wedgeski said:
I loved this video podcast and want more. It's about time that Wizards showed their own people playing the game.
"He's what we call a revenue stream." Made me LOL.
Well, yes, I loved that they *did* it and yes, I really do want them to do it again. OTOH, I thought there were big flaws in *this* one that they did.
For those that say "this is pretty typical" for how games go...well, not in my experience. Where was the round the table joking and asides? Where were the groans and cheers over dice rolls?
Here's what it looked like to me.
The guy playing the rogue wanted to really play, but he spent most of the session unconscious. That sort of squashed him. I think he made a bad decision early and couldn't extricate himself from it. That nobody moved in to help him sooner was a real downer.
Jennifer had a Warlock, I think. She really played it out, she stood up, she was excited, she was loud, she was nervous, she had *energy*, and she looked like she was having fun. I liked her play.
Sara, well, she *looked* bored, frustrated, or maybe like she didn't want to be there. I don't think that was really the case, though. What I think was happening was that she didn't know her character's capabilities and was trying to figure them out by reading her sheet and the books at the table and *that* was what had her frustrated. And then it's true that some players just seem very detached while they play. Afterwards, they'll tell you how much fun they had, but it's next to impossible for anyone else to tell from the way they act.
Peter, the fighter guy, seemed timid at first. And Rodney, I think he was the Wizard, appeared to do nothing for the first couple of rounds. I know that's not true, but they were too quiet, too passive...and neither could roll anything in double digits! Both *started* to come on towards the end, they still weren't rolling well, but it looked like they were getting into it.
You know, thinking about it, I think the problem was that this session was all wrong. This wasn't a "party", it was just 5 players thrown together, with characters they didn't know, rules they probably weren't completely clear on, and thrown directly into a pretty hard combat encounter. Some people like to be thrown into the deep end, but most people don't...they get nervous, quiet, withdrawn, can seem sullen or timid. I think that *this* may have happened here. If the players had had the opportunity to play these characters through some exploration, a skill challenge, an easy encounter or two, and get comfortable enough to start rolep laying instead of roll playing before running into the Mind Flayer and his crew I think they *all* would have played a lot better.