Critical Role Critical Role’s 7-hour Campaign Finale

It’s not the last of Critical Role (obviously) but it is the end of their second campaign this Thursday. And it’s 7 hours long!

Critical Role’s highly successful second campaign -- The Mighty Nein -- premiered over three years ago and has built up over 530 hours of adventures, including over 440 villains conquered and over 100 hours of battles (source: CritRoleStats), and this Thursday, June 3, the epic saga of Critical Role’s second campaign is set to embark on its final adventure.

Since the launch of the campaign on January 11, 2018, Critical Role has chronicled the story of Jester Lavorre (Laura Bailey), Yasha Nydoorin (Ashley Johnson), Caleb Widogast (Liam O’Brien), Beauregard "Beau" Lionett (Marisha Ray), Nott the Brave/Veth Brenatto (Sam Riegel), Fjord (Travis Willingham), Mollymauk "Molly" Tealeaf and Caduceus Clay (both played by Taliesin Jaffe) of The Mighty Nein as they explored Wildemount, formed relationships, spat in the face of death and buried allies, realized that not all goblins are as they seem, discovered the power a friendly cupcake (sprinkled with some Dust of Deliciousness) can have in befriending powerful foes, and showcased the resiliency one can have in the face of insurmountable odds time and time again.

Experience the final chapter of The Mighty Nein as Critical Role concludes the legend of this ragtag group of miscreants that millions across the globe have come to know and love. How will their journey end and what’s next from the world of Critical Role? Tune in to find out!

The final episode of Critical Role’s Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein airs this Thursday, June 3 2021 at 7PM PST simultaneously on Twitch (twitch.tv/criticalrole) and YouTube (youtube.com/criticalrole), with the replayable VOD of the show available on Critical Role’s YouTube channel the following Monday.

Critters…. How do you want to do this?

 

[Benjamin Olson]

"People who disagree with me are uninformed" is an unnecessary way to start.

But "people who hold X opinion seem to not be terribly informed on the subject" is a perfectly reasonable reasonable way to discuss whether or not X is an informed opinion. I do apologize if it came off as overly dismissive, but this is the second thread I've seen veer into debating whether the game system will change for the new campaign on the basis of what seems to be pure speculation, and the earliest speculators I saw seemed to not really know much about the show. I'm curious if anyone who has actually been watching closely to recent episodes has gotten a "they seem ready for a system change" impression. As I said, I'm about a half a campaign behind, but nothing I've ever seen in the first campaign and a half made me think they wanted to be playing a different game.

Their Tails of Equestria one-shot has been viewed 577k times, comparable to their D&D episodes. The audience is tuning in for the cast, not the game system.

Sure, they may keep most their viewers regardless of system. But I and both the friends I have who regularly watch the show started on it because we were D&D players curious about this popular thing that had to do with D&D, not because we were fans of "things that are big on Twitch and Youtube". I'm guessing that is the most common way to get into the show. I know there are certainly plenty of people who did get into Critical Role without ever playing D&D, and likely a bunch more will be brought in by the animated series once that happens, but in terms of attracting new viewers they will generally do better with the dominant brand than anything else.

Personally, if they switched to a game I didn't play I'd still watch, but probably not nearly as much. The actual game system oriented parts tend to be the most tedious part of the show even as someone who knows the system and devotes a lot of brain space to it, but I find guessing and critiquing how they use game mechanics just compelling enough to get me through long combats. I'll watch anything for a one-shot, but if I didn't care about the game they were playing for a whole campaign I think they'd lose me.

 

[Morrus]

Enlight me, is there a lot of people actually watching this? 7 hours seems a big time investment. I guess you could listen while doing indoor biking?

Yes, a lot of people will watch it.

You can use your pause button at-will. They don’t tie you into a chair and force you to watch it in a single session, I promise! Don’t worry! It’s not A Clockwork Orange!

 

[Mercador]

Yes, a lot of people will watch it.

You can use your pause button at-will. They don’t tie you into a chair and force you to watch it in a single session, I promise! Don’t worry!

I would wonder where I should start? As not actually playing, maybe that could be an alternative...

Edit: lol @ clockwork orange

It's just like a massive time investment.

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

That's ridiculous
Just split it into two 3-1/2 hour streams
Especially starting at the regular time on a weeknight. No one is going to watch it all right away anyway

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But "people who hold X opinion seem to not be terribly informed on the subject" is a perfectly reasonable reasonable way to discuss whether or not X is an informed opinion. I do apologize if it came off as overly dismissive, but this is the second thread I've seen veer into debating whether the game system will change for the new campaign on the basis of what seems to be pure speculation, and the earliest speculators I saw seemed to not really know much about the show. I'm curious if anyone who has actually been watching closely to recent episodes has gotten a "they seem ready for a system change" impression. As I said, I'm about a half a campaign behind, but nothing I've ever seen in the first campaign and a half made me think they wanted to be playing a different game.

So, in other words, your speculation outweighs their speculation. You are, by your own repeated admission, months behind on the show, but you're sure that you're more informed on the subject because your gut told you so when you stopped watching/listening months ago.

Yes, that does come off as dismissive.

Sure, they may keep most their viewers regardless of system. But I and both the friends I have who regularly watch the show started on it because we were D&D players curious about this popular thing that had to do with D&D, not because we were fans of "things that are big on Twitch and Youtube". I'm guessing that is the most common way to get into the show. I know there are certainly plenty of people who did get into Critical Role without ever playing D&D, and likely a bunch more will be brought in by the animated series once that happens, but in terms of attracting new viewers they will generally do better with the dominant brand than anything else.

Both WotC and Critical Role members have talked about how many people came to D&D through Critical Role, and not the other way around.

Being a big fan of stuff on YouTube is a generational thing, and there are a lot of young people who discover content on YouTube the same way older folks discovered stuff by channel-surfing on TV.

Given how many Critical Role fans are young, I suspect that your personal history may not be the dominant model here.

Personally, if they switched to a game I didn't play I'd still watch, but probably not nearly as much. The actual game system oriented parts tend to be the most tedious part of the show even as someone who knows the system and devotes a lot of brain space to it, but I find guessing and critiquing how they use game mechanics just compelling enough to get me through long combats. I'll watch anything for a one-shot, but if I didn't care about the game they were playing for a whole campaign I think they'd lose me.

I think they'd be more likely to retain an audience than shows with a lower performance quality. I have never played Monsterhearts 2, don't own it, and mostly just know about it from reading the game description and peeking at the free PDFs available on their site. And I found their one-shot of the game riveting.

And there are definitely systems they could switch to where the rules would largely get out of the way of the show, as they mostly did in Monsterhearts.

That said, until they announce otherwise, I don't think there's a reason to believe they will be switching away from 5E. It's certainly possible, but I don't know what their incentive would be at this point.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Enlight me, is there a lot of people actually watching this? 7 hours seems a big time investment. I guess you could listen while doing indoor biking?

More than half a million people watch the YouTube episodes and an unknown additional number (including me) listen to it as a podcast. That makes it among the most popular forms of English language entertainment going.

 

[Iry]

Enlight me, is there a lot of people actually watching this? 7 hours seems a big time investment. I guess you could listen while doing indoor biking?

I listen to the Monday showing. Let's me skip the Nord VPN advertisements (if any), the 15 minute break (probably be at least 2 this time), and go through it at my own pace. Don't get me wrong. I intentionally try to support them by watching their adds, but Nord VPN is too much for me.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I would wonder where I should start?

The second campaign is almost entirely separate from the first one, although it takes place in the same world and occurs after the events of the first campaign, which occasionally crop up.

Depending on when the third campaign launches, that might be the easiest time to jump onboard. (That's what I did for Nerd Poker, for instance.)

 

[Benjamin Olson]

That said, until they announce otherwise, I don't think there's a reason to believe they will be switching away from 5E. It's certainly possible, but I don't know what their incentive would be at this point.

So you agree with me on the core point but decided to rake me over the coals for suggesting that people who disagree with both of us might be less informed on the subject. Thank you for your brave service to pedantry. The internet owes you some sort of medal.

 

[Mercador]

More than half a million people watch the YouTube episodes and an unknown additional number (including me) listen to it as a podcast. That makes it among the most popular forms of English language entertainment going.

I'm really old I guess, I don't understand the pleasure seeing other play the game. I don't get eSports either. Let me find a cloud to yell at.