Canonfire!

Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:18 pm Monte Cook just left Wizards of the Coast

Here is his official statement informing us that he is no longer working on Dungeons and Dragons or for WotC.

http://montecook.livejournal.com/251404.html

SirXaris

Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:24 pm

Yeah, that's not a good sign, and it sounds like whoever's in charge at WotC/Hasbro is making a mess of things. Neutral

But at least it will have all the work he's done up until this point.

Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:40 pm

5E is in trouble already. I think alot of their positive buzz was because he was on the project. Shew!

Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:49 pm

I think Monte was very careful the way he worded his statement. Leaves me wondering about his relationship with the heads of WOTC?Hasbro ...

Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:13 pm

Okay, hand grenade gets lobbed into the room. Evil Grin

Not everything Monte Cook did was that great. RttTEE anyone?

His own stuff, for Malhavoc, was pretty good.

Maybe he needs the freedom.

Doesn't automatically mean 5e will be worse off without him.

Kudos to the man for saying that he is going to eschew drama over the issue. Heaven knows there'll always be enough of that to go round anyway.

Thu Apr 26, 2012 4:17 am

We also don't know who else might be pulled in on the project now either, if anyone. Besides, the other two guys aren't exactly batting .000 either, so it is probably a bit early to be jumping on the doom and gloom bandwagon.

Still waiting for an e-mail about the 5E public development feedback program thingy...
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Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:12 am

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Bruce Cordell, more for fluff than crunch however. What's really eye popping about Monte leaving is the preemptive nature. Usually it's WotC who is kicking people to the curb.

Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:33 am

While it is sad that WotC has lost another established "talent," this latest revelation doesn't bother me as much as it apparently bothers others.

Though Monte and Bruce are both well established in the business and have written various material that we have all enjoyed -- to one extent or another -- neither of them were ever prolific Greyhawk writers; Bruce is known for producing Faerun materials and Monte -- while having a "broader horizon" -- went his own way and has been working on Malhavoc for some 9 years now, even going so far as to create Ptolus, a campaign setting based on Monte's home game.

So I see this "move" as having very little impact on Greyhawk's inclusion, or exclusion, to or from future 4e products, or any upcoming "5e" material.

In short: I see no recognizable "impact" for Greyhawk, which is all that concerns me.
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Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:11 pm

The only reason I say it's "not a good sign" is because he states he left over differences with WotC/Hasbro management. In other words, WotC's behavior is the "bad sign" not necessarily Cook's absence.

The work Cook did is still a part of the game, though, so hopefully it be okay.

Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:17 pm

@Bluebomber,

I don't disagree with that assessment. Both Bruce and Monte are "talents" in the business, not "wannabes." The fact that WotC keeps losing such talent -- for one reason or another -- could never be perceived as a "good sign." It is evidence of WotC's continuing spiral into a bottomless pit.

But, in truth, WotC abandoned Greyhawk lovers "eons" ago and I was simply pointing out that bringing Monte "in" on 4e -- or 5e -- was not necessarily a "good sign" for Greyhawk. And so, neither is his leaving.

However, I do feel sorry that WotC just can't seem to "get it together."
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Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:26 pm

FWIW, Trevor Kidd, Community Manager for Wizards of the Coast, was asking about Greyhawk on twitter earlier.

https://twitter.com/#!/Trevor_WotC

Joe / Greyhawk Grognard

Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:49 am

He can't even spell "canon" right, why should I trust him to know what the hell he is talking about? Hrmph.

Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:06 pm

Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:58 pm

I feel for ya Aeolius. I sifted and searched and finally scrolled down far enough to see what was Greyhawk related. I've neve rposted to twitter and I'm still not compelled to.

Thu May 03, 2012 2:14 pm

my personal (conspiracy) theory is based on past real experience from the gaming industry. Some corporate marketing person has direct oversight of the 5E initiative but doesn't play nor probably has ever played D&D in their life. They have a lot of great "ideas" and a clear "strategy" around how they're going to sell/market it to the masses - because as we all know, widgets are widgets, right rolleyes

Which in turn means that this person is making decisions around deadlines and even going so far as to providing design input such as "yeah, have you ever heard of WoW? well all the kids seem to be playing that, so let's see what makes them so successful". Yes, this person is from Hasbro.

You get my point, so I reckon Monte probably just had enough. It's a shame too, I actually was a bit hopeful 5E would go full circle and bring the 1E/2E crowd back into the fold. It wasn't a sure thing with Mr. Cook involved but this break tells me at least that it's less likely but I'm willing to at least wait and see how it unfolds. I'm seeing too much 3 / 3.5 already for my liking but again, I'll wait.