D&D General Joe Manganiello's D&D Campaign Includes a Game of Thrones Creator & Vince Vaughn

The entertainment magazine Variety has joined the long list of mainstream publications who have published articles about D&D in recent years. They take a look at Joe Manganiello's home game, which includes Vince Vaughn, plus the guitarist from Rage Against the Machine, and one one of the Game of Thrones creators!

Inside Joe Manganiello’s Epic Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

Go inside Joe Manganiello's Hollywood Dungeons & Dragons campaign, which includes Vince Vaughn, Tom Morello, The Big Show and more.

variety.com

 

[robus]

nm

 

[QuentinGeorge]

What "organic" streaming game has changed its lineup deliberately to balance sexes? By "organic" I mean people who were playing together before they streamed. I would call "Dice, Camera, Action" artificial in this sense - the folk hadn't gamed together before, and were basically brought together for the stream.

Critical Role would be the best known "organic" stream, and if you look at the instagram videos of their pre-stream lineup, the players were the same as when they started the stream. Mercer and Co didn't ditch any male players to bring in females, or vice versa. The only one they dumped has massive personal issues that were unrelated to his sex.

I guess what I'm saying is, I'd rather the people be comfortable with each other, rather than an artificially constructed group trying to get to some quota. Acquisitions Inc didn't have any female players for six years (when Morgan Webb first played in 2014) and I don't think its because Jerry Holkins thinks girls are yuck.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Maybe if this game was the only prominent game and there weren’t dozens of other games that could be found that promote all manner of diversity...maybe then this would be a problem.

Expecting the guy’s home game to be held to the standards we’d apply to a product simply because it appeara in an article is just a bit much.

It’s a fluff piece about some famous people playing D&D. It doesn’t need to be deeper than that.

Also, I’d love to be able to join them for a session. It’s probably a really fun game.

 

[Todd Roybark]

What do you people want? For Joe to announce,

Dire Bare can you point to anywhere in the thread where I have stated anything, remotely like demanding Joe announce anything?

My position has nuance.

Dude, also “you people” is not the preferred nomenclature.

If we are talking about an individual gaming group, then we are also talking about individual opinions. Please don’t conflate my individual opinion into whatever, narrative you meant by “you people”.

I am merely describing, my singular view here. Politely, and respectfully.

"Who you know" and friends choosing to work with friends has long been a part of how social networks have worked, and it isn't inherently unethical or inequitable.

Sure, on the level of the individual, this may be true, but thousands of independent actions can accrete to do this:

When it excludes classes of people and becomes institutionalized, that's a problem

How else does one explain institutionalized bias when so few people self identify as having bias?
Like a game of plinko, or geology, a large number of independent actions, forms a system.

Alas, this veers into waters one dares not traverse in Enworld, and I leave it there.

 

[Mookus]

Eesh. Not to be "that guy," but I really just want to say this thread left me with a bad taste. I don't expect anyone to change their opinions or stop sharing them, just sharing my own.

I read a lot of RPG forums and I've always found Enworld enjoyably drama-free, but to me this thread was just a toxic train wreck worthy of Twitter. Joe has always seemed like a "true" gamer, by which I mean it seems like he genuinely has a great passion for gaming. He's not jumping on a bandwagon, he's just doing something he's always loved doing, except doing it in his current circumstances (which means beautiful gaming room, disposable income, and famous friends).

Like Colbert, like Martin, like Woll and Diesel and Middleditch and all the other gamers of varying celebrity, it's just... fun to read about famous people who love the games I love. I thought Joe's Omaze video was fantastic, and his beaming smile was totally infectious. It makes me happy to know that this article (and all the others) shows non-gamers a different face to a too-often misunderstood hobby.

And then I come here and it all just turns to ash because at the moment the article was written, his home group didn't have any women players.

I don't expect the whole world, even the whole gamer world, to share my vibes on Joe, or celebrity gamers, or much of anything really -- but it was legit surprising and off-putting to see so much pushback against what sure seems like just a regular ol' gamer (who now happens to be in the public eye) psyched to be able to fanboy out about his favorite game, his cool gaming room, and the players in his group to another demo.

Just a bummer. Two cents, that's all.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Feels like this thread's argument basically boils down to the question -

"Do famous people have a responsibility to behave in a more ethical/progressive/moral/pious/[insert socially positive word here] manner?"

Some folks say YES, some folks say NO. As it ever is on the interwebs.

Me, I think Joe is free to play with whomever he wants.

However, I think there was opportunity due to his fame to portray the game of D&D to the public and show that there are a wide variety of player identities involved this hobby. That opportunity was not maximized, at least for this interview. It's not Joe's responsibility - but it was a great opportunity.

 

[Mistwell]

Dude, also “you people” is not the preferred nomenclature.

It seemed more polite than "gadflies".

 

[Mistwell]

Eesh. Not to be "that guy," but I really just want to say this thread left me with a bad taste. I don't expect anyone to change their opinions or stop sharing them, just sharing my own.

I read a lot of RPG forums and I've always found Enworld enjoyably drama-free, but to me this thread was just a toxic train wreck worthy of Twitter. Joe has always seemed like a "true" gamer, by which I mean it seems like he genuinely has a great passion for gaming. He's not jumping on a bandwagon, he's just doing something he's always loved doing, except doing it in his current circumstances (which means beautiful gaming room, disposable income, and famous friends).

Like Colbert, like Martin, like Woll and Diesel and Middleditch and all the other gamers of varying celebrity, it's just... fun to read about famous people who love the games I love. I thought Joe's Omaze video was fantastic, and his beaming smile was totally infectious. It makes me happy to know that this article (and all the others) shows non-gamers a different face to a too-often misunderstood hobby.

And then I come here and it all just turns to ash because at the moment the article was written, his home group didn't have any women players.

I don't expect the whole world, even the whole gamer world, to share my vibes on Joe, or celebrity gamers, or much of anything really -- but it was legit surprising and off-putting to see so much pushback against what sure seems like just a regular ol' gamer (who now happens to be in the public eye) psyched to be able to fanboy out about his favorite game, his cool gaming room, and the players in his group to another demo.

Just a bummer. Two cents, that's all.

Me too.

And when Umbran joined in on the bad behavior, it left a pretty bad impression on me. Like, after 20 years, maybe this forum isn't such a good place anymore if it could spin this light-hearted and positive coverage of D&D into something negative.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

Feels like this thread's argument basically boils down to the question -

"Do famous people have a responsibility to behave in a more ethical/progressive/moral/pious/[insert socially positive word here] manner?"

Some folks say YES, some folks say NO. As it ever is on the interwebs.

Me, I think Joe is free to play with whomever he wants.

However, I think there was opportunity due to his fame to portray the game of D&D to the public and show that there are a wide variety of player identities involved this hobby. That opportunity was not maximized, at least for this interview. It's not Joe's responsibility - but it was a great opportunity.

So he should've known that he was going to get interviewed about his home game and adjusted it to suit people who will never come even close to joining it?

 

[Paragon Lost]

Me too.

And when Umbran joined in on the bad behavior, it left a pretty bad impression on me. Like, after 20 years, maybe this forum isn't such a good place anymore if it could spin this light-hearted and positive coverage of D&D into something negative.

I've noted quite a few times where I felt that he didn't improve the situation and actually made it worse. Which as a moderator isn't what they should be doing in my opinion. I personally try to avoid interacting with him because I find him caustic, argumentative and unhelpful.