D&D 5E What is up with the popularity of watching other D&D groups play the game?

[iserith]

Side story - I am working on preparing to run Hot Springs Island in a couple months for my regular johns. So I was looking on YouTube for some actual plays and found one that had like 30-minute episodes. I was like, great, these are edited then, so I'll get the highlights of the content, particularly as it related to the play procedures for the hex crawl.

They were mildly amusing and got a few chuckles out of me here and there so I stuck with it, but what I found particularly funny was how even the edited version of the game was crammed full of tangents about Star Wars and all sorts of things unrelated to the game. I could wring maybe 5 to 10 minutes of useful actual play out of each episode. I was left to wonder how long the entire play session was because it was very unproductive in terms of getting through actual content.

I find this to be the case with many actual plays, too. They just don't seem to Get Stuff Done. In our regular sessions we run laps around these games. I'm not exactly sure why they run so slowly. I think it has a lot to do with players being unmotivated to push things forward on their own or thinking that Getting Stuff Done is not compatible with the sort of back and forth talk that they put on between their characters. Hard to say. If they picked up the pace a bit more, I might be more inclined to tune in.

 

[Zardnaar]

Beats me. I watch youtube gaming streams to figure stuff out generally.

Generally not entertainment. Watching other people play doesn't interest me.

 

[Dr Magister]

I really enjoy Critical Role, and I've watched almost every episode. Because they're all professional voice actors, it ends up feeling as much like an epic fantasy radio play as watching a D&D game. It also helped get me into 5e (although I've been playing TTRPGs for years), and I've deliberately adopted a couple of things Matt Mercer does as a DM, which I thought were particularly good.

I will also say that in some ways I miss their early days, when the battlemaps were hand-drawn on graph paper. It felt more like watching a group of friends playing D&D than the much more polished production it now is.

As to why others watch it, why do so many people watch sports instead of going out and playing for themselves?

 

[practicalm]

In some ways you could argue why watch sports other than to watch people doing something you could be doing as well.

I think watching other people roleplay can help your own RPG skills or at least look for other options.
I usually don't find it interesting enough but then I wouldn't have expected twitch gaming streams to be popular either.

Do what thou wilt as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

 

[Zaukrie]

Not that I keep up with it, but I do listen to Critical Role now and then when I'm exercising, especially when biking. I find it entertaining and it's always interesting to see how people approach the game differently than I do. I don't want to listen to anything too serious when I exercise and if I zone out for a few minutes it doesn't really matter.

Besides, whether playing or DMing, aren't you listening to other people's stories most of the time? I mean, yes, you're involved in the story, but so are a bunch of other people. Guess I don't see that much different.

So it's just cheap entertainment that I can put in my ear buds and listen without it being too distracting or requiring a lot of thought.

Ok, this is a great idea. I should do this while riding the stationary bike!

 

[ph0rk]

Not too different than watching other people play videogames... or sports.

Seems much less fun than playing them yourself to me, but it does sidestep the problem of assembling a group to do so.

 

[Undrave]

I really tried to get into that kind of stuff (particularly the Power Rangers Hyperforce game) but after nearly an hour of the first episode I just couldn't keep up. I had trouble keeping a lot of stuff straight in my head and keeping an image of what was going on... and I also didn't get the appeal of Twitch stream chats, considering they move too fast to get ANY sort of conversation done...

Wish I could get into it.

 

[Dr Magister]

Seems much less fun than playing them yourself to me, but it does sidestep the problem of assembling a group to do so.

I mean, it's possible to do both, and it's much more convenient than trying to play while I'm doing the washing up.

 

[Ace]

I like to watch Skyrim Let's Plays. Its kind of like watching a TV show for me.

As for the D&D plays? I don't know but I think its aspirational for younger gamers. The idea there being "Wow, someday I can have a game as cool as Matt Mercer's."

Frankly the hobby has always been more "I cast magic missile at the darkness. Where's the Cheetos?' than Critical Role in my experience but YMMV of course. In any case I've made friends, had fun and that is all that counts.

If watching these thinsg will a realistic eye (no you probably aren't as good as a professional actor) helps people enjoy D&D more. Its all good.

 

[Dr Magister]

It's Critical Role specific, but here's one person's answer, and she starts by saying that the idea of watching someone else playing D&D sounded about as fun as watching paint dry: