D&D 5E 5E DM Online Content Quality

[TheAlkaizer]

I've been thinking about this for awhile and I'm curious to see if others feel this way. Before I say anything, I want to be clear that this is not meant as an attack on anyone, I simply am observing something and want to see if maybe my judgment is too harsh.

In the past few months, I got out of my DM isolation if you could say, and began taking interest in online resources. YouTube video, website, blogs, podcasts, boards. This includes ENWorld. ENWorld has been great and I've found numerous blogs of amazing quality both in content and analysis.

Obviously, I will refrain from naming any specific content creators but I was appalled by what I consider a poor quality of content for both YouTube and Podcasts.

If we start with YouTube, it's mostly clickbait videos with top 10s, guides on how to play a class and very basic level GM tips. There's a few good channels, Matt Colville being one of them but everytime I try a new channel they share these super obvious tips and tricks that you can literally find within the first quarter of the DMG. Most videos are quite long and when you take a moment to see what information you were really given for sinking 15-20 minutes, well, it's quite disheartening. The exception would be channels for crafting tokens, miniatures and terrains; there's some seriously great channels covering these topics. But DMing stuff? Yeah, the presentation is often cringe and/or the content is of low quality.

I moved to podcasts. Podcasts have always been a great media for me to get a little deeper in certain topics. So after the debacle that was YouTube, my expectation were a little bit higher. Once again, after trying a couple podcasts, I was disappointed. Some didn't seem so bad, but had such terrible production value that I couldn't bear to keep going. Others had great production value but would literaly just read stuff off the manuals. Dedicate a full episode to beholders? Let's take 20 minutes to read the beholders entry from the MM.

Maybe I'm being too harsh? Maybe I just found the wrong content creators? Maybe it's just video and podcasts format not being great for that stuff and maybe I should stick to blogs and boards?

I'm curious to see what's everyone's take on this; and maybe even get a few recommendations?

 

[Quickleaf]

On YouTube, I'm a fan of Pruitt & Jim Davis (WebDM), Dael Kingsmill (MonarchsFactory), Arcane Forge, Zipperon Disney, Zee Bashew, and MattFinchRPGStudio. All of them are thinking about the game from very interesting perspectives and have considerable academic, artistic, and/or professional game design chops.

For Podcasts, the only one I sporadically follow is The Tome Show. Really informative discussions and reviews there. But I have yet to listen to the ENWorld Podcast, so that could become another I pay attention to.

 

[Retreater]

I don't like many DM-advice YouTubers (with the exception of Matt Colville). I do watch a lot of painting and crafting videos. Also channels about D&D history and lore have been nice.
If you want any suggestions for those, let me know.

 

[Retreater]

But I have yet to listen to the ENWorld Podcast, so that could become another I pay attention to.

I've recently gotten into the ENWorld Podcast. I've listened to about a half dozen episodes. They're entertaining and humorous, with RPG news summaries and special guests to talk about their products. I don't think of them as offering DM advice though - not as far as I've heard.

 

[J-H]

This is why I don't watch most videos or listen to most podcasts. I can read an article covering all the useful information in 2-3 minutes instead of watching a 20-30 minute video.

 

[LordEntrails]

I agree with you. Very few are worth the time. The barrier to entry is close to non-existent for someone starting a vlog and YouTube channel, so yea.

Most don't understand the basics of video production. Like that they should be editing their video before posting it. Or that their background matters, and that they should be providing a changing visual display while talking to provide multiple stimuli for folks who learn different ways.

Editing is probably the biggest complaint I have, and wandering around the topic. Most vlog or even video tutorials I've seen take 5 to 10 times longer to watch than a decent written document with images would take to explain the same subject, and be easier to reference later.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

On YouTube, I'm a fan of Pruitt & Jim Davis (WebDM), Dael Kingsmill (MonarchsFactory), Arcane Forge, Zipperon Disney, Zee Bashew, and MattFinchRPGStudio. All of them are thinking about the game from very interesting perspectives and have considerable academic, artistic, and/or professional game design chops.

For Podcasts, the only one I sporadically follow is The Tome Show. Really informative discussions and reviews there. But I have yet to listen to the ENWorld Podcast, so that could become another I pay attention to.

There's some names I dont know in there, will definitely check it out. Thank you.

I agree with you. Very few are worth the time. The barrier to entry is close to non-existent for someone starting a vlog and YouTube channel, so yea.

Most don't understand the basics of video production. Like that they should be editing their video before posting it. Or that their background matters, and that they should be providing a changing visual display while talking to provide multiple stimuli for folks who learn different ways.

Editing is probably the biggest complaint I have, and wandering around the topic. Most vlog or even video tutorials I've seen take 5 to 10 times longer to watch than a decent written document with images would take to explain the same subject, and be easier to reference later.

I agree. Very few people are interesting or articulate enough to just face a camera for 15 minutes and not bore their audience.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I believe both Critical Role and Geek & Sundry run some content that's fairly good (Handbook Helper and Satine Phoenix had a short show). The only podcast I know that's any good is Brennan Lee Mulligan's Adventuring Academy, that is available through YouTube;




But of course, Matt Colville is king, start there.

EDIT: Weirdly Matt Mercer is apart of all three of these, at least the first episode of each. If you don't like Mercer this may be more difficult...

 

[aco175]

I remember having Matt's hair in jr high school, but sadly, I have none now.

I cannot say that I have watched a lot of videos. I have seen most of Coville's and a few others over the last couple years. Some of the DM tricks may feel lame if you have been playing for a number or years. I have looked at a few on new products coming out- mostly to see what's inside the box and not as much as the opinion of how the game might go without having read any of it.

 

[Gadget]

Well, I find much of the content on youtube to be...questionable. Now don't get me wrong, I've found some pretty good content there, how to fix my washer/dryer, good ways to problem solve certain issues with your microwave, etc. But much of the "geek" content is people trying to monetize their hobby/likes by getting as many views/subscribers as they possibly can. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but a lot of these people are not that knowledgeable about there subject matter, or present subjective preferences as fact, and there has been this perception that if someone took the trouble to make a video about the topic they must know what they are talking about or are an 'expert'; and that is definitely not the case in most instances.

And that's not even getting into the production values, which I can forgive if the presenter has some good thoughts/insights.