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

[Crimson Longinus]

Thinking about this thread, I thought of one of the reasons that I've never watched Critical Role (I watched a few episodes of Force Grey. I thought Matt Mercer was a competent DM, even if his players were not great in FG): I have no idea where you go to watch it. Is it behind a paywall somewhere? I've seen that some of them are on YouTube, sure, but they're not all there are they? How would one start?

(I understand that if I cared enough, I could probably figure this out for myself, but I'm not big into the internet, social media, or computers in general. So far I haven't put in the effort to find out.)

Critical Role

What started as a home Dungeons & Dragons game in 2012 has evolved into to a bit of a phenomenon. Critical Role is now in its second campaign with nearly 500...

www.youtube.com

There you go!

 

[twofalls]

I grew up in a sports family that was very, very serious about sports (on my father's side). It was basically blasphemy to dislike football or basketball.

Well there is no normal on these matters, every family has its expectations and rules. If you live under my roof you attend church, thats not negotiable. I've never heard of this particular ritual before, but it probably isn't unique.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I grew up in a sports family that was very, very serious about sports (on my father's side). It was basically blasphemy to dislike football or basketball.

Oh, the torture you suffered!

I really don't mean to mock you. I have actual true sympathy. I'm not a sports fan (like many here) and I'm happy that my parent's weren't either. My grandparents where, however, and all my childhood memory of sports came from their house, where the TV was always on (even during dinner) and always on to some game or another.

At least they didn't make me watch it! (I mean, I did watch a little, but I could do other things if I wanted).

Well there is no normal on these matters, every family has its expectations and rules.

That's certainly true.

There you go!

Thanks!

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I went ahead and bought the book "The World of Critical Role: The History Behind the Epic Fantasy" today. I just want to share this quick excerpt from the first few pages:

" ...everyone at the table is a person in another world, except for Matt. Matt is the other world. He is everyone they meet and every place they go."

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I went ahead and bought the book "The World of Critical Role: The History Behind the Epic Fantasy" today. I just want to share this quick excerpt from the first few pages:

" ...everyone at the table is a person in another world, except for Matt. Matt is the other world. He is everyone they meet and every place they go."

That's a pretty good description for the layman for players and the DM.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I haven't gotten far into the book yet, but the Critical Role cast was continually surprised at how much of an audience they earned. One is quoted as expecting before the first stream that maybe twenty-five people would watch, while another was more optimistic at a couple hundred. On their third episode a fan got them pizza, but eventually they were getting so many gifts that they had to tell people to stop sending perishable items. When they first offered t-shirts for sale on their new merch website the initial run sold out before they were even finished talking about them. When they did their first live show they filled a 300 seat venue, and at their second they filled 1000. When the Kickstarter asking for $750,000 to create a one episode animated special went live it raised a million dollars in a single hour, ended at 11 million with 90,000 backers, became the most funded television/film project in Kickstarter history, and attracted the attention of Amazon to make it a two season Prime Video exclusive.

BTW, if you're a Critical Role fan you may be interested to know there's a section with illustrations and details on all the guest characters. For those of you who aren't Critical Role fans I'll just say that one of these guest characters, Sprigg, was created 37 years ago for a D&D campaign that Matt Mercer's mother also played in.