"Enter the Dragon" - Mini-Documentary

WizarDru · May 18, 2011

I hadn't noticed this posted here yet, so I thought I'd start a thread about it. Wil Wheaton posted a link to his blog, which is how I saw it. It's a nice short and sweet little documentary about playing D&D.

I have to admit, I thought it was very funny that the one player describes D&D in terms of being like World of Warcraft. I'm sure some folks might find that annoying, but I thought it was just a reflection of reality, honestly. Overall, it's a nice little peek into D&D for folks who might not be familiar with it.

Enter the Dragon on Vimeo

ExploderWizard · May 18, 2011

WizarDru said:
I have to admit, I thought it was very funny that the one player describes D&D in terms of being like World of Warcraft. I'm sure some folks might find that annoying, but I thought it was just a reflection of reality, honestly.

Of that players reality as he sees it certainly. Someone who has never played WOW or even knew what it was about probably wouldn't make that analogy even if playing in an identical game.

Stumblewyk · May 18, 2011

It was certainly a well done glimpse into the world of P&P gaming, but once, just once, I want to see a serious look at gamers, where the subjects look like normal people with a slightly different hobby, instead of The Stereotype. I know we're out there, I'm one of them. I game with many of them. It would go a long, long way towards a more widespread acceptance of the hobby.

But instead we get a guy who might as well be Comic Book Guy as the main focus of the piece. Ugh.

amerigoV · May 18, 2011

Stumblewyk said:
But instead we get a guy who might as well be Comic Book Guy as the main focus of the piece. Ugh.

Heh - I am sure the Simpsons get most of their lines for Comic Book Guy from boards like these...

"Worst Edition Ever!"

WizarDru · May 18, 2011

You know, I grok what you're saying...but I think that's not really the case here. The two folks shown as the central focus are the DM and the girl. The DM's lives in a nice apartment or townhome and only nod to geekery is wearing an RPGA t-shirt and being overweight, I suppose. The girl certainly doesn't fit any stereotype (and I thought the 'It's cheaper than shoe-shopping' comment to be pretty funny..and true).

I mean, the guy never came off as delusional or wacky and a game table with two female players and a bunch of pretty normal looking gamers seemed pretty balanced to me. There were no spock-ear wearing dudes, here.

Ed_Laprade · May 18, 2011

It started off looking pretty dorky with the funny voice and what the GM was saying, but quickly turned into a pretty even handed piece. But where was Bruce Lee??? :angel:

Stumblewyk · May 18, 2011

WizarDru said:
I mean, the guy never came off as delusional or wacky and a game table with two female players and a bunch of pretty normal looking gamers seemed pretty balanced to me. There were no spock-ear wearing dudes, here.

True enough, I guess. It's definitely a fair piece, I'll give it that.

amerigoV said:
Heh - I am sure the Simpsons get most of their lines for Comic Book Guy from boards like these...

"Worst Edition Ever!"

Amusingly enough, one of the first comments on the video's page is something to the effect of "It's just a shame it's 4e." I *facepalmed* so hard.

AeroDm · May 18, 2011

I thought it was a very fair piece. The DM (the most cliche of the gamers) was very articulate, approachable, and it was easy to understand his arguments. I'd game with any of the folks in that video and I'm normally pretty harsh since my group has always been very "normal."

DragonLancer · May 19, 2011

Stumblewyk said:
It was certainly a well done glimpse into the world of P&P gaming, but once, just once, I want to see a serious look at gamers, where the subjects look like normal people with a slightly different hobby, instead of The Stereotype. I know we're out there, I'm one of them. I game with many of them. It would go a long, long way towards a more widespread acceptance of the hobby.

Not a bad little documentary and I've added it to my favourites it with a couple others, but I agree with Stumblewyck here. Of all the web documentaries I've seen and even the rather good D&D Experience DVD, I've yet to see one that doesn't make roleplayers look and sound like the stereotype that society has of us.