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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: K is the Symbol <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: [OT] Industry News
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 01:28:10 EDT
In a message dated 7/5/98 11:35:37 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
mc23@**********.COM writes:

> West End Games is now shutting it's doors and filing for bankruptcy.
> The trend continues.
>
Eww, not a good sign.
-K
Message no. 2
From: Matt Penn <steelclaw@****.COM>
Subject: Re: [OT] Industry News
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 08:34:21 -0400
>In a message dated 7/5/98 11:35:37 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
>mc23@**********.COM writes:
>
> West End Games is now shutting it's doors and filing for
bankruptcy.
> The trend continues.

Dang...I never cared much for the mechanics of the Star Wars RPG,
but...thought it was keeping their heads above water. C'est la vie.

-Matt, Ork-at-Large
"Sometimes I lay awake at night and ponder if Dog really exsists."

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Message no. 3
From: Patrick Goodman pgoodman13@************.com
Subject: [OT] Industry News
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 09:01:43 -0500
It was with some regret that I read the following news about Iron Crown
Enterprises, the company that produces ROLEMASTER and its various related
games.

http://www.ironcrown.com/

I've never necessarily been the biggest fan of their games, but I've always
admired and respected the people producing them, and I will miss them now
they're gone.

Patrick
Message no. 4
From: Nexx nexx@********.net
Subject: [OT]Industry News
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 16:27:11 -0600
Thursday, December 14, 2000
Hasbro Cuts Wizards Staff in Brutal Fashion Posted by damonwhite @ 10:14AM
BREAKING NEWS!!!
Hasbro has officially laid off over 150 people at Wizards of the Coast this
morning and slashed budgets. Some lay offs were expected others were
completely a surprise. They have cut several veteran players that built WotC
to its current high standing. They have slashed the budgets to less than 10%
of what they were. There are some cuts here folks that we'll all be feeling
for some time to come. This was so brutal that Peter; the founder of WotC
and current President has walked in unconfirmed reports. Yep, as I
understand it he was so pissed that he walked from the company in disgust
and resigned. We will be feeling this in the coming months folks. All this
in the place for fun and games right before Christmas. More to Come!
BREAKING NEWS!!!

>>This report is from www.gamingreports.com and was posted on several of the
TSR message boards. A report on CBS marketwatch (with a prohibitively long
URL) has Hasbro talking mostly about Pokemon, but other areas could be
affected.


***
Skald-Mark Mjöksiglandi
a.k.a. Nexx
a.k.a. Mark Hall
***
"If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no
light. If I lose paper and ink I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I
will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them
to you."
-Henry Rollins
***
http://www-personal.interkan.net/~nexx/index.html
Updated December 6th, 2000
Message no. 5
From: Cole, Wade A. wcole@********.com
Subject: [OT]Industry News
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 14:28:13 -0600
This was posted on the Star Wars mailing list (den of trolls and hive of
spammers that it is):

Subject: [STARWARS] Regarding the Layoffs
[quote]
Yes, Wizards terminated a number of jobs yesterday. In more plain English,
we told a lot of people they no longer had jobs here. I won't say "fired,"
though, because that word has negative connotations, and none of those were
present in yesterday's events. It was a reduction in headcount, not a
"purge" or a "mass firing." It was a necessary measure to adjust for
our
projections for the coming year. Every company does that. It's happened here
before (though only once with this many people), and it happened at TSR
before they were purchased by Wizards of the Coast. For most of us in RPG
R&D, this is the second time we've had to deal with this.

As specifically regards the Star Wars design and editing team, we're still
here. All of us. Others who worked in conjunction with our team may or may
not be, but I expect they'll answer that question in their own time, in
their own words. We're still working on Star Wars, and we have scheduled
assignments through the end of next year. Likewise, Star Wars Gamer is more
or less intact, though they have "reshuffled" some people into slightly
different roles in our periodicals department.

Now the big question is, what effect does this have on the company, the
industry, the players? It's too soon to tell. Is it cause for panic? No.
Should you believe the "inside rumors" you see on the internet? No more than
you believe any other rumor you see on the internet. Some people who lost
their jobs went away angry. I can understand that. Some posted to the
internet while they were still angry. Some people who *didn't* lose their
jobs are angry as well, and some of them posted to the internet as well.

As always, you should realize that when someone speaks in anger, they are
speaking from the heart. But you should also remember that what they say
isn't necessarily true; it may be a misperception on their part, or their
anger may be coloring the truth.

If you know anything about stress management, you know that what these
people need right now is someone to vent to. You may want someone to vent
to, yourself. My advice to anyone who wishes to vent is to choose the
audience carefully. The message has already passed through one anger filter;
it will also pass through the anger filter of everyone who hears it. In a
sufficiently large audience, that's a lot of anger. The truth could well be
lost in the swell of outrage.

It isn't necessary for that to happen. We don't have to *like* that people
lose their jobs--even people we know. But we don't have to hate it, either,
because hate is a very strong emotion, and when it gets out of control, it
causes far, far more damage than it's worth.

Now, all that having been said, I'd like to urge anyone who wishes to
discuss this subject to do so offline. You can e-mail me, if you'd like, and
I'll answer as time and my company's privacy policy permits. But please,
here, let's talk about Star Wars, and if at all possible, let's talk about
the new RPG.

"Fear is the path to the dark side ... fear leads to anger ... anger leads
to hate ... hate leads to suffering."

JD Wiker
RPG Designer
Wizards of the Coast
cdbales@*******.com

JD Wiker
RPG Designer
Wizards of the Coast
[/quote]

-Draamal

------------------------------------------
The information contained in this e-mail message may be privileged,
confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the
intended recipient, any further disclosure or use, dissemination,
distribution, or copying of this message or any attachment is strictly
prohibited. If you think that you have received this e-mail message in
error, please delete it and notify the sender.
Message no. 6
From: Cole, Wade A. wcole@********.com
Subject: [OT]Industry News
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 16:12:53 -0600
This was posted on the Star Wars mailing list (den of trolls and hive of
spammers that it is):

Subject: [STARWARS] Regarding the Layoffs
[quote]
Yes, Wizards terminated a number of jobs yesterday. In more plain English,
we told a lot of people they no longer had jobs here. I won't say "fired,"
though, because that word has negative connotations, and none of those were
present in yesterday's events. It was a reduction in headcount, not a
"purge" or a "mass firing." It was a necessary measure to adjust for
our
projections for the coming year. Every company does that. It's happened here
before (though only once with this many people), and it happened at TSR
before they were purchased by Wizards of the Coast. For most of us in RPG
R&D, this is the second time we've had to deal with this.

As specifically regards the Star Wars design and editing team, we're still
here. All of us. Others who worked in conjunction with our team may or may
not be, but I expect they'll answer that question in their own time, in
their own words. We're still working on Star Wars, and we have scheduled
assignments through the end of next year. Likewise, Star Wars Gamer is more
or less intact, though they have "reshuffled" some people into slightly
different roles in our periodicals department.

Now the big question is, what effect does this have on the company, the
industry, the players? It's too soon to tell. Is it cause for panic? No.
Should you believe the "inside rumors" you see on the internet? No more than
you believe any other rumor you see on the internet. Some people who lost
their jobs went away angry. I can understand that. Some posted to the
internet while they were still angry. Some people who *didn't* lose their
jobs are angry as well, and some of them posted to the internet as well.

As always, you should realize that when someone speaks in anger, they are
speaking from the heart. But you should also remember that what they say
isn't necessarily true; it may be a misperception on their part, or their
anger may be coloring the truth.

If you know anything about stress management, you know that what these
people need right now is someone to vent to. You may want someone to vent
to, yourself. My advice to anyone who wishes to vent is to choose the
audience carefully. The message has already passed through one anger filter;
it will also pass through the anger filter of everyone who hears it. In a
sufficiently large audience, that's a lot of anger. The truth could well be
lost in the swell of outrage.

It isn't necessary for that to happen. We don't have to *like* that people
lose their jobs--even people we know. But we don't have to hate it, either,
because hate is a very strong emotion, and when it gets out of control, it
causes far, far more damage than it's worth.

Now, all that having been said, I'd like to urge anyone who wishes to
discuss this subject to do so offline. You can e-mail me, if you'd like, and
I'll answer as time and my company's privacy policy permits. But please,
here, let's talk about Star Wars, and if at all possible, let's talk about
the new RPG.

"Fear is the path to the dark side ... fear leads to anger ... anger leads
to hate ... hate leads to suffering."

JD Wiker
RPG Designer
Wizards of the Coast
cdbales@*******.com

JD Wiker
RPG Designer
Wizards of the Coast
[/quote]

-Draamal


------------------------------------------
The information contained in this e-mail message may be privileged,
confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the
intended recipient, any further disclosure or use, dissemination,
distribution, or copying of this message or any attachment is strictly
prohibited. If you think that you have received this e-mail message in
error, please delete it and notify the sender.

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Thwap!