Reviewing Chris Perkins

[Mercurius]

He's certainly a skilled DM, although there's a lot about DMing that you can't tell from the videos. For instance, world-building and the ability to develop an interesting story, intriguing lore, "conducting" a larger campaign, etc. It is also difficult to say how a non-public campaign would look.

Also, every session of his that I've seen (maybe parts of three?) is similarly goofy. I don't have a problem with and enjoy humor at the game table, but the constant silliness reduces immersion, in my opinion. And I, for one, get a bit tired of "Geek Humor" - faux-Pythonesque, silly voices, repeated D&D memes and in-jokes, etc (that said, I only watched the first 30 minutes or so of the recent video, so it could have just been the "warming up" phase).

 

[Warmaster Horus]

He's certainly a skilled DM, although there's a lot about DMing that you can't tell from the videos. For instance, world-building and the ability to develop an interesting story, intriguing lore, "conducting" a larger campaign, etc. It is also difficult to say how a non-public campaign would look.

Also, every session of his that I've seen (maybe parts of three?) is similarly goofy. I don't have a problem with and enjoy humor at the game table, but the constant silliness reduces immersion, in my opinion. And I, for one, get a bit tired of "Geek Humor" - faux-Pythonesque, silly voices, repeated D&D memes and in-jokes, etc (that said, I only watched the first 30 minutes or so of the recent video, so it could have just been the "warming up" phase).

I understand that complaint and I find it distracting in lots of gaming podcast/Youtubes, too. But once I noticed it I found it's more typical than I thought for the tables I play at and is indeed where most of the humor and fun comes from. So in most cases the 'you had to be there' factor is high in the enjoyment of these moments when you witness them.

I'd like to know how many people actually play in a circumstance where all the players stay in deep immersion and focus is solely on the game. Focus away from the game can certainly go too far and be too distracting, but too tight a focus on the game has its' own pitfalls, IMHO.

 

[Rod Staffwand]

I think the humorous bits are emphasized more for the Acquisitions Inc. players and the audience for that series, since it's entertaining and makes for better videos.

I like Chris Perkins. His style is very close to my own and I'd wouldn't pass up an opportunity to play with him. It'd be a blast.

His strengths have been already well recounted. I think his weakest areas are delivering exposition/quests at the beginning. These sections have usually been pretty bland. I'd also knock him a bit for creativity. He's very much in the 'D&D as D&D' vein, which makes sense as he's a WotC employee. I tend to favor more distinctive worlds, content and adventures than what he does. I also really hate his NPC names, even if they are RP'd well. They remind me too much of Ed Greenwood's awful FR NPC names, where everyone sounds like Ermlaspur Flormbator.

Overall, maybe 8/10.

Also, anyone who doubts 4E's ability to deliver deadly 1E-era thrills should read up on his Iomandra campaign.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Chris is a great DM i find, managing game flow well. If i could do voices half as good as he does i'd be ahappy man!

 

[Shemeska]

While I'm relatively free-form myself in how I run, the atmosphere and tone of the games of his that I've seen are, well, radically different from mine. As such, I can't really judge his ability.

From what I've seen and heard from others, I think he's very skilled, but he's skilled in providing a style of game that I don't personally care for as a stylistic choice. My own games aim for deep immersion, long and complex metaplot, and as few beer and pretzels style elements of metagame humor, in-jokes, and silliness - unless the humor makes sense in-character for the circumstance and characters. My games also go deeply into horror territory half of the time. I'd boot players from my table for acting like his.

Ultimately it's a stylistic choice, and I suspect that we just run very different types of games, and that's ok. I do wish that they'd show D&D games that weren't so goofy in terms of setting up expectations for new players that see that and not anything else as representative of the hobby.

 

[Morrus]

Ultimately it's a stylistic choice, and I suspect that we just run very different types of games, and that's ok. I do wish that they'd show D&D games that weren't so goofy in terms of setting up expectations for new players that see that and not anything else as representative of the hobby.

That's not necessarily his home game. That's his "entertaining viewers on video with professional entertainers" game, which is a different thing. A regular D&D game is the most tedious thing on the planet to watch. Believe me; I've tried. RPGs are not watchable. Especially serious ones.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It's such an unusual and specialized condition he DMs under, it's kind of hard to say. On the one hand, he's clearly got the skills to handle short, public games within a timeframe, with fairly newbie players, which isn't something a lot of amateur DMs can handle with aplomb. On the other hand, he's got significant experience running that kind of game by this point, so if he sucked at that, he'd be replaced. It's harder to say what he'd be like in a regular campaign. Seems like he'd be fine. Maybe a bit deliberately sloppy with the rules for my personal tastes, but I play with DMs now who are more deliberately sloppy. But maybe the slop is because in the time-limited newbie-focused public games, that junk don't matter like it would in a longer more personal game, and so he'd adapt for the different contexts.

So, y'know, he's clearly competent, he knows what he's doing, but if he'd be a DM I'd like to play under or whose style I'd enjoy over a full campaign, it's really hard to say.

Hmmm....maybe I should propose posting our next game to twitch to my monthly "newbie" DM. It'd be interesting to get the feedback!

 

[Wednesday Boy]

That's not necessarily his home game. That's his "entertaining viewers on video with professional entertainers" game, which is a different thing.

That's the impression I get from reading his Dungeon Master Experience articles. The articles chronicled his home campaign and used situations that arose in the campaign to illustrate a GMing tip. I obviously wasn't watching his home campaign sessions but from his writing they seem to have a more serious, dramatic tone than the intentionally goofy and lighthearted Acquisitions, Inc. (et al.) sessions.

 

[Nemio]

For those who didn't watch it at the time, Chris Perkins did a commentary video for a 4th edition newbie game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA92_Hp04Sk

The normal version is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jAe42mv0h8

 

[Nemio]

That's the impression I get from reading his Dungeon Master Experience articles. The articles chronicled his home campaign and used situations that arose in the campaign to illustrate a GMing tip. I obviously wasn't watching his home campaign sessions but from his writing they seem to have a more serious, dramatic tone than the intentionally goofy and lighthearted Acquisitions, Inc. (et al.) sessions.

Indeed, people should check out this article from the Dungeon Master Experience.
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/where-begin

On that page you can also download an example of the Campaign Bibles he creates (note that it was a work in progress at the time)