Ahhh....noooo. It's not punching up. At all. It's punching down. The writers are in a privileged position that none of the gatekeeping grogs they're punching have. Those gatekeeping grogs don't have a platform akin to official D&D modules that go out to millions of people, much less one that surpasses it. That's the definition of punching down. I don't think it's punching at all, but if it is punching, it's definitely down. Some punching down is acceptable, like messing with a heckler at a stand-up comedy show. If this is punching at all, it's that kind of punching. The gatekeeping grogs taking it upon themselves to try to stop the game from changing or denying newer fans a place. If this is anything, this is the writers stepping in and telling the geezers to cool it and that the kids are all right.