Celebrity ADND

[Jeff]

I tried watching the Celebrity D&D game from 2010 once. I gave up fairly quickly into the effort.

I wouldn't mind watching a game with lots of funny in it, nothing too serious.


As for celebs. I don't like any celebrities very much. But putting a bit thought into it, here's what I came up with . . .

Robin Williams would have been fun to game with.
Bruce Willis might be a hoot, but I could see it going either way here.
Robert Downey Jr., maybe?
Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, but it would have to be a package deal.

[Gentlegamer]

I can barely stand to hear about someone else's game session.

[thedungeondelver]

I gotta admit despite thinking about putting my roll20 games and big production, dwarven forge layout games on Twitch or whatever, thinking about it...yeah, I wouldn't want to watch anyone else's D&D games either.

I'd have paid good money to watch Robin Williams and Billy Crystal play WH40k or D&D tho

[Falconer]

“Over half of the new people who started playing Fifth Edition [the game’s most recent update, launched in 2014] got into D&D through watching people play online,” says Nathan Stewart, senior director of Dungeons & Dragons.

Source

Huh.

[francisca]

“Over half of the new people who started playing Fifth Edition [the game’s most recent update, launched in 2014] got into D&D through watching people play online,” says Nathan Stewart, senior director of Dungeons & Dragons.

Source

Huh.

Well, in this day and age, that's a win. Today, you got people paying others to play NBA 2k17 etc.. to "level up" their teams, so they don't have to spend the time on it (and remember back in the day when people would pay others to level up their WoW chars?)

At least these people weren't content to remain voyeurs and out-source their entertainment.

[garhkal]

“Over half of the new people who started playing Fifth Edition [the game’s most recent update, launched in 2014] got into D&D through watching people play online,” says Nathan Stewart, senior director of Dungeons & Dragons.

Source

Huh.

Well, in this day and age, that's a win. Today, you got people paying others to play NBA 2k17 etc.. to "level up" their teams, so they don't have to spend the time on it (and remember back in the day when people would pay others to level up their WoW chars?)

At least these people weren't content to remain voyeurs and out-source their entertainment.

Anything that brings in new gamer blood is good imo.. BUT it's a pity that only is working for 5e, and not some of the older games..

[Falconer]

I’m not against this phenomenon (if true), at all, just surprised. The idea of watching people playing D&D sounds super unappealing to me, so, I have a hard time believing it’s so big that it’s 5e’s main recruitment tool.

[ThirstyStirge]

LOVE? None really. The idea of watchig people play D&D isn't all that inherently exciting to me.

This. I find the idea of watching people play D&D less exciting than watching paint dry.

Would I be right inferring that ThirstyStirge's suggestions are porn stars? Ewww...just...ewww.

Contact the local university's Geometry department: I think we've located one of their missing squares.



I was watching E! News a few days back and Sophia Vergara said that her hubby, Joe, plays D&D. I don't know if she was kidding, but that's the first time in quite a while that I've heard D&D referenced in a (relatively) non-negative light on the telly. I wonder what class/race Joe does play, if true...

[T. Foster]

It makes more sense to me that kids would get into D&D after watching other people play it (especially comedians, actors, and other professionally-entertaining people) than by reading hundreds of pages of math-heavy rules.

My pitch to get people to try D&D was always "don't worry about the rules, just sit in with us and start playing and you'll see how much fun it is." This isn't much different than that - yeah they're watching other people play instead of playing themselves, which seems boring and unappealing to me, but then these same kids almost certainly also watch people playing video games online, which seems even more boring and unappealing. At least D&D is a group activity where banter and socializing are a built-in part of the game - something that, again, probably becomes clearer more quickly from watching videos of comedians and actors playing than from reading rulebooks.

That the influence of these videos seems to be pushing D&D in the direction of being primarily a social game rather than a number-crunching exercise feels to me like a welcome swing of the pendulum. I feel more kinship with the character and story-driven 5E generation than I did with the CharOp "deckbuilding" and MMO-derived tactics of 3E & 4E.

[grodog]

I feel more kinship with the character and story-driven 5E generation than I did with the CharOp "deckbuilding" and MMO-derived tactics of 3E & 4E.

Don't forget the infinite fetters of "game balance"

Allan.

[garhkal]

It makes more sense to me that kids would get into D&D after watching other people play it (especially comedians, actors, and other professionally-entertaining people) than by reading hundreds of pages of math-heavy rules.

My pitch to get people to try D&D was always "don't worry about the rules, just sit in with us and start playing and you'll see how much fun it is."

That's how back in the beginning of the 90s one of my brother's gaming friends drew me into playing (then running) werewolf, and battletech..
First watching, then joining in as a player..

[bobjester]

3 or 4 of my players were either drawn to D&D or influenced in game-play by something called "Acquisitions Inc.". I think its a WotC 'celebrity' D&D weekly podcast/youtube game, but I've never seen it.

About bringing new blood via 5e (or anything post 1e...), the thing I find interesting/annoying about my 5e players is that none of them want to map or take notes. They are used to the battle-grid, so that becomes the map. I can't get a single one of them to put a pencil to graph or hex paper, even to make an overland map. They don't take notes and can't recall even the important encounters or events from session to session.

It must be a post-2e thing, a side-effect of many players being infinitely more familiar with console/PC games, or even the fault of celebrity D&D, and the sacrifice of traditional game elements to better draw new players in.

[Kellri]

My son really, REALLY loves watching playthrough videos on youtube. Basically they are all one or more usually foul-mouthed 20-somethings playing a video game. I don't get the appeal at all. For the most part I wouldn't want to have to watch and listen to those people talk about anything, let alone a video game. I can understand the videos that teach you how to play a game - and have watched a number of them for high-complexity boardgames. In some cases, they are a lot better than reading the rules. The ones my son watches are NOT that kind though. They are, as near as I can tell, just advertisements for reinstating mandatory military service in the US.

Even worse, now my son has taken up recording himself playing a game with a running commentary. It takes the kid 20 minutes (at least) to describe in excruciating detail what mods, loadouts and custom UI he's using. Then he starts into what he calls 'the funny'. Take my word for it - it's not.

As for celebrity D&D. NO. Wil Wheaton in general inspires me to want to punch him repeatedly in the face before settling on a few solid soccer kicks to the groin. Seeing Wil Wheaton wearing a horned helmet and playing D&D on stage makes me think that public assassination in some cases is a public service.

Other celebrities who I do like, I still wouldn't want to watch play D&D either. Take Bob Dylan for instance. Such a video would only cause me to wonder what horrible circumstances reduced him to wasting his remaining time that way.

Now that I think about it. Yes, there is one celebrity I would like to see play D&D. Harlan Ellison. I'd like to see Harlan call the celebrity DM a cunt, throw a loaded dicebag at him and demand his money before walking out.

[ThirstyStirge]

Harlan Ellison invented D&D. You must give all your money to Harlan Ellison, or Harlan Ellison will sue you all!

[TRP]

All this brings to mind the recent article about the professional* dungeon master in NY. Near the end of the article, the pro DM mentions that he feels obligated to not be too hard on his players, because they're paying him. I say screw that, and see a niche opening. I want to get paid to be the Don Rickles of DMs. I'll not only roast your character, but have a few choice words about your slut wife and stupid kids.

I tried watching one of those celebrity games. Wee Little Willie Wheaton was the DM, and Chris Hardwick, (maybe?)Patton Oswald and a couple of other folks I didn't know were players. In something like under 10 minutes I was bored, and shortly thereafter had to shut it down due to lack of fucks to give. Wil and Chris were both trying to be oh so clever, and the other couple of celebs appeared clueless or bored. I'm sure the latter couple of players were wondering how long they were contractually required to stick around to get paid. Oswald, unless I'm just imagining that he was there, wasn't bothersome.

* professional? Since when does just getting paid to do something make one a pro? Is he still a pro if he sucks at it? People get paid all the time to do lousy work.