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Curmudgeon's Corner: So, what's the deal with Critical Role?
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<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 7847136" data-attributes="member: 6779196"><p>The argument, “why watch other people play a game when you can play it yourself?” relies on the assumption that you <em>can</em> play it yourself. I think this is why the usual “well, why watch Football when you can play that yourself?” comeback falls flat for most of the people who make this argument. Sure, in theory you might be able to play football, but in reality you can’t just do that any time you want. At minimum, doing so would require organizing enough people for two teams and all the necessary equipment, not something you can just do on a whim. And even if you did, you and your friends are unlikely to be able to play at the level professional players do.</p><p></p><p>The thing is, not everyone can just play D&D themselves. It’s a group game, so at minimum it requires getting a group together, which realistically isn’t something you can just do on a whim. And even if you did, you and your friends are unlikely to be able to be able to act at the level of professional (voice) actors. That’s all before considering the fact that a lot (a <strong>LOT</strong>) of people who like the <em>idea</em> of D&D are too intimidated by the rules, the social aspect, or both to be comfortable actually playing it themselves. For those people, watching critical role gives them a taste of what interests them about D&D without having to learn the rules or put themselves out there with a group of other people.</p><p></p><p>Another part of the appeal of watching sports is the social element. For many sports fans, it’s more about the ritual of getting together to watch the Big Game than it is about the game itself. This is also true of Critical Role. For many fans it’s more about a shared experience with their friends who also watch it than about the show itself.</p><p></p><p>Lastly, Critical Role (and games like it) has a story, with characters, that people get invested in for much the same reason they might get invested in any serialized TV drama. They want to know what happens next in the story. This is kind of doubled for Critical Role because of the para-social relationship it fosters with the actors. People get invested in the actors like characters on a reality TV show, so there’s a double-whammy of potential investment.</p><p></p><p>EDIT: For the record, I actually don’t actively follow Critical Role. I do understand the appeal, but not enough hours in the day for me to want to spend 3-4 of them watching a D&D game I can’t participate in. I do enjoy The Adventure Zone though. Shorter episodes and a smaller, more focused group help a LOT.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 7847136, member: 6779196"] The argument, “why watch other people play a game when you can play it yourself?” relies on the assumption that you [I]can[/I] play it yourself. I think this is why the usual “well, why watch Football when you can play that yourself?” comeback falls flat for most of the people who make this argument. Sure, in theory you might be able to play football, but in reality you can’t just do that any time you want. At minimum, doing so would require organizing enough people for two teams and all the necessary equipment, not something you can just do on a whim. And even if you did, you and your friends are unlikely to be able to play at the level professional players do. The thing is, not everyone can just play D&D themselves. It’s a group game, so at minimum it requires getting a group together, which realistically isn’t something you can just do on a whim. And even if you did, you and your friends are unlikely to be able to be able to act at the level of professional (voice) actors. That’s all before considering the fact that a lot (a [B]LOT[/B]) of people who like the [I]idea[/I] of D&D are too intimidated by the rules, the social aspect, or both to be comfortable actually playing it themselves. For those people, watching critical role gives them a taste of what interests them about D&D without having to learn the rules or put themselves out there with a group of other people. Another part of the appeal of watching sports is the social element. For many sports fans, it’s more about the ritual of getting together to watch the Big Game than it is about the game itself. This is also true of Critical Role. For many fans it’s more about a shared experience with their friends who also watch it than about the show itself. Lastly, Critical Role (and games like it) has a story, with characters, that people get invested in for much the same reason they might get invested in any serialized TV drama. They want to know what happens next in the story. This is kind of doubled for Critical Role because of the para-social relationship it fosters with the actors. People get invested in the actors like characters on a reality TV show, so there’s a double-whammy of potential investment. EDIT: For the record, I actually don’t actively follow Critical Role. I do understand the appeal, but not enough hours in the day for me to want to spend 3-4 of them watching a D&D game I can’t participate in. I do enjoy The Adventure Zone though. Shorter episodes and a smaller, more focused group help a LOT. [/QUOTE]
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