More Light on Cook Leaving Wizards of the Coast?
So, I start this blog back up again and by last spring I'm already too lazy to do it. But today inspires me.
The last post I made (May 2012), I wrote about Monte Cook leaving Wizards of the Coast again over some dispute with the corporation (though not with the design of D&D Next - the project for which his return was much balleyhooed). Monte wasn't forthcoming about what the dispute between him and Wizards was that prompted his departure. Since then, however, another veteran designer has turned down an offered position and his explanation may offer some insights into Monte's departure.
Stan! (Steven Brown), veteran designer at West End Games, TSR, and WotC in previous years, was back at WotC to work on D&D Next as a contractor, I believe. He was then offered a full time position, but there was one hitch. Stan! has a lot of irons in the fire as a game designer (for Super Genius Games and The Game Mechanics) and WotC expects a certain amount of exclusivity. That's not uncommon, but for game designers who do a lot of freelance work, it limits what they can do. It also prevents them from being the owner of anything they work on while they also happen to work at WotC.
According to a blog post of his, Stan! did seek to get an exclusion from that policy. WotC has been known to approve them before, apparently. But he was unable to get the approval. As a result, he turned the job down. He has since gotten a Kickstarter funded for "The Littlest Cthulhu".
Anyway, what does this have to do with Monte Cook? Monte's a big fan of crowdfunding - a big an. Since he left WotC, Monte has gotten a Kickstarter funded for his latest game - Numenera. After reading about Stan!'s predicament, I wonder if Monte's problem with management was because he wanted to work on Numenera as well, crowdfund it, and retain ownership. The timing is suggestive. He's out at Wizards in the spring, posts a Kickstarter in the summer and successfully gets it funded by mid-September.
None of this is, of course, exhaustive. For all I know Monte left Wizards in dispute with management because they wouldn't pay him in hookers and blow. But I think a situation similar to Stan!'s is more likely.
The last post I made (May 2012), I wrote about Monte Cook leaving Wizards of the Coast again over some dispute with the corporation (though not with the design of D&D Next - the project for which his return was much balleyhooed). Monte wasn't forthcoming about what the dispute between him and Wizards was that prompted his departure. Since then, however, another veteran designer has turned down an offered position and his explanation may offer some insights into Monte's departure.
Stan! (Steven Brown), veteran designer at West End Games, TSR, and WotC in previous years, was back at WotC to work on D&D Next as a contractor, I believe. He was then offered a full time position, but there was one hitch. Stan! has a lot of irons in the fire as a game designer (for Super Genius Games and The Game Mechanics) and WotC expects a certain amount of exclusivity. That's not uncommon, but for game designers who do a lot of freelance work, it limits what they can do. It also prevents them from being the owner of anything they work on while they also happen to work at WotC.
According to a blog post of his, Stan! did seek to get an exclusion from that policy. WotC has been known to approve them before, apparently. But he was unable to get the approval. As a result, he turned the job down. He has since gotten a Kickstarter funded for "The Littlest Cthulhu".
Anyway, what does this have to do with Monte Cook? Monte's a big fan of crowdfunding - a big an. Since he left WotC, Monte has gotten a Kickstarter funded for his latest game - Numenera. After reading about Stan!'s predicament, I wonder if Monte's problem with management was because he wanted to work on Numenera as well, crowdfund it, and retain ownership. The timing is suggestive. He's out at Wizards in the spring, posts a Kickstarter in the summer and successfully gets it funded by mid-September.
None of this is, of course, exhaustive. For all I know Monte left Wizards in dispute with management because they wouldn't pay him in hookers and blow. But I think a situation similar to Stan!'s is more likely.