D&D 5E Mearls' "Firing" tweet

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The good thing is that this controversy is not even on the radar of probably 90% of the D&D public who don't waste their day on web forums or follow him on twitter. They game blissfully unaware.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

aaa

 

[Kobold Boots]

I've never understood the urge to "ignore" another poster. Besides, you can just launch another browser and view the thread without logging in, so...

Yeah.

I do it regularly. Very helpful when you're an opinionated type A personality and you know that interacting too much with one particular poster will set you off or result in no good.

 

[ad_hoc]

We are not communicating directly here and it is neither of our fault.

When I say he insulted 99.99999% of his customer base I did not mean they actually they all felt insulted. What I meant, and my apologies for not being more clear, that he insulted as in disparaged 99.9999% of his customer base with his broad brush comment. Just because person A is not insulted by a comment doesnt mean that person B didnt say something insulting.

Nothing more, nothing less. He got angry and like far too many people with access to social media he said something very poorly worded and insulting to his customer base. He is far from the first person to cut homself on the double edged sword of social media.

I'm not sure what you're upset about.

You aren't his customer base. You've been fired.

You should go find another game. 5e doesn't care about you.

If you are tired of hearing it then you should stop listening. Your sensitive ears are not their problem, they are only your problem.

Can you not see the irony?

 

[epithet]

Show me anywhere in my comment when I said "typical white male" or "typically misogynist male". I've never said anything of the sort. And if you're going to tell me I need to stop talking based on things I never said and you're making up, then that speaks volumes about you and your biases.

I thought I was fairly clear that those were implications of the terms you used, rather than actual quotes. Allow me to clarify.

An assertion of "white male privilege" implies that the the person so labeled has, as a white male, been sheltered, insulated, or conditioned to the point that they are unable to perceive blatant injustice, unwilling to perceive that injustice, or have become supportive of and dependent on that injustice. It further implies that whatever authority that person might have in the context of the conversation at hand is unearned, and would not exist but for the ethnic circumstances of that person's birth. It is often paired with the implication that the person who is labeling the other as "privileged" has, if that person is also a white male, elevated himself above the stigma of white male privilege through his virtuous character.

My point is that all of us should persuade each other or not based on the strength of our arguments and not be labeled in an effort to categorically dismiss our perspective. You have a lot (a lot) of points you can make and rhetorical devices at your disposal without resorting to, essentially, identity politics.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

aaa

 

[epithet]

The good thing is that this controversy is not even on the radar of probably 90% of the D&D public who don't waste their day on web forums or follow him on twitter. They game blissfully unaware.

Here's a funny thing:

I don't generally have any use for twitter at all, so I was completely unaware of any kerfuffle until I had a minute to burn in the middle of my yesterday and launched the ENWorld 5e forum page. Then, I saw the thread title, and thought "Holy [excrement], did Mike get fired?"

I couldn't care less who Wiz hires, but I'd be unhappy if Mike got canned for any reason.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I can’t see who would feel offended by Mearls’s tweet, unless they misunderstood it. I thought it was very clear, but many have expressed confusion about what he meant, so perhaps he could have been clearer.

But now that it’s been cleared up....who’s offended by his tweet? I would expect only sexists and those who want to keep gaming to themselves. So...who cares if they’re offended?

 

[TerraDave]

So Mike Mearls whose entire job depends on people buying his products decided to swing a massively broad brush and insult 90% of his customer base because of the actions of a couple percent of his customers?

Mike Mearls, you didnt just FAIL at customer relations, you EPIC FAILED.

Do everyone a favor and stay off Twitter, your offensive.

As I said upthread, there is a big difference between "gatekeeping", the term he used, and "prefer" which is what people are reading. I think lots of people who like heavier games try to get others to play them, instead of chasing them away.

But yes, it could have been worded better.

 

[CleverNickName]

He got angry and like far too many people with access to social media he said something very poorly worded and insulting to his customer base. He is far from the first person to cut homself on the double edged sword of social media.

Yeah, his tweet was poorly-worded (most tweets are). I don't think it was as damaging (or even as insulting) as you do, though. To paraphrase what I said earlier, I think only a very small and specific group of people would have been insulted.

Displeased or disappointed, maybe. But actually insulted? To the point of damaging his reputation or the reputation of his company? I really doubt it, outside of a small and very specific group.