Hasbro
 Expect huge amounts of derp and rage, punctuated by /tg/ extracting humor from it. |
Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast and are much beloved by WotC fanboys everywhere for providing a convenient scapegoat every time somebody dares criticize Wizards and their policies. Wallet-raping business strategy? Hasbro wants more money. Complete avoidance of somewhat "unwholesome" topics? Hasbro wants it more kid-friendly. Books released with glaringly obvious errors and little testing? Hasbro forced Wizards to rush it out. Licenses that stop just shy of giving Wizards the right to anally rape anyone stupid enough to sign them? Hasbro's lawyers' idea. While Hasbro is still a giant megacorp and is thus automatically evil, that doesn't mean it's automatically behind every bad idea wizards makes.
Regardless of whose fault these things ultimately are, however, that does not make them suck any less for the rest of us.
Aside from owning Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro also owns Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, which means that they are, by extension, the ones responsible for the shitty state of board games in the United States. How are you enjoying that Monopoly?
From /v/ With Rage
Hasbro is not restricted to fucking over /tg/. It is notorious for the practice of acquiring IPs and smaller companies, asserting total creative control, and nose-diving their IPs - seemingly on purpose. A large number of the companies bought up were ones that brought about some pretty impressive gaming all their own, and the exact point at which their works took a turn for the shit.
Casualties so far:
- MicroProse (Creators of the X-Com series, as well as some damned good flight-sims): After being forced by Hasbro's meddling to create X-Com Interceptor and X-Com Enforcer, both of which failed miserably, the company's stock nosedived and it ceased to exist.
- Spectrum Holobyte (the guys who brought Tetris to the US): Was a partner of MicroProse, and likewise a victim of Hasbro as a result.
- Lauren Faust (The lady behind the new my little pony cartoon): Say what you will about my little pony in general, but the fact remains it could have been WAY WAY WAY Worse. Lauren, weather for adults or little girls, put her whole soul into the show, basing characters off personal experiences, including a little yellow pony she based off herself. She had a plan for a long and epic tale that would make even trolls cried (Well, if it wasn't about magical ponies that is). Sadly, this required creative freedom to achieve and when she asked the overlords they replied "You want us to let you make a show NOT about selling our shit!?! YOUR FIRED!" Since then many of the things that attracted the bronies in the first place, especially dark undertones and hints at adult topics underneath the cutesy shell were removed. Bronies still tend to watch because they want to see what happens to these characters, but overall the series is more like your average kids cartoon now as opposed to something special.