Feast of Legends!

[JCR]

At first I thought it was a joke, but now I can honestly say I would definitely play it.

https://www.feastoflegends.com/

Wendy's own RPG! Just when you think you may have just see it all!

[Lord Liaden]

I need to nickname my refrigerator "Beef's Keep."

[Tjack]

The art is really pretty good.  Anybody know who did it?

[Barton]

I have read some of the PDF it is QUITE good. Has the flavor of D&D. The art is good and the writing is well done. They even have a DICE roll on the special web page of Wendy's site.

I hope someone will nominate it for a gaming award.

[Manic Typist]

I actually find it extremely distasteful on several fronts. I was excited by the cleverness of it when I first saw it, but when I actually read it and learned more about the sketch practices of Wendy's - such that one one the RPG designers quit as a result.

 

So, I think it's unfortunate that such a clever idea was executed by this company, and that it was executed in a way that's against the spirit of what we do.

[JCR]

58 minutes ago, Manic Typist said:

I actually find it extremely distasteful on several fronts. I was excited by the cleverness of it when I first saw it, but when I actually read it and learned more about the sketch practices of Wendy's - such that one one the RPG designers quit as a result.

 

So, I think it's unfortunate that such a clever idea was executed by this company, and that it was executed in a way that's against the spirit of what we do.

Care to elaborate please? Its like you just entered the room and looked at the person in the middle and said, "I know what you did you bastard, I know!", and just exited the room leaving the rest of us wondering, "what the heck was that guy talking about?".

[Manic Typist]

Links below, make your own determination, but a super quick summary is:

1) Wendy's has a mustache-twirling level of bad behavior with respect to human and workers rights

2) Wendy's used their corporate rivals AND the UN as their main villains

     -Using your rivals is kind of crass/on the nose, and more a criticism of the lack of imagination/choice of going a low road instead of simply making something awesome. I view it as "blue" humor - I see why it's funny, but I also recognize it as not creative or clever. I am also less and less inclined to view "clapback culture" as something worth my esteem - and they literally call Wendy the queen of clapback.

    -The UN is an organization that has called out Wendy's on their business involvement with supply chains that use child/labor exploitation, so Wendy's going after the UN goes from "random" to "AYFKM?"

3) They didn't credit any of the game designers. That is a big deal in the creative community. One of the designers even quit as a result of some of the stuff above.

4) The game gives you buffs/debuffs based on the real world consumer behavior you do during the day. You want a +1? Go buy a Wendy's burger for lunch! Beyond the standard problem of not rewarding in-game for out of game behavior as an unhealthy practice, this is egregious in that it's a brazen attempt to take our hobby and make it about their business. It's not just a clever marketing move, where they show "Hey, we love nerd stuff too!" It tries to replace what our hobby is about with their products. There will be at least one group of young, impressionable kids who will think it's ok to "game" the system in this way - who will devote time, energy, and money to buying Wendy's "in order to" play an RPG, when this hobby is about pen, paper, and friends (dice optional).

 

Not trying to be a downer - at first I was excited/amused, and then I grew annoyed and angry as I read about them and skimmed the PDF. I like it when companies show that they consist of people - I don't like it when companies try to co-opt someone else's culture, and this extends to the RPG culture. But it is laughable for a company that conducts itself the way they do to put out a marketing campaign leveraging a medium that focuses on the fight between good and evil - it's like Sauron standing up his own Habitat for Orc-Manity, in the hopes that no one will stop and think about who is doing this and why.

 

Bonus links that flesh out some of the above:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/why-boycott-wendy-s-ask-women-farmworkers/?fbclid=IwAR1hMoaG6E0vORvSlFGdVVXBCKk8RMaz5gi2LmTCsasLDT_6b9vKk8gE0q8

 

http://ciw-online.org/wendys/?fbclid=IwAR1NRq6MVwQ8rqpoRFyM2Pq_zyfoh9Ae5BcLUFzGjM1R1VmMRDRf5ABR8OA

 

 

[JCR]

Interesting, I had no clue about most of that. Thanks for sharing!

[sentry0]

That's a fascinating take on it Manic.

 

My first thought about it was amusement but it quickly turned to dread.  With the crazy popularity of D&D and by extension the RPG community there is a breaking point.  I actually wondered if this is the RPG scene jumping the shark.

 

 

[tkdguy]

Here's a quick look at the system.

 

 

[BoloOfEarth]

When I clicked on the link I misread the text as "The nation of Freshtovia has been the lone bacon of hope..."

 

The mention of the "Ice Jester" also gives me a bit of deja vu as to Hermit's Fish Guy stories and Viewpoint's fast food commercial using barely-disguised caricatures of two rival superheroes. 

 

Not being a fan of D&D / fantasy genre, I didn't really plan to check this out.  Manic's info has me even less inclined.

[Duke Bushido]

Read it last night.  Politics aside, it's cute.  If it weren't for the D&D base, I'd probably try it. 

[Scott Ruggels]

 It's advertising, and it's well done advertising. The game looks simple and playable, and if it becomes an introduction to table top games, because it's free, then so be it.   I like the jokes, and I don't mind a Wendy's burger on occasion.

 

The Politics of it, have no bearing or interest for me, and I am happy that the item is out and about. Corporations only exist to exploit a consumer need to maximize profit for their share holders. None of them are, or can be altruistic and remain competitive against the others. It's business.

 

 

[Hugh Neilson]

To add to Scott's point, this is a "mainstream acceptance" of TTRPGs.

 

Yes' it's being used to advertise, not for the purest motive of Great Gaming.  Guess what?  Game producers are in that business to make money too.

[Duke Bushido]

For what it's worth, I can't think of a single instance of a company giving something away and it _wasnt_ advertising: even donations to flood victims and children's hospitals are done amidst great fanfare and considerable "hey!  Look at us!  Look how great we are!" 

 

Once we accept that they're all evil in some unforgivable way,  we'll...  I guess there's nowhere to go from there: they are all evil in some unforgivable way.  Now let's go have some 'roo burgers and get to gaming. 

[ScottishFox]

Those terrible companies trying to make money and giving us cell phones and computers and air conditioning and tasty food at low prices and stuff while providing jobs for millions of people!

 

I'd rather talk to rocks and sweat in my electricity free cabin by golly gosh.

 

What'll happen next?  People will look out for their own self-interests by trying to make enough money to feed themselves and their families?  Where will this lack of altruism end!?

 

Sarcasm aside.  It's an interesting spoof on how mainstream D&D has become.

 

I'm old now so I prefer a meal my daughter and I cook together, but I have nothing against Wendy's for trying to make a dollar and coming up with a very creative advertising gimmick that will engage potential customers for far longer than any TV or radio commercial could ever hope to do.  Good on them.

 

 

[Duke Bushido]

4 hours ago, ScottishFox said:

 advertising gimmick that will engage potential customers for far longer than any TV or radio commercial could ever hope to do. 

 

 

I don't know.... 

 

When I need to aggravate the wife, I still walk around the house with my best nasal "RaaAAAaaanch.....!   Ranch! Ranch!  Ranch!  Ranch!  Ranch!  Ranch!" 

 

It continues until my wife loses it and yells "Dude!  Tell your stupid ranch tooth to shut up!" 

 

 

(and I _hate_ that crap.  It tastes too much like someone else has already eaten it....) 

 

Come to think of it, that was Wendy's, too.... 

[Chris Goodwin]

Every commercial ranch dressing tastes like yack.  I recommend homemade using the Hidden Valley packets.  Make it according to the recipe once or twice before you start doctoring it.  (edit)  Which is one cup of mayonnaise, one cup of milk, one packet, whisk until mixed, refrigerate for 30 minutes before use.  

 

Me, I like dill.  Lots and lots of it.  YMMV, of course.

[Duke Bushido]

Chris, 

 

I sincerely thank you for thinking of me; that was most kind of you.

 

But even back in the late 70s, when Hidden Valley was the _only_ ranch (I guess they invented or something?), it was atrocious.  I just straight-up don't like it.  Now my wife _loves_ dill.  

 

You know how certain people, just upon _hearing_ someone vomit, will immediately vomit?   I don't have that problem.   But the very _scent_ of dill.......  I have that problem.   Sorry, Dude.      Ranch is just not a thing that can be made palatable for me....