Products and marketing

So, there have been a few products I've wondered about recently, such as:

WotC "Mature" Product Line.
I bought the Book of Vile Darkness. I can't say I found it to be objectionable, but I can understand how some people may take offense at the contents. It's a book of evil, nasty stuff for DMs, so that's fine.
Now they're putting out a Book of Exalted Deeds (October-ish, if I recall). And this is a "mature" title too. Huh? I'm really wondering how/why a book of good-based stuff requires that disclaimer. Are they going to talk about crusades and inquisitions? Surely that can't be so bad, if such things are discussed in history books. About the only reason I can come up with is the book might detail some of the upper planes, thereby offending some people on a religious basis. Even that seems far-fetched, though.
Help me out here?

"Matrix Reloaded" PowerAde.
Huh? This stuff I just saw this morning. The display caught my eye (things taking up that much of the aisle are hard to avoid). And there's a deal: Buy 15 bottles, get a coupon for a ticket to the movie.
15, eh? I could probably do that between now and the release. For some reason, though, I find myself a bit wary of green liquid in funky-shaped bottles. Go figure. A quick glance at the bottle didn't help me figure out what I wanted to know: What does it taste like?
I guess I'll find out another day...

Bottled water.
Okay, this is really an old one. I can see if you're camping, or otherwise in a place where the water is suspect. But I still can't wrap my mind around how popular this stuff has become. It's water! Only it's water that (in most cases) costs a good deal more than automobile fuel - and people bitch when the price of that increases.
Maybe I'm just upset I didn't get in on this in the beginning.

--

And on a completely unrelated note, it seems my half-sister (who turns 15 this month) has become a bishie fan. I... sooo have mixed feelings about that. Heh.

Comments

  1. shiftercatApril 17, 2003 at 2:21 PM

    Book of Exalted Deeds -- if they included some of the stuff I've read about the Crusades and the Inquisition, it would not only rightfully be a "mature" product, there might be little to distinguish it from the Book of Vile Darkness. But frankly, I don't see atrocity in the name of holiness to be any kind of "exalted deed". The only other possibility I can think of is if they include some of the old sacred sexual practices, like temple prostitution or Tantric sex (which, if they're handled with authenticity and respect, would be very cool). PowerAde -- I think I've had it once. It's a Gatorade knockoff. Not awful, just not as good as the real thing. Bottled water -- I'm not an avid consumer of the stuff, but I have to admit it tastes better than tap water. Bishonen -- hey, what's wrong with being a bishie fan? We're not all salivating perverts who envision wild yaoi sex fantasies every time we see a doe-eyed young man in tight pants... err... ahem. *wipes mouth* I'm not reassuring you at all, am I?

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  2. tashiroApril 17, 2003 at 4:30 PM

    To comment. The book of Exalted Deeds is the parallel to the Book of Vile Darkness in D&D. You read the book and you're of the right alignment, you gain a level, if I recall. If you're of the wrong alignment, you lose a level. I may have the exact details wrong, but that's it in a nutshell. Now, the Book of Vile Darkness was about a lot of nasty things -- really twisted in parts. I glanced through it when I was at Fandom 2. Black Dog does much worse. However, my take is that the Book of Exalted Deeds will probably be adult because, well, it's going to talk about Paladins and Champions of Good, and what they have to go through in combatting evil I think. Evil is not evil because it opposes Good. Evil is Evil by its nature. Evil is pro-active. Good however, is reactive in that it actively goes out to crush Evil. Specifically, because Good tends to outnumber Evil in general. ;) So, the Book of Exalted Deeds will most likely, I think, deal with what can be used to combat Evil, how to find it, how to survive, and I may go out on a limb and hazard the guess it will discuss zealotry and what happens to someone who gives themselves over fully to Good (or perhaps Lawful, or both, but I'm thinking Good, here). If they follow White Wolf's Hunter line, it won't be pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  3. marinredwolfApril 18, 2003 at 1:54 AM

    Nope... no reassurance at all. On one hand, I think it's neat to have another family member getting into anime. On the other, I just don't feel right thinking how a sibling just over half my age could well be reading (or writing) hot yaoi fanfics any day now. Gah! Umm... anyway... I've solved one of my product queries, trying this PowerAde... "Natural black cherry, lime, and anise flavors" it says. And tasting it... well... er... I can't describe it any better.

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  4. marinredwolfApril 18, 2003 at 2:02 AM

    I don't know what WW did with Hunter, but I'm still not convinced the BoED deserves the label it's getting. Religious/Tantric sex? Not likely. There might be a paragraph there, if anything. I think that's about as much discussion of sex as there was in the BoVD. I don't see how paladins (etc.) and "what they have to go through in combatting evil" would be any more "mature" than D&D in general. It's that what the heroes of the game usually do? Overcome challenges in confronting evil? And if they start getting into how the villains go after people around the heroes in order to hurt then, aren't they getting off the topic of "Exalted Deeds?" I don't know... but I'm interested to hear just what the deal is, hopefully before it's released.

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