So it’s not news that I am a geek. Like a super nerdy geeky mc geek kind of geek that can tell you who shot first, why Brad McQuad was a god and the devil at the same time, name all the weyrs on Pern, point out exactly when Piers Anthony became a total pedo, explain the stack but not THACO (cause FUCK THACO) and bore you to tears by quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK. kay?
Now, because I am a holy chao geeky geek, a lot of my friends (yes, even geeks have them, it’s post Lord of the Rings movies, that’s where we all found each other) are amazed that I don’t watch Critical Role. It took me ages to even watch Vox Machina because I knew it was based on Critical Role and couldn’t be arsed.
To catch up those of you that went to the good parties in high school, Critical Role is a group of people getting together to play Dungeons and Dragons on camera on purpose. I assume they’ve got some good characters (since that’s what Vox Machina is about) and there’s lots of laughs and adventure and joy and fun.
That’s not what my gripe is- and I do agree with the mister that for a lot of folks that haven’t yet rolled a nat 1 and faced the consequences (thunder crash and evvvilllllllle GM cackling), Critical Role gives them an idea of what the whole D&D thing is all about before diving in. Yeah, cool, I’m totally good with that.
Where I’m not okay is the idea that people will watch it, longing to be a part of a circle like it, to play a character and to have all the little inside jokes. I don’t listen to a lot of podcasts, either, cause I want to sit and shoot the shit with my friends and get to know them better as opposed to listening to some douchebag’s opinions on shit I only marginally care about til they slip in a sly commercials.
See, when I was growing up, that circle was the place for everyone. The kid who suddenly needed to shave and did so inexpertly around his zits. The guy that got all nervous around girls and went from highly intelligent to unable to form a coherent sentence. The chess/math/ham radio club meeting attendees.
And yeah, the girl with the cleft lip.
At that table, you became someone else, someone who stood against unimaginable foes and beat all the odds. You had friends. You had jokes that made sense to no one who wasn’t there when it happened, could never make sense without hours of context. Because you had to be there.
Being able to create that and be a part of it.. it’s magic. And the idea that people are standing on the edges, looking in at the magic when they could be stepping into it and helping to create it… well, it makes me sad.
So what’s my point? Well, if you’re watching week after week, keep an open mind to actually playing. It’s okay, we’re out of high school now, and Geek is the new Chic. Might as well get in on it and make a little magic of your own.
But, dude. Don’t watch Mazes and Monsters. It’s an awful flick and I think it may give kittens cancer everytime someone rewinds the VHS tape.
Curiouser and Curiouser 