D&D General Matt Colville on the “Forever DM”

[Clint_L]

I think I'm the forever DM in my circle for a bunch of reasons:

1. Even though I generally get along well with folks, I have high social anxiety and trouble making new friends.
2. I love all of the building that goes with DMing - I love collecting and painting the miniatures and terrain. I've got 18 pages of notes prepped for my next session.
3. I learn games very quickly and retain the rules well.
4. No one else wants to do it. Or they do it for a few games and then basically decide that it's too much work. I have never once canceled a session because I wasn't prepared.
5. I love hosting people to play games.

 

[Theory of Games]

I think everyone should play different games now and again (go to a con!) And if they are a forever player, try running a game (do it at a con!) and if they are a forever GM they should make themselves play every once in a while (at a con!).

There is nothing worse that an insular GM who refuses to broaden their horizons and has been running the same game the same way for decades, who then tells you how perfect they are.

No there's a lot worse.

On playing different games, this is another benefit of online play: gamers can find groups that want to play what they want to play instead of being stuck with whatever their local group is addicted to

 

[payn]

To me, Colville reads not as angry but as aggressively opinionated, like he's talking at me, not to me. But I'm a Canadian West Coaster with a lot of social anxiety, so take my perspective in context.

I find him almost unwatchable for more than a few minutes - he makes me very uncomfortable and annoyed. He makes me want to disagree with him on principle. I totally understand what someone else posted about his wife calling Colville the "angry man" - I can see how he could read that way.

He comes off like the ultimate mansplainer.

There definitely is a divisive presentation in these videos with an emphasis that the topic at hand is the greatest that’s ever faced humanity. Its pretty grating I’m surprised anybody can listen to it once let alone regularly.

 

[TiQuinn]

There definitely is a divisive presentation in these videos with an emphasis that the topic at hand is the greatest that’s ever faced humanity. Its pretty grating I’m surprised anybody can listen to it once let alone regularly.

The weird thing is that I find his polished videos more like lectures. Very authoritative, very professorial, with a radio commentator kind of bombast to it. It’s not that what he says is something I disagree with - it’s just his approach seems to want someone to argue with him (though when I do disagree with him, I’m very much “Go away. I can’t even with you.”)

 

[Reynard]

The dog piling in kind of gross.

 

[TiQuinn]

The dog piling in kind of gross.

“Dog piling”

 

[el-remmen]

It would be nice if a Matt Colville video could be shared even once on here without it becoming about how people don’t like him or his delivery, and focusing on the topic instead, which plenty of people also do, it is just that it seem pointless that the same people always come in to say how they don’t like it - doesn’t that get boring?

I am not even talking about treating it like a + thread because there is plenty to disagree without getting hung up on whether you can “stand to listen”. If you can’t stand to listen then why even participate since you aren’t informed?

 

[Bedrockgames]

To me, Colville reads not as angry but as aggressively opinionated, like he's talking at me, not to me. But I'm a Canadian West Coaster with a lot of social anxiety, so take my perspective in context.

I find him almost unwatchable for more than a few minutes - he makes me very uncomfortable and annoyed. He makes me want to disagree with him on principle. I totally understand what someone else posted about his wife calling Colville the "angry man" - I can see how he could read that way.

He comes off like the ultimate mansplainer.

This might well be cultural. I don’t know where Colville comes from (he has always struck me as west coast but that could be wrong). However like a lot of gamers his accent seems fairly neutral (at least by US standards) and that makes it hard to gauge (I know people Born in Charlestown Boston or NY who talk like him despite the rest of their family having heavy accents). In the NE I think this comes off as being invested in the conversation and trying to engage the listener. I would almost describe him as milquetoast

 

[Bedrockgames]

It would be nice if a Matt Colville video could be shared even once on here without it becoming about how people don’t like him or his delivery, and focusing on the topic instead, which plenty of people also do, it is just that it seem pointless that the same people always come in to say how they don’t like it - doesn’t that get boring?

I am not even talking about treating it like a + thread because there is plenty to disagree without getting hung up on whether you can “stand to listen”. If you can’t stand to listen then why even participate since you aren’t informed?

I quite liked the video. Both topics were interesting and I think he had valid points in each. It made me think of how I tend to run games with people who also run games (and will often step into the GM seat) and how that has led to a much better experience for me overall. Also on complaining about D&D, I do think he is right that sometimes people read way too much into that and often people are just venting.

 

[Edgar Ironpelt]

Transcript? I can’t handle listening to that guy.

Transcript? I prefer text over practically any podcast/talking head/audiobook.