Quote from: yosemitemike on April 22, 2024, 07:15:49 AMWhen Williams was hired, a great deal was made of how she had gone from being the girl who was told that she couldn't play D&D to being the President of WotC in charge of D&D.  Shatter that glass ceiling!  Stunning and brave!  That will show the no one who said that girls couldn't play D&D back then.  There's a reason why people think she was hired at least partly because of the optics of hiring a woman.  I was rather more concerned about her comments about D&D being under-monetized at the time but the Stunning and Brave Woman thing was there and people noticed it.   

Greetings!

Precisely, Yosemitemike! I had thought that I was alluding to precisely that with my satire post, but apparently, I was too clumsy in my presentation and failed.

I love the bold callback to the hype of those days. So STUNNING AND BRAVE! Geesus, yeah, WOTC laid that BS on thick too, didn't they? *Laughing*

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

It's not even resulting in a diverse workforce unless you consider a room full of white woman who say they are vaguely queer as diverse.

Quote from: yosemitemike on April 22, 2024, 07:15:49 AMWhen Williams was hired, a great deal was made of how she had gone from being the girl who was told that she couldn't play D&D to being the President of WotC in charge of D&D.  Shatter that glass ceiling!  Stunning and brave!  That will show the no one who said that girls couldn't play D&D back then.  There's a reason why people think she was hired at least partly because of the optics of hiring a woman.  I was rather more concerned about her comments about D&D being under-monetized at the time but the Stunning and Brave Woman thing was there and people noticed it.   

This is what they highlighted:

QuoteWilliams will assume her new office at Wizards, headquartered in Renton, Wash., on Feb. 21. She moves over from Microsoft, where she has been a GM and vice president in various areas within its Xbox division since 2018. Previously, Williams spent 11 years in Amazon's finance and fulfillment departments and more than 12 years at Richmond, Va.-based tobacco company Altria...

Cocks added that Williams has been hired for a "deep understanding of technology and e-commerce, along with cloud and console-based gaming." Fields, similarly, offers "unmatched production experience and a demonstrated ability to accelerate the growth of brands in mobile gaming."

Through that lens, both Williams and Fields can be seen to represent continued investment by Wizards and Hasbro in growing its efforts in the video game space, both on mobile and console.

Girl power?

Her performance implies the obvious. DEI power.

Quote from: pawsplay on April 23, 2024, 11:36:57 AM

Quote from: yosemitemike on April 22, 2024, 07:15:49 AMWhen Williams was hired, a great deal was made of how she had gone from being the girl who was told that she couldn't play D&D to being the President of WotC in charge of D&D.  Shatter that glass ceiling!  Stunning and brave!  That will show the no one who said that girls couldn't play D&D back then.  There's a reason why people think she was hired at least partly because of the optics of hiring a woman.  I was rather more concerned about her comments about D&D being under-monetized at the time but the Stunning and Brave Woman thing was there and people noticed it.   

This is what they highlighted:

QuoteWilliams will assume her new office at Wizards, headquartered in Renton, Wash., on Feb. 21. She moves over from Microsoft, where she has been a GM and vice president in various areas within its Xbox division since 2018. Previously, Williams spent 11 years in Amazon's finance and fulfillment departments and more than 12 years at Richmond, Va.-based tobacco company Altria...

Cocks added that Williams has been hired for a "deep understanding of technology and e-commerce, along with cloud and console-based gaming." Fields, similarly, offers "unmatched production experience and a demonstrated ability to accelerate the growth of brands in mobile gaming."

Through that lens, both Williams and Fields can be seen to represent continued investment by Wizards and Hasbro in growing its efforts in the video game space, both on mobile and console.

Girl power?

Maybe this will help clear things up for you.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2022/10/11/could-dungeons--dragons-be-the-next-harry-potter-stranger-things-have-happened/

Quote"My very first experience wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons was back in the '80s," says the 55-year-old Williams, who grew up amid the tobacco fields of North Carolina, "and there were some of my male friends in a basement, and I wanted to play, and they were like: 'No, you can't play. This isn't for girls.' I'm really excited that that is no longer the case."

In fact, around 40% of D&D players are now female, according to a 2020 study Wizards of the Coast conducted with market research firm Newzoo. And surprisingly for a game that's about to turn 50, the players skew young.

Sounds pretty girl power/identity politicky to me.  Also, anyone who thinks that 40% of D&D players are female and skew young clearly has never played it online, in store, or at a convention in a game.  The only way you get to that conclusion is by only watching sessions that pre-select players specifically for those characteristics for the optics or by joining a group that self-segregates.  Are there both young and/or female players?  Absolutely.  Is the number increasing?  Probably (moreso because of things like Critical Role than anything Hasbro has been doing).  But 40% and/or skewing young in the general playerbase?  That's Kyle Brink levels of delusion...

"My very first experience wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons was back in the '80s," says the 55-year-old Williams, who grew up amid the tobacco fields of North Carolina, "and there were some of my male friends in a basement, and I wanted to play, and they were like: 'No, you can't play. This isn't for girls.' I'm really excited that that is no longer the case."

Why don't I believe a single fucking word of this?

Quote from: Brad on April 24, 2024, 11:28:46 AM"My very first experience wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons was back in the '80s," says the 55-year-old Williams, who grew up amid the tobacco fields of North Carolina, "and there were some of my male friends in a basement, and I wanted to play, and they were like: 'No, you can't play. This isn't for girls.' I'm really excited that that is no longer the case."

Why don't I believe a single fucking word of this?

I know!

1) Nobody ever said that to a girl who wanted to play, ever, in the entire history of the hobby.
2) D&D was for nerds back then and this woman wanted nothing to do with the game or anybody who played it.

Quote from: Brad on April 24, 2024, 11:28:46 AM"My very first experience wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons was back in the '80s," says the 55-year-old Williams, who grew up amid the tobacco fields of North Carolina, "and there were some of my male friends in a basement, and I wanted to play, and they were like: 'No, you can't play. This isn't for girls.' I'm really excited that that is no longer the case."

Why don't I believe a single fucking word of this?

Eh, it could have happened but a bit of plausibility makes for the best lie/propaganda after all.  We're probably talking about 8-12 year olds in the 80s so not the most mature subset of humanity regardless of which of the two genders we're talking about.  Regardless, it never would have happened AFTER the onset of puberty so basically for the vast majority of her 55 year life she would have been perfectly welcome in any group she came across.

I'm looking forward to the Post-Williams Era, at WOTC.  Ok, who's next?

Go OSR, Go!!!

As a kid of the 80s, I can tell you that she would have been welcome at any table I have ever known.  "It's not for girls" was a jock thing, not a nerd thing.

Quote from: Brad on April 24, 2024, 11:28:46 AMWhy don't I believe a single fucking word of this?

Because you are too based to believe bullshit made up just-so stories?

Quote from: BadApple on April 24, 2024, 02:22:38 PMAs a kid of the 80s, I can tell you that she would have been welcome at any table I have ever known.  "It's not for girls" was a jock thing, not a nerd thing.

Exactly. Young boys, verging on being teenagers, would want a girl playing with them. Especially nerdy boys.

Quote from: BadApple on April 24, 2024, 02:22:38 PMAs a kid of the 80s, I can tell you that she would have been welcome at any table I have ever known.  "It's not for girls" was a jock thing, not a nerd thing.

In my experience it was a rest of society thing.  I've mentioned before on the forum that we were always eager to have girls at the table, but it was always somebody else (teachers, librarians, parents, boyfriends, etc) stepping in and shutting it down. I'm not saying we never barred a girl from the table (we did a time or two), but it was always for reasons other than "this isn't for girls".   

Quote from: Brad on April 24, 2024, 11:28:46 AM"My very first experience wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons was back in the '80s," says the 55-year-old Williams, who grew up amid the tobacco fields of North Carolina, "and there were some of my male friends in a basement, and I wanted to play, and they were like: 'No, you can't play. This isn't for girls.' I'm really excited that that is no longer the case."

Why don't I believe a single fucking word of this?

Greetings!

Yeah, Brad. I agree. It's BS. Her entire statement is absolutely fraudulent.

Girls were always welcome at any table I was playing at as a kid. Even more so as an adolescent. The fact is, most girls were not interested. A few girls liked to play. And, there were always a decent number of girls that were undecided about playing--but were very eager to sit right there amongst us, and observe, or cheerlead. They just liked hanging out and listening and following along with all the drama going on. Funny thing, we even see that behavior from girls and women to this day! It is fun and enjoyable to see even when a woman doesn't want to play--they often want to cook, serve drinks, go get snacks for everyone, and hang out together. Participating in such ways provides them--the women--with great joy. It's all good.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Brad on April 24, 2024, 11:28:46 AMWhy don't I believe a single fucking word of this?

Because it's transparent bullshit.  Only someone who isn't the hobby and doesn't know anything about it would believe a word of this.  Girls didn't participate because, for the most part, they didn't want to.  It's pretty much the same today.  I rarely get female players on Roll20 even though anyone can sign up and I often don't know the sex of the player before they start playing because people are using screen names.  The idea that 40% of ttrpg players is bullshit on the level of the claim that half of the readership of American super hero comics are women.  It's not true and everyone knows it's not true.