D&D General Actual Play Television: Article on WotC's "Adventuring Party"

[Mannahnin]

Im not really up to date on this stuff, but I really hope it doesn't go in some competition reality TV direction (if it hasnt already).

But also, competitive D&D started as soon as the game did. Gygax regularly ran tournament dungeons. If one of the shows is competitive that's not a big deal.

I don't feel like you watch a lot of modern skill based competition reality shows. Most of them do not focus on that Survivor style BS. They focus very much on the actual thing -- cooking, singing, whatever.

Yeah, you can do competitive D&D without nastiness and with cooperation and fun. For a modest budget example from a couple of years ago, Wandering DMs' The Big Bad, which got a half dozen teams of Actual Play groups and others (including a couple of D&D notables like Luke Gygax and Stefan Pokorny) to play through the same tournament-style scenario. Each team of players in any given episode was playing cooperative, social D&D against the villain DM (with a separate Referee DM), and competing for high score against the other teams.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

I suspect they meant "hog the spotlight" or fight over it. Folks actively working to take more table time/be the center of attention, at the expense of other players getting time in the spotlight.

One DM skill folks sometimes talk about it spotlight distribution- making sure everyone at the table gets some time being the focus if they want to, making decisions and doing cool stuff. But it's also a really good skill for improvisational entertainers like Actual Play participants, being able to pass around the spotlight/mic and support their fellow players.

I know what 'hog the spotlight' means. I was asking in what context the OP observed this at conventions. At a game? A presentation? On rereading the OP, I think they meant within a game.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There's no indication that this is a competition show. It's an existing actual play that is not a competition.

I think the Polygon article is interesting in that they use a lot of photos of Critical Role and Dimension 20 ... but don't talk to anyone associated with either show. This article is trying to be a broader piece about actual plays while just having the material to be about this particular one show.