Good Bye LaTia

Listening to Ghostfire Gaming’s Eldritch Lorecast and they’ve just mentioned that our community manager LaTia Jacquise has been laid off. Just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear this and how much I respect and appreciate all the work she’s put in here over the last four years 

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Listening to Ghostfire Gaming’s Eldritch Lorecast and they’ve just mentioned that our community manager LaTia Jacquise has been laid off. Just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear this and how much I respect and appreciate all the work she’s put in here over the last four years 

 OK, I've heard a different version of this story where she willingly left.

So which is it?

In her own words on social media "my role at wizards has been made redundant, and I have been laid off" and ENWorld etc are reporting it as laid off so I'm going with that 

Quote from CunningSmile >>

In her own words on social media "my role at wizards has been made redundant, and I have been laid off" and ENWorld etc are reporting it as laid off so I'm going with that 

 This feels like Dan Ayoub's "No face of DND" statement has become a hardline employment policy.

Unless it's him, Luke Gygax, or the novel authors, & that Maginello guy I keep seeing...THOSE are acceptable "faces".

EDIT:Corrections made.

Quote from MaedraDawnkeeper >>

Quote from CunningSmile >>

In her own words on social media "my role at wizards has been made redundant, and I have been laid off" and ENWorld etc are reporting it as laid off so I'm going with that 

 This feels like Dan Ayoub's "No face of DND" statement has become a hardline employment policy.

Unless it's him, Luke Gygax, or the novel authors, & that Maginello guy I keep seeing...THOSE are acceptable "faces".

Zac was likely laid off, & for the same reason. He was getting too liked by the fandom compared to Dan Ayoub like how LaTia is liked.

 Except Zac hasn’t been laid off, again in his own words he’s just changed jobs. Let’s not start reading conspiracy theories into pretty standard job changes 

LaTia and I may have butted heads once or twice but they were a decent person, and deserved to be paid and respected.  I ain't gonna cry when some of the others are kicked to the curb, but LaTia was nothing but fair and they will be missed.

I also admit this might be paranoia but ditching the POC Enby has my hackles up and on the look out for possible "No woke" concessions. 

This is a stupid move by Wizards.  WotC’s biggest problem has always been poor communications with players, often turning otherwise manageable situations much, much worse.  Take the OGL issue, which predated LaTia.  Communication was late, often condescending, incomplete, and did not meet players where they were. 

LaTia changed that.  She was prompt to respond to issues, even if only to say “I’ll look into that and get back,” and then followed through.  Her posts were conversational, informative when she had information, and spoke directly to player concerns instead of past them.  Exactly what WotC needs in their communications department, and, as I have said before, her talent in communicating to players who are not inclined to communication was wasted on D&D Beyond.

The second major change I have seen since she came into her position is in moderation on this site.  It is no exaggeration to say that ineffective moderation on Beyond fomented a culture of hate.  Obvious alternate accounts created to circumvent the rare ban were treated as fresh faces without any history.  Dog whistling - posts that are racist, but hide it behind a veneer of other language - were moderated just on the veneer, not the messaging.  Peeling back that veneer, lest innocent readers fall into the trap of believing the racist content, was treated as a bannable offense.

Since LaTia came on, there has been a major shift in moderation on this site, enough that I expect she is responsible for the changes.  The worst offenders seem to actually go away, instead of return time and time again on both their normal account and their alts.  I hope this new direction stays in place now that LaTia is gone.

At the end of the day, from a corporate perspective, LaTia did not do anything flashy.  But she’s one of the few folks in the entire apparatus of WotC who knew what players needed in communications and she delivered on it.

It was a mistake to fire her instead of promoting her to a more important position in the communications department.

Oh this just sucks. How can a job be redundant when LaTia was the ONLY one doing it and doing it well? 

My biggest fear is that Hasbro will replace them with a chat bot 

Good moderation is incredibly skilled and hard to replace. Executives don't usually realize how important those humans are for building community and brand. Finding people who really know and love your community and can be trusted to do right by it is not easy, and the relationships they save and build are hard to measure.

I'm sorry, LaTia, and I hope you land somewhere better where you are well appreciated.

Well... even more of a reason to spend less money on D&D. 

This is incredibly disappointing news. I feel like everyone over there who cared about the actual D&D community is gone now.

<3

Quote from LaTiaJacquise >>

<3

Thanks for everything and I hope you find somewhere that appreciates you.

It’s going to be weird to see your posts without the cyan box

LaTia, thanks for everything, and may all your future rolls be nat 20s.

It is insane how much more professional LaTia is than WotC. I hope she finds new employment that treats her with the respect she deserves.