I attempt to think about these things.
You are not helping, brother.
I read parts of this book while at the bookstore one day. It hasn't even crossed my mind since, it is that forgettable.
I found it offensive and very disapointing, not just the book but the articles as well. She can't leave sex out of D&D. Basically its her spin. If a guy wrote the same things...they would be screaming harrasment. It greatly lowered my opinion of WOTC.
Our sisters have spoken. Hereafter the Mazzanoble shall be shunned.
Our sisters have spoken. Hereafter the Mazzanoble shall be shunned.
My devotion to Istus doesn't permit me to partake in such matters.
Good answer!My devotion to Istus doesn't permit me to partake in such matters.Our sisters have spoken. Hereafter the Mazzanoble shall be shunned.
Thank You!
I waln read it now.
I was afraid of this. There is no bad press.
Also, this is why I think we should stop posting in the 4e threads - just ignore wotc.
I read one of the articles she wrote, which was posted over on the WotC site (might have been a "Dragon Magazine" article).
I found it incredibly juvenile and slightly... erm, "under-educated" in its approach to all the subjects of the article.
I held my tongue on ENWorld, though, where I found the link to the article. I'm a little wary of how quickly the moderators over there have taken to clamp down on anything hinting of anti-WotC/4e sentiments.
If the book is anything similar, which the comments above and the article itself points to, I can't see how they think it'll lure in more people (primarily women I'd guess) to the hobby.
I waln read it now....is that "won't" or "want?"
Maybe its both.
Yeah, I thought it was quite stupid.
SHUN!
Thank you, sister. May the peace and serenity of the great all be with you.
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I have not read the book.
As for her column . . .
I would like to hope the lowered sexual innuendo of the third one was due in part to the massive stink I incited on the WotC boards. Of course there was considerable outrage that anyone could be offended by such gratuitous innuendo, but I think they proved my point when several blathered that talking about having "multiple partners" was appropriate table talk with under 18 types.
Here are 2 bad reviews I found on Amazon-I avoided the Good reviews for three reasons as follows
(A)Not a honest work.
(B) Friends/Family Members of the Author joined Amazon and wrote reviews
(C)Wotc employees whom were forced to give good reviews or else.
Review#1
I'm a woman, yes. An idiot - not so much., December 25, 2007
By Veritas "Veritas" (Lubbock, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
I am a 34-year-old author/Princeton Review teacher and mother of one. My husband introduced me to the world of D&D sixteen years ago. I've played so many characters at this point, I wouldn't know which to identify with, but my favorite is a 23rd level sorceress with a 32 charisma.
I am not dirty or smelly or locked in a basement. I am svelte, attractive, and quite the extrovert. And yet, neither am I a shop-a-holic who thinks that math is too hard or that the lives of various celebrities and their designers are any of my business.
I am a normal person. And I love D&D. ANY normal, intelligent woman might love it if she only gives it a chance. It is an opportunity for her to use her imagination, puzzle her way out of make-believe fixes, and even throw the occasional fire ball, teleport to other realms, and cast up the infrequent yet precious Wish.
Books that belittle or mock a woman's attention span and intelligence are never a good idea. Some of the respect that I had for Wizards of the Coast just became "SO last year..."
Review#2
26 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
The Paris Hilton's guide to D&D, October 2, 2007
By Heidi C. "H.C."
I'm a professional young woman, I've been playing RPGs for almost 6 years. My boyfriend, who is also a player, gave me this book as a little present.
** Girls: although the author does a good job breaking the stereotype of "only geeks and nerds play D&D" she imposes another one: that any other girl that is not a geek is the equivalent of Paris Hilton. The author tries so hard to be fun that she spends the whole book making comparisons with the contemporary and superficial world of someone like Paris Hilton: Designer brands, purses, shoes, manicures. Not that we don't like that, but for God's sake, is she going to guide us or what? She also spends some pages with the unintelligent remarks she made on her first game sessions. I don't know how many times does she mentions shopping, shoes, purses, malls, manicures, etc.
If you're never played D&D and you're interested, get D&D for Dummies instead. You're just new to the game, not a dumb superficial chick.
** Guys: From a gamer to another gamer... don't give this book to your girlfriend. I don't know what was in the mind of Wizards when they edited this book. And the reviews! I've lost some respect for the authors that reviewed this book as a must have for girls new to the game.
In the book the author spends her first session asking when are the going to shop... if there's a cheesecake factory nearby, if she can have a Balenciaga (famous designer) purse for her sorceress. I know it's supposed to be a fun book full of "self-mockery" as they say in the back cover, but one thing is an entertaining style and another thing is treating girls like they're just superficial beings.
She doesn't even get the atmosphere. She spends so many words making comparisons with our contemporary time that she hardly mentions the medieval-fantasy setting in which D&D is set.
I took a look through it, but I can't imagine anyone finding it in any way helpful or resonant. Maybe I haven't played D&D with enough women, but I can't imagine the attitude being sufficiently different to merit a book. So it is likely to be mostly filler. I'm sure there are real issues that crop up when one is a female gamer in a mostly male group, but unless it's a sociological study of some sort, I couldn't imagine such a thing being more than a pamphlet.
Maybe female gamers on Paizo should write a book of their own about their D&D experiences, since it seems this one missed the mark so severely.
I bought this book for a friend of mine, one of the people in my gaming group, so she could review it for her site:
At any rate, I know she doesn't fit profile of the female that they are trying to "speak to" in the book, as she has been a geek for quite some time. She has yet to review it that I know of yet, but if you want to see some "Gamer Chick" opinions on things, its a fun site to visit.
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I found it offensive and very disapointing, not just the book but the articles as well. She can't leave sex out of D&D. Basically its her spin. If a guy wrote the same things...they would be screaming harrasment. It greatly lowered my opinion of WOTC.
Huh.
Well that makes me glad I didn't buy it for my wife. I almost did but ended up getting her a different book for Christmas.
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I bought this book for a friend of mine, one of the people in my gaming group, so she could review it for her site:
At any rate, I know she doesn't fit profile of the female that they are trying to "speak to" in the book, as she has been a geek for quite some time. She has yet to review it that I know of yet, but if you want to see some "Gamer Chick" opinions on things, its a fun site to visit.
Cool site! Tell her to come on over here. Chicks class the joint up. Get everybody bathing regular. That sorta thing.
Get everybody bathing regular.
Heh . . . one of the things she once told me after going to Gen Con is that the proper term for a grouping of gamers is a "stink."
She also gave my girls her old X-Men, New Warriors, and Elfquest comics.
And after everything I've put her paladin through . . .
Get everybody bathing regular.
Heh . . . one of the things she once told me after going to Gen Con is that the proper term for a grouping of gamers is a "stink."
She also gave my girls her old X-Men, New Warriors, and Elfquest comics.
And after everything I've put her paladin through . . .
I QUIT WEREWOOF, I's ain't clean up after Abnerzombie, here are the keys to the Janitors closet, you need new mop heads and bleach.
Movin' to Montana
(Yippy-Ty-O-Ty-Ay)
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Get everybody bathing regular.Heh . . . one of the things she once told me after going to Gen Con is that the proper term for a grouping of gamers is a "stink."
She also gave my girls her old X-Men, New Warriors, and Elfquest comics.
And after everything I've put her paladin through . . .
I used to read them Elfquests.
I used to read them Elfquests.
We were discussing one time about the comic book/fantasy nexus, and how she was an Elfquest fan, while I preferred the old Conan comics (and I actually preferred the Conan comics to the Conan novels written by "not REH.")
Sex and the City meets DnD.
shudder
Nah, I actually read the book and it's actually a lot of fun for what it is, a cute "chick lit" book for casual (mostly-female) gamers. Maybe folks got confused and expected it to be a primer for D&D, but really, that's what the PH is for. Similarly, it isn't a commentary by or profile of women gamers, since panels/forums and serious, critical books cover those topics.
"Part-Time Sorceress" is a fluffy, frothy, and often funny portrait of gamers and non-gamers. It works largely because the author isn't a gamer herself, but in working freelance for Wizards she gets to straddle the border between the "ladies who lunch" (or Lunchable) and the gamers behind the games. She's pretty much written a long op-ed about her experiences with her friends and co-workers, with some necessary (but not entirely accurate) explanations of RPG/D&D jargon along the way.
I had a link to a really good review of the book, but seem to have lost it in switching computers. There are some mostly-positive reviews online that aren't written by WotC, though, if you care to look. And of course, you can get it from the library to take a look for free. Dismissing the book or getting offended by it without reading it for yourself is just the sort of thoughtless prejudice between gamers and non-gamers that Mazzanoble is actually seriously addressing.
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Sex and the City meets DnD.
shudder
Nah, I actually read the book and it's actually a lot of fun for what it is, a cute "chick lit" book for casual (mostly-female) gamers. Maybe folks got confused and expected it to be a primer for D&D, but really, that's what the PH is for. Similarly, it isn't a commentary by or profile of women gamers, since panels/forums and serious, critical books cover those topics.
"Part-Time Sorceress" is a fluffy, frothy, and often funny portrait of gamers and non-gamers. It works largely because the author isn't a gamer herself, but in working freelance for Wizards she gets to straddle the border between the "ladies who lunch" (or Lunchable) and the gamers behind the games. She's pretty much written a long op-ed about her experiences with her friends and co-workers, with some necessary (but not entirely accurate) explanations of RPG/D&D jargon along the way.
I had a link to a really good review of the book, but seem to have lost it in switching computers. There are some mostly-positive reviews online that aren't written by WotC, though, if you care to look. And of course, you can get it from the library to take a look for free. Dismissing the book or getting offended by it without reading it for yourself is just the sort of thoughtless prejudice between gamers and non-gamers that Mazzanoble is actually seriously addressing.
Shelly, is that you?
Shelly, is that you?
I just spewed coffe all over my keyboard!ROFL!
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I made the mistake of buying it as a Christmas present for my wonderful gamer wife. She isn't new to D&D by nay stretch of the imagination, which the book is definitely geared towards. She also doesn't focus her life around shopping, shoes and the "Sex and the City" lifestyle (our 21 month old son takes that slot. The book just wasn't much of a fit for her. She said it was "cute, but meh."
*chuckle* She just came in and looked over my shoulder, asking me why I was writing about the book. I asked her if I could have spent my Christmas fundage on something else. She gave me a funny look and defended the book rather weakly, probably because it was one of the first gifts I got her after 14 months in Iraq.
I asked her if I could have spent money on her better elsewhere. She said yes.
'Nuff said.
I got the book for my wife (who's been gaming for about three years), and we both thought it was great. You just need to remember that it's a genre piece -- but the genre is chick lit. I'm really pretty dissapointed by the negative press the book has gotten on the various DnD messageboards. Basically, if you're posting here, you're not the audience for the book.
El Skootro
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shopping, shoes and the "Sex and the City" lifestyle (our 21 month old son takes that slot).
So you're 21 month old kid is into the whole "Sex and the City" lifestyle? That show was set in New York wasn't it? So the lifestyle must be expensive. What kind of allowance does he get to afford this lifestyle? Or is he one of those very wealthy baby actors like Gerber uses in their ad camapaigns?