BBC4, Gaming and Image

[Chris_Nightwing]

Well it all went ok, and I'll remind everyone when it's aired - probably not until October/November according to their scheduling notes.

They were running late so our time got cut short. In the end I reduced most of my planning to a single very simple encounter - it really was just demonstrating what the hell a D&D game involves. The three characters faced some skeletal minions and the BBEG. Minions were dispatched, they all took a bit of damage and then at the last moment, the BBEG poised himself to kill a townsperson. The great thing was, they proceeded to debate what to do, and the presenter eventually chose to gamble, and see if he could kill the BBEG, despite the human shield. His odds of success were about 45%, but he did it triumphantly. So, it was a bit contrived, but everyone involved got what they wanted. I was forced to recite my introductory speech three times for pick-up shots so I'm dreading that they'll use it. I swear I used the same adjective five times over.

Now it's back to normality..

 

[Jools]

I just watched this show now, it didn't seem to have much D&D in it. Was any of your footage used afterwards? As an aside, did anyone notice that the caption for Dungeons and Dragons said it was a Games Workshop game? That gave me a chuckle, they must have been using old footage from the 1980s when they made it under license.

 

[Zander]

As an aside, did anyone notice that the caption for Dungeons and Dragons said it was a Games Workshop game? That gave me a chuckle, they must have been using old footage from the 1980s when they made it under license.

I noticed that too. Some of the footage was from 1982 and 1984.

They also had someone off-camera saying they thought D&D started in 1975!

Incidentally, how are you able to view it in Japan? I thought that BBC i-player didn't work outside the UK.

 

[Wycen]

On a vaguely related note, I just watched Guy Fieri's 'Guy's Big Bite' on the Food Network and he's created a dish named Dungeoness and Dragons crab.

 

[Jools]

Incidentally, how are you able to view it in Japan? I thought that BBC i-player didn't work outside the UK.

Good question. I did what every gaijin in Japan does, downloaded it through "other" means .

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

Thread Resurrection!

They mentioned D&D in episode 2, and indeed wanted to pretend that it is still under license by GW as it was in the 80s. Britannia and all that. Anyway, the filming we did was cut down to a mercifully brief segment at the start of episode 3 (iPlayer link below, sorry non-UK folks, you'll have to be creative). I thought his voiceover explained the game quite well, and it was a good idea not to dwell on the details of the actual game.. but I'd love to hear some opinion even about my lack of style !

BBC iPlayer - Games Britannia: Joystick Generation

 

[S'mon]

D&D was created by Californian Tolkien addicts? Wow, you learn something new every day!

Watching a documentary on something I know a bit about reminds me to be highly sceptical of journalists when they talk about topics of which I know nothing!

 

[dbm]

I watched the whole series and really enjoyed it. True, the 'facts' about D&D were a little off, and they could have picked other more UK-based games if they had tried a little harder. But you guys came across fine, I thought. And they invested a lot of time and effort talking intelligently about why a person would want to get in to RPGs, which made a nice change.

Cheers,
Dan