It is not a question of it being funny or not. It is a question of a marketing piece so overtly mocking its customers, be they critics or supporters. It is not even good-natured humor.I think Sam is dead-on here.
They've further pissed off a segment of their market, with no conceivable benefit for themselves. Either they did it knowingly or they did it unwittingly -- either scenario makes them out to be idiots.
A competent staff would be trying to make nice with customers, not the opposite.
It depends whether annoying one segment of a market can be done to ingratiate them with a much bigger segment, and persuade that segment that these are guys they want to hang out with and to spend their money on their products.
I don't know if that actually works as a marketing strategy, but it's conceivable that it might do, at least short-term.
I know that I certainly appreciate my gaming companies having the same sort of sense of humor that my friends and I do. We make fun of particularly ridiculous trolls all the time.
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I know that I certainly appreciate my gaming companies having the same sort of sense of humor that my friends and I do. We make fun of particularly ridiculous trolls all the time.
And me and my buddies make fun of sycophantic kobolds all the time.
Of course, we are not trying to get anybody to buy our products. A minor, but rather critical, difference.|
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It depends whether annoying one segment of a market can be done to ingratiate them with a much bigger segment, and persuade that segment that these are guys they want to hang out with and to spend their money on their products.
I don't know if that actually works as a marketing strategy, but it's conceivable that it might do, at least short-term.
Gee, WotC "firing" its customers.
Where have I heard that before?At least that time they actively denied rather than making videos like this.
Of course it also suggests that they want to get rid of everybody, kobolds, trolls, and "ordinary" fans in the middle. Uh oh . . .
I know that I certainly appreciate my gaming companies having the same sort of sense of humor that my friends and I do. We make fun of particularly ridiculous trolls all the time.And me and my buddies make fun of sycophantic kobolds all the time.
Of course, we are not trying to get anybody to buy our products. A minor, but rather critical, difference.
The people who choose to be insulted by this cartoon aren't buying their products anyway. They already hate WotC for "ruining" their D&D. They don't lose an appreciable number of customers. A lot of us who actually support 4th Edition, however, thought it was funny and kind of refreshing to see someone poking fun at all the internet drama.
It depends whether annoying one segment of a market can be done to ingratiate them with a much bigger segment, and persuade that segment that these are guys they want to hang out with and to spend their money on their products.
I don't know if that actually works as a marketing strategy, but it's conceivable that it might do, at least short-term.Gee, WotC "firing" its customers.
Where have I heard that before?
At least that time they actively denied rather than making videos like this.
Of course it also suggests that they want to get rid of everybody, kobolds, trolls, and "ordinary" fans in the middle. Uh oh . . .
What?
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The people who choose to be insulted by this cartoon aren't buying their products anyway. They already hate WotC for "ruining" their D&D. They don't lose an appreciable number of customers. A lot of us who actually support 4th Edition, however, thought it was funny and kind of refreshing to see someone poking fun at all the internet drama.
You hope.
As does WotC.Whether your guess is right remains to be seen.
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The people who choose to be insulted by this cartoon aren't buying their products anyway. They already hate WotC for "ruining" their D&D. They don't lose an appreciable number of customers. A lot of us who actually support 4th Edition, however, thought it was funny and kind of refreshing to see someone poking fun at all the internet drama.You hope.
As does WotC.
Whether your guess is right remains to be seen.
You can't seriously be pandering to the idea that this cartoon will cost wotc sales?
Because come on you know it won't.
Jiminy Cricket it was humorous!! It pokes fun at people who take themselves and this hobby far to seriously...
***looks suspiciously up and down this thread***
Honestly people don't we think two threads about this crap says more about us as posters than any peceived slight by wotc. If you don't like 4E GREAT more power to you, but for the love of Mordenkainen stop thread crapping and whining about it at every opportunity.
Just play and post about the game you like and leave the other side to do the same.
All a waste of time, you people seem happier being unhappy.
You can't seriously be pandering to the idea that this cartoon will cost wotc sales?
I just saw the video and I'm scratching my head trying to see what the whole point of it is. I don't feel insulted but nor do I think it's funny. At least the other ones were funny.
Why did they spend $$$ making a lame video which is apparently only funny to hard core fan-bois?
You can't seriously be pandering to the idea that this cartoon will cost wotc sales?I just saw the video and I'm scratching my head trying to see what the whole point of it is. I don't feel insulted but nor do I think it's funny. At least the other ones were funny.
Why did they spend $$$ making a lame video which is apparently only funny to hard core fan-bois?
A lot of people thought it was funny, "hard core fan-bois" or not.
And it's not like the video was a huge money-sink. It was a flash animation with voice-overs done by WotC staff.
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Yeah, but really, why make fun of anyone. Just seems petty to me.I have not read this but have seen the vid..yet another dumb move on wotc's part instead of trying to get me to give it a try they call everyone not worshiping them and saying negative things trolls and s&!% on them. not fuuny and bad PR.Watch it again. Now ask yourself, are you a troll purposefully polluting someone else's forums with nonsense that can only be called criticism in the loosest sense of the word? If not, they're not making fun of you.
Now, if they made fun of themselves in the process that would be a different story. I've always thought that to truly have a clean conscience when making jokes at anothers expense, one should also make some at ones self (or at least accept others jokes about you).
So if they had some crazy old wizard in a big Ivory Tower casting magic missile on a troll, and missing. That would have been more acceptable (and probably funnier).
Thus ends my weeks long absence from the 4E boards (to continue after this thread).
Now, if they made fun of themselves in the process that would be a different story. I've always thought that to truly have a clean conscience when making jokes at anothers expense, one should also make some at ones self (or at least accept others jokes about you).
They did -
The kobolds are headed by a high sycophant.
The kobolds are 4E fans "we wuv you" ... "We Wuv 4th Edition".
The Dragon represents WotC and it loves gold.
The Kobolds (4E fans) hate criticism of 4E.
The Dragon is "gracious and open to all opinions..." By pooping on detractors. Which seems to be a shot at their own PR department - of which this is a part.
I know that I certainly appreciate my gaming companies having the same sort of sense of humor that my friends and I do. We make fun of particularly ridiculous trolls all the time.
To their faces, when they have been (and may continue to be) customers?
The people who choose to be insulted by this cartoon aren't buying their products anyway...
Feel free to provide any evidence supporting this assumption. I think it was a stupid move, but I continue to buy from WotC.
The 'dragon poop video' was a childish and unprofessional gag -- funny at the expense of a narrow group of people they don't care about anyway. I'd expect it out of college frat boys, but not the industry leader.
I'd expect it out of college frat boys, but not the industry leader.
College kids ARE their main target market, IIRC.
I'd expect it out of college frat boys, but not the industry leader.
College kids ARE their main target market, IIRC.
True.
But (as an example) I teach college students. That fact doesn't permit me to act like a college student -- I'm not going to get smashed at keg parties or toilet-paper the campus. Nor do the manufacturers of Pampers pee in their pants. Standards of professional behavior are mostly unaffected by the demographics of the market.
Eh, WotC is just hurting itself. It's childish and extremely unprofessional... but let's flip it around and look at the other side (which is, perhaps, even funnier):
Kobold sycophants (fanbois of 4E) who are led by a "high sycophant" (my take: their PR department).
Their "Dragon" which now only puts out crap now (sort of literal imnsho).
The idea that they view any/all comments of a negative nature as nothing but "troll"ing... (when earlier they made such a big deal of modifying the rules and even the Realms "to better address complaints and problems"). Yeah, right.
The appeal of cartoons and scatological humor - they're pandering toward the "low brows", essentially (again: kobolds). And that's what they'll get.
Even funnier when you look at it that way. They're shooting themselves in the feet and then turning themselves into a cartoon.
A lot of people thought it was funny, "hard core fan-bois" or not.
And it's not like the video was a huge money-sink. It was a flash animation with voice-overs done by WotC staff.
I'm not sure what you mean by a "huge money-sink". Professionally done flash animations like that aren't cheap. I'm not sure who did the voices but regardless it took someones time/ effort to put this thing together.
Maybe it's a personal dislike of poop humor in general. I would never think to associate my company with poop humor... it seems to be more of an indication that they are targeting a younger audience to me.
Professionally done flash animations like that aren't cheap. I'm not sure who did the voices but regardless it took someones time/ effort to put this thing together.
It would have been nice if that time and effort had been put into something a little more product-oriented. Like, ohhhh, I don't know -- some actual setting development for Scales of War?
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Professionally done flash animations like that aren't cheap. I'm not sure who did the voices but regardless it took someones time/ effort to put this thing together.It would have been nice if that time and effort had been put into something a little more product-oriented. Like, ohhhh, I don't know -- some actual setting development for Scales of War?
Not that the same people who had anything to do with the animation in question also have anything to do with development of scale of war.
Not that the same people who had anything to do with the animation in question also have anything to do with development of scale of war.
Not true.
The dragon poop video happened because management decided to spend time and money on it. The lack of setting development for SoW was a deliberate decision to not invest resources.
Different teams may have implemented these separate projects, but management was responsible for resourcing and implementation in both cases.
The people who choose to be insulted by this cartoon aren't buying their products anyway. They already hate WotC for "ruining" their D&D. They don't lose an appreciable number of customers. A lot of us who actually support 4th Edition, however, thought it was funny and kind of refreshing to see someone poking fun at all the internet drama.
Some third party poking fun at all the internet drama is one thing, doing so while being the company that sparked the internet drama in the first place, not such a wise move.
I wasn't offended by the cartoon. I wasn't particularly entertained by it either. But it didn't exactly raise my opinion of WotC's PR department. I don't think they should be walking on eggshells afraid of offending somebody, but a little more discretion would be admirable.
Eh, WotC is just hurting itself. It's childish and extremely unprofessional... but let's flip it around and look at the other side (which is, perhaps, even funnier):
Kobold sycophants (fanbois of 4E) who are led by a "high sycophant" (my take: their PR department).
Their "Dragon" which now only puts out crap now (sort of literal imnsho).
The idea that they view any/all comments of a negative nature as nothing but "troll"ing... (when earlier they made such a big deal of modifying the rules and even the Realms "to better address complaints and problems"). Yeah, right.
The appeal of cartoons and scatological humor - they're pandering toward the "low brows", essentially (again: kobolds). And that's what they'll get.
Even funnier when you look at it that way. They're shooting themselves in the feet and then turning themselves into a cartoon.
Given that their parody portrayal of themselves in that fashion was done purposefully, your criticisms end up looking pretty hollow.
You basically saw the video, garnered some deep insight into comparisons between it and the actual WotC, decided that your insight was somehow exceptional, and now you get to discover that what you thought was a truly scathing metaphorical turn-around was actually intentionally tongue-in-cheek. Nice. Keep that trash talk up.
Whatever, angry WotC apologist. Haha!
Eh, WotC is just hurting itself. It's childish and extremely unprofessional... but let's flip it around and look at the other side (which is, perhaps, even funnier):
Kobold sycophants (fanbois of 4E) who are led by a "high sycophant" (my take: their PR department).
Their "Dragon" which now only puts out crap now (sort of literal imnsho).
The idea that they view any/all comments of a negative nature as nothing but "troll"ing... (when earlier they made such a big deal of modifying the rules and even the Realms "to better address complaints and problems"). Yeah, right.
The appeal of cartoons and scatological humor - they're pandering toward the "low brows", essentially (again: kobolds). And that's what they'll get.
Even funnier when you look at it that way. They're shooting themselves in the feet and then turning themselves into a cartoon.
Given that their parody portrayal of themselves in that fashion was done purposefully, your criticisms end up looking pretty hollow.
You basically saw the video, garnered some deep insight into comparisons between it and the actual WotC, decided that your insight was somehow exceptional, and now you get to discover that what you thought was a truly scathing metaphorical turn-around was actually intentionally tongue-in-cheek. Nice. Keep that trash talk up.
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Meh - I find this cartoon no more ridiculous than Apple comparing cool-looking Apple users to nerdy PC users.
As normal the West Coast brand of marketing is full of itself. I think it's indicative of the latest bunch of WotC staffers that they pulled from outside the gaming element.
According to the credits Chris Perkins is listed as the kobold wrangler. He's more funny than this cartoon.
Charlie and the Candy Mountain is a better video than this:)
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32
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Meh - I find this cartoon no more ridiculous than Apple comparing cool-looking Apple users to nerdy PC users.
What's funny about that comparison is that there's an actual response to those Apple videos that say that the Apple "Cool Guy" is so obnoxious and John Hodgeman so funny that it makes IBM more attractive than Apple.
I still maintain that the main point isn't who it offends, makes fun of, etc, the key point is that it isn't funny. If you're going to produce marketing in this spirit, make it funny and we'll forgive whatever offense might be given. As it is, it's closer to the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft ads than the Apple ads. I mean, I at least laugh at the IBM in the Apple ads.
Bad WotC! Not funny! Bad!
Charlie and the Candy Mountain is a better video than this:)
The magical liopleurodon knows the way! YAAAAY!!! ROFLOL!
I'll admit it amuzed me, it brought out a wry smile. And at the end, while i was still smiling, i finally decided that i really didn't see any way i would be buying any more Wizards products in the next year or two....while 4e has its momment, i really don't enjoy it enough to wanna have my concerns about it considered trolling or having them metaphoricially shat on.
Meh - I find this cartoon no more ridiculous than Apple comparing cool-looking Apple users to nerdy PC users.What's funny about that comparison is that there's an actual response to those Apple videos that say that the Apple "Cool Guy" is so obnoxious and John Hodgeman so funny that it makes IBM more attractive than Apple.
I still maintain that the main point isn't who it offends, makes fun of, etc, the key point is that it isn't funny. If you're going to produce marketing in this spirit, make it funny and we'll forgive whatever offense might be given. As it is, it's closer to the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft ads than the Apple ads. I mean, I at least laugh at the IBM in the Apple ads.
Bad WotC! Not funny! Bad!
The english version of the campaign works much better ;)
You basically saw the video, garnered some deep insight into comparisons between it and the actual WotC, decided that your insight was somehow exceptional, and now you get to discover that what you thought was a truly scathing metaphorical turn-around was actually intentionally tongue-in-cheek. Nice. Keep that trash talk up.
This response wasn't trash talk?!?
The video is fantastic.
I liked it more then most of their other video's.
The pooh parts were pretty lame but I thought the kobolds "We wuv you"; "We Wuv 4th Edition". were pretty funny and I liked the part were adventurers charged in "XP, XP, XP".