Bonus Episode 84

[clintmemo]

This topic was more a case of telling people that you play role-playing games and them replying oh you play D&D.

I had this argument 25 years ago - with my wife.

[Ikoma]

As someone who only in the last couple of months learned that Critical Roll even existed, and that only because ... four? ish? people were cranky about them playing a game made by Wendy's, this episode was kind of baffling. Is it really that big a deal?

Yes... and no. Critical Role (as a YouTube channel) has almost a million subscribers. Their campaign videos get 500k views the week they go up and usually get near 3m views by the end. You can can do a Google search on the "Matt Mercer effect" and get a list of videos and articles about GMs dealing with the fact that their players expect a game like the one they see on Critical Role. Critical Role raised over $11,000,000 (16x what they asked for) in a kickstarter to create a professionally animated special adapting their game. They now have a two season (12 episodes per season) deal with Amazon Prime as a result. If you game around a FLGS, you will encounter players who discovered D&D... and the RPG hobby... through Critical Role. Matt Mercer now has written supplements for D&D proper. A custom class he designed for Critical Role is available in DnDBeyond.

But they a not all of the hobby. If you were gaming before 2012 (the year they started), you might never have even heard of them and they could have no impact on your life and game. They got super popular about 2015. So if you ever add a new player who recently joined the hobby, you will encounter Critical Role. If you are sticking to your old group, it will have no impact. And Critical Role is just the tip of this Twitch/YouTube D&D boom...

[Azhrei Vep]

As someone who only in the last couple of months learned that Critical Roll even existed, and that only because ... four? ish? people were cranky about them playing a game made by Wendy's, this episode was kind of baffling. Is it really that big a deal?

Yes... and no. Critical Role (as a YouTube channel) has almost a million subscribers. Their campaign videos get 500k views the week they go up and usually get near 3m views by the end. You can can do a Google search on the "Matt Mercer effect" and get a list of videos and articles about GMs dealing with the fact that their players expect a game like the one they see on Critical Role. Critical Role raised over $11,000,000 (16x what they asked for) in a kickstarter to create a professionally animated special adapting their game. They now have a two season (12 episodes per season) deal with Amazon Prime as a result. If you game around a FLGS, you will encounter players who discovered D&D... and the RPG hobby... through Critical Role. Matt Mercer now has written supplements for D&D proper. A custom class he designed for Critical Role is available in DnDBeyond.

But they a not all of the hobby. If you were gaming before 2012 (the year they started), you might never have even heard of them and they could have no impact on your life and game. They got super popular about 2015. So if you ever add a new player who recently joined the hobby, you will encounter Critical Role. If you are sticking to your old group, it will have no impact. And Critical Role is just the tip of this Twitch/YouTube D&D boom...

Ha ha! Defied! Half of my group got started in late 2017. I'm the only person who'd even heard of CR until I asked them about it.

But ... yeah, I can see how that would get really annoying for people. Unless those people work for WotC. They love those guys.

[clintmemo]

As someone who only in the last couple of months learned that Critical Roll even existed, and that only because ... four? ish? people were cranky about them playing a game made by Wendy's, this episode was kind of baffling. Is it really that big a deal?

Yes... and no. Critical Role (as a YouTube channel) has almost a million subscribers. Their campaign videos get 500k views the week they go up and usually get near 3m views by the end.

I listened to the first arc of the first season as a podcast and never knew there was video to any of it. I stopped simply because, at 4 hours an episode, I was never going to have time to finish it.

[Lord Foul]

Is it really that big a deal?

That's for getting it right and not sticking in a spurious "of".

Are you sure you're not British?

[Glenn]

Is it really that big a deal?

That's for getting it right and not sticking in a spurious "of".

Are you sure you're not British?

Saying "Big a deal" sounds like something someone with a thick southern US accent would say.

[Glenn]

Being big into hobby board gaming you have to deal with a similar thing. Only its "oh you play board games?" "why do you still play Monopoly and Risk?"

[Azhrei Vep]

Is it really that big a deal?

That's for getting it right and not sticking in a spurious "of".

Are you sure you're not British?

Saying "Big a deal" sounds like something someone with a thick southern US accent would say.

It's pretty weird to hear 'thick southern accent' associated with good grammar.

The accent's not very thick, anyway. I grew up on too much TV, it's watered down my accent significantly compared to the people around me.

[shadesofeternity]

Alrighty

When has Dungeons and Dragons not been the big game?

The 80's with world of darkness?
The late 2000's with pathfinder?

[Lord Foul]

Alrighty

When has Dungeons and Dragons not been the big game?

The 80's with world of darkness?
The late 2000's with pathfinder?

Neither. D&D has always been the big game. But apart from right at the very beginning it has never been the only game.

Honestly, there really isn't anything to get worked up about. D&D started it and has remained the big player in the hobby. But anyone who thinks there's only D&D just doesn't know anything about the hobby. So how about politely and enthusiastically informing them of all the other things they are missing instead of berating them for their ignorance?