Platinum
Thinking back on that HyperRPG PR stream...
Platinum
I'ma give it one more try next week, then ditch if the problems I have are still the same.
Platinum
The GM doesn't feel like she's trying very hard. It feels like she's trying harder to be enthusiastic and excited than she is at running the game.
Platinum
The mechanics are all super vague and rely too much on their subscribers donating money to get bonuses to attacks.
Platinum
Paul Schrier seems to be about the only guy who's read the campaign material beforehand.
Platinum
He's the one constantly reminding people that, yeah, this bit of gear is standard issue or that they have these options over here.
Platinum
I don't know how much of that is the other players not reading up or if it's a hamfisted way of making his character seem to be the leader.
CJ
HyperRPG is something I want to fucking love ...
Platinum
I haven't read up on it beforehand, but it seems pretty simple from how they were playing it.
Platinum
One of those rules-light narrative-driven games, it seems?
CJ
Yeah, I know the type.
Platinum
Did you watch the stream?
CJ
no, I didn't.
CJ
i do watch hyperrpg from time to time, though
Platinum
I'm only watching that one program because it pinged my interest, ahaha.
Platinum
I've tried to figure out a good tabletop for PR/Sentai for a while, so the idea of something 'official' really caught my attention
CJ
Ahhh, gotcha gotcha.
Platinum
But when the players don't know how it works and the GM is turning around to ask one of the guys who made it questions on how it should work, it's kinda just... Nah?
CJ
Yeah, that's the problem with a bunch of HyperRPG's shows, at least to me.
Platinum
No one seems to study?
CJ
Not the word I would use, but it seems sloppy.
CJ
And like, obviously the chaos is a big part of the appeal for an RPG show, but on Critical Role they know the basics of the rules, they know what their characters want and what their goal is, and it's not just 'okay, let's improv until something happens'
Platinum
Yeah, this doesn't feel like that at all.
CJ
also very few of the HyperRPG DMs are any good at like, building tension and creating atmosphere with their set-ups.
Platinum
ahaha 'atmosphere'
Revenge Guac
FWIW, Bandai created the game specifically for the stream and it's not available for public play
CJ
... that's even worse.
Platinum
Saban said that if there's interest, they'll release it for public play.
Revenge Guac
so while I have no idea whether anyone's had time to study, they definitely haven't had time for a trial run before stream
Platinum
It's weird, though, because Paul Schrier is the one that's going like "No, this is standard issue" or "No, this is a ranged weapon, we can set it up to fire this way or that way"
Platinum
So someone's had time to read up on it.
Platinum
Okay, so the session I watched had the Time Force Academy get bombed, twice, and all but a handful of Time Force officers got mind controlled into serving the bad guys. Sounds like a tense situation, right?
Platinum
It sort of loses that when the GM has them exclaiming breathlessly "Evil is our goal and our goal is evil" and acting like happy cult members who're more excited to be 'evil' than doing anything threatening. When one gets interrogated, it's more of a forced comic relief scene where he rambles on about how "you wouldn't get it" and fails to explain anything.
CJ
CJ
That being said, 'Evil is our goal and our goal is evil' is a very power rangers line
CJ
But yeah, forced comedy is a big issue for a lot of HyperRPG
Platinum
True.
Platinum
I could see one of the big bad rumbly growlers saying that. But it doesn't quite work when you've got an excitable, breathless GM who's just so happy to be here delivering the lines.
Platinum
Maybe Kia's right and the lack of a trial run is an issue. Which circles back to the 'sloppy' thing we were talking about.
CJ
if it was like, Rita Repulsa I could see it.
Zita
I hadn't heard of this before, but it sounds painful to watch
Platinum
Paul Schrier was the best part (which he generally is. I mean, this is Bulk playing a competent beat cop.)
Platinum
Whoever's playing the Black Ranger is also fun. Everyone else is... eeeh?
Platinum
Forced comedy except Peter Sudarso, who seems like he's gonna be a murderhobo.
CJ
the hyperrpg curse, tbh
Platinum
Are they really that mediocre?
CJ
damn near everything I've seen, which is like, sad really?
CJ
Because I love the guys who run it, they really care, and a lot of the non tabletop content they do is a lot of fun.
CJ
But so much of their tabletop RPG stuff is trying way too hard to be entertaining to actually be entertaining. A lot of forced comedy improv, a lot of loose, unengaging narratives ...
Platinum
I think that's a problem I've run into with a lot of tabletop streamers.
CJ
Yep. Though with these guys it really bugs me because they have such awesome people and the guys behind the scenes are all former Geek & Sundry employees.
Platinum
I mean, forced pathos and drama is par for the course. We're all essentially amateur actors when we're at the table.. But the forced comedy and attempts to be entertaining can kill it.
CJ
mmmhm
Revenge Guac
I think part of the issue is, Critical Role is the gold standard
Revenge Guac
so a lot of people watch other shows going "why isn't this like Critical Role"
Revenge Guac
where CR was playing for literal years before it became a show on G&S - it was a group of friends playing D&D
CJ
Not to mention they're all professional actors.
Revenge Guac
and a lot of streamed tabletop is 1) starting fresh and 2) specifically cast to get certain names/a certain following
Platinum
Yeah. I kinda didn't get into it because it felt like I was jumping into the middle of things
Platinum
But they were all friends, worked well together, and had insane charisma
Revenge Guac
so it's very different from this game that ran for nearly a decade
Revenge Guac
(eight years. Including the G&S run, they'd been playing those characters for eight years.)
Platinum
I played a character that long, but that was on and off with sometimes almost a year between sessions.
Zita
...i can identify with that :|a
Revenge Guac
As opposed to "welcome to your first table top session, here's the system, here's your character, we stream live in ten minutes, have fun!"
Revenge Guac
so the comparison is unfair but inevitable
Zita
I feel like recording would be a fun thing to do someday but not for like... somebody's first session.
Platinum
And you think that a lot of the forced comedy and such is an attempt to either emulate or compensate for the stuff they lack?
CJ
I think that could be a lot of it, tbh.
CJ
They feel like they have to put on a show.
Platinum
(I'm also, like. Super picky about which ones I watch, which probably doesn't help. Critical Role was intimidating in terms of size and length and I couldn't get over the fact that I was missing out on tons of backstory. TAZ was a little too focused on comedy and I couldn't stand the idea of listening to hours of Taako's voice on end.)
Platinum
(The TFS crew was good, but I kept going "That's not how you DM" at Zito whenever he was telling people what they were thinking and feeling at that point.)
Platinum
(Also I didn't like the schtick of Ben's character not knowing he was magic.)
Platinum
(Picky, picky, picky.)
Platinum
I think the ones I end up liking are games that happen to be recorded
Platinum
rather than games that're meant to be recorded.
Zita
TAZ takes three whole story arcs to really find its legs, totally understandable. Also it never quite resolves into being D&D As She Is Played, they don't use most of the rules and it really is more improv-ing their way through plots.
Zita
A lot of the comedy is really good and it's heartwarming in places but if you're coming into it looking for D&D AP, this ain't it.
Platinum
A lot of it is me going in to watch other DMs in action and see if there's anything I can do to shore up my own weaknesses.
CJ
I think you hit the nail on the head, Plat. The ones that are just games happening and you get to see them are the ones that are usually worth watching. Because that's ultimately the experience you're looking for - something similar to your experiences around the tabletop
CJ
Or at least the ones worth watching to me.
Zita
Yeah.
CJ
And I like the audience participation stuff in HyperRPG, but it's too reliant on it. Just tell a story, have fun, and the rest kind of falls into place.
Platinum
Yeah, I've pissed off more than a few fellow players by trying to be too funny at the table, so I tend to lean towards more serious stuff.
CJ
AGREED.
Zita
Like I started listening to TAZ because I was like hey, maybe this will get me to understand aspects of D&D that I am bad at dealing with. So at first I was frustrated with it. I ended up staying for the plot and because my friends were like Zita you gotta so I don't regret it, but it wasn't what I wanted when I started out.
CJ
People who try to like, fuck up the story for a meh joke piss me off.
CJ
So seeing a bunch of people doing that all at once grates on me something fierce.
Platinum
Yeah. Being a DM is a lot of work, even if you're just reading out of a module.
Platinum
If you tell jokes that fit in with it, that's fine. But derailing the drama like I used to try to do is just... Being a dick and ruining it for other players.
CJ
yyyyup
Platinum
If the DM's in on it, that's fine.
Platinum
But then that also has problems when you're doing a show looking for a tabletop because, like Zita said.
Platinum
People who're watching for that kinda thing are gonna get turned off.
Platinum
People who want to watch and enjoy the comedy just as much are gonna enjoy. It's all about target audiences, and I'm realizing that a lot of the people want both cakes at once.
Zita
It's like the difference between LPs and Youtubers?
Zita
LPs used to mostly be done to showcase a game, but youtuber culture is more about watching a streamer regardless of what they're playing because you want to watch the streamer do their schtick.
Platinum
You're there for them, not the game.
Platinum
That makes sense.
Zita
Exactly. So in recorded tabletop there's the same divide: presenting gameplay going into presenting personalities instead.
Zita
Which there are plenty of people who enjoy that content, but if that's not what you came in here for...