Can Critical Role Save Candela Obscura? 3 Possible Solutions...
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- Опубліковано 2 лип 2024
- The Character Sheet is back with more Fantasy and TTRPG news, and today we are looking at the struggles of Candela Obscura to connect with the Critical Role fans...what might be causing it...and 3 potential solutions Critical Role could use to "save" Candela Obscura!
So what could be behind the dropping viewership and slower than expected live event ticket sales for Candela Obscura...and are there a few simple steps that could help Critical Role find the audience for a show they clearly invested a lot of passion, time, and money into? We'll lay out our ideas of helping Critical Role get back on track with Candela Obscura, and break down the issues it's facing, right now on The Character Sheet!
0:00 Intro
0:24 The Issues Facing Candela
1:07 What Candela Does Right
1:42 Give Candela It's Own Release Day
2:34 Make Candela A Weekly Release
3:25 Makes The Episodes Shorter
4:33 The Future Of Candela
#criticalrole #candelaobscura #actualplay
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So what do you think? Would those 3 changes get you watching Candela Obscura? Let us know what you would switch up in the comments!
makes sense. keep the main product as is - have the alt product there if people want it. don't risk the main cast of burnout
Dude, Candela Obscura is a great show that hasn't found it's audience.
Yes a different day and a shorter episode length would definitely help them as it would be more consistent with say 3 episodes a month like critical role while being easier for people who can't find 4-6 hours to watch a more serious natured show that suffers if we don't remember who's who and why are they doing this. I find myself enjoying it more when a circle is finished and watching the whole thing over a weekend then watching a episode then waiting a month for the next part.
I think for a new day Friday night would be better as the horror themes work better at night and most people would be able to stay up later on Fridays then Thursdays. As for a show length I think 2-3 hours would be best.
I love Candela Obscura. If I lived closer, I would definitely have attended the live show. That said... I do think that shorter episodes would go a long way to get people watching it more. Every time I recommend it to friends, they see the run time and are not up for it. I totally agree with everything else you said though as well. An alternate day, as well as episodes closer together. I think all of that would help.
I love the idea of shorter, more frequent episodes on another day of the week, and keep bringing in new cast! There's so many awesome players out there
Yeah, they really have a lot of room to grow if done right, and getting new cast members involved, and maybe having a more overaching plot that ties the various "circles" together could be the answer
Totally agree.
I would also like to see more dice roles.
I think one of the problems with CO is that it’s an eldritch horror drama with a constant rotating cast, it’s also a niche game system(that has its own problems), there are definitely people that love it but it’s definitely not as popular as CR’s other spin offs; a different release day(say the Tuesdays when they aren’t having they’re Q&A livestream) would be a good idea, CO should almost take VtM:LA by night type of videos that are 1-2 hours long but cut out all the none important bits
The rotating cast is a great point that we didn't bring up!
@@TheCharacterSheet 👍
The rotating gm is not working for me as well. I loved liam and spenser. While Matt and Abria are subpurb in what they normally do.
You forgot #4: kill off main characters! Horror is supposed to be horrifying.
They did kill off one. But yeah, more deaths, ESPECIALLY if you keep a rotating cast, would be good
If i can remember correctly, in Aabria's time in the role of the DM, only one of the main cast actually survives at the end, the deaths were more poetic than horrifying, but they still died at the end
They’ve had main character deaths in every chapter except the first. Two deaths in the second chapter, 4 deaths in third chapter, and two deaths in the fourth chapter.
@@bernardosales5589I LOVED Aabria's sessions in which everyone dies. 😅
@@alexpoling4755 Cool. Now compare to the average Call of Cthulu game.
I was ready to sort of dismiss this vid as a little bit of click farming with the title, but, as a Candela Obscura enthusiast, I 100% agree with your suggestions. Very thoughtful take and I believe the format you suggest could only help. Well done, Christian.
I don't think it's a matter of horror being a niche genre; Fantasy is also a niche genre and they've been doing well with that. I think it's more that... the core appeal of CR is the 8 main cast members, playing a longform D&D campaign. The further they get away from that, the fewer of their fans will go with them. A fact that's born out by the way that they have exclusively used that main cast for the Daggerheart Playtests.
Like EXU: Calamity is arguably the BEST show they've ever had, but it's nowhere near the most watched, because to a significant portion of the fanbase, EXU is not CR.
Now having the episodes be shorter and more frequent, that makes sense.
I think it's also familiarity. Whether anyone likes 5e or not, it's big, right? And more importantly, it's a known ruleset. It also has a, more or less, consistent set of characters / players. Acting and narrative aside, being familiar with the ruleset makes it easier to follow. Length of show time should naturally decrease if it had its own weekly time slot. However, a weekly time slot my exclude some of the notable personalities. It would be nice to see the company/channel expend to more weekly shows. Maybe a weekly 2nd D&D campaign: same world, new cast?
It also helps that 5E is pretty easy for players to pickup at least compared to earlier editions and competitors like Pathfinder. While we can debate the quality of it versus those competitors (I like Pathfinder 2E a lot more myself) there is no denying it looks a lot more accessible to people new to the genre than most any other systems.
Even ignoring the different rule set, it's still horror themed which isn't at the top of the popularity chart.
Candella is clearly Crit Role’s pet project. I feel like all of your suggestions are ways to put the Candella brand on a better footing.
RollPlay, a very old Actual Play, used to include 2 breaks in their stream. When it came time to upload the session to UA-cam, they would break the session up into three videos, released every other weekday. It was so great getting home from work, then sitting back and watching a bite size portion of dnd.
I have long believed Critical Role should actually do this for their main campaign but I fervently believe this needs to be done with Candella. Even if you only release 1 chunk of a session each week, it would be far better, IMO, than what they are doing right now.
Oh wow, nice shout of for RollPlay, haven't thought about them in a bit!
The spliting up the episodes into smaller chunks may work, while still maintaining the current filming schedule of once per month, which, after all, was designed to give Matt a break running the main CR campaign.
And I hope they DO keep it going, because you get to see new guest stars, plus I think it's as atmospheric as hell!
😳😳😳😳👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
Also, after Tallisen, Liam is in his horror element!
👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
I love how this channel basically "Hold-my-beer"s every issue in the TTRPG community. lol
It's refreshing to hear possible solutions, not just criticism or highlighting the problems.
I agree with your thoughts on Candela. Separate day, shorter episodes, etc. I think the other main factor is the Genre. Eldrich Horror is narrow field of interest. I was ok with the first season, but heard that second season got more dark and gruesome, so I noped out.
Exactly. I feel that Candela is very niche. There's nothing wrong with that. It's also a very different play style than 5e, Daggerheart, or Pathfinder. But I think CR always knew that. I don't think they expected it to be as huge as CR has been.
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with a smaller audience for what is, always has been, and almost certainly will always be a smaller niche genre. CR doesn't NEED all of their shows to be huge. They make plenty through main show driving twitch subs and now their subscription service, their other media, and their gaming imprint.
I really hope that they find a way and not cancel the show. Not every show needs to blow up in succes. Im also an huge fan of this genre and i wish there was more content available of this quality.
The thing that struck me hard when I tried to watch the show was the gap between the trailer VS the actual content.
I wonder if the show could work as a LARP.
100% agree with you about having weekly 60-90 minute episodes in its own time slot.
Liam’s circle that he dm’d was amazing. It brought the right amount of suspense with a little dark humor and spiciness thrown in. I looked forward to each episode. The first two circles put me to sleep after a half hour. I gave them a few tries but I think they were just too one-note somber monotonous.
If they use your suggestions with Liam’s storytelling style, it would be pure gold and a huge success.
Going weekly with shorter episodes would be a good thing. The constantly changing cast means that viewers need to be attracted to the game world itself and not the players, which is hard to hook folks on when the game world is not well known to start with. The game mechanics are so fuzzy it generally feels like the outcomes are really at the whims of the GM and thus almost out of the players realm of control. I watched the first series, a little of the next, but then the above issues (along with the length of each episode) has led to not watching since. The lack of continuity hurts retention.
It's a niche genre and period setting. It was never really likely to have mass appeal
All of this is spot-on, and I've thought it for a while. Even for CR, the four hour time commitment for a single episode is a lot.
Another problem, I think, is the cast shuffle for each campaign. People watch programs because they are invested in characters, or they appreciate the chemistry that develops among the cast. Given their commitment to 3-episode arcs (maybe 6 if they start splitting them in half), investment in characters really can't happen. And even when an episode is predominantly CR's core cast, just the one or two guests (combined with the completely different tone) is enough to mess with the on-camera synergy.
Hells, just splitting a normal episode into two parts and releasing each part every two weeks could go a long way. They could still record a full episode, cut it at the break, and release the two parts in a single month. Then on the in between record the next episode and repeat.
VTM LA by night was a hit because of a IP that is well known. This is unfamiliar if Penny Dreadful couldn't make it I doubt this could either.
We do miss some Penny Dreadful
I tried to watch it from the beginning but just couldn't get into it.
Do you think it was just the whole genre of it, or was it the length or something else that made it hard to get into?
Good suggestions especially shortening into hour long weekly episodes and having a separate day. That would get me to watch instead of what is current.
To answer the question this video posed, I think they just did save Candella. The latest live show was amazing. Taking away the table and having the actors siting on couches allows them the freedom to get up and move around. Several times during the show the entire cast including the GM were standing up and acting out scenes. From now on Candella should be filmed in front of a live audience. Not a huge one, but like what TV shows used to do. The actors really feed on the energy the audience brings. Do those 2 things and Candella will be a hit.
These are great suggestions. I found myself really struggling with CO because of the release schedule. By the time episode 2 of a circle released I wouldn't remember what was happening and lost all momentum. Felt like homework and not fun
I think your proposals are spot on.
Maybe it's me.
Candela Obscura episodes seemed (I've stopped following now) to run even more slowly than regular critical role.
Investing 5 hours for 2 or 3 plot points, then parking it for a month isn't going to keep an audience engaged.
Shorter, more frequent episodes with their own schedule would certainly help.
I'd add #4 push up the pace of the episodes.
Glacial slowness does not equate to horror.
Will it fix it? I don't know.
I struggled to warm to the setting of Newfaire (or whatever it's called), and the game seems inextricably linked to this.
They def run more slowly. With the lack of combat in the system from what I've seen, which can slow down a game anyways, it bring a different form of conflict to the session, but the suspense of horror is much different and the story telling is slow
I'm all for eldrich horror, moody atmospheres, and a rotating cast, but the monthly schedule is what gets me. When it first aired I was so excited but I think it's a hard sell to ask your audience to tune into the next 5 ish hour show when they have to skim through the previous episode (thank you Flando) to remember what happened a month ago. Also, I always think of the last week of the month as CR's break week and often forget that CO is still airing. If CR did as you suggested and cut the episodes up into weekly episodes on another day they'd have a much easier time getting their audience to watch part two and three.
YES! shorter episodes, or abridged versions! And a critical recap for Candela Obscura would be awesome too!
I liked the theater style play they used in the live show last night. That might help
Unfortunately their two biggest hurdles, that you pointed out in their video, are Eldritch Horror and length of episodes. I have a hard enough time wanting to sit down and watch any episode of CR because of attention commitment that already includes.
Some good point made in this videos. A few other thing regarding the live show. First, they need to give the fans more time to plan before the show. They only gave us a little over a month to make plans to travel to the show. I need 6 month at least if I am going to have to take time off work and scrape up the money for ta=raveling. The other thing is they had this show and the Bells Hells live shows too close together. They need to spread the live shows apart more. I can afford one of them, but not both and I don't want to have to choose which one I can attend. I'd like to go to both. But I need more time to work out the logistics.
I've often wondered why they don't have more live play shows throughout the week. I mean they have this great studio gaming space and table that they only use for about 4 hours a week.
We imagine it's mainly due to work schedules, as they are all still actively working in the industry
@@TheCharacterSheet Given that they have brought in so much new talent for Candela, though, I think a case could be made for having a cast that is dedicated to Candela, and leave the CR cast to do its own thing, unless possibly popping in now and then to do a cameo as an NPC - sort of a variation on when they had guests for the Slayer's Take arc in campaign one.
Candela has intrigued me since it was initially shown to us. I love horror! I have just never really gotten into watching it. I’m VERY behind on the main show being a relatively new fan since I learned about Critical Role from LVM. So since I have caught up on Campaign 3 first, then went back and watched the entirety of campaign 2, and now I’m watching campaign 1.
And let me tell you, EVERYTHING you suggested here is right in the money for me. I don’t have the time for a 5+ hour show, yes it does irritate me when I lose a week of Bells Hells for it when I’m not actually watching it (yet), and even every 2 weeks would be worth it more than just a once a month show.
I agree with it having its own day. The convo at my house usually is something like, "oh, this is a 'off' week, Candela will be on." But I would be more encouraged to watch if it had no connection at all to whether the main show was on or not. I also like the idea of more regular but shorter episodes. 1.5 - 2 hours would be perfect. I'm not into the horror genre per say but they have such a great casting that I'd be more tempted to watch if the eps were shorter, more often and didn't "replace" the usual show that week.
Alright, so it's own release day, maybe. But it's not taking the place of a main Campaign episode. CR has been taking the last week of the month off since the beginning of C3. So I don't know about you but having different show was nice, instead of sitting down ready to watch and realizing there's no stream. As far as new content for Beacon goes, maybe they could show the versatility of the Illuminated Worlds system. I know Candela was a passion project from Taliesin, but a main selling point of the IW system was it's ability to be dropped into any setting. Everybody's put so much of a spotlight on Daggerheart and Candela, maybe take your short form system and flex it out.
you summed up this perfectly i keep wanting to get in to candela but its a big time investment for somthing new also anoying it reduces main campaign slot bite size candela and reinstate normal critrole would be ideal
15-18 weekly 1 hour episodes on a different day is a great idea. I hope CR will do this
Good video & breakdown of ways to improve their viewership. You should get a consulting fee.
I tried to get into candela, but I could not, despite me sitting through several circles on top of being a horror fan.
Big contributor to me is the player count - the cast is simply too big, and them moving from RP to RP, often between pairs, means it takes forever to "get around the table" and move the story forward. It takes forever to know the characters, and the story, and then all the things players always want to have hidden within their characters..
Cutting the cast by half would go a long way to maiking the stories more legible, and flowing better.
They dont have the luxury of longer form campaign to build up the characters, their backstories, connections, on top of the mystery they are trying to solve.
Runtime alone wont change it - to me the long runtime is a result of a problem, not the problem on its own.
And there is also the horror elemnt - or rather lack of real stakes. Them taking "body" or "bleed" doesn't convey much danger to the audience, and most of the player characters got through the story.. maybe more broken, but got from start to the end. Brenan's character is the only one that legitimately stuck in my mind as properly breaking and having proper, visible, and tangible decline. Was there ever a proper "PCs lost and the evil won" campaign? It doesn't feel like they ever trulry lost..
Main show fans get attached to the characters, the story that is told, and the longevity helps with that. It is why its a success. Season 1 drew people in because of the fantastic characters and famous voice actors backing it. Season 2 expounded upon that with even better characters. The longevity of it kept people coming back every week. Its much harder to get attached to Candela because of the shorter stories, rotating cast, and if I am being honest, forgettable characters. There is no question the visuals are great, and the setting is fantastic. But what is there to get attached to?
I absolutely agree. I was hoping this would be the next "Sagas of Sundry". That had similar themes, but because they had puzzles and the Jenga tower, it was more dynamic. And because it was edited, it had much tighter pacing. Which is one of CO's problems. The slower pace and the unedited format means you're constantly breaking up the tension that eldritch horror relies on. Sagas of Sundry used a game mechanic that actually built tension into the gameplay that CO just doesn't. It's a good game system, but I don't think it works for the genre and format they're using it for.
Dimension 20 does not do 1 hour to 1.5 hour episodes. D20 runs a minimum of 1.5 hours, and usually runs 2-2.5 hours (and sometimes hit 3)
Breaking it up will not save you that much on running your cast ragged if you try to make it a weekly show. Also, if you run it on it's own day, then you still need something to run in the spot on Thursday that Candela is currently running in.
So in addition to needing to push out more content for Candela, you open up a problem with the main CR schedule.
Wait 5 hours? That's too much for wrestling, let alone something that tries to make one continuous storyline.
5 minutes is too much for wrestling 😂😂😂😂
I've watched most of it and it's absolutely amazing. People are missing out.
I was expecting a less positive take, but what I found was suggestion I felt were genuinely meant to help it survive and thrive. I think I'd check out more CO if they followed these suggestions.
I already watch Candela Obscura, and really enjoy it. But I think the suggestions in the vid are some good ones.
I've not watch Candela myself...but when I first heard about it, the idea didn't really grip me the same way Vox Machina or Mighty Nein did.
The reason being is because I'm more personally drawn towards fantasy and adventure storylines. Whereas CO feels more like a horror or murder mystery campaign to me and I only enjoy READING horror rather than watching it. Most of us were drawn to Critical Role for the enchanting fantasy world of Exandria but this just doesn't pack that same punch
You aren't alone. While fantasy isn't the biggest genre out there, it's always been bigger than mystery horror. There's nothing wrong with CO. Really the 'problem' is thinking CR needs to have everything they do be wildly successful. They make plenty from the main show driving subs and sponsors to the point where they have the extra resources to make more creative but necessary lucrative ventures.
@@dealbreakerc I question why Fantasy ISN'T that big of a genre to the public?
The stories, themes, creatures and characters are just as timeless as horror ones (and not quite as stale as superhero stories have become)
Honestly? I just don't have the time to watch the CR campaign AND watch Candella.
Very fair
Candela needs to be on its own “time slot” its seen as the “were on a break “ and needs to stand on its own and mabe a over arching storyline for all the curcles to have kinda in the background
Three 2 hour episodes a month would be great, think the cast/team need that one week off a month.
Chapter 2 was phenomenal!
I don’t have time for multiple 4 hour plus shows in my life. If they end the main campaign forever then I’ll give another show a try, but not at the same time.
I love that CR feels comfortable doing something just because they want to rather than because it’s popular, but CO definitely doesn’t pull on what made CR great to start with. The humor and play aspects of it were just as important as the storytelling if not more. CO is pretty much all storytelling, and as far as I know, CR doesn’t have any professional Horror Writers on the team.
The issue is the quality of the series. Not the production quality, the actual content quality. The stories have absolutely DRAGGED save for some stand out individual performances from Brennan Lee Mulligan and Luis Carazo.
I honestly agree that CR main campaign should be weekly always and Candela should get its own time slot. Whoever made this production decision really dropped the ball. Thanks for mentioning D20 because they've made so much more sensible production and business decisions when it comes to their programming. You can really tell that CR is a company made by a group of friends who are really amateurs when it comes to the business and production aspects.
I love the work they put in. However, I've read the core rules book and the live shows are moody...but...the LORE of the world, Newfaire, Oldfaire, the War, and how the bleed snd magic permeate the world is incohesive. We get the eldritch fear of yhe unknown part but what the hell is going on? How do all these people fit it and I'm not talking about just the player characters. Liam's session zero episode explains the PCs well but how is it part of the setting? Why should we care about CO vs. Other factions and the rest of Newfaire? Why should we CARE?
I hope they create a series that helps watchers to CARE about this world.
For me biggest problem with Candela is that it is not scary at all. I love eldritch horror, I love Call of Cthulhu. But Candela took away that normal people being put into increasingly maddening situation, that leads to death of a lot of players due to increased fear and insanity. And replaced it by imaginary world, where secret society of investigators, that in majority posses some magical abilities are fighting against evil. Cool, but if you have group of powerful people, that are already aware of existence of monsters, etc. it is not scary, it is just another mundane D&D like campaign, just in less classical fantasy settings.
I still love the one shot they did way back when, with Tali as GM. That was perfect example what I would like to see more with Candela.
Candela is AMAZING…. It doesn’t need saving
I’m hoping this is a wake up call if Matt was thinking of dropping 5e. The product is well done but honestly it’s not that interesting and like you said it’s missing the humor etc plus time. Like Hollywood actors I’ll watch their movies but I don’t go to their broadway shows
I feel it's just to niche of a product. For me anyway it's just not my cup of tea.
When I first looked at the show...I was more interested in the game mechanics then the story it was telling...I stopped watching still wondering if the game could be adapted to another genre...much like other systems has been set in different genres...If the idea is to redeem the system then adapting it into other settings could save it.
I think Candela didn’t nail the opening few episodes for many people, so it is going to naturally bleed viewership. The show was a very slow start and really didn’t get the intrigue out front and center in the way I think that sort of game needs
I like the show, but I’m still disappointed once month when I forget there is no C3 episode
Nobody has the time to watch 3 hours of content. At beacon you can watch bell hells in the edited, short version, a lot of talkie talkie has already been cut out, which is certainly entertaining for the players at the table, but less so for the audience, unless they are sitting at the table themselves.
And Candela, the setting and costumes are great, but I often thought why not stage it as a play.😏
i tried getting into Candela, but it is not really my cup of tea. I don't get the mechanics, nor am I a fan of the steampunk vibe. So, I am one of those who has come to resent it interfering with the main 5e campaign. Like today, its thursday and I'd love to watch more CR tonight, but fuck, it's the last Thursday of the month, so its Candela Obscura on today, so fuck me. I hope they either take your suggestion and give it its own day OR I genuinely hope they cancel it entirely so that we can have the main campaign back each week, rather than a monthly Thursday of Disappointment.
Fair, it's definitely a big departure from the usual Critical Role!
You know what initially hooked me on Critical Role. It was a group of friends playing Dungeons & Dragons around a table. That's it! They were very GOOD at what they were doing, yes, but in the end it was just them playing the game. That's all I want. What I DON'T want is a production. I don't want to watch a bunch of people, in several hours of make-up ACTING, instead of ROLE-PLAYING (yes there is a difference).
Maybe I'm alone in this, but it's a major reason why I don't tune into Candela Obscura, or many of the other actual plays out there that seem to think they need to add a bunch of 'flash' to their games. I know it might seem counter intuitive, but it actually takes me out of the moment. It's distracting from the role-play.
Just my opinion, though.
Solution to Issue: listen to the podcast.
LOL. Now why didn't I think of that!
Blades In The Dark is just better - the Jared Logan games are top shelf
Blades in the Dark is amazing, and we won't argue with you in terms of a TTRPG Experience, but it terms of an actual play, we think Candela Obscura is actually incredibly well designed for it, if only it can get in front of the right audience.
Not sure if others feel the same, but for me, I can't get into Candela Obscura because I just don't like the rules-light system their playing. There's not a lot of mechanics for the players to use to their advantage. It doesn't feel like they're playing a game, it feels like their just imrov acting and occasionally rolling dice to see what happens. It almost feels like they're trying to write a screenplay and act it out at the same time. The story just feels very manufactured. That said, I actually don't think that's a bad thing (necessarily), but it's just not what I'm interested in watching. I want to watch the players make tactical decisions within the rules of the game.
That's why I enjoy their main show: they're NOT just improv acting; they are playing a TTRPG game. Some of the most memorable fan-favorite moments only happened because of the rules and mechanics of the game. Scanlan making that clutch counterspell in the final battle; Jester using that magic item that gives disadvantage on Wisdom Saves on the hag. By contrast, in Candela Obscura, things like that might happen because the GM just sort of decides to let it happen. There was no game strategy in the decision; its just the player saying, "Hey this might be a cool thing," and the GM responding, "Yeah, it would be kinda cool. Let's go with that."
All that to say, I LOVE the aesthetic, set-design, costumes, and everything about Candela Obscura. But I just can't get myself to enjoy the show itself. Perhaps if they take some of these tips from this video, it might help me to get into the show.
I actually prefer Candela Obscura to Critical Role, contrary to popular opinion.
I hope they don't give this up. The Candelabrahs can live in harmony with the Critters, I promise.
I am a big fan of critical role. I can't watch candela obscura because i just can't get into the game aspect of it. I feel like there is no game, which robs most of the excitement and spotenaiety for me. Same reason i can't really enjoy playing a game where i know the dm isn't tracking hp, is fudging rolls, or doing that kind of nonsense. I feel like candela obscura has that kind of thing built into the rules
Yeah I don’t think there is anything wrong with the game it’s just very niche and that’s fine but they’re probably losing their behinds pushing it so hard and it’s just not working. People just aren’t interested.
So because people prefer the main D&D show over Candela Obscura, which is a niche genre that most people don't prefer anyway, its running the risk of flopping? Yeah I don't buy it.
Not to mention your points are nothing but personal gripes.
1) They've been doing D&D every week for ten years straight. Even for the biggest D&D nerd, that's going to get boring. This is their way of having fun with something new and fresh.
2) They're already releasing weekly episodes with their shows, and as a content creator, you should understand how difficult it is to pump out consistent videos, let alone 3-5 hour long productions.
3) Show length isn't as much of an issue as you're making it out to be. That sounds more like a personal preference. We're in an age of digital media where the VODs are released in regular fashion like the D&D campaign. If people are running short on time, that's what the pause button is for. It's less stress on the cast that way, instead of trying to justify the extra hours put in for the editing required to make the episodes shorter.
tl;dr: Candela isn't flopping. The rulebook actually one of their best selling items on their shop site. These are nothing but personal gripes.
Honestly, the breaking of the large episodes into smaller episodes that aired weekly would 100% get me more involved in watching Candela Obscura. Brilliant idea.
The 5 hour episodes aren’t helping. The length of episodes have directly contrasted with their viewership.
Candela Obscura isn't really a game, the few dice rolls are basically meaningless. They would need to change the game, more than their production.
There are some legitimate critisism against certain DMs but they can't see beyond their hubris
For instance?
The flow is unattainable to 99% of players as they and their GM are not trained in “yes, and” like the CO cast. So, it comes across as scripted and contrived which in turn doesn’t make good “live play.”
I disagree with the central premise that it's nailing the atmosphere and tone, and that it just needs to find it's audience. I'm their audience! I love horror games, period games, and production values. I want to LOVE this show, but it's tone is just one note. Everything I tune in, it's hushed, urgent and vague. I thought Liam would bring it for his arc, but his brow NEVER unforrowed and every word was whispered. He turned his emo up to 11. There should be more humor, more personality, and more emotion range than just fear & worry to more fear & worry.
It SHOULD be my favorite show, but I've given up. Watch Haunted City and Time for Chaos on Glass Cannon. Horror RPGs don't need to played so narrowly. This show is just disappointing.
Honestly? No. Many of their new projects are missing the mark by a TON: Candela and Midst being the biggest two examples. They really need to focus their efforts on Daggerheart too (lest the people find it lackluster and end up returning to D&D -- which they will, because right now Daggerheart is either too simplistic in some areas and way too confusing on others).
The saddest part to me about Midst is it was doing fantastic entirely on it's own on streaming platforms before CR bought it, removed the episodes from every podcast platform just to re-release them on youtube. Everything past what the Midst crew made on their own with heavy CR involvement has been way downhill.
I've said it a bunch of times but the issue with any CR project going forward is what made them special in the first place was it was a TTRPG home game that just so happened to be live streamed, now it's a SHOW that also happens to be a game.
There is no imminent threat or danger in any of their games anymore because the show can't just end to a TPK or anything similar because they have contracts. There are no real stakes therefore there is no real drama or intrigue.
Hell one of their party members died on the main show and the only real impact it had on their game was another guy filled in the seat and their characters got some new clothes in their dead party members memory.
I dont like candella. Im not into horror as a genre, i find it pedantic and dumb. I still tune in because watching cr is what i do on thursdays. Your first point about taking a spot from main campaign is one of my Major issues with it. I already dont like having no dnd every 4th thursday, mix in all these different shows and i just couldnt care less.
If it didnt take the place of my weekly viewing of these nerdy ass voice actors playing dnd, i might have a better opinion
No it can’t. Horror is a niche genre. I dislike the horror genre so much that I can’t get the remote fast enough to change the channel when a trailer for a horror movie comes on the TV. We only have one player in are group that even like Horror.
Completely fair. Horror is just a no go for some fans, and we totally get it!
@@TheCharacterSheetdo you though? Because if you did you wouldn't have made a video that started off by pointing out the comparative viewership numbers. There has never really been a block buster in dramatic horror in any medium that compares to the size and scale of success seen by the fantasy/adventure genre. CR is more than successful enough with their main line series that they can afford to run some smaller niche outputs that run at a 'loss' or are simply less successful. It's just like D&D making next to nothing compared to Magic the Gathering; one part of the business floats the other part.
tbh with everything that is going on in the world I am not sure people need more horror in their lives...
For some of us escapism horror is more escapism than horror.
People think CR has the midas touch and they don't. People want them to be the D&D killer their not. Anyone remember Acquisitions incorporated. I hate to say it but Daggerheart is probably going to go the same way.
Tbh... Candela Obscura comes across as pretentious and a bit of a downer through it's advertising. The show could be really great, but it's really not giving us a good hook, just moody vibes.
They need to show why people should be excited for it.
Fair points!
It sucks because the ttrpg sucks. The mechanics are awful.
Because Cuthulululu is too niche of a genre.
Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu is just a better RPG. This is theatre nothing more. They need more players who are interested.
They need higher stakes.
@@galinor7 Agreed. There is nothing Candela does that could not be done with Call of Cthulhu or Vaesen.
They don’t need to do anything. It’s still doing better than this channel. Not a dig, just a fact. I agree 100% they should take your advice
I mean, Critical Role is doing better than 99.9 percent of channels, so we never even considered ourselves in that ballpark lol
They need to change the game. It’s barely a TTRPG.
Scrap the game.
Tired IP, and a tired cast. and a tired viewership.
Cut the leg to save the body.
No
Could care less about Candela Obscura. I wish they would dump it.