Thursday 13 August 2015

#RPGaDay 2015: Day 13 - Always standing in the rain while they have fun...

Prompt: Favourite RPG podcast

So, oddly for someone as into audiodrama and audiobooks as I am, I've never really been podcast guy. Perhaps it's because there was such a bewildering assortment to choose from, each with an imposing back catalogue, by the time I actually got around to having any kind of tech that made it feasible to follow them? I don't know.

I probably should. I hear great things about Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, and my friend Matt's Dissecting Worlds podcast is talked up by people who aren't him (although that's more general fantastic literature with a gaming sensibility than a gaming podcast.)

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Probably the nearest thing to an RPG podcast that I follow is Titansgrave, which is to RPG as Tabletop is to board/card/dice games, which is to say celebrity poker for the gaming crowd, and like celebrity poker, I'm not sure why anyone ever thought it would work, but it seems to. There is definitely something a bit odd about watching other people have fun. Sure, most forms of entertainment are better when the performers are evidently enjoying their work, but this is a bit different. We are watching people playing a game to amuse themselves; entertainers, yes, but primarily their focus must be on the game that they are playing, otherwise what is the point at all?
That's right; it's a licensed product based on a
web-series of people playing this game. Stick
that in your recursive meta-pipe and smoke it.

Also, campaignwise it's escalated pretty meteorically from roughing up toughs for five gold and a party to some major world-saving. I think it might have benefited from a slightly longer series and more gradual character development.

And yet, I do enjoy it. Not as much as I enjoy gaming, but... it's not like I've never done it in person. Sometimes you drop in on someone's game while you're visiting, and if they're all cool with that it can be fun to watch them. It's not as good as playing, but it can be fun. Not that the format is a surefire win. I've watched a couple of other 'display' games, and while one was enjoyable, the other was not, largely because of the antagonistic nature of the module being played (Tomb of Horrors, a module designed to be as punishingly unfair as possible) and the dude playing a Chinese thief with a horrible accent. (I'm not sure I'd have minded much in person, but what is just a terrible accent within your group seems more offensive when you know you're being put out on the internet.)

Now, celebrity poker I do not get.

Come back... well, probably next week as tomorrow I am off to use up my last bit of holiday before October, when the topic will be my favourite RPG accessory.

Until then, keep checking out the hashtag, #rpgaday, which I will totally remember to use in the post today.

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