WotC Requiring Commander Panel Advisors to Sign Lifetime Contract Preventing Com

[WWolfe]

Their first misstep?
 

Prospective members of the upcoming “Commander Panel,” an advisory board to Wizards of the Coast now that they have full control of the format, have revealed that their contracts allegedly include a lifetime non-disparagement clause that limits their speech regarding the company forever— even if the contract is over.

This may or may not come as a shock after Wizards of the Coast have taken control of the Commander format from the once community-ran Rules Committee. WotC specifically mentioned that they would create a “Commander Panel” of community members and ex-Rules Committee members to help advise them on the ban list, product creation, and other aspects pertaining to the format.

However, this lifetime non-disparagement clause means that they could limit what those members are allowed to say publically… forever.

More at link to include tweet from Gavin Duggan

https://draftsim.com/wotc-restricts-commander-panelists/

[Grimjack]

Ok.  Somehow I don’t think this will impact me in my daily life. 

[fire5167]

Their first misstep?

Errr... I'm trying to give WotC the benefit of the doubt here but I'm struggling to come up with reasons they would do this—other than to preserve public image. Are they trying to cover up some scandal I wonder? The draftsim article makes a good point about committee members losing credibility for the rest of their lives.

Ok.  Somehow I don’t think this will impact me in my daily life. 

Yeah... Also fair. I guess maybe a couple years down the line there could be some problematic card that WotC will refuse to ban because it will devalue one of their products?

[crimsonking]

As JLK from the Command Zone pointed out, if RC world have just resigned, someone else from the community could step in. Handing everything to WotC was not needed and fundamentally killed the format as we know it.

[WWolfe]

Olivia was very adamant about the step of handing it over to WoTC not being something she wanted. She said she felt like she let Sheldon down. She was the most visible of the RC and took a good portion of the harassment for a move she was against.

Wonder if they reached out to her to be part of the panel.

[robort]

All I have to say is good luck to WOTC trying to control someones freedom of speech. As the saying goes "From the frying pan into the fire",