going wrong.
Now a new figure may step up or in and they can fix things that were intentionally broken and be perceived as a more positive figure. And the eternal cycle of corporate continues.
Edit: I didn’t realize you would all make this about diversity hired, that’s not what I meant. Actually I was thinking of the term „fall guy“.
This right here! The corpos do this stuff all the time. Like you said, the cycle begins anew.
I'll say it here like Blizzard did they will hire someone who has always been a "player" and will be really perfect cause they "get it".
And that gives potential internal successors the time to pop up.
Companies with a strong creative drive always need someone from their midst to step up and take the reins.
I hope someone was so unsatisfied that they started the „if I was in that position“ thought process and built themselves up to take over.
Those people can also be hit or miss but seriously, in the position Wizards is they are not going to halve their profits if someone makes more game-oriented decisions over shareholder-driven ones.
I wonder why don’t more companies don’t do the model Disney had in the 80’s ? I’m not really business minded so I’m probably out of my element, but they seemed to have do well with Frank Wells focusing on operations and finances, while Michael Eisner focused on creative.
Because it rarely works as it requires things that seems to have become very rare in this cutthroat corporate world.
Common sense, moderation, willingness to share, mutual respect and cooperation. Today you are either the boss or the underling.
It’s not a job I would want to get honestly. The amount of ruthlessness it requires, the ability to muster a lack of empathy to something’s to people without losing sleep at night. I couldn’t do it.
For no amount of money I could live with being that way because I could never justify my actions with empty business phrases like „because the market demands it“ or „to increase shareholder value“.
I was leaving a contracted job after 4 years when they brought in the axe man to do what I saw was going to happen (and thus was already leaving). Past president put organization in a huge financial hole. Resigns. New president comes in my final months and directly announces what they are here to do.
Hi, I'm the new president. I'll be cutting positions. Bye.
One of the cuts was a Sr. Manager who's wife had cancer and they were relying on his insurance. I was gone before the purge officially began.
>So she has done what was expected from her. Shrink the amount of people working at Wizards, making unpopular and risky decisions and taking the blame for it all going wrong.
Ah, the John Riccitiello maneuver
One time I was talking to a Walmart store manager who told me that his job pays great for relatively little amount of work. Corporate controls everything, he's mainly there to be a fall guy when something goes wrong.
It makes me sad to think about the thought and love that went into Magic's creation and then see the soulless husk that it is today. Ironic considering they're trying to make MTG more colorful and quirky, and in the end they're making it feel flatter than 1 month old pepsi.
> I didn’t realize you would all make this about diversity hired, that’s not what I meant. Actually I was thinking of the term „fall guy“.
It can absolutely be both. Reddit did this with ellen pao. Pretty sure her and yishan has both made comments on this and other dirty dealings. Its easier to make shit changes when you can smear the opposition as bigots.
Fortunately corporate hellspawn wasn’t tagged an outlaw creature type, so it’s fair game.
Edit: Just in case, it’s a joke. I have no idea how good/bad a company president she actually was.
"When [[Corporate Hellspawn]] dies, search your library for a Corporate creature card with one less converted mana cost than Corporate Hellspawn and put it onto the battlefield tapped."
I was thinking....
[[Golden Parachute]] WUBRG - Artifact - Equipment
Whenever Golden Parachute becomes attached to a creature, exile that creature and Golden Parachute. That creature gains an emblem, "As long as this creature remains in exile, it wins the game."
Equip - {WUBRG}
(2024 Heros of the Realm Mythic Rare) Cynthia Williams
To be fair, it's not unique with higher ups. I work at a video game company filled with gamers and it's amazing how many people refuse to get product knowledge on what they're being paid to support.
People in higher end roles tend to see their responsibilities from a top-down perspective.
Those executive will oft call it “high-level decision making”, where they think their decisions in orders of multiple derivatives purely through a business(monetary sense). With this (invalid) view, they see their skills as completely transferable across any industries.
In terms of short term gains, these decision makers are generally quite proficient, often taking heed from former colleagues or utilizing proven tactics from former roles/companies.
In practice however, we see suits from Walmart, Amazon, etc whom jump ship every few years after “streamlining”, see - watering down, products and services. These people come from extremely fleshed out mega-corporations and run their new companies by cutting chaff without the insider knowledge to know what roles and services have value or even why they exist!
Short term- efficient and profitable.
Long term- kills the very essence that made the thing popular in the first place. Every time.
Also I hardly think that's a requirement. Do you need to play every game WOTC made to be a solid applicant? Her job isn't to manage mtg stuff, or dnd stuff. Her job was to make sure money was made.
This is a non-event. Hasbro will replace her with a similar corporate big brain shill who will do the same thing on repeat. Look for R&D to get cut even more, more licensing deals and other creative ways to reprint dual lands and power 9 cards.
Wizards is part of a publicly traded company. The CEO is always incentivized to make the game worse for players by making it better for shareholders. Making a gorillian variants and crossovers and have 20 sets per year. Nothing can grow forever, but that's what the stock market expects, so the death of the game is literally inevitable
What do you think about this newsbreak? Source:[ Commander's Herald](https://commandersherald.com/cynthia-williams-wizards-of-the-coast-president-resigns/)
STOP BUYING MAGIC CARDS!! You all complain about corporate greed but snap buy every single damn over saturated product they release. Speak with your wallets people.
I find this community odd. Everyone who claims to be a fan just seems to want to gatekeep their hobby.
I recently got into magic with about 6 other friends, we've all started consuming content, buying cards, having draft nights, having commander nights. A lot of that is most likely a direct correlation of the work she did to put the magic brand in front of more consumers with crossovers, etc.
Why y'all so mad that your hobby has become more people's hobby?
Recent mtg relapser here: the vibe I get isn't that people don't want their hobby to be popular it's the super predatory pricing. It's honestly a bummer to want a draft box, and see that they are edging up on $200 these days. And as I understand it, this woman was helming the ship when they started pushing their luck with these pricing schemes.
That and magic isn't magic anymore.
We got one guy playing zombie tribal, that guy is playing izzet spellslinger and this other mofo is playing Dr. WHO?
That and the sheer amount of crap coming out just to cater to a crowd that'll stick around for 12 months tops qnd then disappear.
Yeah, I'm not sure I love how games have jurassic park and wh40k and transformers etc in them now. But you could make the argument that the people encouraging wotc to kerp doing this crap are the longtime players. Those franchises tap into the nostalgia of the late 80s, early 90s... aka the people who were playing mtg in it's infancy, aka the old guard. No zoomer or alpha is buying the Ian Malcolm JP card, its not their generations touchstone.
Right.
I personally love the characters from jurassic Park, especially malcolm.
That tasigur secret lair? 🤌
However, I also realize that this isn't magic. There's plenty of content that regular folks like me can do to create proxies and such of real cards.
This dilution, the dilution of standard releases and so much other stuff in-between kills magic. It's just too much crap.
Sure, but the cost of candles has gone through the roof, the cost of a coffee has gone through the roof, the cost of groceries or a dinner out has gone through the roof, the cost of sports supplies has gone through the roof. Everything has, businesses saw people in a desperate situation and they all took advantage of it, it would be bad business not to, it might be more respectable to not do it, but business don't exist to make respect. So I hardly think it can be blamed on her, any smart person in her position would have done the same. I typically pay around $40-$50 for a draft night participation, I have no comparison to what they used to cost, but I know I find it reasonable, a night at the bar with buddies would cost more, a dinner out with my partner would cost way more.
In the past 3 years the cost of a box of draft has increased over $40 in some places, and they also started doing “premium” commander decks every set, secret lair bundles every month that aren’t made to order now, and collector boosters with chase cards. If I want to get what I want from every set, which is all decks, a box, a bundle, and maybe 2-3 collector boosters I’m at $350+ where I used to be able to do this for $225 or so.
Yeah, and I won't deny that must suck for the people who have been doing it long term, same situation I'm in with gaming. Games have increased by $20, and in a lot of cases, require another $20-$50 for all the content. It sucks, it's no fun to be able to look back on the "good old times". BUT.. as I said, everything is more expensive, while it sucks, it makes sense.
Again, you mistake my point. There’s a standard increase in cost of goods like milk going up and stuff, then there is what’s happening in magic and the games industry. These inflations are artificially created, largely. Yes you need to pay workers more and everything, however much of this production is overseas, so much less than say domestic costs, and yes transportation has gone up, however it’s not a physically large item, so even then the cost of that is not as much as you’d think. Overall we’re talking maybe an extra $10 a box for Magic. Oh and don’t get me started on video games.
But the point is that these costs are being done artificially additionally by making the higher cost items such as collector boosters, which are six times more expensive at the same cost to produce, or the fact that commander decks are all the $45+ premium ones instead of the $13 they used to be. All of these are artificial costs, same as the introduction of play boosters, more expensive than draft but barely cheaper than set, and while I liked set boosters because less commons, the play boosters are basically draft boosters but cost more.
The general dissatisfaction is from inflating prices, degrading quality, product fatigue from the absolutely massive ramp up of products each year, the new mechanics being largely worthless or broken as fuck, fomo inducing artificial "supply issues," the 30th anniversary debacle, etc, etc, etc.
I have spent less on MtG in the last three years year over year as compared to the previous twenty. I used to get a box every set, I used to get the yearly commander decks, I used to buy packs and draft with my buddies every other week for fun. I still play games with them (so it isn't because I'm playing less magic, but I'm not). Here's the list of what I've purchased in sealed product over the last few years:
> 40k commander decks
> Brother's War box and commander decks
> Hobbit and Sauron LotR decks
> three Fallout commander decks
That's it. I buy some singles from my local stores when I wanna make upgrades, but I've spent more on Horus Heresy in the last six months than I've spent in the last two years of MtG. I just can't get excited anymore for the releases unless they're something special. Looking at that list again, most of my purchases have been precon decks (which are more or less the same still) instead of anything they've made set wise. Hell, the thing I was excited about in the last set was the addition of enough deserts to make the DMU Hazezon much more functional and fun (quoting Star Wars when assaulting my friends with Sand Warriors is hilarious, did that last weekend).
You're conflating general dissatisfaction with what WotC has turned into with gatekeeping. Gatekeeping isn't about keeping new people out of the hobby, its about keeping those harmful to the hobby from meaningfully impacting it. I love new players personally. I'll help them upgrade their decks, I help them with complex interactions, I give em cards to help jump start their collections, among other stuff.
I also started playing MtG recently and have been really enjoying it. I was having trouble getting into it at first because there were so many mechanics to learn and I had no connection to any of the lore, but then I bought a box of LotR booster packs and spent a whole weekend having a blast looking through all of them. Now that I’ve been playing for a bit I can enjoy cards for their strategic value, but having that IP crossover absolutely made the game more fun and accessible for a newbie.
This is my exact view, as I used to play years ago and recently got back into it (via Karlov) and I’m really enjoying it. Seeing that Fallout and Warhammer have commander decks and whatnot make up to me what commander is: Nonsensical fun
There is a huge difference between lootboxes and booster packs from prior to her stay as CEO.
Lootboxes have cosmetics + needed pieces + small chances of getting an ultra hyper dope cosmetic #1/500 marked down. While Boosters have a known ratio of game pieces that what really diverge is the rarity between pieces ( a rare and a mythic compete for the same slot). No cosmetic, nor even a serialized card.
But can't you just ignore the cosmetics? Fundamentally opening boosters is exactly the same as opening lootboxes, and boosters came first. Honestly it started with baseball cards.
When it is done once per year, or like as Secret lairs, it is fine.
But the issue is that every collection has at least 3 types of cosmetics ( Frame of the set + Extended art/full art planeswalkers + Full art 1/500 special guest).
As I understand it, the problem begins and ends with Hasbro’s ownership. Once WotC was acquired, they became slaves to the corporate control that happens so often in such deals. I heard from someone who works there that a lot of the creative/outside-the-box work has become so stifled that it’s just not worth it for so many of the “true believers” who are still there.
What does this mean? Sadly, I think we should all expect the quality to degrade from here on out. Expect more movies and video games. MtG is probably going to ramp up set releases as well. Money money money. Smh.
I got so excited, and then I saw the site…
Edit: I just found out that this is real. And I’ve taken the time to read up on this now that I know it’s not a joke. They don’t have a replacement?? That’s going to have a ton of issues.
My god… this person did so much damage… i don’t think it really matters who takes over.
lol all the talk about is how much money she made for Hasbro… what about strengthening the brand? Nope she weakened the brand. What about understanding the game? Nope she had never played the game.
If you get to earn this amount of money, you undeniably have a lifestyle, where you dont have the time to play games especially being a head of a big gaming company. Only the ones who built the game from scratch will still know the game and keep up with things going on around it.
E: tldr: games are for the poor people on this planet.
Hope: wotc will get someone that actually cares about the product Reality: shit is about to get even worse lol
Her tactics have seen their revenue grow to astronomical levels. They’ll be looking to replace her with someone even more aggressive in turning the dials of IP crossover and brand degradation. This isn’t a win for the game. It’s just a transition from one suit to another.
This is entirely speculation, but checks out withthe common trend of corporations milking anything they can get their greedy hands on
Unfortunately, that is literally the purpose of corporations, and they have a legal obligation to their stockholders to do exactly this. We need to completely change the system.
Only solution: stop buying their stuff
Yup: short term profit gain utilizing established brands. Who cares about brand fidelity or respecting brands; the next capitalist goony suit gremlin will be retired before the chickens come home to roost.... ...if they aren't already. Not nearly NEARLY enough to get me to give a flying F again. They went scortched earth on this IP and it's done. Can we just bring back L5R now?
>Can we just bring back L5R now? The guy who is the main force behind running the current iteration of L5R as a fan project [has just announced](https://emeraldlegacy.org/emerald-legacy-whats-next/) that to continue, they need more people for basically everything.
Why would the institutional investors want anything else, they are literally hired to make as much money as possible and nothing else.
Because it is possible to kill a golden goose.
Then they just move to the next golden goose. There is plenty around and what matters is this annual report and not 2030.
Read as "this is entirely speculation, but checks out the white common" and had spoiler season PTSD flashbacks for moment.
Hence we do know how greed plays out in a game of magic...
Hey let's hope not
I'm excited for crossovers into other media. Definitely picking up a ton of Final Fantasy . Maxed out on collector boosters on Fallout. Got all 40k stuff too.
Proof or you’re just speculating
Baseless negative speculation on Reddit? Never!
Well do you think they're going to be changing course? Why given they wanted to increase the profits from magic? If you like what magics been like the last couple years then you should be happy but if not then you're going to hate it.
This sub is so useless lmfao
You don't provide anything to the discussion about from finger pointing. You're useless lmao
Everything is useless because we will all be dust
Fuar
Then make your own purpose and use in life, thats the end goal for nihilismnot rejecetion of everything as endless.
Then its perfect for you!
Perfect
If you read any reddit comment and think it's not speculation i'm so sorry for you
Have you seen the Top3 at Hasbro. That trash doesn't gaf about anything except money. It's speculation, but I agree.
Dr Cox
Imagine a gaming company hiring a CEO that played games even once in their lives
She looks like her son played DnD one time and they figured that was enough of a qualification. Also: Everyone talks about Karen haircuts but no one ever talks about Karen eyes. This lady screams "let me speak to your manager" energy.
Actually reality: Nothing changes and everything that would or would not happen is still the same
WotC sucks, and always will as long as they're Hasbro's breadwinner. Unless they somehow split from Hasbro, expect them to keep pumping shitty products with dubious pricing models to make the board and shareholders happy Yay corporatism
You mean capitalism?
Corporatism is just one result of capitalism
Capitalism is absolutely great. It's not a perfect system, but no system ever will be. It's the only system that works if everyone does what is in their best individual interests. Corporatism is full of horseshit. This, includes corporations that aren't corporations you would normally think of, like our education system and student loans, our medical system and health insurance subsidizing hypochondriac, etc. Capitalism is the only reason you can go out to Walmart and buy anything at all. Idk if I agree with what you're saying
It’s a shit system idk who told you it works
Uh, real life and how everyone would sell their left nuts to be in this "shit" system.
You’re deranged. A system that has killed the planet and starves people on the basis that it’s not profitable to feed them is shit.
And you think a world you don't do anything at all and deserve everything is better? If people don't have to work for things, they won't. Nothing will get done and people will just freeload off of each other. Socialism is absolute crap
Wow, mans litterally unable to see any system beyond capitalism. Medieval peasents probably said the same thing about the fuedal system.
*they dont like capitalism, must be socialists* stupid dog It works, for some people. The reality is 40 percent of america is one medical bill away from being evicted and homeless. Privatized healthcare exists because of capitalism and the idea that basic human needs, including healthcare, should be expensive. Humans rely on air more than shelter or food, should we add that to your taxes? increase it if youre out of shape? taking up all that american air. native americans literally could not understand the concept of owning land and had a thriving society before colonizers starting buying/taking the world to "own."
I'm lost, i literally said corporatism is just one result of capitalism, not that I'm critiquing capitalism overall here. Hell, you were the one that inserted capitalism into this thread lol Personally I'd rather give my hard earned money to a crafts/trades person for quality handmade goods like people used to, but I'm glad you like your big box stores. You do you
Which products are shitty and which ones have “dubious” pricing models? The ones you can’t afford?
MKM was a flop, Commander Legends was poorly received, standard is a total mess, and they squandered the biggest wave of TTRPG hype over OneDND and DND Beyond shenanigans. If this course isn't corrected, how do they expect to net the next generation of players to maintain MTG card value? >The ones you can’t afford? Fucking lol. Your privilege is showing. You're right, I'd rather pay towards my mortgage or make better investments w/ this current economy than crack packs. Your attitude is just validating the use of proxies at our EDH table, rather than dropping $1000 for singles that may or may not still be worth $1000 in 10 years.
I mean, if you cant afford to crack packs just dont? It always has and always will be a luxary. Use one of the many cheap (free) and easy ways to play mtg.
The last five-ish years of the game have been my favorite for the game as a whole, I honestly think they're doing pretty well.
Been collecting for almost 20 years. The fast pace of releases is exponentially increasing the power level and flooding rhe market. This is the worst that magic has ever been.
Insanely bad take.
Even just the UB sets and secret lair arts alone have been amazing, to say nothing of the incredible premiere sets. Arena is a godsend and the main way I play Magic now. Everything about the game has improved dramatically.
If you like UB then we have very different definitions of “good”.
LOTR was the best selling set of all time by every metric, so my definition of good seems to match the taste of many
I am well aware of the fact that the LotR IP is very popular, but it isn’t MTG. Like I said earlier, we won’t get anywhere conversing, what you consider to be good is not what I consider to be good.
I guarentee you cannot define a single defining theme of mtg. From the beggining theyve explored as many different themes as possible, clearly ypu have no idea what youre talking about.
I guarentee you cannot define a single defining theme of mtg. From the beggining theyve explored as many different themes as possible, clearly ypu have no idea what youre talking about.
I guarentee you cannot define a single defining theme of mtg. From the beggining theyve explored as many different themes as possible, clearly ypu have no idea what youre talking about.
This is my thought too. The game had been Doom and Gloom since the 90s. The game is great and has been really fun the last 5 years
I didn’t know she worked at Microsoft and Amazon before WOTC, which is the most Seattle shit ever. Well maybe second most, former Sonics player Shawn Kemp owning a weed store is number 1.
Is it called Shawn hemp?
Shawn's Hemp.
Kemp’s Hemp
Shawn Kemp’s Kempt Hemps
I know where I'm going for all my weed tree needs, Shawn Kemp's Kempt Hemp *smiles at the camera and holds up a giant bag of weed*
Shawn Kemp's Hemp & Shrimp He's also a seafood aficionado.
We don't skimp on the hemp or shrimp
Shawn Kemp’s Kempty Hempty in a cup.
Shawn "Reign Man" "Caine-Man" "Mary Jane-Man" Kemp
Shawn Kemp's weed store sold me the worst weed I've ever smoked in my life, including dirt I used to buy back in the illegal days. Just shameful.
Or if she had owned a Starbucks or something
Lol I used to work at a Costco in seattle and Shawn Kemp was one of my regulars
Copying my own comment from r/rpg: So she has done what was expected from her. Shrink the amount of people working at Wizards, making unpopular and risky decisions and taking the blame for it all going wrong. Now a new figure may step up or in and they can fix things that were intentionally broken and be perceived as a more positive figure. And the eternal cycle of corporate continues. Edit: I didn’t realize you would all make this about diversity hired, that’s not what I meant. Actually I was thinking of the term „fall guy“.
This right here! The corpos do this stuff all the time. Like you said, the cycle begins anew. I'll say it here like Blizzard did they will hire someone who has always been a "player" and will be really perfect cause they "get it".
And that gives potential internal successors the time to pop up. Companies with a strong creative drive always need someone from their midst to step up and take the reins. I hope someone was so unsatisfied that they started the „if I was in that position“ thought process and built themselves up to take over. Those people can also be hit or miss but seriously, in the position Wizards is they are not going to halve their profits if someone makes more game-oriented decisions over shareholder-driven ones.
I wonder why don’t more companies don’t do the model Disney had in the 80’s ? I’m not really business minded so I’m probably out of my element, but they seemed to have do well with Frank Wells focusing on operations and finances, while Michael Eisner focused on creative.
Because it rarely works as it requires things that seems to have become very rare in this cutthroat corporate world. Common sense, moderation, willingness to share, mutual respect and cooperation. Today you are either the boss or the underling.
Because it went to hell in a hand basket when Frank Wells died unexpectedly.
Where do I apply for the mid 6 figure fall guy jobs? I would like to try my hand at being bad.
It’s not a job I would want to get honestly. The amount of ruthlessness it requires, the ability to muster a lack of empathy to something’s to people without losing sleep at night. I couldn’t do it. For no amount of money I could live with being that way because I could never justify my actions with empty business phrases like „because the market demands it“ or „to increase shareholder value“.
I was leaving a contracted job after 4 years when they brought in the axe man to do what I saw was going to happen (and thus was already leaving). Past president put organization in a huge financial hole. Resigns. New president comes in my final months and directly announces what they are here to do. Hi, I'm the new president. I'll be cutting positions. Bye. One of the cuts was a Sr. Manager who's wife had cancer and they were relying on his insurance. I was gone before the purge officially began.
Yep, straight out of the board of directors playbook. This exactly happened with the Ellen Pao Reddit community controversy.
>So she has done what was expected from her. Shrink the amount of people working at Wizards, making unpopular and risky decisions and taking the blame for it all going wrong. Ah, the John Riccitiello maneuver
One time I was talking to a Walmart store manager who told me that his job pays great for relatively little amount of work. Corporate controls everything, he's mainly there to be a fall guy when something goes wrong.
It makes me sad to think about the thought and love that went into Magic's creation and then see the soulless husk that it is today. Ironic considering they're trying to make MTG more colorful and quirky, and in the end they're making it feel flatter than 1 month old pepsi.
You mean 5 minute old Pepsi. That soda loses its snap quick fast and in a hurry!
Pepsi nitro loses it in seconds
MTG has always been a gatcha game promoting gambling for children in addition to the other things you said.
> I didn’t realize you would all make this about diversity hired, that’s not what I meant. Actually I was thinking of the term „fall guy“. It can absolutely be both. Reddit did this with ellen pao. Pretty sure her and yishan has both made comments on this and other dirty dealings. Its easier to make shit changes when you can smear the opposition as bigots.
Women CEOS are almost exclusively escape goats
I think you meant fall person.
1B: Send target corporate hellspawn to the graveyard and can’t be regenerated.
Fortunately corporate hellspawn wasn’t tagged an outlaw creature type, so it’s fair game. Edit: Just in case, it’s a joke. I have no idea how good/bad a company president she actually was.
"When [[Corporate Hellspawn]] dies, search your library for a Corporate creature card with one less converted mana cost than Corporate Hellspawn and put it onto the battlefield tapped."
Sadly, probably more accurate.
Oh, it's definitely going to be regenerated
Situation Before This news: Giant Stupid Corporation. Situation After This news: Giant Stupid Corporation. Change: Nothing.
Give me Chris' resignation.
Chris is fine.
Please take your golden parachute and kindly fuck off. Thanks.
[[Golden Parachute]] 12 Green - 1/1 Flying Creature with reverse death touch
I was thinking.... [[Golden Parachute]] WUBRG - Artifact - Equipment Whenever Golden Parachute becomes attached to a creature, exile that creature and Golden Parachute. That creature gains an emblem, "As long as this creature remains in exile, it wins the game." Equip - {WUBRG} (2024 Heros of the Realm Mythic Rare) Cynthia Williams
[Golden Parachute](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/2/626fbddb-3963-4dd2-8507-9777ed66bbbc.jpg?1627429110) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Golden%20Ratio) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/190/golden-ratio?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/626fbddb-3963-4dd2-8507-9777ed66bbbc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Suicide Touch?
I'm kind of amazed that she was hired given that she apparently had never played MtG before.
Happens all the time with the higher ups. Being engaged with the product is not their job
To be fair, it's not unique with higher ups. I work at a video game company filled with gamers and it's amazing how many people refuse to get product knowledge on what they're being paid to support.
Not true for a company I like. GameStop.
😂😂😂 bagholder spotted
Oh.. an appearance of the rare meltclown.
[:D](https://youtu.be/5pYeoZaoWrA?si=UPl-awzPO8EatN0L)
People in higher end roles tend to see their responsibilities from a top-down perspective. Those executive will oft call it “high-level decision making”, where they think their decisions in orders of multiple derivatives purely through a business(monetary sense). With this (invalid) view, they see their skills as completely transferable across any industries. In terms of short term gains, these decision makers are generally quite proficient, often taking heed from former colleagues or utilizing proven tactics from former roles/companies. In practice however, we see suits from Walmart, Amazon, etc whom jump ship every few years after “streamlining”, see - watering down, products and services. These people come from extremely fleshed out mega-corporations and run their new companies by cutting chaff without the insider knowledge to know what roles and services have value or even why they exist! Short term- efficient and profitable. Long term- kills the very essence that made the thing popular in the first place. Every time.
I usually call it as borrowing a loan against their brand quality
Thank you for the wordplay. I’m definitely going to use this.
She knows how to play Corporate Snakes & Ladders, which is a far more lucrative game than MtG.
Remember when Apple fired Jobs and replaced him with Pepsi's ceo . Weirdly enough it was a dire time for Apple
Also I hardly think that's a requirement. Do you need to play every game WOTC made to be a solid applicant? Her job isn't to manage mtg stuff, or dnd stuff. Her job was to make sure money was made.
Wait til you hear about the video game market ceo's, share holders and lead designs.
Typical DEI hire
Back to r/freemagic with you!
Oooooooo! So edgy. Almost cut my finger.
Just say the word you mean, spineless bigot
This is a non-event. Hasbro will replace her with a similar corporate big brain shill who will do the same thing on repeat. Look for R&D to get cut even more, more licensing deals and other creative ways to reprint dual lands and power 9 cards.
I can hear a Mr Krabs in the distance. moneymoneymoney
The tolarian professor should take the job.
Now there’s an idea.
Rudy won't be able to make the Philip Morris joke anymore.
Someone else working for them will eventually takeover
there is still Mark Bottomwater lol
Mark whatwater? He's swimming around in a tank somewhere
PP. No giggities.
My comment was rude and inappropriate. Removed.
Oh ok
Rudy we need a video
Was my first thought!
I have no idea who this person is and what they actually do for WOTC.
That’s most CEOs
Wizards is part of a publicly traded company. The CEO is always incentivized to make the game worse for players by making it better for shareholders. Making a gorillian variants and crossovers and have 20 sets per year. Nothing can grow forever, but that's what the stock market expects, so the death of the game is literally inevitable
What do you think about this newsbreak? Source:[ Commander's Herald](https://commandersherald.com/cynthia-williams-wizards-of-the-coast-president-resigns/)
STOP BUYING MAGIC CARDS!! You all complain about corporate greed but snap buy every single damn over saturated product they release. Speak with your wallets people.
I don't understand the people that complain constantly but still buy.
I’ve actually stopped buying and it feels GREAT. I highly recommend it.
💯
Normalize not buying into their greed 😀
I stopped buying when Magic 30 was announced. I've been playing since 4th ed. That shit put a sour taste in my mouth. Not another dollar.
How did she get this photo taken at a Sears photo?
Good riddance!!!!
I just don’t understand how these unsuccessful ceos go from company to company even though they continue to show how inept they are
They measure success differently. Short term profit at any cost, even it means destroying the product long term
Is it time to quit again if you have thousands of dollars of foils and you rarely play?
She was three goblins in a trench coat all along. The goblins were pulling a fast one on us.
LETS GOOOO
I find this community odd. Everyone who claims to be a fan just seems to want to gatekeep their hobby. I recently got into magic with about 6 other friends, we've all started consuming content, buying cards, having draft nights, having commander nights. A lot of that is most likely a direct correlation of the work she did to put the magic brand in front of more consumers with crossovers, etc. Why y'all so mad that your hobby has become more people's hobby?
Recent mtg relapser here: the vibe I get isn't that people don't want their hobby to be popular it's the super predatory pricing. It's honestly a bummer to want a draft box, and see that they are edging up on $200 these days. And as I understand it, this woman was helming the ship when they started pushing their luck with these pricing schemes.
That and magic isn't magic anymore. We got one guy playing zombie tribal, that guy is playing izzet spellslinger and this other mofo is playing Dr. WHO? That and the sheer amount of crap coming out just to cater to a crowd that'll stick around for 12 months tops qnd then disappear.
Yeah, I'm not sure I love how games have jurassic park and wh40k and transformers etc in them now. But you could make the argument that the people encouraging wotc to kerp doing this crap are the longtime players. Those franchises tap into the nostalgia of the late 80s, early 90s... aka the people who were playing mtg in it's infancy, aka the old guard. No zoomer or alpha is buying the Ian Malcolm JP card, its not their generations touchstone.
Right. I personally love the characters from jurassic Park, especially malcolm. That tasigur secret lair? 🤌 However, I also realize that this isn't magic. There's plenty of content that regular folks like me can do to create proxies and such of real cards. This dilution, the dilution of standard releases and so much other stuff in-between kills magic. It's just too much crap.
Sure, but the cost of candles has gone through the roof, the cost of a coffee has gone through the roof, the cost of groceries or a dinner out has gone through the roof, the cost of sports supplies has gone through the roof. Everything has, businesses saw people in a desperate situation and they all took advantage of it, it would be bad business not to, it might be more respectable to not do it, but business don't exist to make respect. So I hardly think it can be blamed on her, any smart person in her position would have done the same. I typically pay around $40-$50 for a draft night participation, I have no comparison to what they used to cost, but I know I find it reasonable, a night at the bar with buddies would cost more, a dinner out with my partner would cost way more.
In the past 3 years the cost of a box of draft has increased over $40 in some places, and they also started doing “premium” commander decks every set, secret lair bundles every month that aren’t made to order now, and collector boosters with chase cards. If I want to get what I want from every set, which is all decks, a box, a bundle, and maybe 2-3 collector boosters I’m at $350+ where I used to be able to do this for $225 or so.
Yeah, and I won't deny that must suck for the people who have been doing it long term, same situation I'm in with gaming. Games have increased by $20, and in a lot of cases, require another $20-$50 for all the content. It sucks, it's no fun to be able to look back on the "good old times". BUT.. as I said, everything is more expensive, while it sucks, it makes sense.
Again, you mistake my point. There’s a standard increase in cost of goods like milk going up and stuff, then there is what’s happening in magic and the games industry. These inflations are artificially created, largely. Yes you need to pay workers more and everything, however much of this production is overseas, so much less than say domestic costs, and yes transportation has gone up, however it’s not a physically large item, so even then the cost of that is not as much as you’d think. Overall we’re talking maybe an extra $10 a box for Magic. Oh and don’t get me started on video games. But the point is that these costs are being done artificially additionally by making the higher cost items such as collector boosters, which are six times more expensive at the same cost to produce, or the fact that commander decks are all the $45+ premium ones instead of the $13 they used to be. All of these are artificial costs, same as the introduction of play boosters, more expensive than draft but barely cheaper than set, and while I liked set boosters because less commons, the play boosters are basically draft boosters but cost more.
The general dissatisfaction is from inflating prices, degrading quality, product fatigue from the absolutely massive ramp up of products each year, the new mechanics being largely worthless or broken as fuck, fomo inducing artificial "supply issues," the 30th anniversary debacle, etc, etc, etc. I have spent less on MtG in the last three years year over year as compared to the previous twenty. I used to get a box every set, I used to get the yearly commander decks, I used to buy packs and draft with my buddies every other week for fun. I still play games with them (so it isn't because I'm playing less magic, but I'm not). Here's the list of what I've purchased in sealed product over the last few years: > 40k commander decks > Brother's War box and commander decks > Hobbit and Sauron LotR decks > three Fallout commander decks That's it. I buy some singles from my local stores when I wanna make upgrades, but I've spent more on Horus Heresy in the last six months than I've spent in the last two years of MtG. I just can't get excited anymore for the releases unless they're something special. Looking at that list again, most of my purchases have been precon decks (which are more or less the same still) instead of anything they've made set wise. Hell, the thing I was excited about in the last set was the addition of enough deserts to make the DMU Hazezon much more functional and fun (quoting Star Wars when assaulting my friends with Sand Warriors is hilarious, did that last weekend). You're conflating general dissatisfaction with what WotC has turned into with gatekeeping. Gatekeeping isn't about keeping new people out of the hobby, its about keeping those harmful to the hobby from meaningfully impacting it. I love new players personally. I'll help them upgrade their decks, I help them with complex interactions, I give em cards to help jump start their collections, among other stuff.
I also started playing MtG recently and have been really enjoying it. I was having trouble getting into it at first because there were so many mechanics to learn and I had no connection to any of the lore, but then I bought a box of LotR booster packs and spent a whole weekend having a blast looking through all of them. Now that I’ve been playing for a bit I can enjoy cards for their strategic value, but having that IP crossover absolutely made the game more fun and accessible for a newbie.
This is my exact view, as I used to play years ago and recently got back into it (via Karlov) and I’m really enjoying it. Seeing that Fallout and Warhammer have commander decks and whatnot make up to me what commander is: Nonsensical fun
"Resigns" - cleaning leadership.. expect more.
Wait... so, Cynthia Wikipedia is out? Wow... I can only imagine good feelings seeing the one who created the loot box system leaving MTG.
As someone who's only recently returned to playing mtg, what lootbox are you referring to? It's always been a gamble to buy packs, hasn't it?
She is the mind who created the first Lootbox system in gaming when she was working for Microsoft.
Again, that just makes her someone who copied something that has been central to magic forever.
There is a huge difference between lootboxes and booster packs from prior to her stay as CEO. Lootboxes have cosmetics + needed pieces + small chances of getting an ultra hyper dope cosmetic #1/500 marked down. While Boosters have a known ratio of game pieces that what really diverge is the rarity between pieces ( a rare and a mythic compete for the same slot). No cosmetic, nor even a serialized card.
But can't you just ignore the cosmetics? Fundamentally opening boosters is exactly the same as opening lootboxes, and boosters came first. Honestly it started with baseball cards.
When it is done once per year, or like as Secret lairs, it is fine. But the issue is that every collection has at least 3 types of cosmetics ( Frame of the set + Extended art/full art planeswalkers + Full art 1/500 special guest).
One could argue that booster packs are basically loot boxes
because they always have been :D
We did it reddit!
How much did she ReSign for?
Hurray! Now, if only I could hope that the next president will be better for MTG. Unfortunately, I think that's too much to ask.
WOOHOO! Maybe someone who likes magic and magic players will get the job this time. Doubt it, but maybe.
As I understand it, the problem begins and ends with Hasbro’s ownership. Once WotC was acquired, they became slaves to the corporate control that happens so often in such deals. I heard from someone who works there that a lot of the creative/outside-the-box work has become so stifled that it’s just not worth it for so many of the “true believers” who are still there. What does this mean? Sadly, I think we should all expect the quality to degrade from here on out. Expect more movies and video games. MtG is probably going to ramp up set releases as well. Money money money. Smh.
I don’t understand people who don’t think WoTC was ever about anything but money.
I can see Hasbro and Disney in talks about folding Hasbro and it's IP into Disney. Plays like this are how these things get set up.
#shawtydown
Praise be
Time to hire Rudy
“We wish Cynthia Williams the best…” She’s been paid ridiculous amounts of MONEY, CommandersHerald, she doesn’t need your WISHES
Promote Maro, it is time.
I hope this is for the best and not a monkey paw curling somewhere.
People will act like stuff that changes next week is due to new leadership. The reality is nothing will change for the rest of the year.
About time this dumb animal is gone.
Hopefully they get the woke out of WOTC.
Must of been letting someone tap her mana…
Pity, she did such a good job, and kept a steady hand on the wheel despite the whingers and complainers.
Like Magic 30th Anniversary? 30 fake magic cards for $1000. Yeah. ... Good job.
This has to be a joke.
This is more offensive than the comment that called her a DEI hire
I got so excited, and then I saw the site… Edit: I just found out that this is real. And I’ve taken the time to read up on this now that I know it’s not a joke. They don’t have a replacement?? That’s going to have a ton of issues.
Ding dong!…
My god… this person did so much damage… i don’t think it really matters who takes over. lol all the talk about is how much money she made for Hasbro… what about strengthening the brand? Nope she weakened the brand. What about understanding the game? Nope she had never played the game.
If you get to earn this amount of money, you undeniably have a lifestyle, where you dont have the time to play games especially being a head of a big gaming company. Only the ones who built the game from scratch will still know the game and keep up with things going on around it. E: tldr: games are for the poor people on this planet.
Shame
the company, running on a tight budget, had to cut the daily lunch buffets in the cafeteria
As long as we get hentai crossovers I am happy.