New Critical Roll. Am I missing something?

There's a ton of D&D streams now. Critical Role just had semi famous people and an early start.

I personally prefer Acq Inc the C Team even though Jerry can wax way too poetically at times.

Tried Dice Camera Action with Perkins DMing but the players are insufferable.

Don't forget Talisen, I'll admit his characters might not be everyone's cup of tea but his willingness to correct himself on metagaming and just being a decent player are habits I wish more players had.

Taliesin is a good boy.

A bit self-flagellating for my tastes, but then you have to consider he's a theatre kid of the coastal elite, so he could be a lot worse.

>video that will make Veeky Forums rage
youtube.com/watch?v=fWZDuFIYkf0

Definitely, I do like how he went for something completely opposite, at least I hope he sticks to that flamboyant carnie for a couple reasons. It's just he has some great habits as a player that earn him points in my book.

1. The shows fanbase mostly have never played/are new to RPGs. "The standard D&D experience" with high production values is sort of what they're looking for
2. Incredibly mediocre things can be made into massive hits with cultishly devoted fanbases, you just add attractive women. See: Overwatch, Fifth Harmony
You're not wrong, but the point is that GG made her a superstar. If /v/ had kept their mouths shut she would have been another nobody making Youtube videos. Now she's a martyr who got to speak at the UN and probably won't have to work another day in her life. Gamergate was a huge boon to internet feminism, for the same reason Trump winning was probably the worst thing that could have possibly happened to the alt-right

>57512975
This is the weakest bait imaginable. I won't give you what you want.

OH MY FUCKING GOD the amount of advertising every episode, i'd wager about 40 mins if you're lucky. 20 at the start then they take a 20 min break, there's some hardcore shilling at the end but it's neither here nor there because its over and you can just fuck off after that. I used to enjoy it for a while but Marisha became insufferable to me (she cheats, a lot. Then cries when matt puts his foot down) which is a shame because i like Ashley and Travis and matt puts the work in. They also have a tone of forced lefty meme's that i guess only make sense if you're in that circle but they just come off as pure cringe to me.
To summarise, it's alright. Cold be worse. Could be a lot better but no ones perfect I'll give it a 5/Yes

I'd stick to Acq inc

>"Do not overuse the rule of cool."
Genuinely good advice. What exactly ought we be raging about?

Because he's expecting you to not watch the video, just see that the CritRoll man made a video called "Rule of cool" and assume it's about how realism and grounding is boring and for nerds and everything should be T-rex laser battles intercut with Joss Whedon quips

Is he retarded? It's only five minutes or so.

He probably didn't watch it either, but assumes everyone is a lazy retard like him

>20 minutes of adverts and sponsorship I just skipped. Guess they gotta make nerdbucks.

Pretty much. They need the sponsorships to keep the channel running, so they shill for their sponsors and their own merchandise.

>7 players

It’s more than normal, but it works. My group is 6 players.

>DM ex-posits a boat load of setting information that the players all mock and ignore.

It was an info-dump. And while they were writing some of it down, I get the feeling that they won’t need to know most of it right away. They only really need the info about their current town at the moment.

>Starts in an Inn... ok

Okay, I have to ask. Why does everyone seem to hate starting in an inn? Where the fuck else are a bunch of traveling adventurers going to be spending their down time? At the local library?

>players are speaking in IC that's good I guess

They’re voice actors. They’re going to lean into that skill and talk in character as much as possible. The character voices are part of what makes the show fun.

>Player introduces their character. Everybody randomly screeches at arbitary intervals. In jokes I guess?

Certain players were not aware of the races and classes of some of the other players. So they were shocked and amazed by what their friends chose to play. They were probably shocked by the new character voices as well.

>DM asks a player to make an utterly pointless perception roll.
>Nat 20. Cachophany of screeches, clapping, table literally shaking

They get excited about it. Perhaps too excited about it, but I honestly enjoy their level of enthusiasm.

I wouldn’t be watching a D&D stream where the players never got excited about things.

>Is this the big bang theory of rpgs?

No, because Big Bang Theory gets it’s laughs from insulting nerds and geeks while trying to appeal to them at the same time.

>Am I missing something?

It’s a bunch of nerdy voice actors having fun and playing D&D live on the internet with a good DM. That’s it.

>Why does everyone seem to hate starting in an inn?
>Muh subversion of tropes!
Never mind the fact that it is damn near a trope itself at this point.

Nice pasta brother, mind if I copy it?

Why would you have to ask to copy something posted publicly and anonymously?

...

>more than 140 characters

All your friends are here.

Didn’t Twitter double it to 280 recently?

At least he doesn’t let the criticism get to him.

I know Marisha for example took the Keyleth hate pretty badly.

She's also not taking the heat from other cast members too well either. Last night was absolutely amazing as everyone took a shot at her at one point or another.

Twitter doubled it to 280

Good, hopefully she quits.

>says something dumb that hampers Jester and her own ability to leave the tavern to help the investigation
>next scene tries to impart some sage wisdom and says nothing useful while the rest of the party just look at her weird

apex kek

I don’t hold high hopes for her current character either, but perhaps the other cast members are trying to not-so-gently steer her into making a stronger character.

“Seemingly high, vaguely lesbian, monk” is hardly a great character.

Also, notice how she went from an Aang wanna-be to a Korra wanna-be.

Although at least Korra never seemed to be stoned off her ass...

I haven't watched it yet, is it as bad as the Kraken episode? or the episode where Tiberius gets kicked off the show?

No, but she didn't know flurry of blows was unarmed, which says nothing good about her reading retention.

The fuck? was she just making 4 weapon attacks a turn? Highest form of lel

This is what happens when you're an illiterate moron and your pushover husband is the DM

Rare is it such a regard posts. Observe it lads. Learm from it.

Did he at least correct her? i need to know he didn't just let it happen right?

>DM's wife who is a higher up in G&S
>Quiting
Doubtful, I wouldn't hold my breath or bet on it.

Her character could work, it's just she herself needs to put forth a little more effort. She isn't a terrible person, she's just kinda shite at D&D and it really shows with how everyone else is trying to stop their game up. Also yes it was glaringly obvious which is why the funniest out come for me is she makes it lvl 3 then goes Wot4E and realizes maybe she should learn the class a game a bit better first as she makes a new character. More likely is drunken master, even then after the first combat she is going to be a detriment because she's treating monk like a straight up tank, which it can't do without some heavy magic items, instead of a hit and run skirmisher or a dodge tank.

Not entirely, it was more a once again not reading how her class and abilities work and making absolutely stupid decisions. Matt shut her down three times in one episode, Talisen slightly snapped at her over a dump "use bandages from medicine kit for a crude someone was in our room clue." Travis literally out his arm around her and went "shhhhh" IC as she was rambling about nothing that mattered, and Laura threw a jab of "are you drunk?" IC. My biggest gripe about Marisha is she has all the talent and recourses around her, but stubbornly refuse to use then. Instead digging her heels in and going "nuh uh the haters are wrong I didn't do anything!"

I meant quit the game, not quit G&S

I like the show quiet a lot (I don't have any friends to play DnD with so this is how I get my fix I guess)
With my limited experience I have to say that DM is pretty good and puts in the work
I find guys who play Bladelock, Giblin and Wizard absolutely hilarious at times and together with DM are the main reason why im watching

also I miss Tiberius very much

Yeah based on her "I don't do anything wrong" attitude and how she did pull G&S out of the gutter last year I doubt she will. I will give her credit she is obviously smart in business because she stepped in and turn G&S fortunes around. I just wish she would apply that ability to learning to play DnD so she and her friends can get more out of it.

Honestly I had nothing personal against Tiberius, he was actually pretty funny sometimes. Unfortunately the man playing him had a break down in his life and it bled over into the show causing problems.

>legitimate form of critique

Whew lad

Critical Role Tier List:

Cool Guys Tier
>Travis
>Mercer

Please Come Back Tier
>Will Friedle
>Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

Shaky but Quite Likable Tier
>Laura
>Taliesin

qt3.14
>Ashley

Flips Between A Loudmouth Attention Whore and the Best Player on the Show, No Middle Ground Tier
>Sam

Marisha Tier
>Liam
>Marisha

yea i remember I could see it coming at least 3 episodes prior but I still wish it didnt happen

user I respect your opinion because I too once lacked a gaming group and had to live vicariously through Mercer’s game

But Orion REALLY didn’t know how to read the room.

>Shaky tier
>Talisen
You cheeky fuck, I see what you did.

Also I'm hoping Liam gets a bit better and isn't just playing Vax 2.0, currently he's being completely overshadowed by Travis, along with Talisen and Laura's interactions, so we haven't really had a chance to see him really represent the character.

>More likely is drunken master

That’s what I’m expecting given the RP so far. A stoned off her ass Drunken Master.

Never mind that the actual Drunken Master fighting style has nothing to do with actually being drunk. It’s just about swaying like a drunkard to make yourself unpredictable and harder to hit.

>Laura threw a jab of "are you drunk?" IC.

I’m not entirely certain that that want at least partially OOC as well...

There's always a comment with "game starts" and "break ends" timestamps. The podcast cuts all that out before they upload, too.
Agreed Acq Inc is better and Marisha is fucking annoying. I generally like the other players though.

No I absolutely agree that he was intentionally obnoxious I just found it entertaining. i must admit it has to be less enjoyable when you have to sit with him at the table

It probably was but can easily be claimed to be IC to divert the reeeing at people jabbing Marisha. Talisen was a god damn master in ep2 at ribbing her and it easily being able to pertain to IC but OOC as well.

Definitely not that bad, and because she's not playing a caster I doubt she will be able to fuck the party as hard as the last campaign. She is also hanging back a little more which is nice, but that room-temperature IQ is still on display.

>Be Mercer
>Theatre geek
>Tabletop nerd
>Enjoy job
>Play D&D with friends
>End up getting paid to play D&D
>Internet start scrutinizing everything
>Sometimes get told playstyle is badwrong fun
>Have to deal with table of 6+ players
>Some players are shitters
>Have to deal with moronic fans
>Be polite to haters
>Still can't stop wife from being utter shit at the game
>Watch for years as every session she plays with the grace of an infant eating solids for the first time

Matt corrected her yeah, I don't think it's fair to call him a pushover when it comes to Marisha making retarded decisions though. He killed her when she cliff-dove, and doesn't really let her negotiate when she gets whiny about "we'll but can't this spell do THIS instead?"

On Tiberius, a lot of his shenanigans I sort of interpreted that as him trying to play his standoffish and arrogant Red Dragonborn with some of the Red Draconic traits, and honestly he derived some fantastic material from that.

What got him ousted was probably being too grabby with Marisha without having the same history as she and Taliesin have.

My biggest problem with it is the fact that it's shit. Really. There are far better shows with better stories and more competent players, and playing an actual session is most of the time better.
But the people I play with really like it, and they're not terrible people. So I've become torn with hating something that does a lot of bad things but also trying to like it so I can start making friends.

I really like some of the players. Laura, travis, and Matt are fantastic and the world needs more.

Definitely, didn't help with the "half chub" comment when Laura in episode 23, after he already pissed Travis off and it can be assumed was asked to tone down such advances, where Travis's head snapped up and you could see murder in his eyes. The rest of the room scrambling to defuse the situation as Orian was oblivious is icing on the cake.

Yesterday's session made me like Taliesin a lot more as a player. Recognized when he was wrong, didn't go full Marisha when corrected and the whole thing with the super edgy snowflake backstory about the swords followed by "I'm lying like a motherfucker."

>can easily be claimed to be IC to divert the reeeing at people jabbing Marisha.

Meh. Let them screech. Marisha is by far the worst player at that table. And she should accept the constructive criticism of the community and her fellow players instead of digging in her heels and calling in the Tumblrina Defense Brigade.

>Talisen was a god damn master in ep2 at ribbing her and it easily being able to pertain to IC but OOC as well.

Talesin has a way of communicating that both his character, and himself as a player, are frustrated with the nonsense that the rest of the party can get up to some times.

I think that comes from him literally having the most RP experience out of everyone at the table. With the possible exception of Matt.

My advice, don't force yourself just politely tell people "eh it's not really my thing, but it's cool you have something like that you like". Don't like something you find no enjoyment in to appease others, just be polite about it and not try to point out why if you feel that strongly.

@ Episode 9 of the first campaign and keeping up with the new one. Having a grand ol' time.

I play/gm differently and I also get generally annoyed at me s/o for know knowing the rules that well (rolls bard, plays like a fighter) so I feel for Mercer

All in all good time, them being voice actors is my biggest draw to it, never get bored of new characters.

What are there viewer numbers like? why don't they show them anymore? are the in decline

Liam is hit or miss with me, I generally thought he was OK but whenever he was interacting with Keyleth it was unbearable (from both characters).
It'll be interesting to see Sam play a 5 Cha character as his "loudmouth" tendencies will definitely backfire in this campaign.

>All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective parties. Images uploaded are the responsibility of the Poster. Comments are owned by the Poster.

Gross.

i want to like marisha. she has good ideas and actually contributes sometimes. but thats only like 20% of the time. the rest of the time shes practically vomiting inane shit onto the table. Honestly if she was gone i would have almost no serious criticism about CR. and i know itll never happen cuz shes dicking the DM but still.

They were really high for the premier episode last week. I think something like 100,000 from Twitch Subcribers alone.

Then add in the Project Alpha viewers and however many views they get once it’s uploaded to YouTube.

I’m pretty sure their numbers are solid.

To be fair, the cliff dive was one of the best moments in the game period.

Quality post

My only reason for not wanting encourage screeching is it a)is an enabler for Marisha because people rush to her defense and b)Matt is too nice of s person and more often than not gets directly involved. That man doesn't need more troubles than he already has.

Please tell me this is a mod that is available.

>dicking the DM

Not only that, but the Programming Director for Geek & Sundry as well.

She’s not going anywhere.

I haven't watched the first campaign, but I'm curious why everybody shits on Liam so hard? He was pretty decent and not annoying in the 2nd campaign so far

It was very funny and definitely memorable, but part of the enjoyment was the catharsis of Marisha's idiocy having consequences. Her reaction being basically "well how was I supposed to know that jumping 1000 feet would kill me!" was pretty great.

I love that moment where Matt rolls then says "this is too many dice for me to roll" and people start busting up. Travis also through the whole thing, even better is it is a big illustration of one of her biggest weaknesses, paying attention to what is being described to her.

Yes, for a lot of the Estate characters/merchants actually

He was the emo half elf, who would mood swings latter in the campaign from "the world is sunshine and flowers because I'm in love!" to "life is meaningless because I made a rash deal with a god and she will enforce it." Along with being a bit melodramatic at times, which is understandable because more often than not it was over his twin sister who was all he had growing up.

I've seen a pic of a billboard ad for the new campaign, so I'd imagine they're pretty good

It can be alright. Its fanbase is, unsurprisingly, a reddit hugbox that acts like everything on the show is flawless. They even go as far as treating Matt like he's the best GM that's ever existed and that other games can only hope to be as good as his. I think it's fair to say that the majority of that fanbase does not even play tabletop rpgs or hadn't until watching CR. I ended up dropping it during their first campaign and decided to give the new campaign a chance. It's more of the same. If there's anything good to be taken away from it, it's Mercer and the way he's able to consistently describe things. That's his biggest strength as a GM really. When it comes to stories and settings, he's very basic. Challenge wise he is soft. Most of the players are entertaining in their own right too, but it goes without saying that Marisha doesn't add anything and actually detracts from what's happening half the time. Some episodes are a hit, others a miss, others nothing special. It really is just a standard game with higher production value.

>but the Programming Director for Geek & Sundry as well.
and you know this how?

What is it with the sudden influx of CR threads?
Is this some shill campaign?
In any case, please don't let this degenerate into the same eceleb bullshit that has infested /v/

His previous character could get a bit morose, macabre, and depressing at times.

Being bright back to life by a contract with the goddess of death can do that to a character. Especially if he knows that he is ‘living’ on borrowed time until they defeat the Big Bad, and after that he finally dies.

Sorry, let me clarify.

I meant that in addition to being the DM’s wife, Marisha herself is the Programming Director of Geek & Sundry.

I phrased that poorly.

They started a new campaign recently, from what I hear. Second episode was yesterday or something, there was a 1200 post thread.

They just started a new campaign after 100+ episodes of the previous one, of course people are going to want to talk about it you rampaging autist.

Overall he wasn't too bad, he just had a tendency to hog the spotlight and suddenly force the tone of a scene to go all mopey for a while because he felt like it.

First, this is just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt. Second, I want to preface this by saying that I saw all of campaign 1, and overall agree with the opinions people have with Marisha (being the DM's gf/wife trope, not reading the book, etc.)

So far in campaign 2, I think Marisha doesn't know what she wants to do in terms of personality for her Monk character, and it's hampering her roleplay and interactions with the party. Compared to everyone else at the table who seems to have a lot more of that mental work done with their character's personality and backstory, I think the only thing Marisha was focused on was playing a Monk and not as much about the character.

She then lost track of time until session 0 happened, and scrambled to come up with something and stumbled into this stoner/drunk not!Korra personality. But now she's realizing that it's not what she wants, and is trying to work into a cliche "martial artist who says wise/insightful things" and failing along the way.

All the while, her mounting frustration with the roleplay problems are bubbling over, making her flub the Monk crunch stuff so far. She did do Flurry of Blows properly in episode 1, so she seems to know how to play the class. But in episode 2 she got flustered early on, and never really recovered from it. I suspect she was trying to get back on track and into a rhythm, and was starting to go into a positive direction in the middle portion of the episode, but then she stumbled again and never got back into that stride.

Meh it's normally kept to one thread a week on Thursday but op was asking a question, either sincerely or ironically, so a couple people showed up to talk about it. Also doubtful since you hardly see any posts talking about them being flawless and memes being thrown around at anyone who agrees or disagrees and being a general shit show.

Episode 1 hit roughly 120k viewers across all three platforms. Episode 2 had like 40k on Twitch at peak, don't know the numbers on Youtube or Alpha for last night's episode.

It was kinda a big deal last year or the one before, that and they have an official website where you could probably look it up.

I do agree somewhat, she definitely seems to crack under pressure on the show a good bit.

mobile.twitter.com/marisha_ray/status/891030247298056192

Really, could swore it hit 70k then dropped when people realized Matt want gonna spoon feed them anything. Although to be honest he should have helped steer slightly after he first hour of floundering.

>>Is this the big bang theory of rpgs
>yes

Thanks for the warning, I will never watch this

Is there a clip of this? Or a timestamp for the episode?

To add along with it, I think it's also a combination of her being tired/overworked due to her position at Geek & Sundry and getting a bit too drunk/high prior to (or during) the episode to relax after a long day of work.

Case in point, the Kraken episode was probably Marisha at her absolute worst. But this was also the climax of her character's backstory, during a point in time when Marisha was probably working 12+ hours a day (she became Programming Director in early 2017 right when G&S was about to collapse and close up) to keep the company afloat and help come up with new programs for the channel. They had gotten a bottle of Kraken liquor for the episode itself, and she was drinking a ton throughout that episode, along with most of the rest of the cast (save for Matt, who has said he doesn't want to drink alcohol during the episode).