There’s a lot of talk about this Penny Arcade comic.
Remember, that’s the unfunny one that’s baaad.
These guys though, are hilarious.
It’s not really acceptable to talk like this in trade chat (without someone reporting you) and it’s not normally acceptable to talk like this in guild unless you know your audience.
Why did I quit my last guild? Because some guy that I didn’t know who was pretty popular in the guild started telling me off for no aparrent reason. Should I have reported it to my guild leader and followed guild policy? Well, yeah, but he was actually an active member of the guild and I was mostly dead weight. What was wrong with him harping on me? If it was a friend who I knew well enough to get the joke then it wouldn’t have been a problem.
The older comics probably caused less reaction because the creators weren’t so mainstream. Ever since they sold out started putting on huge events etc, they entered the public eye like they never have before. Either luckily or unluckily they’re not going to change their style anytime soon. Or at least, it doesn’t appear like they care to.
by what, on August 24 2010 @ 6:43 pm
sold out? hah. have you been to PAX? gabe and tycho are who they always have been. just more awesome.
go get raped by dickwolves.
not that i’m condoning rape.
by Carnus, on August 24 2010 @ 7:20 pm
You don’t think become webcomic rockstars changed them at all? I disagree.
The condoning isn’t what seems to upset people but the willingness of the gamer generation to use the term so frequently and unsympathetically is. I’m sure you could have picked a better phrase, but you just don’t.
by Andrew, on September 3 2010 @ 1:41 am
Actual rape is an awful thing, but we use offensive terms in everyday conversation. Think about off colour jokes that you make with your close friends. You mean no actual harm because you don’t actually feel that way, but it is funny to slightly stray outside of social norms. No actual harm was implied by this comic, but it’s odd that people are okay playing a game where you violently kill each other but have a problem with an off colour joke.
by Jason, on September 3 2010 @ 1:52 am
This type of hypocrisy pisses me off: when people feel that they can laugh at other off colour jokes that do not threaten their security, but they jump on the bandwagon when one hits too close to home. As Gabe put it, look at every other Penny Arcade comic up to this point and try to explain why, in the context of Penny Arcade, this particular comic was offensive to dedicated readers.
by Carnus, on September 3 2010 @ 6:56 am
I don’t find off colour humour funny.
Also, I kinda agree. The style/humour/offensive level of penny-arcade hasn’t changed at all. The real question here is: why does it bother people now when I easily went to the archive and pulled two comics that should have been equally as upsetting?
Because they’re as mainstream as a gamer comic gets nowadays, is my hypothesis.
Please explain the hypocracy statement, though. I’m not understanding it.
by Misrepresented Dickwolf, on September 4 2010 @ 7:39 pm
@by what – Right on.
@Carnus – They likely have changed, but they haven’t gone Lohan or Jackson on us so I don’t see what the fuss is about. “Sold out” WHAT? To who? The people that read and enjoy their comics and cons? Child’s play? OK?!@# I guess then they did “sell out”, but I’m happy to enjoy the products that result and enrich my life.
On dickwolves. Bad words are ridiculous. When can we start judging a conversation by it’s context and ultimate meaning rather than the individual words and phrases that are only parts? Ok, so the dickwolves would turn the slaves to stone with their dicks… Same contextual meaning. The comic is about the ironic lack of moral response from gamers grinding an MMO.
In conclusion, only dickwolves and their victims should be upset about this comic.
by Carnus, on September 5 2010 @ 6:44 am
@Misrepresented Dickwolf – Well, exactly. If nothing has changed, why is this comic causing such a fuss in communities/with bloggers when the previous ones I linked did not (as far as I know)? Back in the day, they could do this comic and no one would blink because their comic audience was a portion of Gamespy (cit?). Nowadays because everyone and their dog and their dog’s cousin is on the internet and is a reader of PA (ie they hit the mainstream), the greater following means there’s more of a chance to offend people. I guess that when Gabe made his statement about dedicated readers, he’s openly admitting that they’re just writing for the core audience that they had since the beginning, but not any of the new ones they’re received since they went big time.
I like your analogy but in that sense one could argue that you should support people like Dr Laura for her right to use words because she did not direct it to anyone other than her caller. Sensitive issues like rape, etc are persistent triggers for survivors of tragedy. The articles I linked mostly critisize their unwillingness to analogize it through different means.
Yes, sold out. I only wish I knew to who, because then I’d be getting money playing video games all year. = ) “Sold out” in the http://www.dieselsweeties.com/shirts/indieshirts.shtml way. Or the MC Frontalot http://frontalot.com/index.php/?page=mp3 way. Meaning when you get big, you lose your indie cred.
Also, see indie: http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail203.html
by RaheByte, on September 8 2010 @ 8:58 am
I’ve watched PA’s rise to influence over the span of the last decade, and I’ve seen them wield several taboo topics with humorous efficacy.
This is most certainly an issue caused by their current level of popularity. Once that imaginary pop-culture threshold is breached, the attention of wider audiences is surely gathered.. as has been said.
The problem here is that a few critics that have a proclivity to these–no matter how justified–sensitivities, will find a way to vilify anyone who violates their personal definition of what is appropriate. Others jump on the band wagon after ward to puff their chests regardless of whether they were in fact slighted by the comic (or whatever) themselves.
I can appreciate that some people don’t like a ribald sense of humour, and they’re free to react in any way they like. The simple fact, as horrible as rape would probably be, is that this subject HAS comedic value, and has been used in this way many, many times in much more mainstream, and publicly consumed vehicles than PA and PAX.
I hope they continue writing funny material, regardless of where their inspiration comes for.
by Carnus, on September 8 2010 @ 1:25 pm
@RaheByte – Well put. I would agree to this.
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by Michael Jason, on April 26 2011 @ 9:42 am
Well, exactly. If nothing has changed, why is this comic causing such a fuss in communities/with bloggers when the previous ones I linked did not (as far as I know)?
by Karton Carlos, on May 6 2011 @ 9:14 am
You don’t think become webcomic rockstars changed them at all? I disagree.
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by Mont Blanc Glasses, on August 21 2011 @ 4:48 am
The older comics probably caused less reaction because the creators weren’t so mainstream.
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