WOTC ad - insulting to gamers?

[Nightfall]

Hound-dog,

Let's face it. The chances of any true online gamer EVER switching over to good ole table top are pretty darn remote. Thus us table toppers SHOULD make fun of them. It distracts us from the constant "Why isn't the SRD updated more?!!" or "4thE is going to suck!" or even "WotC should bring back (insert popular but no longer supported campagin setting)!"

See. In retrospect they are just trying to tell us to chill.

 

[KenM]

First time I saw the ad, it was in PCgamer. I thought it was funny.

 

[Nightfall]

First time I saw the ad, it was in PCgamer. I thought it was funny.

Cool! Glad PC gamer then picked it up. They ROCK!

 

[frankthedm]

Great ad, very amusing.

It just needs, "You do have real life friends, don't you?" at the bottom of the ad.

 

[Nightfall]

Great ad, very amusing.

It just needs, "You do have real life friends, don't you?" at the bottom of the ad.

Yeah that would have made it SO much better.

 

[Alzrius]

I thought it was amusing. The stereotype is obviously meant to be hyperbole.

 

[Testament]

I thought it was great. I cracked up when I saw it.

 

[Nifft]

Haven't seen it, but it sounds funny.

-- N

 

[Herobizkit]

Add me to the "funny" list as well. The problem with stereotypes is that, insulting as they are, they're also accurate in many cases. I know I was pretty much like that guy in the ad through my high school years.

To be fair, on-line gaming can be very addictive. For example, one of the women I work with told me that her daughter of 16 is right into some on-line game called "Gaia" or something. She spends every waking hour on it. The mother threatened to cut off her computer time; the daughter threatened to move out so she could play all she wanted. And she was serious.

Now, don't get me wrong -- I enjoy online RPGs as much as the next guy, and when you can't find a gaming group or the time to get one together, it's the cat's azz. But there really is no comparison to live RPing, that is, with other people in the room co-acting and co-creating a shared fantastic reality.

So, sure, I get the ad and what it's trying to say. It doesn't offend me. Seems to me that the only people it offends are the same people who fit the stereotype in the ad.

 

[warlord]

The ad has a point. As cool as we think sitting around table pretending to be an elf is doing the same thing over a computer locked away in your basement is pretty damn pathetic.