Critical Role Critical Role's Sold Out Wembley Arena Show

Critical Role played London's Wembley Arena this week to over 12,000 people, and folks on social media shared images!

Built in 1934 next to the famous Wembley Stadium, Wembley Arena is the UK's 9th largest indoor arena and has hosted acts such as Queen, ABBA, Beyoncé, and Madonna.

From Rachel Romero who posted on Twitter
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From Rachel Romero who posted on Twitter

From Castfireballminiatures




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[strawbellebelle]

I feel sorry for the kind of people who think they're getting into intense, improvised roleplay action when everything about Critical Role is more scripted and rehearsed than a wrestling match.

 

[jgsugden]

...Casually setting aside 4 hours worth of attention for something new is a big ask. Knowing that the "full experience" means doing that 300 or 400 more times makes it even bigger.

Nobody is asking them to do anything. It is an offer. There is nothing that is tying them down. The number is daunting is a real thing, but it shouldn't be because it is essentially like not take free money because you're being offered more than you can spend right now.

 

[Seramus]

I feel sorry for the kind of people who think they're getting into intense, improvised roleplay action when everything about Critical Role is more scripted and rehearsed than a wrestling match.

A time traveller from 2015!

 

[Clint_L]

Ah, the myth that Critical Role are all liars and their show is scripted and rehearsed. This has been debunked many times, but if there is any actual evidence to be offered, I'd love to see it. No one has yet presented any, and the many, many folks who have worked on the show, been guests on the show, etc. say the opposite.

I feel that if you are going to publicly call people liars it is only polite to offer some sort of proof.

 

[jgsugden]

Ah, the myth that Critical Role are all liars and their show is scripted and rehearsed. This has been debunked many times, but if there is any actual evidence to be offered, I'd love to see it. No one has yet presented any, and the many, many folks who have worked on the show, been guests on the show, etc. say the opposite.

I feel that if you are going to publicly call people liars it is only polite to offer some sort of proof.

It depends upon what you mean by scripted. Are they reading lines off a teleprompter? No.

However, they do have discussions about what they will and will not say on the show.

Some of that is just like any typical session 0 stuff "Sam, let's downgrade the sexual assault humor ... Don't mention Orion Ocaba or Brian Foster ... Taliesin and Sam's new characters will be using they/them pronouns (so remember to use them) ..."

However, there have been times when we've seem them suddenly nosedrive the story progress by adding unexpected shopping trips or a sidequest just so that a major storyline will hit in a special (live) episode (specifically before COVID - they no longer hold true to a live pace so they have other ways to time episodes). This means that there have likely been discussions about pacing at a minimum ...

We've also seen multiple cast members elect to do something just because it is better entertainment for the audience ... and not because it makes sense for their character. Sam is the most guilty of this and Liam is the most guilty of the other extreme ... not doing something because he fears it ruins the entertainment factor for the audience.

Scripted IMO is a far stretch. But the game is also not what it would have been if they'd never played for Geek and Sundry, either. It is somewhere between the two.

 

[darjr]

I never ever needed to talk to my players for them to take the opportunity to nosedive a session with shopping. Ever. It’s like a natural thing.

Also I’d be surprised if a player did the boring thing cause gods forbid they do something entertaining at the table.

I sometimes wonder if some CR critics even play this game.

 

[Clint_L]

It depends upon what you mean by scripted. Are they reading lines off a teleprompter? No.

However, they do have discussions about what they will and will not say on the show.

Some of that is just like any typical session 0 stuff "Sam, let's downgrade the sexual assault humor ... Don't mention Orion Ocaba or Brian Foster ... Taliesin and Sam's new characters will be using they/them pronouns (so remember to use them) ..."

However, there have been times when we've seem them suddenly nosedrive the story progress by adding unexpected shopping trips or a sidequest just so that a major storyline will hit in a special (live) episode (specifically before COVID - they no longer hold true to a live pace so they have other ways to time episodes). This means that there have likely been discussions about pacing at a minimum ...

The former is not "scripted" or anything like it. That's the kind of conversations all tables have (I run games at a school!). Preferred pronouns are given at the first session and on character sheets as a matter of course - calling that scripted is like saying the game is scripted because they have given their characters names. Not mentioning players who left under legal circumstances is, again, hardly scripted by any normal definition of the word (note that Ocaba's character is subsequently brought up in the show).

So what we have left are some theories about why players made certain choices or the DM building the plot. I have not observed the players making choices that seemed scripted ever, and I've seen every episode, most of them twice. I mean...shopping? Scripted? Have you played D&D? So this sounds like someone's theory, not actual evidence. And the latter is...yeah, the DM prepares story elements well in advance. And on the aftershow Matt Mercer has revealed many, many side-quests or even major plot points, battles, etc. that were prepped but never happened due to player choices (the most famous example is probably the battle with hag who cursed Nott...or rather lack of a battle).

Critical Role has been very clear that the show is not scripted, rehearsed, or pre-planned except to the extent that, yeah, any DM preps their material. Calling a bunch of people, in effect, liars based on basically no evidence other than an unsupported interpretation of the show is not cool.

 

[jgsugden]

The former is not "scripted" or anything like it. That's the kind of conversations all tables have (I run games at a school!). ...

Which is why I called it typical Session 0 stuff....

So what we have left are some theories about why players made certain choices or the DM building the plot. I have not observed the players making choices that seemed scripted ever, and I've seen every episode, most of them twice. I mean...shopping? Scripted? Have you played D&D? So this sounds like someone's theory, not actual evidence. And the latter is...yeah, the DM prepares story elements well in advance. And on the aftershow Matt Mercer has revealed many, many side-quests or even major plot points, battles, etc. that were prepped but never happened due to player choices (the most famous example is probably the battle with hag who cursed Nott...or rather lack of a battle).

Sam has said several times explicitly that he is doing something to make it more entertaining. There is no subjectivity or supposition there.

And, yeah. Played D&D since the 1970s with over 1000 different people.

Critical Role has been very clear that the show is not scripted, rehearsed, or pre-planned except to the extent that, yeah, any DM preps their material. Calling a bunch of people, in effect, liars based on basically no evidence other than an unsupported interpretation of the show is not cool.

I don't think they've ever lied - but they also don't say everything.

Again, think about Orion Acaba. Think about how they handled writing his character out initially, and then go back and listen to the episode where they finally resolve the situation for the fans. Really listen to it and tell me if you think that was entirely off the cuff.

How do I think that played out? They determined that Orion was not coming back under any circumstances and talked about how to handle it in story very generally. Matt said he'd handle it and then set the party up. They could see it coming because of the discussion, and they were all well prepared to show the audience a unified message. However, that is about as stilted as I ever heard the cast be (except for the one C3 episode where it seemed like everyone was really confused as to what was going on).

I think Matt drops hints to the players (out of game) much like most DMs do. Teases. Omens. Reminders of things their characters should know. That leads characters to be prepared for the things that he alludes to. The difference between Critical Role and other games is that some of the things Matt has to manage is not setting players up to make themselves look like fools or fiends in such a public forum. He is masterful at not making someone singled out for not knowing a rule ... even after nearly a decade ... sigh ... and he is also masterful in not setting them up to do anything really offensive (too often).

They don't have scripts. However, they clearly have a bit more need for caution and preparation to navigate the addition spotlight they're under... and we can see some evidence that they do take precautions.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Nobody is asking them to do anything. It is an offer. There is nothing that is tying them down. The number is daunting is a real thing, but it shouldn't be because it is essentially like not take free money because you're being offered more than you can spend right now.

I'm a big fan of CR. Have watched a ton of it.

It's an offer some people choose not to take advantage of.

It's not like free money at all.

You can't bank your time and attention and spend it later and you never know how much of it you'll have available. And the time and attention you spend on one thing typically comes at the expense of other things.

Some level of hesitation to spend a significant quantity of an absolutely finite unrecoverable resource of seems reasonable to me.

 

[Clint_L]

What you are describing is not anything like the show being scripted, and I am not understanding why you would bring them up in the same context. Obviously explaining to the audience what had happened with Acaba was prepared. That has nothing to do with the in-game narrative, that is just how you handle sensitive situations. Reminding the players of things their characters know (which he is notably reluctant to do compared to most DMs) is pretty strong evidence that the show isn't scripted. And the players have been very clear, many times, that Mercer is extremely cagey with them - Marisha Ray in particular has said often that she gets nothing from him, no matter how hard she tries. You can think whatever you want, including that "Matt drops hints to the players (out of game)," but if you are going to play footsie with the longstanding rumour campaign that the show is scripted, some actual evidence would be nice.

Been playing since 1979 myself, though can't claim to have played with thousands. That's genuinely impressive, but I don't know what it has to do with anything.