Shadeydm said:
Ok so if we are locking down satire etc how does this crap make the cut? Perhaps because it isn't poking fun at 4E but people who criticize 4e instead.
I resent having my legitimate concerns referred to as "satire." I had urgent need to hear from a WotC representative so I could continue to live my life as I have in the past. Just as my girlfriend occasionally needs guidance from Oprah on what to think, and read, so I needed someone involved in the production of 4E to tell me if my feelings would be appropriate after the precipitous events of an edition change.
I have received my answer, and if a WotC higher-up says my girlfriend will be even more lovable after May 05, that's good enough for me. If someone in charge of D&D says she's a keeper, then I'm shopping for rings.
...
(BUT, if my original post
were satire, it might be worth noting that this post was
not designed to mock 4E's critics, but to
amuse. Elements of the joke may parody those who treat a change in the rules of a game as if it were a cause for honest emotional distress, feelings of real betrayal, or anything other than intellectual curiosity, community discussion, and debate (these last three things being why EN World exists in the first place). It goes without saying that decisions on how to change a game system-- a structure composed of concepts, logic, and math-- obviously
should be critiqued, examined, and constructively disagreed with, but a small minority of critics have done so in a way that some people, apparently, see mirrored in this humorous thread. The fact that some people see more specific targets being made fun of than was intended may reflect how excessive those posts have been. On the other hand, in a larger sense, any real parody was of a group including both fans and critics of 4th Edition, who feel like the words of WotC employees are messages from God, full of rapture or apocalypse, while simultaneously feeling they are personally owed an explanation or assurance on their pet issue from those same employees. The people who think one cheerful post from a 4E designer makes the whole world rosy were lampooned as much as, if not more than, the naysayers... Then again, all of the above would be valid only if this thread were satire, which it certainly is not.)
One tiny concern-- if my girlfriend finds out I started a discussion where Scott Rouse or anyone else mentioned the possibility that she could stand to become "easier on the eyes," I'll be spending my money on medical bills, not D&D books.
