Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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I know a few people here will be interested in this news but the D&D and D&D Beyond teams are attempting to unionise in order to ensure fairer working standards, ownership of their own IP, and a solid AI policy among other things. They’ve posted a petition to show that the fanbase supports this move so take a second to fill it out
https://unitedwizardsofthecoast.com
Fingers crossed.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call
To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
Kalandra - The State of the World
I hope they call it the Local 246.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Signed and hoping.
pronouns: he/she/they
Well, they're seeking to join a pre-existing union (UWOTC-CWA); these are the same people that successfully unionized the Arena team earlier this year.
It's a reference to the old D&D-based comic strip Nodwick: the titular character was a member of the Henchman's Union, chapter 246 because the strip debuted in Dragon Magazine issue 246.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
*I* got the reference, at least.
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Something worth noting, there was a pretty substantial amount of bad takes and rabble rousing following the Arena team’s move to unionize. Wizards, for example, got a lot of flack from the community for not voluntarily recognizing the union, and instead wanting it put through formal process and a vote.
That is pretty normal behavior and not malicious as some wanted to paint it. It both protects the company (which I get folks might not care as much about), but also gives the workers the ability to have a voice in their own decision through a formal process. With the Arena vote, for example, it allowed the 16 workers who were against unionizing to state their position, as well as showed the overwhelming majority of workers did support the unionization effort.
Why do I mention this? If past informs present, Wizards will likely put this effort to a formal vote as well. There will be lots of folks who try to paint that as an “anti-union” act of evil, when it is really more “Wizards wants the full legal process that both they and workers are entitled to to play out in full.” I would encourage folks to let the normal process play out before jumping on the anger train that so often leaves the station over non-issues.
The real problems and acts of evil come in when the company tries to coerce employees in their vote or does not engage in good faith during negotiations that follow a vote. It does not appear Wizards did anything that crosses any legal lines in the Arena vote, and that gives some reason to believe they will act in a similar nature this go around.
Shame LaTia is not around to enjoy some of the protections being sought. Still very disappointed with Wizards for firing one of their most competent staff members.
I had missed this news, ugh ugh ugh.
Wishing the creatives inside the machine a smooth and beneficial process.
Well, 'not crossing legal lines' and 'good faith' are not the same thing (this is not to say that there was bad faith. Just pointing out that they're not really the same thing).
I do hope people aren't signing on w/fake names.
God knows that's a problem change.org & other petition websites have
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
It's one of the reasons that petition websites have historically been regarded as ineffective.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Done.
An update: WotC has declined to voluntarily recognize the union, which is disappointing but not surprising. Allegedly, internal emails suggest they still harbor anti-union feelings, which is also disappointing but not surprising.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-declines-to-recognise-new-union.720972/
https://www.enworld.org/threads/wizards-of-the-coast-responds-to-d-d-unionization-effort-says-they-will-respect-results-of-union-vote.720980/
I find it funny that they have communicated their intention to "respect the results" of the upcoming vote, as though this is magnanimous behavior and not required by law.
I am hopeful that the unionization effort will force WotC, potentially kicking and screaming, to promote better standards for the entire TTRPG industry.
That is to be expected, but disheartening none the less. All we can do now is wait and hope.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call
To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
Kalandra - The State of the World
I wouldn't be too concerned at this point. A union election is rarely conducted if organizers aren't extremely confident that they have enough support.
Eh, there are a fair number of ways they could decide to make life harder. So fair their attitude appears to be "we're not really in favor and aren't going to help the process along, but also not making any serious effort to block it", which is about as good as you can realistically expect.
Out of curiosity, does anyone have stats for companies giving voluntary recognition vs having it go to election in general?
Nope - that data does not get tracked in a meaningful way. Unions report that the number of places voluntarily recognizing unions are increasing, but decline to provide any information on how much or frequent that increase might be. I highly doubt it is anywhere close to the majority.
——
One additional point I alluded to in my first post here: It is worth noting that companies are not the only ones who benefit from declining voluntary recognition. A vote ensures workers are able to have their voice heard through secret ballot, free from pressure or judgment from other workers, allows workers to hear both sides of an issue and make an informed decision, and, ultimately, makes the unionization (if voted for) stronger since it is better defended against allegations that the union was forced upon workers (voluntary recognition requires majority approval, but establishing that majority can be done through more suspect, and thus open to challenge, methods).
All told, this is generally the right move for all around. There’s a pretty good reason to use formal processes.
I see. Thanks; I’d been thinking along similar lines, but don’t know much about all this.