Critical Role numero uno

#1

Thanks to the Gauntlet I have a better understanding of this piece of news.

This Twitch heavyweight that not only gathers half a million viewers weekly but also “did the right thing” by spreading knowledge about safety techniques and the diversity of RPGs is now center stage in the Twitchleaks.

The numbers leaked let us guess that viewers for the show are overall constant and supporting, throwing around 10$ a month at their favourite actors for high production value show. I am just dividing A by B, don’t take this result too litteraly.
If that’s correct, that’s still not very good news for small independents, who will need to be inventive both for their work (creation, edition, animation, critic, etc.) and for getting paid for their work as long as hobbyists throw money first and foremost at “pretty things”.
It’s also a good and bad news for inclusivity : there’s a lot of people in half a million, but the “pool” is probably mostly privileged people, if they can spend that kind of money, I’d say they do it after paying for games (online, physical, crowdfundings, etc.). That part is clearly far out on a limb, but the high barrier for entry shows in other places, like, cultural : the level of literacy expected from players, the abundance of cultural material, etc. I try to imagine other explanations but those I come up with are not convincing, so I’d be glad if you offer a hand here.

For fear of being misunderstood, I must say I don’t blame “statistic people” for being somehow privileged or valuing high quality products, or the entertainment industry for producing them. I don’t blame anyone here. I just try to analyze - as a total amateur - the number from the Twitchleaks. And it reminds me of this informed analyze, which may or may not need updating. My bottom line :

These are great times for the hobby. Don’t forget to pay, not just tip, for services you value.

Speaking of which : can someone recall the various ways of throwing money at the Gauntlet ?

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#2

One of the comments I seen, and I think you hint at this, is the number of big name streamers who apparently went “Who the F is Critical Role?” when the details got leaked.

I don’t think there’s necessarily a trickle down effect from D&D streamer success-- except that big publishers might make more money and community content creators might get a little more (before they’re exploited). I mean it is good that the general community is growing and more folks are entering the hobby-- and importantly skewing younger.

If anything I think there’s a long tail to this-- some portion of the new hobby folks who will become dissatisfied with D&D and look around for other options-- but that a few years down the road and I don’t expect that to be too large.

Right now the best way to support the Gauntlet financially is via the Patreon or purchases at the DTRPG store. The other way is to spread the word, play games with us, share videos, review our podcasts, and talk about our Gauntlet Gameway program.https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/gauntlet-gameway.html That’s off the top of my head.

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#3

Thank you for the reminder ! (sit feedback note : I had to go through Patreon to find the Gauntlet patreon, couldn’t find it on the homepage or the menu : it bars people who don’t need Codex but want to support anyway).

Regarding the first line of your answer : I don’t hint at anything. I simply don’t have the necessary mastery on this topic, as you have probably gathered, to play rhetorics. The journalist style was just tongue in cheek, sorry if it gave the wrong impression. I created the topic hoping the exchange between you all would enlighten me.

I hear Critical Role mentioned as a gateway to weird games already here in France, and elsewhere, so maybe it’s faster than you think. It might not be CR only, but that and 2 years of sanitary isolation in and out, and the wind having blown the last ash of the satanic panic. The “cocktail hypothesis”.

#4

I apologize for misreading and ascribing some additional meaning-- that’s entirely my fault.

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#5

(If you read your post precisely, there’s really no fault : you just state what you “think”, which is perfectly fine. On the contrary, that’s a good sign that you’ve made yours some non-violent principles. Enough “social niceties” though :wink: let’s leave the floor for the topic at hand)

#6

Nicely said. We feel that here, too.

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