According to one of the Critical Role Twitch moderators, over 30,000 people tuned in to one of the latest shows, which is enough to fill a number of American sports stadiums! While we've got no independent verification of this, it does seem that a rather significant audience surrounds the live-cast of... a role-playing game session!?!?
Seriously, this is mind-boggling for anyone who's been in this hobby since the beginning. One of the great truths - at least for me - has always been that watching a game being played was a miserable experience; either you are playing, or you are off loading up a video game, watching TV, or going out into the Big Wide World to see a movie. All of these other media have far more entertaining and immersive qualities that watching a bunch of people simply narrate what their characters are doing while they move stuff around on a table.
Except...
Somewhere along the way, as YouTube and other vid-casting options became more and more ubiquitous, and the capacity for anyone to put together a decent show became the norm, our culture developed the knack for live-play broadcasts of tabletop gaming that actually entertain people.
Apparently, the voice-actors of Critical Role figured out how to make it entertaining enough that they can draw a crowd the likes of which rock stars are impressed by.
~SPF
Seriously, this is mind-boggling for anyone who's been in this hobby since the beginning. One of the great truths - at least for me - has always been that watching a game being played was a miserable experience; either you are playing, or you are off loading up a video game, watching TV, or going out into the Big Wide World to see a movie. All of these other media have far more entertaining and immersive qualities that watching a bunch of people simply narrate what their characters are doing while they move stuff around on a table.
Except...
Somewhere along the way, as YouTube and other vid-casting options became more and more ubiquitous, and the capacity for anyone to put together a decent show became the norm, our culture developed the knack for live-play broadcasts of tabletop gaming that actually entertain people.
Apparently, the voice-actors of Critical Role figured out how to make it entertaining enough that they can draw a crowd the likes of which rock stars are impressed by.
~SPF
