Defending our hobbies

[Joe Kutz]

If my comments caused any harm or hurt to the hard working Americans who play Dungeons & Dragons, I apologize. This campaign is committed to increasing the strength, constitution, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma scores of every American.

--Michael Goldfarb

 

Day late and a dollar short.

 

He already apologized for the comment, and provided a bit of a joke along the way the same day he posted the original story.

 

BTW - I don't see anything to get offended about (more often than not...I never see anything to get offended about). Stereotypes are descriptive phrases which conjure up a visual without having to get wordy. When someone uses the "pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons" phrase...they want people to dig down and think of those three kids they went to school with who looked like they suffered from a lack of melanin and soap. It isn't an attack on people who play D&D.

[Helltown]

Perhaps WotC/Hasbro should run a marketing campaign like Playboy used to "what kind of person plays D&D" then show a picture of Vin Deisel or something. (maybe that's a bad example)

 

Pay a little more attention to the gaming magazines (and a few of the celeb magazines) after World Wide Dungeons and Dragons Day! There's usually a small array of photos of celebrities going to a West Hollywood club to play D&D. There was even a blurb on Entertainment Tonight the first year they did a World Wide event.

 

For the record... Vin Diesel did attend one of the World Wide D&D events. Just goes to show that you never know who plays D&D He's also a comic book addict IIRC.

[kristof65]

BTW - I don't see anything to get offended about (more often than not...I never see anything to get offended about). Stereotypes are descriptive phrases which conjure up a visual without having to get wordy. When someone uses the "pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons" phrase...they want people to dig down and think of those three kids they went to school with who looked like they suffered from a lack of melanin and soap. It isn't an attack on people who play D&D.

I don't typically get offended by stereotypes either. But it's one thing to use it in an attempt at entertainment, quite another to use it as an attack on a set of people. IMO, that's the context in which Mr Goldberg used it - as an attack on people he disagrees with. He also attempted to politicize D&D, which happens with a lot of labels I know, but doesn't mean we have to let it happen.

 

When it comes to the stereotype of the gamer, I think it's rather funny when used for entertainment - especially since looked at from a certain perspective, I am that guy posting from his mom's basement. That's because my home office sits in the basement of what was once my parents house, before I bought it from them, and remodeled it.

 

I also think that the WotC ad didn't reinforce the stereotype nearly as much as it pointed out that D&D players have friends and actual face to face social interaction with them. We all know most RPGer's are actually rather social people, although some are unable to do it unless it's behind the facade of an elven wizard or dwarf berserker. That's rather contrary to the stereotype as well, and I think the WotC ad did a good job at pointing that out.