Critical Role - Tabletop RPGs is serious business, man.

[Dr. Pasquale]

How hard does a man need to virtue signal to compensante for the fact that most of his table is composed of straight whites and that campaign 1 had very little alphabet people in it?

He allowed a diversity hire DM to shit all over his lore and tank the program's twitch subscriptions 7ft under. He has shoved in pointless enby NPCs that have pronouns instead of personalities in the name of diversity. Hes running an Arabian Nights campaign tha has 0 arab shit in it as to not trigger anyone. How hard must a nigga grift to keep his neck out of the guillotine these days?

 

[Random Internet Person]

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How hard does a man need to virtue signal to compensante for the fact that most of his table is composed of straight whites and that campaign 1 had very little alphabet people in it?

He allowed a diversity hire DM to shit all over his lore and tank the program's twitch subscriptions 7ft under. He has shoved in pointless enby NPCs that have pronouns instead of personalities in the name of diversity. Hes running an Arabian Nights campaign tha has 0 arab shit in it as to not trigger anyone. How hard must a nigga grift to keep his neck out of the guillotine these days?

Just remember, it’s never enough apparently.

 

[thx1138]

"How is this going to help promote D&D?"
"D&D?"

 

[PaladinBoo]

Something that needs to be said and brought attention to, anybody that has deep ties to Critical Role always get put in charge of major AAA game studio releases. Sam Maggs has deep ties to Critical Role, is part of their crew and wrote some shitty books for them, since she has been a part of Critical Role she has been hired for lead writer for several AAA games such as Ratchet & Clank, Call of Duty Vanguard and the Kotor remake. Laura Bailey husband, Travis Willingham is a chair for Critical Role which explains why she voices characters in almost every single major studio release. Same can be said for Mercer and O'Brien. I don't think I have come across a more nepotistic organization then Critical Role.

 

[Random Internet Person]

Didn’t see this coming

 

[PaladinBoo]

My boyfriend describes Critical Role with one word: "Soy". Goddamn are they insufferable. As someone who is working on being a fantasy writer I hate how they make their characters be from "Happyland who are always happy and perfect." As James Scott Bell, a famous writing consultant, has stated you do not do this as a writer. A good writer throws adversity, hardships, misery and death at their characters. This is what makes a audience or reader interested in the character and attached to them.
For instance, I am currently reading The Postman. That novel starts with the main character getting robbed of most of his belongings and forced to take shelter in a postal van and use a long dead postman's jacket for warmth. When he goes to the nearest town for supplies and a few nights stay the people think he is a real postman and that some part of the United States is still alive. He goes along with the act, uses his status as a "Federal Employee of the Restored United States" to help improve the communities he wanders to. During the story he feels immense shame at lying to the people and getting their hopes up but sees how much they improve themselves and their communities when he ventures there and establishes communication to these communities that were closed off from each other for so long.
Do we see that type of nuance with Critical Role? Nope! Instead it is happy people in Happyland that is filled to the brim with weird sex shit and Social Justice activism. The only people who like this shit are weird sex freaks and degenerates who get triggered at the thought of adversity and hardship. I can also tell that Matt Mercer and his "friends" have never dealt with or interacted with anybody that has gone through hardships, suffering and adversity. The best stories are usually written by those that dealt with those three things. Not weirdo sex creeps who live in a gated, all white community in LA and always got everything handed to them.

Edit: Paragraph formatting.

 

[PaladinBoo]

I think this best describes Critical Role. It is entertainment made by adults with the minds of children for other adult children. Those who live and continue to live in a sort of Neverland, where they are always right and never wrong, never challenged on their morals or convictions, where nothing can ever hurt them. Matt and his crew are the heroes and can never be hurt, harmed or killed. Even the grass and vines will ask them for their consent to touch them. There is no consequences for their actions. They are the good guys after all and only good things come from the heroes actions.
Their characters have no weaknesses, are "LMAO so random!", quirky and are in a state of perpetual childhood. They too are, like their creators, adults who have the minds of children and have never grown up or faced real hardship. I abhor such storytelling and characters. Say what you will about manga and anime but at least with them their characters face hardships, suffering and are forced to grow up and take responsibility. Critical Role is everything wrong with modern Western storytelling.

 

[UnKillFill]

Something that needs to be said and brought attention to, anybody that has deep ties to Critical Role always get put in charge of major AAA game studio releases. Sam Maggs has deep ties to Critical Role, is part of their crew and wrote some shitty books for them, since she has been a part of Critical Role she has been hired for lead writer for several AAA games such as Ratchet & Clank, Call of Duty Vanguard and the Kotor remake. Laura Bailey husband, Travis Willingham is a chair for Critical Role which explains why she voices characters in almost every single major studio release. Same can be said for Mercer and O'Brian. I don't think I have come across a more nepotistic organization then Critical Role.

Laura and Travis Baily have both been voice actors for many years now (long before Critical Role started even)... And to be honest, they're both pretty damn good at it. Hell, honestly most of them were already independently famous before Critical Role ever took off. I get what you're saying, maybe they've gotten more roles since then, but I really do feel that it is disingenuous to say that people involved with CR *only* get famous because of CR...
I really do believe that the allure was that most of them were already famous before it even started.

 

[PaladinBoo]

Laura and Travis Baily have both been voice actors for many years now (long before Critical Role started even)... And to be honest, they're both pretty damn good at it. Hell, honestly most of them were already independently famous before Critical Role ever took off. I get what you're saying, maybe they've gotten more roles since then, but I really do feel that it is disingenuous to say that people involved with CR *only* get famous because of CR...
I really do believe that the allure was that most of them were already famous before it even started.

It has become increasingly nepotistic over the years. Ever since she got in good with Critical Role, Sam Maggs has been getting a ton of work despite being, at best, a mediocre writer and, at worst, a history revisionist that tries to excuses Ally black soldiers raping Axis women in Vanguard. While Travis and Laura have been famous before Critical Role, recently they have gotten so many roles in AAA games that one can't help but wonder if they are getting some help from good old nepotism. Nepotism is strong within the entertainment industry, especially gaming. How do you think Anthony Burch stills gets work despite it being revealed that he sexually took advantage of women looking for work? All these fuckers are in good with each other.

 

[UnKillFill]

It has become increasingly nepotistic over the years. Ever since she got in good with Critical Role, Sam Maggs has been getting a ton of work despite being, at best, a mediocre writer and, at worst, a history revisionist that tries to excuses Ally black soldiers raping Axis women in Vanguard. While Travis and Laura have been famous before Critical Role, recently they have gotten so many roles in AAA games that one can't help but wonder if they are getting some help from good old nepotism. Nepotism is strong within the entertainment industry, especially gaming. How do you think Anthony Burch stills gets work despite it being revealed that he sexually took advantage of women looking for work? All these fuckers are in good with each other.

I'm not gonna lie, I don't know who Sam Maggs is... But Travis and Laura have both been voicing major characters in "AAA games" long before Critical Role started. I don't know who Anthony Burch is either.

If you want to say that Laura and Travis have gotten *more* work since joining critical role, well I really can't disprove that... But that demonstrably isn't what kicked their careers off... They were both already pretty mainstream, literally decades ago. I mean, of all the members of CR, they are probably the two that needed CR the *least* to get more work in the industry.

 

[PaladinBoo]

"Self defense bad because state lines and killed (((pedophile)))"

Mercer right here with the NPC hot takes. For how woke the whole show and fanbase is, Im surprised they havent come up with merch like this already
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Don't worry they have licensed clothing that is much worse. Case in point:

Seeing as how they support and grieve for a Jewish pedo who anally raped 5 children, MAP flag dice when?

 

[Random Internet Person]

My boyfriend describes Critical Role with one word: "Soy". Goddamn are they insufferable. As someone who is working on being a fantasy writer I hate how they make their characters be from "Happyland who are always happy and perfect." As Scott Bell, a famous writing consultant, has stated you do not do this as a writer. A good writer throws adversity, hardships, misery and death at their characters. This is what makes a audience or reader interested in the character and attached to them.
For instance, I am currently reading The Postman. That novel starts with the main character getting robbed of most of his belongings and forced to take shelter in a postal van and use a long dead postman's jacket for warmth. When he goes to the nearest town for supplies and a few nights stay the people think he is a real postman and that some part of the United States is still alive. He goes along with the act, uses his status as a "Federal Employee of the Restored United States" to help improve the communities he wanders to. During the story he feels immense shame at lying to the people and getting their hopes up but sees how much they improve themselves and their communities when he ventures there and establishes communication to these communities that were closed off from each other for so long.
Do we see that type of nuance with Critical Role? Nope! Instead it is happy people in Happyland that is filled to the brim with weird sex shit and Social Justice activism. The only people who like this shit are weird sex freaks and degenerates who get triggered at the thought of adversity and hardship. I can also tell that Matt Mercer and his "friends" have never dealt with or interacted with anybody that has gone through hardships, suffering and adversity. The best stories are usually written by those that dealt with those three things. Not weirdo sex creeps who live in a gated, all white community in LA and always got everything handed to them.

Edit: Paragraph formatting.

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I think this best describes Critical Role. It is entertainment made by adults with the minds of children for other adult children. Those who live and continue to live in a sort of Neverland, where they are always right and never wrong, never challenged on their morals or convictions, where nothing can ever hurt them. Matt and his crew are the heroes and can never be hurt, harmed or killed. Even the grass and vines will ask them for their consent to touch them. There is no consequences for their actions. They are the good guys after all and only good things come from the heroes actions.
Their characters have no weaknesses, are "LMAO so random!", quirky and are in a state of perpetual childhood. They too are, like their creators, adults who have the minds of children and have never grown up or faced real hardship. I abhor such storytelling and characters. Say what you will about manga and anime but at least with them their characters face hardships, suffering and are forced to grow up and take responsibility. Critical Role is everything wrong with modern Western storytelling.

All I gotta say is light and dark is kind of a balancing art. Gotta be careful to not go too far one way or the other, which can easily happen as a response to just this happening.

Laura and Travis Baily have both been voice actors for many years now (long before Critical Role started even)... And to be honest, they're both pretty damn good at it. Hell, honestly most of them were already independently famous before Critical Role ever took off. I get what you're saying, maybe they've gotten more roles since then, but I really do feel that it is disingenuous to say that people involved with CR *only* get famous because of CR...
I really do believe that the allure was that most of them were already famous before it even started.

Yeah, pretty much. I said it in the OP: the VAs played D&D and they were approached about streaming after Felicia Day saw their chemistry as they played.

It has become increasingly nepotistic over the years. Ever since she got in good with Critical Role, Sam Maggs has been getting a ton of work despite being, at best, a mediocre writer and, at worst, a history revisionist that tries to excuses Ally black soldiers raping Axis women in Vanguard. While Travis and Laura have been famous before Critical Role, recently they have gotten so many roles in AAA games that one can't help but wonder if they are getting some help from good old nepotism. Nepotism is strong within the entertainment industry, especially gaming. How do you think Anthony Burch stills gets work despite it being revealed that he sexually took advantage of women looking for work? All these fuckers are in good with each other.

Nepotism has been going on for…as long as there’s been an entertainment industry. And all these CR people could just be big fish in little ponds. I don’t think the clocks will go back to 2014 over this.

Don't worry they have licensed clothing that is much worse. Case in point:
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Is it a problem that I don’t know what some of these pride flags are? How many can you get?

 

[PaladinBoo]

Is it a problem that I don’t know what some of these pride flags are? How many can you get?

This video that Null made pretty much sums it up:

Jesus H Christ...
Also, I do think this thread should go to the Prospering Grounds as Matt and his crew like Liam are lolcow material. Especially after the whole Rittenhouse shit and them crying and grieving for a Jewish child rapist.

 

[Random Internet Person]

Also, I do think this thread should go to the Prospering Grounds as Matt and his crew like Liam are lolcow material. Especially after the whole Rittenhouse shit and them crying and grieving for a Jewish child rapist.

I've been getting that, but I find Off-Topic/Multimedia is more my pace, or at the very least I don't have to deal with the stringent standards of proving lolcowdom and needing archives going back however long. Lazy? Maybe, but I know my limits.

 

[Wingnut]

I've been getting that, but I find Off-Topic/Multimedia is more my pace, or at the very least I don't have to deal with the stringent standards of proving lolcowdom and needing archives going back however long. Lazy? Maybe, but I know my limits.

I think it fits better here as it follows a similar layout to the RoosterTeeth thread. It's about all the people involved, and the content they produce. They aren't all peak lolcow material, but they all do stupid cowish stuff and deserve to be mocked for it. But it also leaves us open to discuss the show or other projects they're involved in without being "off-topic".

 

[PaladinBoo]

Something that I feel that needs to be brought up. I have noticed that Mercer and the CR crew throwing Kotick under the bus after years of working for him. They are going on a spiel about how brave the women are for speaking up against him and how they have their backs. What disingenuous fucks! They have all known of Kotick shady shit for years like him going to Epstein's Island but ignored it to keep their jobs. As my boyfriend stated, fuckers like Matt are trying to save their own hides and take the moral high ground while doing it. It is both heinous and disingenuous.

 

[Pargon]

Something that I feel that needs to be brought up. I have noticed that Mercer and the CR crew throwing Kotick under the bus after years of working for him. They are going on a spiel about how brave the women are for speaking up against him and how they have their backs. What disingenuous fucks! They have all known of Kotick shady shit for years like him going to Epstein's Island but ignored it to keep their jobs. As my boyfriend stated, fuckers like Matt are trying to save their own hides and take the moral high ground while doing it. It is both heinous and disingenuous.

Unless they’re coming out with “I always knew this guy was a scumbag but I was too skurred to say anything uwu” then I don’t think they’re being disingenuous. VAs don’t meet with CEOs of triple-A development studios of or for anything. That’d be like a group of CGI artists working on Star Wars Episode 29489294 meeting Kathleen Kennedy. It doesn’t happen. Those people belong to two very distinct and separate levels of the creative/production process. Kotick never even so much as signed any of their paychecks.

There’s a number of reasons to dislike the CR crew but them saying that a fucked-up dude did something fucked up isn’t one of them.

 

[PaladinBoo]

Unless they’re coming out with “I always knew this guy was a scumbag but I was too skurred to say anything uwu” then I don’t think they’re being disingenuous. VAs don’t meet with CEOs of triple-A development studios of or for anything. That’d be like a group of CGI artists working on Star Wars Episode 29489294 meeting Kathleen Kennedy. It doesn’t happen. Those people belong to two very distinct and separate levels of the creative/production process. Kotick never even so much as signed any of their paychecks.

There’s a number of reasons to dislike the CR crew but them saying that a fucked-up dude did something fucked up isn’t one of them.

Here is the thing about Hollywood and the entertainment industry, they all know what goes on. Look at Hollywood, they all knew about Weinstein and Spacey but kept their mouths shut to keep their jobs and their fame. The game industry is the same as well in that regard. Have an aunt who once dated a guy who worked for 2K. Told her the same thing. The sexually degeneracy and crimes are a open secret to everyone, even the voice actors. They just all keep their mouths shut about it and their heads down in order to keep their jobs. Part of me does sympathize some what. I mean, it must really eat at your conscience to know all this shady stuff but are forced to keep quiet for fear of being blacklisted from the industry. As well as the likes of Kotick paying off the authorities, which does happen a lot in the industry.

 

[Pargon]

Here is the thing about Hollywood and the entertainment industry, they all know what goes on. Look at Hollywood, they all knew about Weinstein and Spacey but kept their mouths shut to keep their jobs and their fame. The game industry is the same as well in that regard. Have an aunt who once dated a guy who worked for 2K. Told her the same thing. The sexually degeneracy and crimes are a open secret to everyone, even the voice actors. They just all keep their mouths shut about it and their heads down in order to keep their jobs. Part of me does sympathize some what. I mean, it must really eat at your conscience to know all this shady stuff but are forced to keep quiet for fear of being blacklisted from the industry. As well as the likes of Kotick paying off the authorities, which does happen a lot in the industry.

Sorry, but it’s going to take a lot more than just “bro trust me” to get me to believe that thousands and thousands of people all have credible reason to believe scumbags are operating in the open and not a one of them has much to say about it until after the accusations begin to drop. CR is full of obnoxious white liberal smarm but I don’t think that puts them on the same level as “people who won’t blow the whistle on assholes”.

 

[PaladinBoo]

All I gotta say is light and dark is kind of a balancing art. Gotta be careful to not go too far one way or the other, which can easily happen as a response to just this happening.

That is very true. I feel that I should write in some of the chapter to James Scott Bell "27 Fiction Writing Blunders-And How Not To Make Them" which is titled "Happy People in Happy Land".
"Great works of fiction are not about happy people living in Happy Land. They are about people being snatched from Happy Land and thrust into a dark world, where they can never rest until they face down a death threat.
Over the years I've seen innumerable manuscripts that have a HPIHL opening chapter. The mother fixing her ideal family breakfast. The Boston debutante getting ready to leave on a ship bound for England. The child-who will become a hero-playing a game contentedly in his room while the author pours out all the setting and backstory.
The reason this happens is that the author thinks that the reader has to get to know these nice people up front, so when trouble finally arrives the reader will be invested in them, not wanting to see such nice people in trouble!
But by the time that trouble comes, the reader may have put down the book.
Readers do not care about happy people in Happy Land.
On the other hand, if they see a character facing a disturbing opening situation, they will follow that character a long time before needing to know more about them."
"Avoiding HPIHL is also essential at every stage of your novel. With the action well underway, and death stakes on the line, there needs to be a cloud of fear or dread over the proceedings.
Now, this does not mean that you can't have a quiet scene, even a happy one, for a change of pace in the story-so long as the reader is aware that this happiness is temporary.
In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man are walking through the dark forest, full of "lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!" Happiness is on hold.
Then they are "attacked" by the Cowardly Lion. There's a confrontation, Dorothy slaps his nose, and he starts crying.
He admits his cowardice and sings a little song about it. He's invited to join them on the trip to see the Wizard, and there is a scene of optimism and skipping down the yellow brick road. They are off to see the Wizard.
But then the film pulls back to let us see the Wicked Witch watching the whole thing. And we know that happiness is not going to last.
A good way to think about happiness in a novel is that it is not a Land, a dwelling place, or a safe locale. It is the ultimate destination, the place the Lead wants to get to-or get back to.
Don't think that you have to eschew any relative peaceful scene in your novel. It's a good thing to give the reader a little breathing space.
But when you do, follow these two guidelines.
1. Make these scenes relatively short. If the happiness goes on too long, there will be unhappy people out there called readers.
2. Apply equal and opposite unhappiness. That is, if the scene seems to bring massive happiness or relief to the characters, hammer them with an occurrence of equally massive unhappiness or danger directly afterward. If it's a bit of happiness, weave in a bit of dread."

Holy shit is Mercer such a bad storyteller. Not saying that every novel or story needs to be a Cormac McCarthy novel but these quotes from James Scott Bell perfectly highlights the kind of stories Mercer creates which are stories for those that want to be treated as babies. I refuse to call these people children as even children novels like Harry Potter have a sense of dread and threat of death in those books.