Confessions of a full-time... whatever

...are in no way directed at gamers who put forth criticism of the 4E plans and declare they would rather stick with 3.5E.

The article actually included those exact "life lessons?" Good grief, that's chutzpah.

Aberzombie wrote:

...are in no way directed at gamers who put forth criticism of the 4E plans and declare they would rather stick with 3.5E.

The article actually included those exact "life lessons?" Good grief, that's chutzpah.

Or condescension, take your pick.

So...? A recipe every month?

Now that would actually be a useful article. Volo's Guide to Brownie Recipies for the Realms. Can't wait for the kobold recipe. :P

Now that would actually be a useful article. Volo's Guide to Brownie Recipies for the Realms. Can't wait for the kobold recipe. :P

Kobold Brownies

Ingredients:
Brownies

Instructions:
1. Find brownies cooked by someone else.
2. Steal brownies.

Thanks! Now I have no need to read those articles anymore. What a time saver you are!

Do you get to add your Tiefling racial bonus to your Steal Brownies percentage?

For the record, I enjoyed Wil Save, and I enjoy this kind of article in general. I also think the article was not poorly written, other than the transition from school to DM.

All that said, it was pretty much garbage, and as another pointed out, pretty much saying "We're taking your favorite teacher/DM away, but get over it 'cause you're gonna like what's coming, really, even if we act like jerks."

Even while starting this post I'm thinking of all the reasons I shouldn't be. But here goes anyway, damnit.

It's been my observation that you guys are clever, saavy enough to know that nothing gets written and certainly nothing gets published without purpose. Of course there's a purpose behind this article. In the past you've seemed too literate not to miss the meaning behind the writting; don't de-evolve now.

Xuttah says he's missing the point; Ozyr says it's just comedy -- don't read too much into it... Are you kidding? You don't really believe the story actually happened, do you? Of course it didn't. Can you believe that it's just some random, happy/feely anecdote?

WotC is illustrating why its customers should not be upset by the chaos they've caused in the industry. They're presumptuously giving us life lessons -- implying that we should have learned them in grade school, no less -- and that those life lessons are to accept being pissed on for no reason. To be happy about being jerked around because we'll enjoy it once we get used to it!?

Come on guys, browse over the article again -- not because you liked WilSave, something RADICALLY different than this article BECAUSE of its purpose, but just to consider the "similarities" between what WotC is doing and the happenings in the anecdote. Feel free to question the motives of this article being published. Socrotes would want you to.

I can't help but say it: if you read that article and think, "Oh, that's fluffy neat, like 'WilSave' -- but there's no meaning, no substance. Gee, I like brownies!", you're missing the point.

-W. E. Ray

I can't help but say it: if you read that article and think, "Oh, that's fluffy neat, like 'WilSave' -- but there's no meaning, no substance. Gee, I like brownies!", you're missing the point.

I'm sure Wil had a point to make in Wil Save too. But, like Wil Save, this article failed to make a point worth reading about because it was written like a journal entry by a random person with only a tangential relationship to gaming. Being neither fish (about gaming in a concrete way) nor foul (being well written enough to communicate its non-gaming point), it failed.

I think the response are in line with what we were given. The substance of the article was basically non-existent (be well-adjusted, embrace meaningless change), so the discussion devolved into a debate about brownies.

Maybe. Maybe. But I see too much stuff I either don't care about or for on the Internet every day to get *this* worked up about any of it.

A lot of the sound and fury I'm seeing these days feels a little like, "Well, if Wizards did it, we don't like it." We've got guys on the WotC forums griping about the couple of minutes it took to migrate their accounts and asking, however jokingly, to be paid for the time they took. Chee-rice-t.

It's a game. You ain't gotta have no aneurism over it.
M

Ozyr wrote:

..trying to make some kind of real meaning out of is jut too funny.

The meaning, AFAIK, is Brownies are Nice! And I agree. :)

Yeah, sorry, but spell check ran out of electricity.... :P

Wow, my first ever eaten post.

Well, I almost didn't write it anyway. You read it, Sebastion, was it bad enough to get eaten by the Post Monster General?

Wow, my first ever eaten post.

Well, I almost didn't write it anyway. You read it, Sebastion, was it bad enough to get eaten by the Post Monster General?

I for one thought is was fine. Points well made. Of course I got the purpose of the article; I just don't understand why they would waste their time on it. People are going to be upset and nostalgic when a beloved institution is torn down around them and replaced by what, by many indications, may very well be a stinky pile of Rothe-poo. A little bit of well written and executed REAL content would be so much better.

I think the kind of nonsense that WotC has released so far under the mastheads of Dungeon and Dragon is a real shame. It's turned the delicious, soul-nourishing, meat and 2 veg that Paizo used to serve under those names and replaced them with sugary junkfood. I enjoy the buzz as much as anyone (reading new articles, any new articles), but I'm gonna crash (outta DDI) soon if I don't get something substantial.

That being said, I guess the brownies reference can be taken as a metaphor for the state of our beloved publications. Just, y'know the cheap, manufactured, store-bought kind. Not the warm, home-baked with love ones.

Dammit! Want more brownies!

Shame or sham -- or both?

Damnit, know I'm hungry for brownies!

Holy cow, my post is back on the board.

Wow, my first ever eaten post.

Well, I almost didn't write it anyway. You read it, Sebastion, was it bad enough to get eaten by the Post Monster General?

Well, you did say he was a "horse's patooty.". Maybe Gary is sensitive to grandmotherly swearing.

Your post was not even close to offensive. The boards have just been acting up a lot lately.

You read it, Sebastion, was it bad enough to get eaten by the Post Monster General?

There is a bug that I have been stalking for months now which causes some posts to be invisible for a few hours for some people. I rolled the site twice today with new code aimed at preventing that. I have hopes for the second time I rolled it (a few hours ago)....

Thanks, Gary.

My God I've got to go to bed -- I misspelled "now" earlier!

Goodnight, all.

I quite liked it. It was an entertaining and humorous article. Really, some of the comments are like the ones from people who were upset that Dragon ran fiction peices. And the conspiracy theory silliness? Someone needs their meds increased. Or their perspective broadened.

I continue to hope that the posting of the subject article was a mistake. I continue to fear, however, that WotC has instituted some kind of writer exchange program with Cosmo. Personally, I'll continue to be a real man, and put this writing where I feel it belongs...in the column labeled "Mindless, Touchy-Feely, Drivel".

Molech wrote:

You read it, Sebastion, was it bad enough to get eaten by the Post Monster General?

There is a bug that I have been stalking for months now which causes some posts to be invisible for a few hours for some people. I rolled the site twice today with new code aimed at preventing that. I have hopes for the second time I rolled it (a few hours ago)....

I dunno if it worked. There was a post right under mine above a few minutes after I posted it, then it vanished upon coming back to the forum. Weird.

I would say that the article itself is not the worst thing I have ever read nor is it alone evidence that WotC wishes to continue to ignore and control its fanbase. But it was hard to read and seemed to have nothing of interest in it besides a useless feel good approach (also known as a waste of my time).

But the thing that some of the above posters seem to be ignoring is that although the article on its own is nothing, it does lend itself to a pattern within the materials released since the 4E announcement by WotC. The pattern can be judged for its overall impression and its extended message. As has been said repeatedly before it feels like an adult talking to a child. We just want some respect is all.

It's a game. You ain't gotta have no aneurism over it.

It's a post on a web forum. You ain't gotta have no aneurism over it.

mearrin69 wrote:

It's a game. You ain't gotta have no aneurism over it.

It's a post on a web forum. You ain't gotta have no aneurism over it.

Ahhh!!! Somebody help, I'm having an aneurism!!!

t;p hunklsd;afKL i;htg gjb;g <-- head hitting keyboard

The article, I believe, is to further publicize Shelly Mazzanoble's new book, Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress - a naive girl's guide to the world of Dungeons and Dragons that came out last month.

Somebody help, I'm having an aneurism!!!

If only we were so lucky.

Aneurisms all around! On the house!

The article, I believe, is to further publicize Shelly Mazzanoble's new book, Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress - a naive girl's guide to the world of Dungeons and Dragons that came out last month.

If the book is anything like the article, then.....blaaarrrgghhhhh!!

It's a post on a web forum. You ain't gotta have no aneurism over it.

Fortunately I have not. I've learned not to get too worked up over stuff I read on the web. There's not enough stash in Merck's vaults to get over the kind of pain that would result from taking teh intarwebz seriously.

I'm sure Wil had a point to make in Wil Save too. But, like Wil Save, this article failed to make a point worth reading about because it was written like a journal entry by a random person with only a tangential relationship to gaming.

I agree here 100%, but at least it isn't the same voice as Confessions of a part time sorcerer. That read like the monolouges of Sarah Jessica Parker's character from Sex and the City.

'Why must a dungeon always be muddy? I mean, are all Evil Overlords completely against me and my $500 sorceress pumps? Can't a girl slay dragons and have trendy shoes? Because in life, the shoe you put on the slain dragon's head is almost as important as slaying the dragon'

shudder. Ever since I had this thought, i can't look at the new article or that sorcerer book without hearing Parker reading it to me.

I'm cursed.

'Why must a dungeon always be muddy? I mean, are all Evil Overlords completely against me and my $500 sorceress pumps? Can't a girl slay dragons and have trendy shoes? Because in life, the shoe you put on the slain dragon's head is almost as important as slaying the dragon'

Next month in Digital "Dungeon" - 50 Ways to Accessorize Your Dungeon.

Next month in Digital "Dungeon" - 50 Ways to Accessorize Your Dungeon.

You joke but if they tried they could make a really good article on that theme. Imagine how to have the dungeon subtley say Chaotic and Evil with hints of undeath, ancient and plant.

Ok maybe if someone other then WotC tried.

jraynack wrote:

The article, I believe, is to further publicize Shelly Mazzanoble's new book, Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress - a naive girl's guide to the world of Dungeons and Dragons that came out last month.

If the book is anything like the article, then.....blaaarrrgghhhhh!!

Not really- the article seemed a bit of a of pointless fluff in comparison- I gave the book to my Missus, and she's half way through and has started to say; "y'know, we should get a game going again- this has reminded me of the fun I had".

That's good enough for me.

Aberzombie wrote:

Next month in Digital "Dungeon" - 50 Ways to Accessorize Your Dungeon.

You joke but if they tried they could make a really good article on that theme. Imagine how to have the dungeon subtley say Chaotic and Evil with hints of undeath, ancient and plant.

Next on WotC: Trading Alignments!

Well the Chaotic could be Paige Matthews, she's scatterbrained (I saw her on Jeopardy)

Evil is any of Hildy's designs.

Always wanted to see a nonconsentual Monster house on her home, just as payback.

The more I think about it, the more I think that you (and I) are perhaps not the target audience for this piece. As I said, I could see my wife enjoying it as a read.

You're right, you aren't the target audience - this is for the would be gamer chicks who will hopefully receive Ms. Mazzanoble's book for Christmas and want to join your D&D game. And maybe even date your single gamer guy friends ;-) Okay, that might be too much to hope for, but still, the book is actually targeting new and would be female gamers. I rather liked it.

(c) As someone else mentioned above, I found the 4E life analogies to be insulting. Just like some of the other crap the WotC has put out, this article reeks of the whole "4E will be great, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an ignorant lout" attitude.

It wasn't an analogy for 4th Ed. Should actually pick up the book that this article is promoting, you will quickly realize that Shelly started playing D&D and the Eberron pathway adventures. The book (and this article) are targeting the softer, YM side of D&D. I for one would love to have more female gamers to talk to at Cons and events. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

The fact that any of us here know about Paige Matthews or that Hildy's designs are awful probably says that maybe the targeting isn't too far off the mark. More women in D&D is a good thing. It's no surprise to me that females tend to pick druids: they act like it's the nature thing but pretty soon she and fluffy are tearing up the front lines. Not competitive my arse... ;)
M

jraynack wrote:

The article, I believe, is to further publicize Shelly Mazzanoble's new book, Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress - a naive girl's guide to the world of Dungeons and Dragons that came out last month.

If the book is anything like the article, then.....blaaarrrgghhhhh!!

My wife is enjoying it, though, so far, there is nothing new to what she already knows since she gamed for over 11 years. But a few things made her laugh out loud. Otherwise, I have know idea the difference between the two.

It wasn't an analogy for 4th Ed. Should actually pick up the book that this article is promoting, you will quickly realize that Shelly started playing D&D and the Eberron pathway adventures.

It wasn't an analogy for 4E for you, maybe. For me, it was, and I felt insulted by it. Of course, if she got started in Eberron, then I consider that to be her first problem.

The book (and this article) are targeting the softer, YM side of D&D. I for one would love to have more female gamers to talk to at Cons and events. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Yeah, me being a crotchety old man in the making and all, I'd rather not see a "softer, YM side" to the game. For me, that'd be like Conan as a father sitting down to a tea party with his 5 year old and her stuffed animals. It just doesn't make sense and actually seems patently ridiculus.

By Crom, have some more cake Mr. Bear!

By Crom, have some more cake Mr. Bear!

When I read that, I pictured Arnold in the Conan movies saying that.

I'm still giggling.

The article, I believe, is to further publicize Shelly Mazzanoble's new book, Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress - a naive girl's guide to the world of Dungeons and Dragons that came out last month.

I saw this book on the shelf at my FLGS yesterday and bought it for my wife, who just got into D&D for the first time this last year and now plays regularly with us. The above article leaves me feeling "meh", but I must say that the book is rather good, and my wife loves it. I heartily recommend it to anyone who has a girl or woman who might be interested in playing D&D. There's a large section in the middle regarding the mechanics of D&D, stuff that old grognards like myself can gloss over. But Shelly Mazzanoble does a fantastic job of explaining what the hobby is and dispelling a lot of the stereotypes and false myths of just what our beloved hobby really is all about.

It would be easy for a guy like me to blow this off as puffery, but then again, she's not writing for me, the fanboy. She's writing to my wife, my three daughters and their friends, articulating a love of the hobby that we all feel but sometimes just can't communicate well. I think that her book is one of the more significant works written about roleplaying in a long time. Yes, its written for the girls, but I think us guys will like it too. For all of us who've had to suffer through the misconceptions, ridicule and falsehoods spread about D&D over the years, its nice to see someone gladly take up the mantle spreading the word that "hey, D&D is freakin' COOL!" to not only a new generation, but an entire gender that (mostly) has not experienced the sense of wonder and fun that D&D brings to our lives.

There's a reason why Wil Save didn't last that long. Not many people want this drivel in their Dragon.

There's a reason why Wil Save didn't last that long. Not many people want this drivel in their Dragon.

My above gushing review of her book aside, I agree with this. In a book = very very good stuff. Wasting space in Dragon that could be used for more substantial articles = drivel.

Yes, its written for the girls, but I think us guys will like it too.

Speak for yourself. I remain proudly insensitive and non-touchy-feely. I think I actually have the emotional range of a rock.

For all of us who've had to suffer through the misconceptions, ridicule and falsehoods spread about D&D over the years....

Yeah, that's the other thing. I never suffered through that kind of stuff. My parents were reasonable about it, as were my friends and those whose opinions I give a damn about. Everyone else can kiss my decaying butt.

I thought it was a decently entertaining read. Now I was very much opposed to Wil Weatons work in Dungeon but in that case I was being forced to choose either Wil Weatons articles - which rarely even talked about D&D in any form, or a Map of Mystery due to a hard and fast issue with the page count. Pretty much I could not have both. Since this is now online thats no longer an issue - there can be this sort of fluff and a Map of Mystery since page count is pretty much irrelevant.

I tossed this by my group - they guys thought it was pretty lame and the girls thought it was cute. I got a hunch that maybe thats kind of the idea. I'm sure they'll keep their male demographic distracted with pictures of hot elf babes in mini-skirts so small that they serve no functional purpose.

For those thinking that this was an elaborate 'F&+$ You'. Yeah I seriously doubt that. Wizards has a woman on staff who happens to be a budding writer. I suspect that they are just pleased as punch to give her a column and maybe it'll help their bottom line by somehow appealing more to women gamers. They don't have much to loose - she's already on their clock and as a budding writer she's probably ecstatic that their letting her do some actual writing for them.

The style is very comparable to her other material which makes me think its the genuine article. I take it she wrote it herself, as opposed to it being written secretly by evil corp types in the bowels of the company intent on insulting their customer base for no particularly good reason then that they deeply enjoy insulting their customers.

Its girl gamer fluff. If you don't like it well thats cool too - now you know to skip her articles.

That said I don't for a moment think this is her best stuff. She can write and I do hope she ups the ante a little in the future.

....hot elf babes in mini-skirts so small that they serve no functional purpose.

Yes more please..

For those thinking that this was an elaborate 'f#~! You'. Yeah I seriously doubt that. Wizards has a woman on staff who happens to be a budding writer. I suspect that they are just pleased as punch to give her a column and maybe it'll help their bottom line by somehow appealing more to women gamers. They don't have much to loose - she's already on their clock and as a budding writer she's probably ecstatic that their letting her do some actual writing for them.

....

It didn't appeal to me, but I wish her well, we could use more women writing for this hobby.

She can write all she wants as long as it's not in Dragon or any other product that is supposed to be all about "gaming". Of course, I don't really think the new e-zine deserves the name Dragon. When I think about it, this pointless drivel actually fits in quite well with new crappy "Dragon".

I was kind of hoping that Mr. Mohan would have turned out to be Kim Mohan... but that would be expecting continuity.

Meh. To each his own.