WizKids Layoffs and Management Reorg...

[LilNewbie]

Letter posted at Realmworx forums by Draddog. Figured it would be interesting news to everyone here. Sad that some of the good guys on the Realms lost their jobs (Draddog and malchyor.) Just another company that lost it's way, imo:

From Marc Lore, Chief Operating Officer of WizKids:

"Dear Hobby Game Community,
Due to changing demands within our industry and within our own company, WizKids is reorganizing to strengthen itself within the marketplace. Unfortunately, this brought about a tough decision to have a reduction in force. This is necessary to realign overheads with revenues as well as refocus our resources on the functions that we believe will create value to the industry and growth for our company.

These steps are necessary for the long term health of WizKids., and will allow us to focus on our core Brands of Battlestar Galactica, HeroClix, HorrorClix, MechWarrior and Pirates. Our company is firmly committed to supporting the Core Hobby Game industry and plans to serve this industry for years to come.

WizKids’ commitment to innovation and excellence has not changed and we look forward to working with all of the folks that make this industry great to help transform the marketplace once more into one that is vibrant and exciting.

In the next few weeks, we will share with you the results of our deliberations, and our plans for the future of the great games you have come to know and love."
__________________

[KeeperOfPeace]

Darn, WK isn't doing so well. Could have told you with that stuff they pull with the players money. I am sure a few of us here play WK games, and I am not a Wk hater, but they are not always super wise when it comes to certain choices. MW is no longer the game it was at first except big mechs are still there. They just keep ticking people off and now it is hitting them where it hurts.

Sorry to anyone who gets layed off or whatever else may happen because of this.

[Havokscry]

I'm sure huge executive retention bonuses are probably part of the "WizKids’ commitment to innovation and excellence".

[DarkSpade]

Known Wizkids "reorganized" employees:

Kevin Goddard (KevinG, Draddog; the Brand Manager for MechWarrior and others)
David M. Stansel-Garner (Vairdic; MechWarrior Community manager)
Vic Bonilla (DrCuervo, sculpter) (but he will be doing contract work for wizkids still)
Brook (roadspike, don't remember what he did, but he was cool)


This is either going to be the saving grace or the death blow to wizkids.

[Annerios]

The changes continue with Weisman stepping down as CEO:

http://theminiaturespage.com/news/571509/

[ninthdoc]

Ooooh, that is interesting. I'm thinking big changes are coming. I hope this doesn't interfere w/the plans for Horrorclix.

[Annerios]

Ooooh, that is interesting. I'm thinking big changes are coming. I hope this doesn't interfere w/the plans for Horrorclix.

According to the brand manager on the Horrorclix boards:

WizKids is absolutely serious about HorrorClix. You don't do the kind of release we're in the middle of if you're not. As for keeping it successful, that's certainly my intention. Don't be frigthened by the fact that we reorganized a bit. Things always work out for the better.

Best,
__________________
Mark Tuttle
----------------------------
HorrorClix Brand Manager

[Rhydderch]

According to the brand manager on the Horrorclix boards:

WizKids is absolutely serious about HorrorClix. You don't do the kind of release we're in the middle of if you're not. As for keeping it successful, that's certainly my intention. Don't be frigthened by the fact that we reorganized a bit. Things always work out for the better.

Best,
__________________
Mark Tuttle
----------------------------
HorrorClix Brand Manager

Unless of course you are one of the people who has been reorganized. I hope all of them find new work.

[ultradoug]

Reaper should be along here soon enough to pannic.
so I feel no need to pannic post.
...yet.

[Kenntak]

Ooooh, that is interesting. I'm thinking big changes are coming. I hope this doesn't interfere w/the plans for Horrorclix.

According to the brand manager on the Horrorclix boards:

WizKids is absolutely serious about HorrorClix. You don't do the kind of release we're in the middle of if you're not. As for keeping it successful, that's certainly my intention. Don't be frigthened by the fact that we reorganized a bit. Things always work out for the better.

Best,
__________________
Mark Tuttle
----------------------------
HorrorClix Brand Manager

They were pretty serious about MK too, but look where that ended up. In any event, do you think the brand manager would say anything other than that? I also found out that Toonclix was shelved and Race Day was cancelled.

[markwars]

Hi Kenntak, long time no see. ;)

[ninthdoc]

I also found out that Toonclix was shelved and Race Day was cancelled.

By "shelved" I'm guessing that means cancelled, like Race Day?

Kenntak, I wish you were here more.

[Annerios]

They were pretty serious about MK too, but look where that ended up. In any event, do you think the brand manager would say anything other than that? I also found out that Toonclix was shelved and Race Day was cancelled.

That is true. They are going to try to spin it into a positive as hard as they can.

If they stopped the ridiculous blind buying format and actually let people buy the figures they want (like the upcoming Aliens and Predators) they would get more crossover business from other gamers.

I love that giant Cthulhu figure they have coming out (as do a lot of people that would not normally look at Wizkids stuff), but how many of them are going to jump through all of the hoops they need to go through to get it?

[Rhydderch]

If they stopped the ridiculous blind buying format and actually let people buy the figures they want (like the upcoming Aliens and Predators) they would get more crossover business from other gamers.


Not only did Wizkids have those ridiculous blind purchases but you could get multiples of a figure in one pack! And you were not guaranteed a Rare or even an Uncommon. In the stores I have seen MK it is more expensive than DnD miniatures but you get less figures and rarely see a rare figure. DnD at least has a set distribution of 1 Rare and 3 Uncommons per pack.

They could have switched to multiple dials for their figures too instead of using the same figure 3 times.

[ninthdoc]

They could have switched to multiple dials for their figures too instead of using the same figure 3 times.

See? Now I've agreed w/that from the first. They've started doing this in the latest Herclix offerings and I saw where in some of the last MK figs they were doing this (at least changing the color of something on the fig to reflect the level of it's power).

They are starting to offer more purchases that are not blind. The X-Men Danger Room set that will drop w/Sinister, the Aliens that has already been mentioned, and the Ares for Mechwarrior that has already been mentioned in this thread.

[KeeperOfPeace]

Holy cow things are changing. I realize they say they think this will work out for the best, but for them to change so much so fast certainly cannot be a good sign. Almost any Wk player should know by now that WK was having finace trouble.

So Toonclix has been cancelled Kenntak? I hope not, I was thinking that game may have been fun for a game to laugh at.

I already don't buy Wk games since they upset me last year with some of the material in their books.

I do however really enjoy buying stuff from WOTC. Knowing I will ALWAYS get a rare/ very rare makes me feel better forking over the money.

[LilNewbie]

Toonclix and the NASCar game are gone. The only games being supported at this time are the ones listed in the announcemnt.

Newb.

[Kenntak]

Thanks guys for the welcome. :wink:

I know a lot of people like blind purchase miniatures games, but to me, this business model is flawed. These games generally thrive upon a sort of legalized gambling -- put powerful unique figures in the set to encourage people to buy multiple packs. The next expansion set has to outdo the set before it in order to keep players buying boosters in hopes of getting the next uber figure. This results in power creep and its associated balance problems.

Of course one can buy single figures on eBay or from some merchants, and I used to do a lot of that. However, it got old bidding for these figures and paying proportionally high shiipping costs just to get that unique figure which a few months down the road may be obsolete.

I used to buy cases of Mage Knight so I could get around 8 uniques or so per case. I got tired of buying boosters and getting duplicate figures or filler figures. However, buying cases was an expensive proposition, and I realized it was not worth the hassle of having a ton of figures of which only a small percentage would see use.

Mage Knight was an extremely popular game in its heyday. The online forums were buzzing with activity. However, now that the game is cancelled, the forums are dead. In fact, what little activity there is may be focused more on other games rather than Mage Knight.

This leads to the following rhetorical questions I have about Mage Knight: if MK was truly a great game, why are the online forums dead once the game is cancelled? Should there not be more than a handful of people still playing it and discussing strategy? Were people into the game more so for the thrill of pulling uniques or winning Limited Edition figures in tournaments? Just pondering this.

[Annerios]

if MK was truly a great game, why are the online forums dead once the game is cancelled? Should there not be more than a handful of people still playing it and discussing strategy? Were people into the game more so for the thrill of pulling uniques or winning Limited Edition figures in tournaments? Just pondering this.

Good to see you back Kenntak. :thumbsup:

That is strange. There are so many figures and supplemental items that you'd think there would still be a lot of online activity for Mage Knight.

If they cancelled HS today, I would expect activity to die down here a bit, for example, but not fade away that badly. If a game has sound mechanics and components, it should be viable entertainment regardless.

[cbs42]

I'm very glad to see that Pirates was on their list of "core brands" because I just recently jumped headfirst into that game, and I'm loving it. I've never played any of the "clix" games, but obviously they have a good fanbase as well.

The next expansion set has to outdo the set before it in order to keep players buying boosters in hopes of getting the next uber figure. This results in power creep and its associated balance problems.
What you say is TOTALLY true of Magic: The Gathering, and other such CCGs that don't have "point costs" for their cards/units.

As far as the WizKids games go, I can only speak for Pirates here, but I think most (if not all) of the power creep issues should be addressed by the "point cost" of the units.

If properly balanced and playtested, there's no real reason to believe that your ultra-rare 30 point ship would necessarily stand a better chance than my 30 point fleet of commons. The point values of the ships should reflect the power -- so equal point fleets should be closely matched from an ability and stats standpoint. Whether the points are accurately assigned in reality is something I'm not able to answer -- I'm too new to the game. Anyway, I just wanted to mention that I believe the game concept and business model to be sound as long as they accurately assign points to the figures.

One more balancing factor that prevents the uber-expensive rares from dominating the game is the fact that you're sacrificing in-game actions to select such a powerful ship. If you have some badass ship worth 30 points, and I have 5 ships totalling 30 points, I'm going to be taking 5 actions for every 1 of yours. That's a HUGE advantage to me. Yes, your ship could wipe the seafloor with any of mine if they cross paths, but I'm going to be collecting gold 5 times faster, and there's a good chance you wouldn't be able to hunt down all of my commons before I amassed 50% of the treasure to win the game.

[ninthdoc]

I do however really enjoy buying stuff from WOTC. Knowing I will ALWAYS get a rare/ very rare makes me feel better forking over the money.

I agree w/this completely. Plus, you get almost twice the figures for the same money.

This leads to the following rhetorical questions I have about Mage Knight: if MK was truly a great game, why are the online forums dead once the game is cancelled? Should there not be more than a handful of people still playing it and discussing strategy? Were people into the game more so for the thrill of pulling uniques or winning Limited Edition figures in tournaments? Just pondering this.

Those are some very good and valid observations, Kenntak. Look at Heroquests. It's been gone for quite a while and there is still a group of devotees plugging away at it. It's just the first one that comes to mind and probably the one that gets the most mention here. There are countless other RPGs and such that also are played and expanded upon long after they have stopped producing them.

I never played MK and was not gaming when it was around, therefore I feel badly bashing on someone's game, but I had a thought. Is it possible that something like MK does not challenge us enough mentally to warrant continuation after it's been terminated? Is it just too closed to customs and the like to breed the types of maniacal fans that exist here? Think about it for a minute. I hate the combat dials. They are too tiny for a blind old man like me. Imax has called them ugly. Stat cards like WotC CMGs and HS are great. Plus they are more conducive to fan-based initiatives. This is another reason that I have some concerns about Dreamblade. It appears that the stats will be on the base. Hello, I don't know of anybody that particularly likes this. Maybe I'm wrong.

If they cancelled HS today, I would expect activity to die down here a bit, for example, but not fade away that badly. If a game has sound mechanics and components, it should be viable entertainment regardless.

First, never say that about cancelling HS again in front of small children, it's inappropriate, vulgar, and socially unacceptable. Next, I agree with this 100%

[LilNewbie]

Whether people will agree or not, the truth about MK is that WizKids killed the game outright with ver 2.0 and set retirement. Don't believe me? Look what they just did to MechWarrior and Heroclix...no more set retirement. Hmmmm....maybe the fanbase was right. "Retire my big collection and bam I'm not playing or paying anymore." Now retirement doesn't affect friendly games but what really made that game was the tourneys and if you can't use a large percentage of your collection in official stuff...why bother? Another change was the rules. More complications in a game that should be simple, a FAQ that is twice as big as the rulebook, too much powercreep, etc. There are a lot of people that still play MK dungeons and WK could never figure out that was a prime market for some quality releases. The biggest problem with WK is that they tried to force their customers to like how they did business instead of modeling their business around what a majority of their customers would like. Take heed of this last statement if you ever run a business that deals with customers (that's a joke...most, if not all, business deal with a customer base of some sort.) :D Another aspect is that they catered to the tourney crowd almost exclusively (heck, it made money) but once the tourneys died that crowd moves on to the next tourney game. I think any system that caters to the tourney market exclusively will disappear quickly once the tourney scenes are not supported anymore. MK ver 1.0 was fun game. Ver 2.0 had some good ideas but added too many complications with all the extra stuff they added (mounts, domains and especially artifacts.) Even though the additions were cool in there own right, I feel they never playtested any of them enough and some were too powerful from the start (Mounted Bound or Charge, etc.)

See ya,
Newb.

[Annerios]

First, never say that about cancelling HS again in front of small children, it's inappropriate, vulgar, and socially unacceptable. Next, I agree with this 100%

:rofl:

[ultradoug]

yay Kenntak is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
yay Kenntak is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
yay Kenntak is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
yay Kenntak is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

three cheeers for KENNTAK the nicest mod ever now the nicest admin ever! WE LOVE KENNTAK.

Hum.
you know what.
Ken + Tac. = Kenntak. I just thought of that.
cool.

[Kenntak]

Well, that was "tacky" :D

[Havokscry]

ultradoug is having the best week ever! Kenntak came back and a girl joined Heroscapers.com who loves Taelord.

[ultradoug]

now I just nead to be mod and everything will be perfect.

[Havokscry]

You say that and all the Site Admins leave.

[ultradoug]

then me and kentack will be the only mods here.....

....


@_@;

[markwars]

UD + Kenntak = Kenntak

:P

[LilNewbie]

Weisman is leaving WizKids. Looks like Topps gets its hands deeper into the WK pot. Interesting developments. Hopefully it doesn't affect HorrorClix.

WizKids Announces Leadership Reorganization
Dear Hobby Game Community,

Due to changing demands within our industry and within our own company, WizKids is reorganizing to strengthen itself within the marketplace. In doing so, we are making changes at the executive level management of our company, bringing in highly skilled and proven leaders while allowing the creative side of our company to focus on continued innovation.

I am stepping down as CEO of WizKids. Moving forward, I will continue to work with WizKids in a creative capacity, exploring new product innovations and game development. The goal is to allow me to do what I do best and what I love the most, which is to create great games. Stepping down as CEO is a very difficult decision. But I believe it is best for WizKids, as well as what is best for me.

Lax Chandra will be taking on the role of President at WizKids. Lax was most recently Topps Company’s Director of Business Development for the Entertainment Division and head of the Internet Group. Lax’s mix of strategic vision, passion and discipline combined with his impressive business experience make him a solid choice as WizKids next President. I am confident he will effectively lead WizKids into its next chapter for years to come.

With the strong addition of Lax, WizKids has also hired Joe Hauck as the Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Development. Joe brings with him 10 years of game industry experience, most recently as Vice President of Brand Marketing for Wizards of the Coast. Joe is one of the most accomplished marketers in the history of our industry. His experience managing the Magic brand is a testament to steady brand development and extension. Joe will focus on growing WizKids’ market share, forming strategic partnerships, and delivering top-notch products to our industry. I am pleased to welcome him as a valued member of our management team.

WizKids is firmly committed to supporting the Core Hobby Game industry and plans to serve this industry for years to come. The company’s commitment to innovation and excellence has not changed and we look forward to working with all of the folks that make this industry great to help transform the marketplace into a vibrant and exciting one again.

Sincerely,

Jordan Weisman

[Miniature Geek]

I never played MK and was not gaming when it was around, therefore I feel badly bashing on someone's game, but I had a thought. Is it possible that something like MK does not challenge us enough mentally to warrant continuation after it's been terminated? Is it just too closed to customs and the like to breed the types of maniacal fans that exist here? Think about it for a minute. I hate the combat dials. They are too tiny for a blind old man like me. Imax has called them ugly. Stat cards like WotC CMGs and HS are great. Plus they are more conducive to fan-based initiatives. This is another reason that I have some concerns about Dreamblade. It appears that the stats will be on the base. Hello, I don't know of anybody that particularly likes this. Maybe I'm wrong.


Well Ninthdoc, I gotta say, when I was around 12 mage knight came out, I rember buying my very first starter set, (I remember getting a Blue Steam Golem) and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I didn't have to look in a book (ala Warhammer) or anything else like that, so I was stoked. It wasn't until I'd played for a while that I realized, constantly removing your pieces from the gaming table to click the dials, did indeed get annoying, but it is still to this day, one of the only games where stats change as a character gets weaker. Which in my opinion is really neat.

Maybe they should have made cards with a little area for a marker so you could keep track of stats and health on that? The adjusting stats, cool idea, the fact that it was attached to the base, slightly annoying.

If they cancelled HS today, I would expect activity to die down here a bit, for example, but not fade away that badly. If a game has sound mechanics and components, it should be viable entertainment regardless.

First, never say that about cancelling HS again in front of small children, it's inappropriate, vulgar, and socially unacceptable. Next, I agree with this 100%

ROFLMAO