I just put what I thought was a cautious non-offensive comment disagreeing on another video of yours but this one just shows a lack of acceptance of time changing, and a lack of acceptance for people in general. Your ideas on masculinity are terrible, honestly, and should have NOTHING to do with playing a game ever. You two seem to me personally, to have fragility in your own masculinity. Wanting to spread toxic masculinity shows weakness in yourself as men, a weakness you know deep down inside you want to fight to repair.
You have no grasp on how dudes are in mass. Go ask 100 guys outside of this hobby what their take is and most are going to agree here I'd say maybe 3 depending on your city. You say it is going against change yet that is only after the guys who have that traditional masculinity have built the world we have where we don't need that lifestyle for most guys.
Gotta bring skull sculpts to the gaming table. Preferably with horns. Keep it brutal. Keep it metal! Explain everything in brutal & deadly terms. I think that's how DCC got me back into wanting to run gaming sessions again. Grimtooth's Museum of Death! YES!!
I was 2 seconds away from clicking off of this video, and then the dude you have playing the doctor made me spit soda out of my nose. Whatever you paid that dude, it wasn't enough.
Everybody comes to the table with another idea of what roleplaying is and what they want out of it and if those people find eachother and play their way and we play our way that's all there is. Some people see it as surface entertainment and other people want to get something more or different. We need to find the right table and not expect people to change. Find your people.
I just found your channel but I thought I'd chime in on this a little bit since I see some comments going against what you mention in the video. I've been in the roleplaying community for a very long time around 15 years now and there's a few things that had changed that created rippling effects in the rest of fantasy oriented side of the hobby. One thing to say is that majority of Eastern European and old Russian communities still carry the "old spirit" of the hobby due to the fact it's a lot of mature people that have been consuming things that would tickle your imagination to delve more into "classic fantasy" so for me it's a big difference between the Americana being trapped in the culture war that has its specific aspects that just can't exist with the core values of fantasy and our part of the world that is slowly receiving more and more younger players that come with Critical Role and animated fantasy expectations , ironic comedy and such and they just clash. So yeah.. you look at old art and you think I want to be in this world , You see the new art and you think that stock photos have more personality
I got a gaming group together by making a flier that’s all swords and a 45 lb plate. That did a pretty good job of weeding out the detritus. I chained an 80 pound kettlebell to the garage door as a barrier to entry one night. Actual strength check. Bend bars / lift gates. Can’t get in? Too bad .
@@blacklodgegames looks like some of my other comments here got flagged by the tech overlords. Summary: cartoon profile photo alphabet mafia über-autists are a plague on the hobby, and humanity.
You should implement arm-wrestling based resolution system (or at least bonuses). In my games, if you can do 20 pushups, you get a bonus to athletics/strength rolls.
The WOTC song saying dnd could be modern or sci fi feels like someone trying to tell me a Ramset is just as useful for working on a car as nailing things to concrete.
Toxic masculinity is being dumb, jerk, dick, gross, etc, towards women but also everyone else! Being masculine is striving to overcome, get stronger, achieve something, have rightful pride, be admired and loved by your virtues! Be protective and kind, carve your path, be generous, etc. There is nothing wrong with being masculine, it's actually the opposite of being a jerk and a bully!
@@Skullnaught Yeah, it's true. What's worse, there are crazies in both sides. As much as I hate woke and SJW ideologies, I see a lot "red pilled" idiots that simply hate women, and are not good guys. That's why is so hard to debate, people from both sides think you're a crazie. If people where simply to follow their nature while respecting others, there would be much less trouble. I born into a very feminine family, but I learn to love myself and grow up to be a masculine man, in spite all stupid stuff. That said, I have a lot of respect for women and people in general. I happen to be an heterosexual man, but if I was gay or a woman, I would stay true to my nature (in that case, a gay man or a female). If I was born with a female brain I would be trans, no problem with that. But given I'm a masculine man, let me be what I am! I'm not toxic, nor am I evil or abusive just to be masculine. That's why SJWs and Woke give nerves! They think we should live in constant class and gender warfare, they see everything as a battleground!
Gotta really agree with you here, these same traits trully are toxic regardless of sex, thus it's not a "masculinity" problem, it's an individual problem.
@@AdlerMow "I see a lot "red pilled" idiots that simply hate women, and are not good guys." What red-pilled people do you pay attention to? I've seen very few red-pillers who fit this description.
Thanks for your content. It makes learning about ttrpgs more bearable for me without all the virtue signaling and trigger warnings so frequent in other videos/channels on the topic
This is a very good video. Although I know I'm late, working my way through the backlog after finding you some weeks ago, I do have to say something semi on topic. You guys talk a lot about experiencing the character and such, and I completely agree, it's become an outlet for me after years of acting before actually getting a life and career. That being said, this idea of utilizing allegories and themes through your character is totally possible and something I often do in games. I recently finished a year and a half long campaign in which I played two cousins who grew up together, both masculine warriors with completely different approaches to leadership. The first character was driven by a desire to do good at any cost to himself, and he died, naturally. My second character was a pragmatist who took up the mantle of fighting against a sinister villain, upon hearing the news of his cousins sacrifice. Ultimately, it was the pragmatist who crossed the finish line, but without the hope and goodness left behind by my previous character, the pragmatist would have never succeeded. So, in short, themes of masculinity. The allegory, or parable, that my second character said at the end of the campaign...highlighted this goal of mine, the goal to explore these themes, despite never knowing the first character would die. I don't want to over explain, but the story surrounded the cousins in their youth hunting down a violent bear, and coming to a disagreement about whether they should kill it upon learning it had cubs. My second character shifted the truth to highlight the good nature of the first by claiming they let the bear be and the problem solved itself in time, but the second character also had a bear claw mark on his face, so it was heavily implied what really happened. My point with all this, to anyone who cares, is of course critical role is performative and prewritten and improvisational only so far as what was discussed ahead of the game...so probably this guy is either reading too much into it because he needs to project his own insecurities onto other people...but that doesn't mean you shouldn't strive to have a goal or a character theme or anything like that - choosing instead to dismiss it as an impossibility - strive to explore interesting topics at your table through your characters. And the best part is if you do it well, which isn't that hard if you passed high school English, is that it works...because everybody's life has a theme...history is a compilation of remarkable stories with lessons found in them. PS - Travis is the big guy with the beard, so of course he's manly and doesn't let his wife peg him.
Thank you Matt and Nick. I'm looking to get back into the hobby and just found your podcast. It's truly a breath of fresh air. Also just bought The Shucked Oyster. Great stuff. You've got a subscriber and a fan. No homo.
To your point around the 10-minute mark, games can be therapeutic, but they are not therapy. I am working on my master's currently, and I am building a therapy tool kit that utilizes the structures of tabletop RPGs to support people in 'gamifying' their life in order to build structure for themselves. My project is not a game; it's therapy. I certainly would not enjoy a therapy session in place of a gaming session.
I watched Jay Martin's video when it came out, and I did cringe a bit. Travis's (and Fjord's) actions had nothing to do with masculinity. What he did was momentous but (as in many cases with unscripted drama) it can be interpreted in many different ways. I could easily make the case that Fjord's rejection of his patron was an allegory (yes, that is a valid interpretation) for a woman letting go of a toxic relationship with an abusive male partner on whom she is financially dependent, and temporarily seek the help of her friends and family who have been there for her all along. That said, I have no idea why we "need toxic masculinity" - was that just pure clickbait?
So, I feel like some projecting may have happened on your side in connection to the first topic. The issues you talk about are quite real, in fact not just about man, about literally humanity itself. Negative traits are getting celebrated more and more. But I feel like that video was not about what you got from it at all. Maybe it's because I've seen CR so I have more context about what the person is referring to. While some things in the video, as you said don't really make sense (for example the warlock patron representing toxic masculinity was very much a weird angle in my opinion as well). The point in the end was that the character (Fjord) put on a mask for very long, trying to be someone he wasn't because thats what he imagined a "real man" is like. He neglected himself, not asking for help and trying to deal with things all by himself even when it was getting pretty clear that it's not going to work so when he lost his powers all that broke. It's not about supporting weakness and not trying anything at all just accepting yourself as a loser and celebrating it. It's about letting a forced personality drop and asking for help from those close to you instead of slowly destroying yourself, at least with that current problem. Nothing in this statement implies that you should never try anything yourself and just run for help whenever any minor inconvenience happens. Also a point you've mentioned several times in the video and I just wanna ask it straight up cause I'm curious. If a man tears up because he sees something sad in... let's say a touching movie. Is that man really disgusting and pathetic in your opinion?
its about roleplaying. play a ROLE. you don't have to overthink it. feel it... be something else. be toxic if you want, but that's not the only option. widen your landscape, read a book, get inspiration and be free. You have the right to be an a-hole or roleplay one. but also you can play without any toxicity. find the table for you. it's a game. enjoy it.
You can do anything in D&D! You can sing and dance! You can kiss a king! You can even be bullied off the Internet by a pack of anonymous retarded people!
To be fair, the video at 36:16 is probably not something WotC commissioned. It's an artist and content creator making a video that is sponsored. Besides. That man was bullied off of the site.
Knowing he has 25 times the number of subscribers as this channel makes this whole thing hit different. There was some concern trolling about how his worldview can only lead to a bitter awakening, yet look at your last 8 videos and look at his last 8 videos and ask, which channel requires bitterness to maintain its trajectory?
Popularity is vanity. If Black Lodge had only 1 subscriber and 1 viewer, and he was right, he would be no more right than if he had 1m subscribers and 100m channel views.
Hey, first time viewer here and, legit can't tell if the video is serious or not? As long as the table's having fun in their respective games, it's all that matters in the end 🔥
did you watch past the silly intro? they make the point that they don't like the pandering and kind of "rainbow capitalism" adjacent behavior. which is a fair opinion not rooted in any attack on (most) players
There are many ways to play roleplaying games. They can he “surface level entertainment” but they can also convey meaning or ideas and there is nothing unusual about walking away with a lesson or takeaway. RPG’s are not solely a power fantasy though they can be. Roleplaying is primarily both a storytelling game . I think its a strange takeaway to suggest that they are saying one should consider oneself helpless no more than you aren’t saying you can never accept help.
We don't enjoy the surface level experience that a lot of tables have because we've managed to get a lot more out of our games than just a few laughs and some dead goblins (though there is nothing inherently wrong with that). You're right that these games aren't solely power fantasy, but they certainly aren't a weakness fantasy either. There is a reason that we refer to the "adventuring" party. Adventure takes courage and bombast. I'm also not sure how much I agree that these are storytelling games. Play does generate stories, but it isn't the same as any other medium as no one truly knows where the story is going before hand (not even the GM). Still thinking that part of it through and I'm sure we'll talk about it in an episode more explicitly at some point.
@@blacklodgegames dude the fact that you think emotions = weakness says way more about how fragile your masculinity is than how masculine other folks are lmao...
@@cryptickitsune1876 If that is your take away you're the very definition of a moron. Don't misrepresent what they are saying. Men can clearly show emotion, but we should not be advocating that boys and men should break down into tears at frivolous things, while promoting any behavior that says its okay to act like a thin skinned child any time their ego is insulted or attacked. It's actually toxic to say men should succumb to their emotions and break down.
@@blacklodgegames Okay... you guys aren't just pathetic... you're just sad. Like... straight up depressing. You will never be happy again in your lives. You will never find other friends, let alone partners. You will never be successful in your lives and achieve anything meaningful. Your lives... are completely pointless.
As someone on HRT because of low testosterone due to illness that intro made me laugh out loud!!😂😂 Latest thing I shed a tear for was "the Holdovers", a great movie that I really recommend. Great acting and great story! My tears were shed because of how some scenes made me feel as a father.
@@blacklodgegames Yeah, I was really sick back then and going to the gym resulted in less gains rather than more. Haha, a sense of humor is a requirement to keep living.
Given that one of the greatest moments Abe saying "I use to be with it , then they changed what it was... ...and it will happen to you" that's not a bad thing
@@Asterion608 I can think of few things less masculine than caring bout the masculinity of other men or worrying that people won't think you're masculine enough. Grow up, little boy, and stop thinking and acting like an insecure middle -schooler.
@@GuyInnagorillasuit That's funny, it's woketards like you who haven't stopped talking about the masculinity of other men for a whole decade by now. And now you get triggered when people reply to you. Grow up little boy, stop Projecting your insecurities of middle schooler onto the rest of the world.
People who say it makes you weak when you cry in public care too much about what other people think about them and think other peoples opinions are gonna break them, damn near the definition of fragile. I know mfers that cry in public and can break someone's face right after. Its literally your own insecurities that makes you so worried about crying in public. Nobody cares if it doesnt stop you from handling business, its just tears, and they don't last forever. People who can't handle their emotions are the ones that can't bounce back from letting them out, because they feel a loss of control over themselves. I imagine both guys in this video are like that, and that sucks, but don't cast that insecurity on other people just cuz its a make or break issue for yourself, for other people expressing emotions is not as big a deal as it doesn't cause them to lose control of theirself. If whatever game bro played caused him to cry, he probably just chose to let it out as he felt immersed in the game. But if he sat there and recorded it for views, then that would be disgusting.
Way to go guys... Shooting down a fellow youtuber talking in passion about a show you (self-admittedly) haven't seen because it fits a narrative you wanted to tell. When all you have is a hammer every problem is a nail. When you as storytellers don't believe in showing weakness - all your stories suffer as a result.
...hmm...numerous videos in and finding less and less about gaming. At this point I am almost wondering if you guys a grifting. You can't really care about this, can you? The only thing more insufferable than an SJW is one who incessantly complains about the insufferably SJW. Do you not see the irony? That you are crying about people inserting their views into something that you enjoy and should be free of that and here I am just some dude who stumbled across a video, was intrigued and am now here...and all I wanted was a video on some cool systems or more ideas on running/playing a better game.
Well then you haven't really looked at our channel all that much, it's basically all we talk about. Occasionally we touch on the culture war, but mostly we talk about games. ua-cam.com/video/TdW1qFM522k/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/rHQYGM_0jqg/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/uZoltaa82uA/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/wDi0dSeCccQ/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/t04AICEq9NA/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/Z7atSYTKIHs/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/b1_QCfAKxPU/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/FZ9d90OkgUQ/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/users/livepIaY3V7NnQA?feature=share ua-cam.com/users/livexVoq-nQJJ7w?feature=share ua-cam.com/users/liveYyW5zDLYhJw?feature=share ua-cam.com/users/livesA4NMfwBmMM?feature=share
@@blacklodgegamesI’ve watched a couple of your videos now and even the ones that aren’t focused on games are still tinged with anger and insecurity. If this is a grift, it’s working well and you’ll probably do alright sticking to an Anti-SJW narrative. But if you’re actually genuine, this anger you’re living in is only going to kill your soul and any genuine appreciation you have for these games
@@blacklodgegames I just want to ask you a question and I hope you take some time to sit on it. Does this virtriol and snarky hatred actually make you happy? Does it make your life better? Trust me, from a guy who wasted too much of his life on this culture war stuff, it’s not worth it. Don’t spend your life fighting ghosts
@@alexanderthegreat1270 I don't think they're anti-SJW grifters though. Yeah they're not progressive but the people you mention are mostly identified by their lack of originality and they're usually grimy af. I'm pretty sure if you sat down and talked especially with the bald dude about politics you'd find out he disagrees with them too. This is all assuming though, I interpret it becuase he mentioned he likes Mises.
I am female but have played males in some games and even I have seen this phenomena. Male players playing male chatacters telling each other that things are okay, that nothing is your fault, that you didnt know better and so on... Just smoothing out some really messed up issues at times or erasing the reality - so to speak - of the world around them to make it seem good. It is quite baffling really. So I made a Clint Eastwood type of character from A Man with No Name trilogy, and insead of just calling out these things like another character of mine used to, he very much acts/shoots while the party has their little heart to heart about how being weak is fine. But hey I get the feelings from a Coca Cola comercial XD Nah but jokes aside I have a reason. My mom used to love them - she didnt drink it lol but she liked the ads. She passed away last year alongside my dad in a tragic accident that I barely survived. So... I got my reasons! But to your point, you are so right. These games I used to be with this same group... They took ages to go over feelings and such in such an exaggerated way that the plot itself was kind of forgotten for a while. I am in just one last Pathfinder game with them and working on my own to run for some friends.
Subscribed yesterday after watching a more recent video. Has your viewpoint shared in this video changed in the past year? Unsubscribing now, because you've left this video up.
Have not changed. I doubt you'll change your mind, but you don't have to agree with everything someone says to find value in some of their ideas. There are no packaged deals. You can get value from us where you can, and simply ignore us where we don't align.
Uncle Iroh would make you both feel ashamed for each insult you hurl at this guy. Actual masculine energy doesn't attack like you have, it's stoic. Oof.
@@blacklodgegames Media of any kind should not be dismissed because of its format. Some anime is way more based than its soy-filled Western alternatives.
The point of TTRPG's is to make a badass character, join your friends and their badass characters, and go off on badass adventures slaying monsters and looting barrows and crypts.
Sure, but it's important to remember that this is one of many ways to enjoy the hobby. It doesn't have to be any one thing. I prefer the exact type of game you're talking about but I can also appreciate the games that heavy on roleplay or exploration.
Hey, lots of guys cry at Hallmark commercials. I cry at Walmart commercials. "She got the lowest price!" . Capitalism is beautiful. Go make your future!
I like JoCat. Like his videos too. Doesn't mean i know the guy but I've always been sympathetic. I see nothing wrong with guys liking Shawls or drinking bobba tea or being quite feminine. Live and let live is my usual attitute. I'm quite happy he got to create a cool animation musical thingy for WotC with his small animation team. But I agree with you that I wish WotC would allow this WHILE also letting us have the badass moments with buff barbarians slaying Machiavellian Beholders and scantily clad sorceress learning the intricates of a Charm Person spell practicing on their love-struck victim. If they want to put wheelchairs and promote "diversity", that'd be fine. I just wont buy those products and wait for the badass ones to come along. But we don't get the badass ones anymore, because they're "problematic". I'm a fat guy - i don't want to play a fat character. Give me a hero's journey, a mountain to climb, a dungeon to explore. To make allies and vanquish enemies. Sometimes i enjoy to embroil my characters in deep-seeded traumas from the past, like my male Drow Wizard who was a slave to his matriarch trained as a weapon, forced to keep his mouth closed for he might accidentally "spell" out loud - literally - and wreck havoc. But that is a fun roleplaying challenge for the group to engage in, finding ways around it and to overcome this deep, festering wound and let it heal. It is not some suffering i wish to revel, but to ultimately overcome with the aid of my allies at the table and forge an even stronger bond.
Yeah , was about to ask, am I the only person who kind of just watches Critical role cuz it's funny and has talented voice actors doing goofy voices? I don't want to sound mean, but if you are finding meaning in Critical Role... well... you need help a, and b, there's some serious reading you ought to do friend :D
Look, I have quite literally been reading two different gaming articles and run across people making comments regarding the kind of people who like or support free market capitalism as a negative. They said it as if they’ve never met another human being that isn’t seeking to live under the boot of communism. I don’t play modern Dungeons and Dragons. I imagine there have to be decent people who do. I see the audience to which WotC is pandering. I’m not interested.
I'm not super duper liberal leftwing and enjoy this video, but not being a fan of free market capitalism doesn't make you pro-communist as if they're the only two options. The world is much more complicated, thankfully.
Imagine feeding into cringe with more cringe. Don't get me wrong I like a lot of your videos. You guys have a lot of good takes, I dont like wokeness and I don't like wizards of the coast. I ask myself however, why am I listening to people giving advice who seemingly project their own insecurities onto others. True masculinity and stoicism is leading by example. Im not going to tell you how to live your life but you should live by your own logic and better yourselves....because as you criticize others and you admonish other more successful channels it just makes you come off as resentful, jealous, and bitter. I am a military vet, I train, and i have no problem being vulnerable when the time calls for it, but i 100 percent agree that there is a time to be tough, take no shit, and fight to win. Berserk is a great example of masculinity in a fictional setting.
The difference in acceptance of weakness and exaltation of weakness is important. The better term for me would be competence. If you don't know how to fix a helicopter, don't try to fix a helicopter, get help from someone who does. Accepting what your competences are, are a sign of being humble. Stick to the things you are competent and try broaden the in given time. People who doesn't how the world works and trying to fix the world is one of the reasons we are where we are right now. If your room is a mess, leave the world alone and go clean it.
I find it disturbing that ideas of stoicism, deontology, ambition, courage, honesty, and bluntness are seen as toxic, yet in the same breath the majority of these individuals would rather see a man die atop his horse than ever come down and admit failure or weakness. Women, let alone men , have never truly ever wanted a man to weep like a child anytime he has emotional trauma. The majority lie and say its okay but will reject that man if he ever shows weakness in such a public let alone private manner. When did the ideas of heroism, strength, and the hero's journey become the bad guys? I can empathize and sympathize with others without the need of becoming a woman and having a childish outlook on the world.
Ambition, courage, honesty and all the others you mentioned are not linked to toxic masculity, toxic masculinity has nothing to do with that! And about the "men who cry" thing: Im a women, I woud NEVER prefer a man that is emotional unavailable, never crys because think that this makes him weak or smh rather than a man that actually cries, talk about his problems and etc.
@@mementomori5563Plenty of women say that, and then when it actually comes down to it and a man cries around them (particularly a bf) they lose respect for them without even consciously wanting to.
@@LordVader1094 to be honest, some of them do, but a lot don't, the question you need to ask yourself is: what kind of women do I want to atract? women that don't care about my feelings?
This was a great talk! A lot to glean from the art cultures. CR gets silly but they do have some real dramatic moments that sells the vision of dramatic rp to a wider audience. But yes, let's create a better culture that chases the creation of meaningful art
You guys need to work on how you communicate. I've heard other men say similar things as you, but their messages are far more poignant and with far less snark, and your audience scores reflect this (fewer than 10% likes per view is considered bad, I don't even need to see the dislikes). I appreciate what you're trying to do, but unless you rightfully distinguish your humor from your argumentation your words will continue to fly in one ear and out the other with your own desired viewers. People will judge that you aren't taking your own position seriously and will disregard even your better-made points. cheers
Nah, even if they articulated themselves better, all that's coming out of their mouths are still just piles of shit. It doesn't matter if you arrange a pile of shit in a really artistic way... it remains a pile of shit.
The problem is, these people take great story moments such as rejecting an evil master or sacrificing your personal desires to save the world that should be remembered well and turn them into mewling morality plays for evil and weakness.
@@blacklodgegames Anybody who whines about other people being not masculine enough and getting angry over that is by definition insecure. Something somebody else did shakes you to the point where you need to go to the internet to look for validation. "THOSE PEOPLE ARE SO SOY, BUT WE'RE LIKE REAL MANLY MAN, AREN'T WE? AREN'T WEEE???!!!! VALIDATE MEEEEEE! TELL ME I'M A REAL MAN! BECAUSE I AM A REAL MAN! 😭" You *could* just do your own thing and not give a fuck about what somebody else you're in no way connected to does, but instead you come crying to the internet because you're such snowflakes that other people doing their own thing in their children's table top game offended you. Imagine thinking that being a nerd who plays DnD in the first place is in any way "TRADITIONALLY MASCULINE". You're pretend playing as if you're still a toddler in your sandbox. You know what the Traditional Male Rolemodel you want to aspire to would say to that? "Grow the fuck up and do something with your life. You're no longer a child; act like it."
I was crushed by the need to demonstrate my masculinity. Oh the inhumanity of a game centered on PRETENDING!! This is beyond a first world problem, it is like a zeroth world problem. A zeroth world is a world that does not exist, by the way. These people need to get outdoors more if this is an issue for them. I mean seriously? Toxic masculinity in D&D? What next toxic masculinity in men's Olympic sports like boxing? Let's take the violence out of boxing and D&D. That will be welcoming and inclusive and woke.
@@gazelle_diamond9768 I am trying to say that people are complaining about things that are inherently part of the game, like violence, mistreatment based on species, things that the woke crowd can't bear to experience even in a game. For that reason instead of choosing not to play themselves they decide that people who play the game can no longer have these elements in it. People are canceled because of a game they have designed or play. Many of us have had enough of that nonsense and are pushing back against it. What I'm trying to say is what I play in my game offends you don't play in my game and go away and leave us alone.
fun lore about JoCat (that anime singing guy) he participated in attacking content creators for playing the hogwarts game. cut to last year and the same people he rolls with attacked him for making an "I like girls song" the internet is a better place without JoCat.
My friend had players make character backgrounds that were extensive. He ran weekly game sessions for three months before he told them what game system they were going to use and had them generate stats.
Don't get me wrong I loved the scene with Liam and Sam that Jay martin was doing a deep dive on, not because it was therapy but it was a great story moment that encompassed why CR started and touched on teh RL friendship between them. That scene was a private moment that happened to be seen by the fans not fan service. Jay Martin is an Idiot. That said... I often explore mental illness in my games and characters, because I find it interesting to have imperfect characters who have an actual reason for being the way they are. I find simple characters dull, but that's because i've been playing for 35 years and i've been there and done that. My Favourite character ever was a broken half elf Arcane Trickster who's human father had died she couldn't cope and she had started to picture death as a real person and was "hiding from him" her entire Arc was finding that the friendships in teh party was important enough for her to put aside all her mental issues and get better. It was a very fun experiance, but It was roleplaying, it wasn't an ode to my demons. I play to enjoy myself, not to grow as a person, I leave that to the characters. I have 2 ladies at my table currently, on a 6 player group with 2 DM's. One of the ladies a seasoned player now, who is stepping past the simple character stage and moving into complex characters, the other is 2 sessions in. The other three players are guys, One like myself had very complex characters (He's the other DM in the party.) The second is playing the same charater he always plays, we are gradually exploring the charater in all the different classes, but he always want to play that character. The last guy is murderhobo who gets bored by any roleplaying and generally is on tinder until there is a fight. I wouldn't change them for the world. As for masculinity, masulinity is in essence putting others before yourself.
I partly disagree with you. It is true that a completely defeatist attitude gets you nowhere in life. But it is even truer that the impressive thing about humanity is not primarily great people striving after their goals, but community. The interchanging of ideas, ressources (and help!) etc. is far more important then individuals going against the grain (although sometimes it is necessary). I think Nietzsche generally overstated the importance of the individual, although it makes sense for him to think that way, concidering the particular age of german history he lived through. I recommend reading David Graeber on this topic.
Let me share this about online community. I play a character that is self described as "a paladin marvel of masculine muscle" and yes, he's manly but of all else: kind. Everyone I play with hates him. They say insulting things and I even had an outwardly misanderous player betray and kill him. Yes, there is a problem with misandry and weak masculinity and actual toxic masculinity in the hobby. I don't like it.
Just discovered this video and your channel! I'm an intersex woman, and I agree there needs to be more masculinity in D&D. I've got some bullet point thoughts on why: - *Men are better party leaders.* I absolutely believe that D&D groups benefit when the most responsible or intuitive male is in charge of the group. I've seen what happens to parties when women (myself included) are in charge, and it generally results in long debates or instant impulses. Soyboy type guys in charge are just abysmal, defaulting to pandering or idiocy. - *The art benefits.* Most of the best art of D&D came from when artists weren't afraid to make women characters sexy and men characters badass. - *The table is healthier.* Masculinity is not going to suffer things like safety tools or people whining about their characters or wanting special treatment.
The activists are locusts. They just destroy everything they touch. They lie that this hobby was exclusive and try to make the people who are the core audience of these products out to be backward villains.
The WOTC musical is even funnier in hindsight now that jocat (the cat boy man) has been driven off the internet by the very audience he and wizards were supposedly courting with that, uh, "advertisement."
Come on guys, this is both extremes, your talking bollocks , identifying with superheros is the quickest way to waring your underpants outside your trousers. Superman had a fight with Chuck Norris. The losser had to ware his pants you know where 😂
True, but a bit misleading. Real men don't cry over trivial things, and they understand that often you have to set aside your emotions to deal with other priorities.
This is why first and second Generation gamers are abandoning WOTC and other games where the first 30 pages of the game manuals are about "diversity" and "inclusion"...rather than the simple joy of gaming. By nature of drawing social outcasts the hobby was already inclusive. We no longer invite new players to our tables or are at a minimum very selective. Anyone below the age of 30 usually do not align to even basic literary style/understanding.. They are not the well read nerds I grew up with. They have no concept of Elric, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Arthurian and Greek Legends; Pern and Earthsea give them baffled looks when mentioned; they have only watched Wheel of Time vice read it; they think Tolkien's orcs are just misunderstood and don't understand what was wrong with Galadriel's portrayal in the latest series; Lord Soth is unknown to them. I pride myself on good epic stories; focused on the heroes' journey. I have been gaming for 40+ years and cannot stand the group therapy or adult pretend sessions I see at my local game store, that have stripped the "game" out of the TTRPG. I'm starting to feel like an Elder in the Camarilla as a result... I cannot relate (nor really care to) with the type of stories they want which seem shallow and empty as I become a grumpy ole man catering to my select gaming group. Alignments matter. Being heroic matters. Having fun with your fellow nerds.. matters. Not your f*cking safety cards...if you need those; you shouldn't be gaming you should seek professional help.
Pretty sure that's because they're dying. Like... you guys have lived your lives at this point. You've reached the age where your generation starts dying out.
@@blacklodgegames More than 3 years ago when the crap guide to D&D was made? Doubt. Even so, most of the video is based on a fake premisse, that WOTC is now making crap paint art at 4FPS instead of its epic pictures from the past to illustrate its products, completely false. The art has changed, yes, but JoCat has little to nothing to do with it, it was just a coop made by the company with a random dude on the internet that has drawn a lot of sucess. It is the equivalent of you guys getting in a podcast with Wizards team and then someone makes a video saying "Oh, back in my day they made interviews with real writers, now the company has money to make a documentary about the hobby, but what do they do? They podcast with a bunch of randoms" (while completely ignore Baldur's Gate, Honor among Thieves, D&D Beyond and the various others professional efforts the company is and has done, even if not directly). I agree with you that this woke "not offensive" idea is garbage, you guys nailed it to perfection in the new VTMs video, but your critic about JoCat in specific was WAY off the point.
I don’t think it’s disgusting as you say but it does feel like loser talk which just makes me feel bad for anyone who has been misled by this crap. I’m not saying loser to be a bully, I’m just saying it realistically. This kind of mindset will not get you anywhere and it makes me sad to see so many people being affirmed when that affirmation will only lead to them getting softer and accomplishing less in life. Just not a good mindset IMO.
@@blacklodgegames Says who? I want to agree with a lot of what you say and frankly I actually stopped watching Jay as a result of this string of these videos because I just completely disagreed with his analysis. But you seem to take the stance that if it's not "my" way, it's a blight. I noticed it in your video on the Obscura ruleset and the Safety Tool video(which I'm still unsure wasn't at least partially satire XP) and it's disconcerting to hear. I'm so sick of the Us vs Them mentality that seems to be so prevalent right now and so frustrating for me to hear so much from you that I nod my head and say "all right, those are good points" then watch those points become nearly moot when the inevitable damnation comes to call. All that to say this: Games and Art can be aspirational. They can also be affirmative. They can be scathing. They can be depressing. They can be ANYTHING. And they will still be games, still be art. And I think it's a great disservice to those who look to us for wisdom to just handwave and discount someone or something simply because you don't agree or like them. Maybe it's not for you. Maybe it's flawed but that doesn't change what it is or what it "should" be and your disapproval of them doesn't negate their merit.
Yeah.... that's why so many people start getting more and more successful with this mindset. That's why these guys are completely irrelevant on youtube and the guy they're mocking is WAAAY more accomplished.
I just put what I thought was a cautious non-offensive comment disagreeing on another video of yours but this one just shows a lack of acceptance of time changing, and a lack of acceptance for people in general. Your ideas on masculinity are terrible, honestly, and should have NOTHING to do with playing a game ever.
You two seem to me personally, to have fragility in your own masculinity. Wanting to spread toxic masculinity shows weakness in yourself as men, a weakness you know deep down inside you want to fight to repair.
Didn't ask
@blacklodgegames you made a discussion video
@@BorfieKaiI reject your soy world and substitute my own high T world. 💪
You have no grasp on how dudes are in mass. Go ask 100 guys outside of this hobby what their take is and most are going to agree here I'd say maybe 3 depending on your city. You say it is going against change yet that is only after the guys who have that traditional masculinity have built the world we have where we don't need that lifestyle for most guys.
Behold the comment of shame!
I'm a woman. About 80% of my PCs are "toxic" males. Usually everyone at the table has fun with it and there is a lot of laughter 🙂
My most toxic player by far is a woman
@@blacklodgegames are there a videos where you talk about your ttrpg horror stories and anecdotes?
Gotta bring skull sculpts to the gaming table. Preferably with horns. Keep it brutal. Keep it metal! Explain everything in brutal & deadly terms. I think that's how DCC got me back into wanting to run gaming sessions again. Grimtooth's Museum of Death! YES!!
I was 2 seconds away from clicking off of this video, and then the dude you have playing the doctor made me spit soda out of my nose. Whatever you paid that dude, it wasn't enough.
Man, quit lying. You were not hooked by that corny-ass doctor skit. 😂
Everybody comes to the table with another idea of what roleplaying is and what they want out of it and if those people find eachother and play their way and we play our way that's all there is. Some people see it as surface entertainment and other people want to get something more or different. We need to find the right table and not expect people to change. Find your people.
I just found your channel but I thought I'd chime in on this a little bit since I see some comments going against what you mention in the video. I've been in the roleplaying community for a very long time around 15 years now and there's a few things that had changed that created rippling effects in the rest of fantasy oriented side of the hobby. One thing to say is that majority of Eastern European and old Russian communities still carry the "old spirit" of the hobby due to the fact it's a lot of mature people that have been consuming things that would tickle your imagination to delve more into "classic fantasy" so for me it's a big difference between the Americana being trapped in the culture war that has its specific aspects that just can't exist with the core values of fantasy and our part of the world that is slowly receiving more and more younger players that come with Critical Role and animated fantasy expectations , ironic comedy and such and they just clash.
So yeah.. you look at old art and you think I want to be in this world , You see the new art and you think that stock photos have more personality
I got a gaming group together by making a flier that’s all swords and a 45 lb plate. That did a pretty good job of weeding out the detritus. I chained an 80 pound kettlebell to the garage door as a barrier to entry one night. Actual strength check. Bend bars / lift gates. Can’t get in? Too bad .
Hello, based department
@@blacklodgegames looks like some of my other comments here got flagged by the tech overlords. Summary: cartoon profile photo alphabet mafia über-autists are a plague on the hobby, and humanity.
You should implement arm-wrestling based resolution system (or at least bonuses). In my games, if you can do 20 pushups, you get a bonus to athletics/strength rolls.
The WOTC song saying dnd could be modern or sci fi feels like someone trying to tell me a Ramset is just as useful for working on a car as nailing things to concrete.
The left's idea of "modern" was killing 120+ million people 100-40 years ago.
That's what they want to bring back to the world today.
Toxic masculinity is being dumb, jerk, dick, gross, etc, towards women but also everyone else! Being masculine is striving to overcome, get stronger, achieve something, have rightful pride, be admired and loved by your virtues! Be protective and kind, carve your path, be generous, etc. There is nothing wrong with being masculine, it's actually the opposite of being a jerk and a bully!
Too bad the people who coined and use the term don't agree with you
@@Skullnaught Yeah, it's true. What's worse, there are crazies in both sides. As much as I hate woke and SJW ideologies, I see a lot "red pilled" idiots that simply hate women, and are not good guys. That's why is so hard to debate, people from both sides think you're a crazie. If people where simply to follow their nature while respecting others, there would be much less trouble. I born into a very feminine family, but I learn to love myself and grow up to be a masculine man, in spite all stupid stuff. That said, I have a lot of respect for women and people in general. I happen to be an heterosexual man, but if I was gay or a woman, I would stay true to my nature (in that case, a gay man or a female). If I was born with a female brain I would be trans, no problem with that. But given I'm a masculine man, let me be what I am! I'm not toxic, nor am I evil or abusive just to be masculine. That's why SJWs and Woke give nerves! They think we should live in constant class and gender warfare, they see everything as a battleground!
Gotta really agree with you here, these same traits trully are toxic regardless of sex, thus it's not a "masculinity" problem, it's an individual problem.
@@AdlerMow "I see a lot "red pilled" idiots that simply hate women, and are not good guys."
What red-pilled people do you pay attention to? I've seen very few red-pillers who fit this description.
@@StupidAnon-gn8ihit’s a matter of what’s on your feed. UA-cam gives people certain stuff on their feed so they can get their views up
Thanks for your content. It makes learning about ttrpgs more bearable for me without all the virtue signaling and trigger warnings so frequent in other videos/channels on the topic
This is a very good video. Although I know I'm late, working my way through the backlog after finding you some weeks ago, I do have to say something semi on topic. You guys talk a lot about experiencing the character and such, and I completely agree, it's become an outlet for me after years of acting before actually getting a life and career. That being said, this idea of utilizing allegories and themes through your character is totally possible and something I often do in games. I recently finished a year and a half long campaign in which I played two cousins who grew up together, both masculine warriors with completely different approaches to leadership. The first character was driven by a desire to do good at any cost to himself, and he died, naturally. My second character was a pragmatist who took up the mantle of fighting against a sinister villain, upon hearing the news of his cousins sacrifice. Ultimately, it was the pragmatist who crossed the finish line, but without the hope and goodness left behind by my previous character, the pragmatist would have never succeeded. So, in short, themes of masculinity. The allegory, or parable, that my second character said at the end of the campaign...highlighted this goal of mine, the goal to explore these themes, despite never knowing the first character would die. I don't want to over explain, but the story surrounded the cousins in their youth hunting down a violent bear, and coming to a disagreement about whether they should kill it upon learning it had cubs. My second character shifted the truth to highlight the good nature of the first by claiming they let the bear be and the problem solved itself in time, but the second character also had a bear claw mark on his face, so it was heavily implied what really happened.
My point with all this, to anyone who cares, is of course critical role is performative and prewritten and improvisational only so far as what was discussed ahead of the game...so probably this guy is either reading too much into it because he needs to project his own insecurities onto other people...but that doesn't mean you shouldn't strive to have a goal or a character theme or anything like that - choosing instead to dismiss it as an impossibility - strive to explore interesting topics at your table through your characters. And the best part is if you do it well, which isn't that hard if you passed high school English, is that it works...because everybody's life has a theme...history is a compilation of remarkable stories with lessons found in them.
PS - Travis is the big guy with the beard, so of course he's manly and doesn't let his wife peg him.
Thank you Matt and Nick. I'm looking to get back into the hobby and just found your podcast. It's truly a breath of fresh air.
Also just bought The Shucked Oyster. Great stuff. You've got a subscriber and a fan. No homo.
I don’t see a pinned link to the supplements that can help.
If you don’t have your own label I believe Alex Jones sells some.
@@amikkelsen black lodge games water filters coming soon
I think I’m on board with y’all! Surprised it took me so long to find this.
Never expecet such a manly phylosophical take from an rpg channel. Couldn't agree more
To your point around the 10-minute mark, games can be therapeutic, but they are not therapy. I am working on my master's currently, and I am building a therapy tool kit that utilizes the structures of tabletop RPGs to support people in 'gamifying' their life in order to build structure for themselves. My project is not a game; it's therapy. I certainly would not enjoy a therapy session in place of a gaming session.
I watched Jay Martin's video when it came out, and I did cringe a bit. Travis's (and Fjord's) actions had nothing to do with masculinity. What he did was momentous but (as in many cases with unscripted drama) it can be interpreted in many different ways.
I could easily make the case that Fjord's rejection of his patron was an allegory (yes, that is a valid interpretation) for a woman letting go of a toxic relationship with an abusive male partner on whom she is financially dependent, and temporarily seek the help of her friends and family who have been there for her all along.
That said, I have no idea why we "need toxic masculinity" - was that just pure clickbait?
It's not clickbait, it's actually what these guys believe.
It's clearly an exaggeration, dude. Seriously. Get a grip. They probably don't _actually_ want to shove people in lockers. It's more of a feeling, lol
@@alexabel8010Yeah these people miss the forest for the trees
So, I feel like some projecting may have happened on your side in connection to the first topic. The issues you talk about are quite real, in fact not just about man, about literally humanity itself. Negative traits are getting celebrated more and more. But I feel like that video was not about what you got from it at all. Maybe it's because I've seen CR so I have more context about what the person is referring to.
While some things in the video, as you said don't really make sense (for example the warlock patron representing toxic masculinity was very much a weird angle in my opinion as well). The point in the end was that the character (Fjord) put on a mask for very long, trying to be someone he wasn't because thats what he imagined a "real man" is like. He neglected himself, not asking for help and trying to deal with things all by himself even when it was getting pretty clear that it's not going to work so when he lost his powers all that broke. It's not about supporting weakness and not trying anything at all just accepting yourself as a loser and celebrating it. It's about letting a forced personality drop and asking for help from those close to you instead of slowly destroying yourself, at least with that current problem. Nothing in this statement implies that you should never try anything yourself and just run for help whenever any minor inconvenience happens.
Also a point you've mentioned several times in the video and I just wanna ask it straight up cause I'm curious. If a man tears up because he sees something sad in... let's say a touching movie. Is that man really disgusting and pathetic in your opinion?
Should men cry at movies or Dnd? #shorts
@@blacklodgegames Can you give us a straight answer? I'm genuinely curious myself.
hello fellow masculine men
A frog with an adonis like visage
*hail and well met, traveler*
Maybe the guy with the beard. The twink next to him though? Really?
These guys are a lot of things, but masculine isn't one of them.
@@gazelle_diamond9768As if you're any judge of that lol
Critical Role is simply an art house presenting acted out scenes about players in their D&D game sessions.
its about roleplaying. play a ROLE. you don't have to overthink it. feel it... be something else. be toxic if you want, but that's not the only option. widen your landscape, read a book, get inspiration and be free. You have the right to be an a-hole or roleplay one. but also you can play without any toxicity. find the table for you. it's a game. enjoy it.
It's kind of funny because Jocat was bullied out for a "misogynistic video"...this age kind of ...well
You can do anything in D&D! You can sing and dance! You can kiss a king! You can even be bullied off the Internet by a pack of anonymous retarded people!
Jocat: "I like girls of all types."
weirdos: "this sounds misogynistic!"
Wasn't he bullied for transphobes?
This is the longest "I'm not a mysoginist! But..." I've ever heard. Well done, you guys!
Thanks!
To be fair, the video at 36:16 is probably not something WotC commissioned. It's an artist and content creator making a video that is sponsored.
Besides. That man was bullied off of the site.
I absolutely love this video, you guys kill! ❤
Knowing he has 25 times the number of subscribers as this channel makes this whole thing hit different. There was some concern trolling about how his worldview can only lead to a bitter awakening, yet look at your last 8 videos and look at his last 8 videos and ask, which channel requires bitterness to maintain its trajectory?
Knowing you checked the sub counts of both channels in order to comment makes this whole thing hit different
Don't even try coming at these guys with logic. They're the primitive kind of man who doesn't do that.
Popularity is vanity. If Black Lodge had only 1 subscriber and 1 viewer, and he was right, he would be no more right than if he had 1m subscribers and 100m channel views.
@@magonus195 Correct. Doesn't change that they're wrong in either case.
Hey, first time viewer here and, legit can't tell if the video is serious or not?
As long as the table's having fun in their respective games, it's all that matters in the end 🔥
No it's not!
No, they're being serious. Just look at their comments under this video. They're actually this pathetic and sad.
Me too, I came here from the Stop acting and start role-playing! video which was fantastic. And now this 0_0
@RogueOfDreams me too, Im like wtf
did you watch past the silly intro? they make the point that they don't like the pandering and kind of "rainbow capitalism" adjacent behavior. which is a fair opinion not rooted in any attack on (most) players
There are many ways to play roleplaying games. They can he “surface level entertainment” but they can also convey meaning or ideas and there is nothing unusual about walking away with a lesson or takeaway.
RPG’s are not solely a power fantasy though they can be. Roleplaying is primarily both a storytelling game .
I think its a strange takeaway to suggest that they are saying one should consider oneself helpless no more than you aren’t saying you can never accept help.
We don't enjoy the surface level experience that a lot of tables have because we've managed to get a lot more out of our games than just a few laughs and some dead goblins (though there is nothing inherently wrong with that).
You're right that these games aren't solely power fantasy, but they certainly aren't a weakness fantasy either. There is a reason that we refer to the "adventuring" party. Adventure takes courage and bombast.
I'm also not sure how much I agree that these are storytelling games. Play does generate stories, but it isn't the same as any other medium as no one truly knows where the story is going before hand (not even the GM). Still thinking that part of it through and I'm sure we'll talk about it in an episode more explicitly at some point.
@@blacklodgegames dude the fact that you think emotions = weakness says way more about how fragile your masculinity is than how masculine other folks are lmao...
@@cryptickitsune1876 ngmi
@@cryptickitsune1876 If that is your take away you're the very definition of a moron. Don't misrepresent what they are saying. Men can clearly show emotion, but we should not be advocating that boys and men should break down into tears at frivolous things, while promoting any behavior that says its okay to act like a thin skinned child any time their ego is insulted or attacked. It's actually toxic to say men should succumb to their emotions and break down.
Great video. Bring back masculinity!
Good on you, lads, for fighting against the weak men and their incessant urge to create bad times.
Six minutes in and still waiting for them to say they're joking. I too didn't like the Candela Obscura book, but c'mon, this is plain bullying.
Woman hands wrote this post.
Just play with Friends and have a good time.
No
@@blacklodgegames Okay... you guys aren't just pathetic... you're just sad. Like... straight up depressing.
You will never be happy again in your lives. You will never find other friends, let alone partners. You will never be successful in your lives and achieve anything meaningful.
Your lives... are completely pointless.
@@blacklodgegames So you don't game for fun and friendship? Okay. A fight club sounds a thing you might enjoy.
A fight club would unironically be a million times more fun than "just play with friends and have a good time."
As someone on HRT because of low testosterone due to illness that intro made me laugh out loud!!😂😂
Latest thing I shed a tear for was "the Holdovers", a great movie that I really recommend. Great acting and great story! My tears were shed because of how some scenes made me feel as a father.
Low T is insanely bad for you, glad you got what you need and glad you have a sense of humor!
@@blacklodgegames Yeah, I was really sick back then and going to the gym resulted in less gains rather than more.
Haha, a sense of humor is a requirement to keep living.
Gaming in general honestly just needs gatekeeping
Emasculating other men is a pretty obvious sign of masculine insecurity lol blows my mind how so many “men” don’t get this
This comment posted by a woman.
@@blacklodgegames Instantly Subscribed.
@@blacklodgegames lol definitely not a woman but nice try!
@@abethecop1Prove it lol
Gatekeeping is objectively good and should be done at every opportunity.
Alright.
Get off this world, NOW!
Its not toxic.
It's just masculinity.
People break out of stereotypes.
I'm older than both of you, but you're both giving off massive Grandpa Simpson vibes here.
Given that one of the greatest moments Abe saying "I use to be with it , then they changed what it was... ...and it will happen to you" that's not a bad thing
Abe Simpson was a war hero. Good vibe to have.
And for you to be that old you give Soyboy vibes. I take grandpa Simpson anyday over a soyboy.
@@Asterion608 I can think of few things less masculine than caring bout the masculinity of other men or worrying that people won't think you're masculine enough. Grow up, little boy, and stop thinking and acting like an insecure middle -schooler.
@@GuyInnagorillasuit That's funny, it's woketards like you who haven't stopped talking about the masculinity of other men for a whole decade by now. And now you get triggered when people reply to you.
Grow up little boy, stop Projecting your insecurities of middle schooler onto the rest of the world.
where did you get the doctor's sceen.
The meme doctor is on Fiverr. Frankgeorgetv
@@blacklodgegames cool
You finally thinking of stepping up your game, OG?
@@dane3038 have i not stepped it up enough? Im still waiting on that opening music
@@TheOGGMsAdventures its coming!! Bro! It's coming!!
No Clyde Caldwell art featuring Doc Savage? The most manly man to ever man!
People who say it makes you weak when you cry in public care too much about what other people think about them and think other peoples opinions are gonna break them, damn near the definition of fragile. I know mfers that cry in public and can break someone's face right after. Its literally your own insecurities that makes you so worried about crying in public. Nobody cares if it doesnt stop you from handling business, its just tears, and they don't last forever. People who can't handle their emotions are the ones that can't bounce back from letting them out, because they feel a loss of control over themselves. I imagine both guys in this video are like that, and that sucks, but don't cast that insecurity on other people just cuz its a make or break issue for yourself, for other people expressing emotions is not as big a deal as it doesn't cause them to lose control of theirself. If whatever game bro played caused him to cry, he probably just chose to let it out as he felt immersed in the game. But if he sat there and recorded it for views, then that would be disgusting.
Everyone reading this now thinks you were crying while you wrote it.
@@blacklodgegames soggy keyboard and everything.
You said everything!!!
The Red Room and The 13th Warlock are an antidote to this.....
Way to go guys... Shooting down a fellow youtuber talking in passion about a show you (self-admittedly) haven't seen because it fits a narrative you wanted to tell.
When all you have is a hammer every problem is a nail. When you as storytellers don't believe in showing weakness - all your stories suffer as a result.
Thanks!
Weakness is not a virtue
$10 says you are terrible at using a hammer
@@PitchBlackForge And who the fuck cares?
@@gazelle_diamond9768 women. Other men. Everyone of any worth.
Doctor preaching anabolic facts!
...hmm...numerous videos in and finding less and less about gaming. At this point I am almost wondering if you guys a grifting. You can't really care about this, can you? The only thing more insufferable than an SJW is one who incessantly complains about the insufferably SJW. Do you not see the irony? That you are crying about people inserting their views into something that you enjoy and should be free of that and here I am just some dude who stumbled across a video, was intrigued and am now here...and all I wanted was a video on some cool systems or more ideas on running/playing a better game.
Well then you haven't really looked at our channel all that much, it's basically all we talk about. Occasionally we touch on the culture war, but mostly we talk about games.
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@@blacklodgegamesI’ve watched a couple of your videos now and even the ones that aren’t focused on games are still tinged with anger and insecurity.
If this is a grift, it’s working well and you’ll probably do alright sticking to an Anti-SJW narrative. But if you’re actually genuine, this anger you’re living in is only going to kill your soul and any genuine appreciation you have for these games
@@alexanderthegreat1270 you may want to change your username
@@blacklodgegames I just want to ask you a question and I hope you take some time to sit on it.
Does this virtriol and snarky hatred actually make you happy? Does it make your life better?
Trust me, from a guy who wasted too much of his life on this culture war stuff, it’s not worth it. Don’t spend your life fighting ghosts
@@alexanderthegreat1270 I don't think they're anti-SJW grifters though. Yeah they're not progressive but the people you mention are mostly identified by their lack of originality and they're usually grimy af. I'm pretty sure if you sat down and talked especially with the bald dude about politics you'd find out he disagrees with them too. This is all assuming though, I interpret it becuase he mentioned he likes Mises.
I am female but have played males in some games and even I have seen this phenomena. Male players playing male chatacters telling each other that things are okay, that nothing is your fault, that you didnt know better and so on... Just smoothing out some really messed up issues at times or erasing the reality - so to speak - of the world around them to make it seem good. It is quite baffling really. So I made a Clint Eastwood type of character from A Man with No Name trilogy, and insead of just calling out these things like another character of mine used to, he very much acts/shoots while the party has their little heart to heart about how being weak is fine.
But hey I get the feelings from a Coca Cola comercial XD Nah but jokes aside I have a reason. My mom used to love them - she didnt drink it lol but she liked the ads. She passed away last year alongside my dad in a tragic accident that I barely survived. So... I got my reasons!
But to your point, you are so right. These games I used to be with this same group... They took ages to go over feelings and such in such an exaggerated way that the plot itself was kind of forgotten for a while. I am in just one last Pathfinder game with them and working on my own to run for some friends.
Being stoic and being an obnoxious asshole is not at all the same thign though
I wish you hadn't survived that accident.
Gatekeeping that which you love is a Virtue.
and a Highly masculine trait.
don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise.
Alright. We'll gatekeep DnD then.
Get out.
D&D is for homosexuals. It's not even a real role-playing game.
@@gazelle_diamond9768 No, you get out.
@@Asterion608 What?
Subscribed yesterday after watching a more recent video. Has your viewpoint shared in this video changed in the past year? Unsubscribing now, because you've left this video up.
Have not changed. I doubt you'll change your mind, but you don't have to agree with everything someone says to find value in some of their ideas. There are no packaged deals. You can get value from us where you can, and simply ignore us where we don't align.
Uncle Iroh would make you both feel ashamed for each insult you hurl at this guy. Actual masculine energy doesn't attack like you have, it's stoic. Oof.
The only person who should be ashamed is the one citing anime in a discussion about masculinity.
goated reference
Wow racism and fragile masculinity oof. “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
― Epictetus@@blacklodgegames
@@blacklodgegames Media of any kind should not be dismissed because of its format. Some anime is way more based than its soy-filled Western alternatives.
@@royrieder2113 referencing an american made chinese cartoon is very soy though. At least tell me piccolo would be disappointed
The point of TTRPG's is to make a badass character, join your friends and their badass characters, and go off on badass adventures slaying monsters and looting barrows and crypts.
Sure, but it's important to remember that this is one of many ways to enjoy the hobby. It doesn't have to be any one thing. I prefer the exact type of game you're talking about but I can also appreciate the games that heavy on roleplay or exploration.
That is ONE POSSIBLE point. It's not the only point.
Hey, lots of guys cry at Hallmark commercials. I cry at Walmart commercials. "She got the lowest price!" . Capitalism is beautiful. Go make your future!
I like JoCat. Like his videos too. Doesn't mean i know the guy but I've always been sympathetic. I see nothing wrong with guys liking Shawls or drinking bobba tea or being quite feminine. Live and let live is my usual attitute. I'm quite happy he got to create a cool animation musical thingy for WotC with his small animation team. But I agree with you that I wish WotC would allow this WHILE also letting us have the badass moments with buff barbarians slaying Machiavellian Beholders and scantily clad sorceress learning the intricates of a Charm Person spell practicing on their love-struck victim. If they want to put wheelchairs and promote "diversity", that'd be fine. I just wont buy those products and wait for the badass ones to come along. But we don't get the badass ones anymore, because they're "problematic".
I'm a fat guy - i don't want to play a fat character. Give me a hero's journey, a mountain to climb, a dungeon to explore. To make allies and vanquish enemies. Sometimes i enjoy to embroil my characters in deep-seeded traumas from the past, like my male Drow Wizard who was a slave to his matriarch trained as a weapon, forced to keep his mouth closed for he might accidentally "spell" out loud - literally - and wreck havoc. But that is a fun roleplaying challenge for the group to engage in, finding ways around it and to overcome this deep, festering wound and let it heal. It is not some suffering i wish to revel, but to ultimately overcome with the aid of my allies at the table and forge an even stronger bond.
You can literally still do all of those things.
And you certainly don't need toxic masculinity for it.
Men should try to be manly
Yeah , was about to ask, am I the only person who kind of just watches Critical role cuz it's funny and has talented voice actors doing goofy voices? I don't want to sound mean, but if you are finding meaning in Critical Role... well... you need help a, and b, there's some serious reading you ought to do friend :D
Bruh, you have never read a book in your life, how are you telling people they need to do reading?
Look, I have quite literally been reading two different gaming articles and run across people making comments regarding the kind of people who like or support free market capitalism as a negative. They said it as if they’ve never met another human being that isn’t seeking to live under the boot of communism.
I don’t play modern Dungeons and Dragons. I imagine there have to be decent people who do. I see the audience to which WotC is pandering. I’m not interested.
I'm not super duper liberal leftwing and enjoy this video, but not being a fan of free market capitalism doesn't make you pro-communist as if they're the only two options. The world is much more complicated, thankfully.
“Imagine having people like this at your table,” I don’t need to. I don’t fucking need to. IT’S HELL!
Find a different table, my guy! :)
Or better yet: Find a different world to live in, my guy.
@@gazelle_diamond9768 Take your own advice.
@@Asterion608 Why should I?
Imagine feeding into cringe with more cringe. Don't get me wrong I like a lot of your videos. You guys have a lot of good takes, I dont like wokeness and I don't like wizards of the coast. I ask myself however, why am I listening to people giving advice who seemingly project their own insecurities onto others. True masculinity and stoicism is leading by example. Im not going to tell you how to live your life but you should live by your own logic and better yourselves....because as you criticize others and you admonish other more successful channels it just makes you come off as resentful, jealous, and bitter.
I am a military vet, I train, and i have no problem being vulnerable when the time calls for it, but i 100 percent agree that there is a time to be tough, take no shit, and fight to win. Berserk is a great example of masculinity in a fictional setting.
The difference in acceptance of weakness and exaltation of weakness is important. The better term for me would be competence. If you don't know how to fix a helicopter, don't try to fix a helicopter, get help from someone who does. Accepting what your competences are, are a sign of being humble. Stick to the things you are competent and try broaden the in given time. People who doesn't how the world works and trying to fix the world is one of the reasons we are where we are right now. If your room is a mess, leave the world alone and go clean it.
100%.
Not according to these guys. If you can't fix a helicopter, you're not a man.
I find it disturbing that ideas of stoicism, deontology, ambition, courage, honesty, and bluntness are seen as toxic, yet in the same breath the majority of these individuals would rather see a man die atop his horse than ever come down and admit failure or weakness.
Women, let alone men , have never truly ever wanted a man to weep like a child anytime he has emotional trauma. The majority lie and say its okay but will reject that man if he ever shows weakness in such a public let alone private manner.
When did the ideas of heroism, strength, and the hero's journey become the bad guys? I can empathize and sympathize with others without the need of becoming a woman and having a childish outlook on the world.
Ambition, courage, honesty and all the others you mentioned are not linked to toxic masculity, toxic masculinity has nothing to do with that! And about the "men who cry" thing: Im a women, I woud NEVER prefer a man that is emotional unavailable, never crys because think that this makes him weak or smh rather than a man that actually cries, talk about his problems and etc.
@@mementomori5563Plenty of women say that, and then when it actually comes down to it and a man cries around them (particularly a bf) they lose respect for them without even consciously wanting to.
@@LordVader1094 to be honest, some of them do, but a lot don't, the question you need to ask yourself is: what kind of women do I want to atract? women that don't care about my feelings?
It is from Chessmen of Mars I believe...Burroughs is great
This was a great talk! A lot to glean from the art cultures. CR gets silly but they do have some real dramatic moments that sells the vision of dramatic rp to a wider audience.
But yes, let's create a better culture that chases the creation of meaningful art
How the fucj did this end up on my timeline?
You must have gone to the gym.
You guys need to work on how you communicate. I've heard other men say similar things as you, but their messages are far more poignant and with far less snark, and your audience scores reflect this (fewer than 10% likes per view is considered bad, I don't even need to see the dislikes).
I appreciate what you're trying to do, but unless you rightfully distinguish your humor from your argumentation your words will continue to fly in one ear and out the other with your own desired viewers. People will judge that you aren't taking your own position seriously and will disregard even your better-made points.
cheers
Begone tone police!
Yeah, that's about the response I was expecting...
Nah, even if they articulated themselves better, all that's coming out of their mouths are still just piles of shit. It doesn't matter if you arrange a pile of shit in a really artistic way... it remains a pile of shit.
@@TheJawesomeOne mehmeh meh mehmeh- that's what you sound like
@@Phred1994 kek
Shoutout for the Kevin Samuels reference.. #RIP
If i wanted to see myself i would pose in front of the mirror.
Ok, I am finally finishing this. What do you think about Cross play? Men playing women? I think t's weird and unwholesome
3:31 masculinity so strong the hosts are falling asleep 😴
Would be toxic and horrible dnding with guys like these two. They dont belong near DND
Yup. They're right about one thing: We need to Gatekeep DnD. Gatekeep it from guys like these.
@@gazelle_diamond9768 You are getting gatekeeped from where you never belonged. Toxic are all the soyboys like you.
The problem is, these people take great story moments such as rejecting an evil master or sacrificing your personal desires to save the world that should be remembered well and turn them into mewling morality plays for evil and weakness.
100% true and based
what the hell are y'all doing with your lives, how is this worth an hour and a quart video. perspective bro
had me asking this the entire video.
Graft their own insecurities... how is this video different?
By virtue of the fact that we aren't insecure.
We're so secure, we made multiple videos and podcast episodes that cover it
@@blacklodgegames Anybody who whines about other people being not masculine enough and getting angry over that is by definition insecure. Something somebody else did shakes you to the point where you need to go to the internet to look for validation. "THOSE PEOPLE ARE SO SOY, BUT WE'RE LIKE REAL MANLY MAN, AREN'T WE? AREN'T WEEE???!!!! VALIDATE MEEEEEE! TELL ME I'M A REAL MAN! BECAUSE I AM A REAL MAN! 😭"
You *could* just do your own thing and not give a fuck about what somebody else you're in no way connected to does, but instead you come crying to the internet because you're such snowflakes that other people doing their own thing in their children's table top game offended you. Imagine thinking that being a nerd who plays DnD in the first place is in any way "TRADITIONALLY MASCULINE". You're pretend playing as if you're still a toddler in your sandbox. You know what the Traditional Male Rolemodel you want to aspire to would say to that? "Grow the fuck up and do something with your life. You're no longer a child; act like it."
pot calling the kettle cringe
I was crushed by the need to demonstrate my masculinity. Oh the inhumanity of a game centered on PRETENDING!! This is beyond a first world problem, it is like a zeroth world problem. A zeroth world is a world that does not exist, by the way. These people need to get outdoors more if this is an issue for them. I mean seriously? Toxic masculinity in D&D? What next toxic masculinity in men's Olympic sports like boxing? Let's take the violence out of boxing and D&D. That will be welcoming and inclusive and woke.
What are you even trying to say?
@@gazelle_diamond9768 I am trying to say that people are complaining about things that are inherently part of the game, like violence, mistreatment based on species, things that the woke crowd can't bear to experience even in a game. For that reason instead of choosing not to play themselves they decide that people who play the game can no longer have these elements in it. People are canceled because of a game they have designed or play. Many of us have had enough of that nonsense and are pushing back against it. What I'm trying to say is what I play in my game offends you don't play in my game and go away and leave us alone.
@@crapphone7744 I will have to repeat myself: What in the fuck are you talking about?
@@gazelle_diamond9768 sorry, but I can't be much clearer than that.
@@crapphone7744It's not that you're not clear, semantically I can understand your sentences. I just have no freaking clue what you are talking about.
Jay Martin is just a victim of his feelings. But that WotC video is VILE. 😂
Please, when you make videos like that, make a warning that what you’re saying is not criticism, but subjective opinion.
No
You think these guys have frontal lobes developed enough to understand the difference?
@@gazelle_diamond9768 I hope so, they’re adult after all :( Not mature it seems
fun lore about JoCat (that anime singing guy) he participated in attacking content creators for playing the hogwarts game.
cut to last year and the same people he rolls with attacked him for making an "I like girls song"
the internet is a better place without JoCat.
Wow did not know that.
A tale as old as time: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
False, I dont like him but 3 hours after he posted about hogwarts he did clarify in a followup post.
They literally didn't, but sure, if that fits with your agenda.
My friend had players make character backgrounds that were extensive. He ran weekly game sessions for three months before he told them what game system they were going to use and had them generate stats.
sound kinda cool but kinda crazy. How'd it go?
How the heck would that even work?
Yikes
Don't get me wrong I loved the scene with Liam and Sam that Jay martin was doing a deep dive on, not because it was therapy but it was a great story moment that encompassed why CR started and touched on teh RL friendship between them. That scene was a private moment that happened to be seen by the fans not fan service. Jay Martin is an Idiot.
That said...
I often explore mental illness in my games and characters, because I find it interesting to have imperfect characters who have an actual reason for being the way they are. I find simple characters dull, but that's because i've been playing for 35 years and i've been there and done that. My Favourite character ever was a broken half elf Arcane Trickster who's human father had died she couldn't cope and she had started to picture death as a real person and was "hiding from him" her entire Arc was finding that the friendships in teh party was important enough for her to put aside all her mental issues and get better. It was a very fun experiance, but It was roleplaying, it wasn't an ode to my demons. I play to enjoy myself, not to grow as a person, I leave that to the characters.
I have 2 ladies at my table currently, on a 6 player group with 2 DM's. One of the ladies a seasoned player now, who is stepping past the simple character stage and moving into complex characters, the other is 2 sessions in. The other three players are guys, One like myself had very complex characters (He's the other DM in the party.) The second is playing the same charater he always plays, we are gradually exploring the charater in all the different classes, but he always want to play that character. The last guy is murderhobo who gets bored by any roleplaying and generally is on tinder until there is a fight.
I wouldn't change them for the world.
As for masculinity, masulinity is in essence putting others before yourself.
had to pick a guy that looked like Bob Kelso XD
Make female NPCs hot again!
Hey everyone! I showed up here for the circle-jerk but I came late to the party...I said I came late....😐
I partly disagree with you. It is true that a completely defeatist attitude gets you nowhere in life. But it is even truer that the impressive thing about humanity is not primarily great people striving after their goals, but community. The interchanging of ideas, ressources (and help!) etc. is far more important then individuals going against the grain (although sometimes it is necessary). I think Nietzsche generally overstated the importance of the individual, although it makes sense for him to think that way, concidering the particular age of german history he lived through. I recommend reading David Graeber on this topic.
You think these guys read?
Let me share this about online community. I play a character that is self described as "a paladin marvel of masculine muscle" and yes, he's manly but of all else: kind.
Everyone I play with hates him. They say insulting things and I even had an outwardly misanderous player betray and kill him. Yes, there is a problem with misandry and weak masculinity and actual toxic masculinity in the hobby. I don't like it.
Surely this random youtube commentator would never show a limited, biased view of their own misery, right?
There is no such thing as online “community.” Get some real friends. Stop being a pussy.
Just discovered this video and your channel! I'm an intersex woman, and I agree there needs to be more masculinity in D&D. I've got some bullet point thoughts on why:
- *Men are better party leaders.* I absolutely believe that D&D groups benefit when the most responsible or intuitive male is in charge of the group. I've seen what happens to parties when women (myself included) are in charge, and it generally results in long debates or instant impulses. Soyboy type guys in charge are just abysmal, defaulting to pandering or idiocy.
- *The art benefits.* Most of the best art of D&D came from when artists weren't afraid to make women characters sexy and men characters badass.
- *The table is healthier.* Masculinity is not going to suffer things like safety tools or people whining about their characters or wanting special treatment.
You're not a woman. You're a thing. So clearly, that's the reason why you can't be a proper leader.
You are not a woman.
I think there is too much toxic femininity and toxic non-binarianism in the adjacent Twitter segment of the hobby.
The activists are locusts. They just destroy everything they touch. They lie that this hobby was exclusive and try to make the people who are the core audience of these products out to be backward villains.
Bring back gatekeeping!
The WOTC musical is even funnier in hindsight now that jocat (the cat boy man) has been driven off the internet by the very audience he and wizards were supposedly courting with that, uh, "advertisement."
And they cancelled him for liking chicks, literally the most normal thing about him.
@@blacklodgegames when I heard about all of this I laughed so hard. Good riddance.
live by the sword, die by the sword
@@EteraRPG More like: "You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas."
Except that he got cancelled by YOUR kind.
The WOTC video also gave off cult / Amway vibes.
Come on guys, this is both extremes, your talking bollocks , identifying with superheros is the quickest way to waring your underpants outside your trousers.
Superman had a fight with Chuck Norris. The losser had to ware his pants you know where 😂
The root of the hobby is Wargaming.
The roots themselves are drenched in Masculinity!
13:30 I'm over in the kitchen eating pizza while hearing cringe coming from the far corner.
It's going to get much worse.
Real men cry.
I'm shaking, weeping rn
Not in front of others.
Male tears are not to be wasted.
True, but a bit misleading. Real men don't cry over trivial things, and they understand that often you have to set aside your emotions to deal with other priorities.
@@godsamongmen8003 That literally goes for everyone, not just men.
The Exhaultation of weakness and victimhood. this very much is the root of the issue of this idealology.
52:35 absolutely 0 backside. What the hell?
Massive oversight by Clyde Coomwell imo
This is why first and second Generation gamers are abandoning WOTC and other games where the first 30 pages of the game manuals are about "diversity" and "inclusion"...rather than the simple joy of gaming. By nature of drawing social outcasts the hobby was already inclusive.
We no longer invite new players to our tables or are at a minimum very selective. Anyone below the age of 30 usually do not align to even basic literary style/understanding.. They are not the well read nerds I grew up with.
They have no concept of Elric, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Arthurian and Greek Legends; Pern and Earthsea give them baffled looks when mentioned; they have only watched Wheel of Time vice read it; they think Tolkien's orcs are just misunderstood and don't understand what was wrong with Galadriel's portrayal in the latest series; Lord Soth is unknown to them.
I pride myself on good epic stories; focused on the heroes' journey. I have been gaming for 40+ years and cannot stand the group therapy or adult pretend sessions I see at my local game store, that have stripped the "game" out of the TTRPG.
I'm starting to feel like an Elder in the Camarilla as a result... I cannot relate (nor really care to) with the type of stories they want which seem shallow and empty as I become a grumpy ole man catering to my select gaming group.
Alignments matter.
Being heroic matters.
Having fun with your fellow nerds.. matters.
Not your f*cking safety cards...if you need those; you shouldn't be gaming you should seek professional help.
Welp... you will die out within the next 20 years anyway, so... not like any of us care.
Pretty sure that's because they're dying. Like... you guys have lived your lives at this point. You've reached the age where your generation starts dying out.
Thank you for the video. I know what warning signs to look for in my entertainment.
You really need to go watch Critical Role. That scene on that episode was pretty much how he told it.
Nice try Matt Mercer
Have you ever read the LEGO's study on how much differ boys and XX chromosome carriers when interacting with toys/hobbies?
Imagine if they had the minimum context about JoCat's work and influence, or even better, the reason for his retirement
Imagine if you realized this video was made months before any of the drama happened
@@blacklodgegames More than 3 years ago when the crap guide to D&D was made? Doubt.
Even so, most of the video is based on a fake premisse, that WOTC is now making crap paint art at 4FPS instead of its epic pictures from the past to illustrate its products, completely false. The art has changed, yes, but JoCat has little to nothing to do with it, it was just a coop made by the company with a random dude on the internet that has drawn a lot of sucess.
It is the equivalent of you guys getting in a podcast with Wizards team and then someone makes a video saying "Oh, back in my day they made interviews with real writers, now the company has money to make a documentary about the hobby, but what do they do? They podcast with a bunch of randoms" (while completely ignore Baldur's Gate, Honor among Thieves, D&D Beyond and the various others professional efforts the company is and has done, even if not directly).
I agree with you that this woke "not offensive" idea is garbage, you guys nailed it to perfection in the new VTMs video, but your critic about JoCat in specific was WAY off the point.
Haha stay mad loser
It's clear that wotc is catering to the Tumblr crowd
Absolutely. Broken millennials
I don’t think it’s disgusting as you say but it does feel like loser talk which just makes me feel bad for anyone who has been misled by this crap. I’m not saying loser to be a bully, I’m just saying it realistically. This kind of mindset will not get you anywhere and it makes me sad to see so many people being affirmed when that affirmation will only lead to them getting softer and accomplishing less in life. Just not a good mindset IMO.
Games and art should be aspirational not affirmative.
@@blacklodgegames Says who?
I want to agree with a lot of what you say and frankly I actually stopped watching Jay as a result of this string of these videos because I just completely disagreed with his analysis.
But you seem to take the stance that if it's not "my" way, it's a blight. I noticed it in your video on the Obscura ruleset and the Safety Tool video(which I'm still unsure wasn't at least partially satire XP) and it's disconcerting to hear.
I'm so sick of the Us vs Them mentality that seems to be so prevalent right now and so frustrating for me to hear so much from you that I nod my head and say "all right, those are good points" then watch those points become nearly moot when the inevitable damnation comes to call.
All that to say this:
Games and Art can be aspirational. They can also be affirmative. They can be scathing. They can be depressing. They can be ANYTHING.
And they will still be games, still be art. And I think it's a great disservice to those who look to us for wisdom to just handwave and discount someone or something simply because you don't agree or like them.
Maybe it's not for you. Maybe it's flawed but that doesn't change what it is or what it "should" be and your disapproval of them doesn't negate their merit.
Yeah.... that's why so many people start getting more and more successful with this mindset.
That's why these guys are completely irrelevant on youtube and the guy they're mocking is WAAAY more accomplished.