Critical Role Do you Critical Role?

pogre · Mar 17, 2019

I love Critical Role - they seem like genuine people doing something they love, and they have brought hordes of new players to the table.

Having said that, it is not my cup of tea. I tried to watch the show. I tried to like the show. I wanted to be in on the water cooler talk about Thursday night... Alas, streamed games bore me to tears.

So, not for me, but so glad they are rocking the streamed game scene. The Kickstarter alone should prove how crazy their fan base is!

Kite474 · Mar 17, 2019

I just couldnt get into it for a couple of reasons. For me the biggest one is Im not really a fan of the chatter that comes with playing a game (the snickers, the jokes, and other stuff Im fine with my own groups but mostly because im a part of that chatter) Like if it was just a radio play or some other medium I think I would be more receptive.

Theres also the fact that I dont quite enjoy it in the fact that its such a radically different style of play or version of D&D that they are playing (in terms of play style) that it feels a little odd to listen too. I think its cool and I would give one of my kidney's to even have my players even have a fractional amount of investment of their own characters.

But yeah to put it short its just not my cup of tea. Glad it exists thought, half of my table are massive fans of it.

robus · Mar 17, 2019

Morrus said:
I’ve played a lot of D&D games with a lot of different groups. They were all different. I have no idea what the real D&D experience is supposed to be.

Hence my surprise

S'mon · Mar 17, 2019

robus said:
i think it’s more the sense that people that like Critical Role are not appreciating the real D&D experience.

I'm not seeing any 'Gatekeeping'. He made a debatable* assumption about how genuine CR's players & emotions are.

*OK, I would say 'wrong'

- but I feel this is just about subjective impressions. Whereas 'Gatekeeping' is someone saying 'No you can't come in here'.

Imaculata · Mar 17, 2019

robus said:
“real players”?! that sounds a bit gatekeepery for you? What’s not real about how they play? And i’ve plenty of genuine emotion in the game. You surprise me!

They are actors. They act. Sure, they also play D&D, but always towards the camera. It's different from watching a normal group play the game. Critical Roll is a show, and so they run their games like one. I'm not saying they are playing the game wrong, but it's definitely very different. I'd rather watch a group that is less focused on entertaining a crowd and more on just playing the game.

robus · Mar 17, 2019

S'mon said:
I'm not seeing any 'Gatekeeping'. He made a debatable* assumption about how genuine CR's players & emotions are.

*OK, I would say 'wrong' - but I feel this is just about subjective impressions. Whereas 'Gatekeeping' is someone saying 'No you can't come in here'.

Ha, well I’m not sure gatekeeping is quite that direct.

It’s more about questioning someone’s credentials and finding them wanting (and thus making the questionee unwelcome). So implying a game is fake (by lacking “real players”) seems like questioning their D&D credentials, and by implication the credentials of any others that find that game valid.

I’m mostly sure it was just inartful phrasing, but I was pushing back to check.

Just trying to clarify my stance, and that;s probably enough from me. Is it Tuesday yet? (When i get to enjoy the show on YouTube...

)

robus · Mar 17, 2019

Imaculata said:
They are actors. They act. Sure, they also play D&D, but always towards the camera. It's different from watching a normal group play the game. Critical Roll is a show, and so they run their games like one. I'm not saying they are playing the game wrong, but it's definitely very different. I'd rather watch a group that is less focused on entertaining a crowd and more on just playing the game.

Cool, I imagined you meant to write average, or normal as you say, but “real players” seemed a bit of a low blow.

Apologies for the sidetrack everyone. Carry on.

5ekyu · Mar 17, 2019

Imaculata said:
They are actors. They act. Sure, they also play D&D, but always towards the camera. It's different from watching a normal group play the game. Critical Roll is a show, and so they run their games like one. I'm not saying they are playing the game wrong, but it's definitely very different. I'd rather watch a group that is less focused on entertaining a crowd and more on just playing the game.

That is incorrect. They started the stream after about 7 level of their home campaign and iirc it was not their first for some of them.

I have no idea what amount of time they have no gor other games, given how much goes into the CR project and others but quite a few of them played DnD off-camera.

MarkB · Mar 17, 2019

Imaculata said:
They are actors. They act. Sure, they also play D&D, but always towards the camera. It's different from watching a normal group play the game. Critical Roll is a show, and so they run their games like one. I'm not saying they are playing the game wrong, but it's definitely very different. I'd rather watch a group that is less focused on entertaining a crowd and more on just playing the game.

It's different, but it's a matter of degree rather than a fundamental difference.

When we play D&D we're playing the roles of characters - which is the definition of acting. Whether we're acting for a small audience of friends or a large audience of strangers, it's still a performance. I don't think you can meaningfully define one as more 'real' than the other.

Umbran · Mar 17, 2019

MarkB said:
It's different, but it's a matter of degree rather than a fundamental difference.

No, I think there are some techniques and acting practices that these professionals have and use that do not exist at most tables.

Saying there's no fundamental difference here is kind of like saying that there's no fundamental difference between what comes out of a good restaurant kitchen, and what comes out of the kitchen of a bachelor grad student. Different ingredients, different techniques, different results, not just in "degree", but in fundamental qualities.

And, quite frankly, I think that ta bunch of professional actors playing for purposes of entertaining large audiences for pay will often make fundamentally different choices about their play than a typical table would - because their goals are not the same.

Critical Role Do you Critical Role?

Do you Critical Role?

Um...what's 'Critical Role'? Is it some kind of podcast or something?

I've never watched a single episode.

Not really. It's just not my cup of tea.

Eh, I'll watch it every now and then, when I'm bored or whatever.

Every now and then, when I can find the time.

I'm a regular viewer. Is it Thursday yet?

Yep. And Talks Machina, and Between the Sheets, and Handbooker Helper, and...

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