Arcane Wonders Marketing and Sexism upsets me :(

[Sailor Vulcan]

And as much as it pains me to say it, they're probably such a huge part of geek culture that we really do need more of them here if we want Mage Wars to be more successful.

If this is the best way to reach that audience, then I'm all for it. It's not arcane wonders fault if said audience is sexist and slightly shallow. People need to stop worrying so much about the expression of sexist attitudes and start worrying more about sexual discrimination. I would hazard a guess that there are probably many more women who have been victims of employment discrimination in the past two years then the number of times sexist attitudes have been expressed in the mere portrayals of women that Arcane Wonders has produced.

Well said.



@Imaginator
You still owe me a game or two since we missed the last chance.

That's right! Next time we meet will be in the arena! *Cackles and rubs hands together gleefully* This will be SO much fun!

[ringkichard]

Imaginator said everything I wanted to say, and better than I could, about the intent of the Toni Darling marketing campaign. I don't agree with Imaginator's conclusion, but I think Imaginaor's summary of the situation is a great starting point, especially if both Shad0w and I can agree that it's accurate.

It's just that where Imaginator sees an odious necessity, I see a needless blunder.

[Shad0w]

Imaginator said everything I wanted to say, and better than I could, about the intent of the Toni Darling marketing campaign. I don't agree with Imaginator's conclusion, but I think Imaginaor's summary of the situation is a great starting point, especially if both Shad0w and I can agree that it's accurate.

It's just that where Imaginator sees an odious necessity, I see a needless blunder.

Only time will reveal who is correct. No sense fussing over it.

[ringkichard]

I just saw this one, which I thought was disappointing.


She's portraying Thor, who's in no way related to the game.
AW is spending money to promote Toni promoting another company's IP.
If we're going to sell our decency, can't we at least get top billing?

[Sailor Vulcan]

That's not Thor! That's Guardian Angel!

[LordChronus]

That's look more like Female Thor than Guardian Angel's card...

By the way: Cnoedel, sorry if my comment on youtube was offensive for you (Chronus D. Greed here =) ) it was meant to be a joke (the second part os the post said that I love the game in fact XD )


PS: my first post in the forum, Hello guys =D

[silverclawgrizzly]

No it's not. Guardian Angels don't wear pants.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Oh yeah. You're right. But Thor wears a shirt, and he doesn't wear a bra under it (I think). It's probably the result of Toni getting Guardian Angel and Brogan Bloodstone mixed up, or a creature that hasn't been released yet.

[silverclawgrizzly]

Or it's a sexualized version of Thorite, Valkyrie, or one of the other female characters who show up in the Thor comics.

[ringkichard]

If you google "Toni Darling Thor" you'll see that this is the costume found, and can read from the links what was intended.

[silverclawgrizzly]

You are quite correct ringkichard. Ah well sexy Thor it is. I was hoping for Thorite.

[Shad0w]

If you google "Toni Darling Thor" you'll see that this is the costume found, and can read from the links what was intended.

Thank you for saying it before me.

[Boocheck]

I am not sure if in a whole europe but in my country, woman body is not a big issue. Her Thor cosplay is one of her best costumes so far, so i dont have a problem when it is used in a  promotional stuff together with her name.

What i dont dig is a breast plate of her Warlock version. With little imagination, i can tell now, where are all those demons are stored and came from But if this kind of approach will lure players from a customer segment which would normally didnt know or even play MW, it is a good choice from a perspective of a marketeer/promoter.

Of course, that there is a limit. If the  next step would be SM Necromancer female version made of shiny things and leather, that could cause an actual trouble. (despite the fact, that this will increase sales in germany )

[Mrmt]

People can argue this any which way they want, but bottom line is this is a cheesy effort to sex up Mage Wars by hiring a scantily clad woman to promote it.

Of course that's what it is. Why pretend otherwise?

It is cheap, and unnecessary. It also doesn't help that she looks so completely bored by the whole thing.

[Sailor Vulcan]

People can argue this any which way they want, but bottom line is this is a cheesy effort to sex up Mage Wars by hiring a scantily clad woman to promote it.

Of course that's what it is. Why pretend otherwise?

It is cheap, and unnecessary. It also doesn't help that she looks so completely bored by the whole thing.

I think most people agree with you that it's a sexist appeal to a sexist demographic. Not sure whether it's necessary or not but I think it will probably help a lot considering the demographic these ads are trying to target.

And please let's not forget some important facts about these ads:

Appeal to sexual prejudice: yes
Superficial: yes
Discriminatory: no
Obscene: no, but still a little distasteful
Consensual: yes
Harmful: only if an impressionable child who watched it was never sufficiently exposed to less stereotypically portrayed women, and if that happened it would be the parents/community's fault, not the ads'. Other than that it is completely harmless free expression no matter how much we disagree with the message being expressed.