Over Half Of New D&D Players Got Into Game From Watching Online Play

WOTC certainly thinks Twitch is partially responsible for D&D's success (Hasbro's CEO even mentioned it on Mad Money). I covered this topic last year: http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?3279-How-Video-Saved-D-D#.WhAbKohOl_A

So my "rode to D&D" (Which I haven't told anyone because I'm embarrassed about it) is probably not the norm, but I'm going to mention it to hopefully help everyone see what the actual scope of it is, or can be, at this point.

As a kid I heard whispers of D&D but it was pretty much just a "White People Thing" (Which is such a dumb concept, but it is a thing, and I know I'ts really insensitive and I don't mean it to be, but I mention it to be honest. But still, sorry) which made me uninterested in it. Worse still, it was a "nerd thing" which gave it an extra "enter at your own risk" stigma. So I never developed any interest in it and kept my distance.

I got older and the thing that got me interesting in D&D was porn. Specifically porn stars. I heard there was a video of these porn stars that I liked playing D&D. So I got curious and looked and found a live-play. I probably expected them to be naked, or sex, or something. But it was just them playing D&D and having fun while being recorded on a terrible hand-held and terrible audio. I really enjoyed it, despite my other disappointments. And then I found Acq Inc, Rollplay, ect. and enjoyed watching people play D&D for years with no real urge to play myself.

I started playing D&D to get girls. I was content to just watch the videos and streams until one night at a party a mutual friend introduced me to a group of people who were into D&D. That group had a few attractive single ladies. And my friend knew I liked watching D&D streams and told me that if i wanted an "IN" with the group and a chance to get to know them better then I needed to buy a dice set. And I did, and it worked.

So yeah, porn stars got me interested in D&D, and I started playing to get girls.

For the times they are a-changin'




...Please don't judge me.

schnee said:

Most of them, sure, but Talesin is a multi-RPG grog, and Sam *really* knows his stuff.

And, I think we'd probably agree on one thing - I think they would be better off with a system like Dungeon World. Far less crunchy, far more about narrating something cool and then dealing with it when everything starts going haywire.

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I think I agree here. While I am happy to see more people being interested in tabletop RPGs, main reason why I watch Critical Role, Acquisitions Inc. and the like is that they combine some of the things that I enjoy about RPGs (a bunch of friends getting together, making up stories and having fun together) with great entertainment qualities - the actual game mechanics are relatively unimportant to that and IMO necessary only because dice (or some other element of randomness) facilitate a form of emergent storytelling that derives its joy from being unpredictable (an example that supports this theory would be the latest one shot in which they used the Honey Heist rules - it was a lot of fun and IMO benefited greatly from the rather simple rules).

Now I gotta know: What were the rest (i.e. the other less-than-half of D&D players) watching before they finally got off their butts and started playing, too?

Jacob Lewis said:

Now I gotta know: What were the rest (i.e. the other less-than-half of D&D players) watching before they finally got off their butts and started playing, too?

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In my case? Was into CRPGs and always found RPGs exciting and were for years interested in group storytelling and actual freedom of what to do before I got chance to try out.

But yeah, seriously, lot of people here are making me feel young Which is often the case in this hobby since average age seems to be somewhere between 30-40 on online at least. Seriously, lot of "I don't get kids these days" speeches here, I kind of thought nobody does those unironically anymore in gaming hobbies <_<

I would like to point out that regarding video games, if you watch a let's player its not for the game its for the player. If you wanted to watch video for the game, you'd just watch walkthroughs instead, with let's plays you want to see how the player plays the game or entertains their audience while doing it. Regarding P&P streams instead, its mostly because watching people roleplay well is fun since its sort of like watching improv. Its weird question anyway, I mean you wouldn't ask "Why are you watching hockey instead of playing it?", right? Its just not the same thing, otherwise there wouldn't be many older folk here who were like "I tried watching but got bored". And sure watching stuff isn't for everyone(especially since P&P sessions always take hours so streams do too), but its great gateway for new folk who have stereotypical ideas about what it is like or are curious but too timid to find themselves a group.

But yeah, out of curiosity, has anyone tried out watching TFS at the Table? Lot of people have checked out Critical Role, but I am curious if anyone watches the less mainstream(well, by geek standards I guess, voice actors aren't much of mainstream, but they are compared to Internet folk xD) streams?

@MaskedGuy Gosh! I was making another attempt at humor, but you ruined it with your straight answer. (Hey, is that your super power?) Anyway, now I gotta give you XP for it, which is like kryptonite to me. Curses!

I think it's a interesting quirk of our minds that people often think "Why are people watching D&D when they could be playing?" as if that were the trade-off when more likely it is; Why are people watching D&D when they could be: watching TV/Youtube, watching people play videogames, watching people play sports, listening to podcasts/music/audiobooks. Watching a livestream is MUCH more like those forms of entertainment than running a D&D game (though online play is blurring things a bit) and more likely to compete with them, D&D games are more like a board game night, amateur sports league, etc.

Li Shenron said:

I know this is really a small issue if any at all, but yet I find it mildly disturbing that so many people watch others play D&D instead of playing it themselves... it's kind of similar to the rise of "eSports" and their possible inclusion even in the olympics. And also my kids are starting to watch people play Minecraft on youtube instead of playing it themselves! It's ok to watch occasionally to get some inspiration, but if it's more often than the real thing then it raises some questions...

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I know I'm getting into this late BUT I know where you're coming from. I played all through HighSchool then stopped. A couple years ago I got invited to a game and have been playing ever since. Every player besides me started because of Critical Role. So I owe my gaming somewhat to CR. That being said, I made it to episode 34 of CR and realized that I'm spending 4 hours every Thursday night watching a game instead of playing it. I now have a regular Thurs game and haven't watched CR since. ( I do enjoy a good Dungeon Rats on my way to work though)

Only playing in AL, I have seen so many new people come in as the game blew up. CR seems like a great training tool as well, the new players already know initiative, saving throws, skill checks, etc. These shows are definitely helping the community. The amount of shows now are kind of overwhelming, but to each their own.

Robot chicken 4e videos and Penny arcade got our group back together. Reinforced by podcasts.

lonelynoose said:

I...That being said, I made it to episode 34 of CR and realized that I'm spending 4 hours every Thursday night watching a game instead of playing it.

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A suggestion...I convert them to audio, and listen while I commute, cut the grass, run, etc.