I know this is an old vid, but I just felt compelled to say, thanks for being online as an actual person. You recognize and own your opinions, feelings, and mistakes. You let us learn from them, and you don't pretend to be infallible or impenetrable. What you do on this channel is incredibly valuable. Thank you.
I'm glad you guys did what you thought you had to. Just letting you know though, as a DM just starting out, I found watching you guys playing INCREDIBLY helpful. To see a group of people who aren't actors, and how you engage them, and how they play (differently from CR, but that's good here) was so good for me. My players aren't actors, and getting them to engage can be difficult. I learned a lot from those couple streams, so thank you! So glad you guys did it, but I understand why you had to stop.
I too, enjoyed watching the play. I didn't have the constraints of time others have been commenting about. This was my background noise/entertainment as I did my housework. :) But it gave me a more real sense of how play goes, rather than the false expectation of CR. (My family are actors/artists, but the freedom that it's OK to have to look up a rule, or discuss how that works is OK) The constraints of being fun, interesting and keeping the pace of the story up must be incredible! I'm just happy if we get through our three hour session with a feeling of accomplishment and enjoyment.
Sorry you and your friends had to deal with all that hate Matt. The internet can be a shit show. Still, I really liked your party, such interesting and funny people and characters. I still look forward to your videos and hope you know that you guys still have at least a couple people rooting for them :)
There is a very good way of interacting with chat outside of responding to chat users. There is a german pen and paper show which is pretty successful and it has people working behind the scenes aswell, and sometimes the DM will show questions like: "Which enemies will the players face as they reach this cave?" - And then people in chat get to vote on what enemy they encounter for example. It's really great fun.
Personally, I prefer the condensed campaign diaries. It fits better when you're using events for examples and you are free to talk about what worked and failed. And it's easier to keep up with time wise.
I understand why people like Critical Role, but I much prefer Matt's 40 minute diaries to 4 hours of watching people play the game. It's like being told a story vs watching people make a movie.
I have always thought that actual play vids are boring. I love playing but watching other people play feels like watching paint dry. I would much rather watch your diary than a real game. Nice comment about the distraction of the live game. I always feel that the more brain power you relegate to other tasks the less you can concentrate on being a good DM. great vids, thanks for all you do.
100% agree. I might watch one of those at some point if I've got a 4 hour block of free time and somehow have nothing better to spend it on so I can see what this veteran's GM style actually looks like, but I really prefer the campaign diaries which are condensed down into something that's actually helpful for me improving my own GMcraft.
Mostly I don't like it either. I've encountered one show, which is really well made, which I enjoy, but other than that, I don't watch entire sessions either.
Other people had the same idea as I did.. or along the same vein.. I was thinking something like drinking the contents of a screwdriver, but separately. First the orange juice an then a shot of vodka. :P
Matt thank you for posting the streams. I have watched the all those hours of footage, not only do they stand up on their own as entertaining, they are informative as well. I've changed the way I get my players from 3rd person to first person by watching your stream, and it feels smoother. Without the videos of your stream I wouldn't have as much fun. Thank you. .. And your players for letting you record them. Thank you.
Your John McClane analogy is dead on. I really do think that is what is most rewarding for the players, getting their ass kicked and barely making it through. We shouldn't want the PCs to fail, we should want them to make it through a hard fought battle. But every now and then, when the PCs get caught with their shoes off, we need to schieß dem fenster, "shoot the glass."
A dynamic return to your regular, excellent form. The higher production level and the ugh perfect colour balance, made it a joy to sit back and watch from start to finish.
When someone mispronounces a word, it's because they learned it by reading independently. Took me years to figure out how to say "satiate". Great vids, Matt. You are really opening my eyes to D&D and the great fun it can be. I can't wait to buy some dice, some graph paper, and start sucking until I get great. :D Thanks for being a river, man. :D
Thanks to Matt and your entire group for giving streaming a shot! Honestly I'd be happy with an audio podcast of your sessions. I generally multitask and do my own DM prep with something on in the background like a gaming podcast or Critical Role or your videos. A pure audio format would be perfect for me. Just putting it out there.
phew. no offense but I just didn't have the time to watch the streams so I'm glad the condensed diaries are back. Some of us have poor excuses for lives interrupting our youtube/twitch viewing at inopportune times y'know.
Thank you for all the work you put towards this channel, Matt. You've definitely made me a better GM, and made my my group's play sessions better as a result. Sorry to hear about all the production and audience issues. The internet is a harsh place. People like to write down & post every little thought they have, whether it be good or bad. Facing all those cynical, critical, or down right insulting comments can easily drag any person down. As for the play sessions, if recording it isn't an option perhaps showing us your games just isn't meant to be. Although seeing your games would be really cool, if it is taking up too much of your time and is too complicated maybe it just isn't worth the hassle. Thanks again another great video.
Matt you have got to be my favourite D&D guy on the Internet. Honest, transparent and to the point. So helpful to see and hear how you run your games and you give me something to snider with every diary I watch. Thank you and yours for all you do for the community!
Man, I hate it when my players find a way to bypass all of my content. I just break a little inside when it happens and I think to myself "All of that content I build for them to enjoy just... Gone!" But then I remember that I can just reuse it somewhere else.
Hey Matt, I feel ya on the twitch audience. I used to stream my sessions a few years ago and had 50-100 people watching. Those numbers pale in comparison to yours, but eventually a few ultra rules lawyers or people that lack empathy, showed up in chat. Luckily, the people I modded were quick with the ban hammer, so my group didn't see much of it. In the end, I stopped due to the lack of fun I was having. I was participating in chat, keeping an eye on comments and letting the adventure get away from me. I did stop getting subscribers in bulk due to this and it's been pretty linear since then. Technical issues were abundant in my sessions for the first year or so, as they're hard to track down or something that you didn't notice in session (if you don't have an extra guy just doing the audio/video stuff), so I understand some of the technical stress of wanting quality to be better. Even on UA-cam I get comments that, "Some X doesn't work like that" or "they're not supposed to have magic users for X monster". I guess the difference is that people have free time when watching a stream and some of them feel empowered to give direct criticism (constructive or not). I enjoy these campaign diaries very much and have entertained the thought of doing them for my campaigns sessions for a good while. Your diction is quite good and you have an energetic personality when you're talking. I have to really think about what I'm going to say with a basic script and I get tongue tied with sooo many takes, so doing this proves difficult. That being said, I'm going to start streaming again soon. Hopefully I'll be able to ignore the fact that we're online, and encourage my players to not listen to the chat. Cheers, great stuff as usual. Sorry for the wall of text, this just resonated with me.
It was a real game, warts and all. I wholeheartedly agree with your defence of your friends and players> I was sad that the technical difficulties made it hard to watch, and very hard for you to DM. I was delighted when The Chain appeared, showing that a variety of real people playing a real game could make absorbing watching. More strength to you. Your stress on creativity, and on the different ways that people can enjoy playing the game, is worthwhile, and encouraging. I am delighted that your material is "out there", and that I can recommend it to anyone who is interested in playing or DMing. Thank you.
I really like the Campaign Diary style you are doing. The enjoyment of listening to you narrating what happened during the game is entertaining, and you still give tips and advice. I really like that because I really can see how the story unfolds. Great stuff. TBH if you did this as a subscriber I would really consider it. PS: I bought Stronghold and really think about buying your books in the hope of a narrative style similar to this channel.
I hope that you're still enjoying doing the other forms of content aside from streaming. I absolutely love the way that we can hear the story from your perspective in the campaign summaries.
One of my favorite channels on UA-cam. Thanks for all the tips and info. Currently building my campaign where I will weave a larger story around all the content released from the Wizards of the Coast. Once my DM is done with his run I will take over for him, and thanks to you I'm feeling much more confident about it.
If the campaign diaries aren't too much trouble for you, I love 'em. They're fun and constantly give little tips about DMing and playing to keep in mind. If you can continue these, even if it's not every week, that would be amazing.
The second bit here is just some back story and thanks, but I have a profound level of respect for your attitudes surrounding content creation, and more importantly in placing your friendships and the those people above any kind of brand you might be building. That takes a distinct strength of character, and I am glad that you made that call. I'm a "second generation" tabletop gamer, I have many fond memories of lurking at the edge of my parents table as they played hoping that one day they would let me join. As a result, to this day I can sit and enjoy watching other people play video games, board games, and tabletop games. It's not necessarily the game I'm watching, its the people and its just really heartwarming to see people that enjoy each others company come together and do exactly that with a central construct to focus their attention (the game itself). Of course, I have learned a great deal from sitting and watching not only your "Running the Game" but also in watching and comparing style and processes. Every GM is different and I think that's something to be embraced and we all have something to learn from each other I think.
I just wanted to say that while I can certainly tell from watching the youtube replays of your sessions that it was certainly wearing on you, thank you for doing it. I have enjoyed these diaries and while I can utterly sympathize with the growing pains of trying something new without a support staff I still found them enjoyable to listen to while I multi tasked other projects.
I'm sorry that there were so many people not adding anything constructive to this whole experience. I really appreciate all of your work to get more people involved in D&D so I though I could share a positive story. Because of this channel I learned to DM and convinced my friends, who now live all over the US, to play. Before we would see each other or talk every few months, but now we are all on video chat every other week for 4+ hours. It has really helped us reconnect. I'm also now just hooked on D&D and always want more so I'm now also helping to DM adventure league nights every week at a local game store. Thank you Matt
Matt, thanks for how you treat the game and your friends. You've got a great perspective on all of this. It was fun watching you and your friends play, and I learned a lot from watching it live, but you're making the right call.
I love this, I'm so glad you're back, I just did not have the time to watch the streams, but I do mean to sometime. You have a great way of telling a story, it's never boring. I'm engaged and inspired, you're the best.
Hey, I was just watching your railroading vs sandboxing game (which was AMAZING!) But I had to stop and find this one, just to make sure you made it through the pneumonia ok. I'm really glad to see that you did!
I know I'm late in viewing these diaries, but I think you're group was really awesome and I couldn't find anything wrong with the live video of your sessions. I began with the original redbox set before graduating to AD&D but played 2nd edition the longest. When I was at sea in the Navy my good friend Jeff and several other friends who I still communicate with via Facebook introduced me to 3rd edition and we played for several years. I unfortunately never got into 4th edition but am just now coming back to 5th edition and teaching my wife and son to play. I've never been a DM before so I find your campaign diaries and tips for running the game extremely useful both as fuel for inspiration and as practical advice for running an interesting game. So thank you for all that you do. You're amazing and fun to watch.
Matt, I just want to say your videos have been incredibly helpful to me as a new DM. I appreciate your group streaming your game and exposing themselves -- it was really helpful to see how your game runs, but I never imagined the amount of work and problems that could arise. I'll be watching any content you choose to release. Thanks for everything you do.
Critical Role and Acquisitions Inc. are the only D&D shows I can really watch. I think you're right about it not being a spectator sport, and they're the exceptions.
Depends on the person. I found Matt's stream to be better than AI by quite a bit, but it's more because it was truer to what D&D is in my eyes. Honestly as long as the audio/video isn't cringe-worthy, I think it's fine. I thought the stream was good, but Matt has high standards and it was having a negative effect on his game, so I don't remotely blame him for stopping.
Agreed about streaming and Twitch. So much upfront effort and cost. I personally love the recaps, you are in incredible storyteller. I can't imagine playing on camera, I'd play so differently. Anyway, I appreciate whatever you make. Your recaps are better than my games. :P
Hi Matt! For what it's worth, this may be one of my first youtube comments ever. I tend to eschew the comments section given how it can get out of hand too quickly, but I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate what you are doing for us and I wholeheartedly support your cause. Your passion for the game is truly contagious and has been an impetus for me trying my luck at DMing. I tried it only once before, but your enthusiasm has convinced me to give it another shot. Please keep doing the videos, this channel has become by far my favorite subscription. Thanks again!
Just want you to know that this channel has become the only youtube channel I religiously follow because I absolutely love all the content you put out, from your running the game videos to the campaign diary. Thanks so much for this channel and this content you make, and I hope going forward that you don't have to deal with the toxic people on the internet to the extent that it drains your energy and takes some of the fun out of it for you.
i love it when players come up with interesting ways of using spells and abilities like the silence spell. sounds like it was a really terrific session!
Matthew Colville I have watched all your videos over the last 3 months. been playing a long time and i really enjoyed a lot of your tips. I learn and steal from every Dm I watch run. I really hope you keep putting out videos !!
Matt your videos are insightful, full of great ideas, and highly appreciated. You have been a very helpful component, to me running my own DnD games the last several months. Im happy to say I've been able to get both family and friends to join me on my own campaigns, Thanks Again, Keep em' coming.
I feel so bad that you've been having such a hard time with it. I just want to say on behalf of the majority here that we really appreciate all that you do for us!
I just wanna say "Thank you". You got me DM'ing a simple homebrewn game for people who never roleplayed before and they're all loving it. Keep being awesome.
Matt, I really appreciate everything you've made and done for us. I'm also really sorry the internet was garbage to you and your friends - which is even worse as they don't have a platform to defend themselves. Bummer-inducing stuff is now out of the way. I've DM'd a few times for friends, but they were with vets. I recently ran a game for a vet and two newbies and I used a lot of stuff from what I saw on your videos. It helped me a lot and I really, really want to thank you for all the awesome content you've put out. You gave me the DM itch again; thank you!!!
They have thousands upon thousands of people. What do you expect? Text-based chat is not built for that. Imagine a couple hundred people talking through eachother in the same room? Its unmanageable. Now amplify that and give everyone a megaphone.
The live streams took a long time to watch through, and I enjoyed them, but agree that if the live stream is distracting you from DM functions, then I wholeheartedly agree that you give your best to your game friends, and we still benefit from these Campaign Diary recaps. :) Thank you Matt.
Wow, I rarely have actual Laugh out Loud moments. You got me with "professionally charming people". Thank you Matt, for all you do. This channel is so fun and does give me new and good ideas to bring to my game table. (high five)
Matt, thanks for continuing to do the recaps....I'm definitely enjoying the story of the campaign regardless if it watched lived or recaped. I can definitely understand the frustrations with the live stream, but know we're going to watch whatever content you put out.
You are the pro, strange but this type of content got my sub. There is a lot of guys streaming or giving advice in a better format that you, however only you sir tell the story like this. I love it, make me want to buy your books. Amazing!!
Hey dude, I'm a first time DM and your series' have been immeasurably helpful to help shine a light on an actual D&D game. I love Critical Role, don't get me wrong, but I feel it doesn't accurately reflect the normal game. So, I really, really appreciate your help on this. Thank you!
Matt, I'm one of the MANY that is grateful for your channel. You've pushed me to DM again in life. You've also taught me to be patient with my players. Haters gonna hate. Love you, brother.
I have been watching your videos and i actually skipped the live recordings. I love this one on one feel we get from your video. The way you speak and and describe things is fantastic.
I'm sorry to hear the twitch chat expedition didn't play out as you were hoping. I sincerely hope none of your players were negatively affected by the experience, or discouraged in any way. As a DM who has struggled to help players open up at the table, I understand how difficult that can be. I never did check out the twitch channel, pretty much for the reasons you cited, 4 - 5 hours *watching* people play doesn't sound like my cup of tea. Getting to listen to these diaries, however, how you handled situations, how players reacted, what you planned, summaries. That, to me, is very valuable, and I appreciate you sharing these with us.
My heart broke for you hearing that there were scumbags that felt the need to degrade your friends and players just so they could feel something inside. Your channel is absolutely everything I could possibly want in a D&D channel. Thank you for all of your hard work.
I'm supper cool with this! more of you talking in front of the camera is definitely what I want. I would rather hear about the campaign in this format. Keep up the good work matthew!
Excellent! For a while I thought I had lost the very thing that I liked so much about these diaries; an inside view of the politics and intrigue as well as an exploration of possible outcomes in your fascinating games. I like the style of these videos. The streams were not what I was looking for. Your summaries are much better for me and there is something unique about them. I look forward to hearing more.
I watched all of the twitch streams over the last 2 days, at 1.5x speed so I could get it all in. I loved watching you guys play, but I understand completely why you stopped, just don't stop giving us the campaign diaries please.
My good man - ignore the evil monkeys online. You are doing a bang up job. I haven't played D&D for years and you absolutely rekindled my love for the game! Keep it up! : )
I am sorry that the internet sucks. I hope that you are feeling better after stopping streaming. I enjoyed watching you guys. If you go back to streaming I will watch again. Thanks for the good times and I will continue to watch this in the lead up to me running my first game. :)
Hey Matt, I think you're awesome! I really enjoy your videos. I have fun just watching you talk; I don't usually watch videos that are longer than 10 minutes, but I've watched almost every single video you put out. You seem like an awesome person, and you've reinvigorated my interest in Dungeons & Dragons. I hope you make videos for a very long time.
I believe in the "Silent Majority" who enjoy watching, and rarely comment. I think you're making the best call for your friends and your enjoyment. Thanks for the videos Matt! I spent an afternoon trying to trace out each of your parties and their paths (Ruby Knight, TRSoQA, RV, SoA). It was solving a mystery trying to understand all the overlapping threads between each (Lady S, Sir R the Chill).
I did enjoy the streams, but I am glad to see the Campaign Diaries return. I understand 100% why you want to stop the streams, and perhaps if you return at a later date many of the issues will be resolved. I still think the World Building streams work very well, though Collabris is near completion. Well done for giving it a shot. I do believe D&D can be, as you say, a "spectator sport", but every game of D&D is different. The flow can be dramatically altered session to session, player to player. I've been watching High Rollers recently and have loved it, but I watch it "offline" on UA-cam as I did with your streams. I agree that it is unlike other Twitch content because you cannot have that live interaction with the streamers which is "the juice" of the streaming experience.
What i really like about Matt is that addresses and confronts the people that were cancer. This says a tremendous amount about Matt's character. That he stand up for what he believes in and also protects his friends. With Respect - Rax
You are a great man you do this for everyone. I enjoy your videos and thank you and your awesome friends for trying hard for everyone. Thank you guys, seriously, thank you for doing the streams I really enjoyed all of them. You guys are amazing. BTW Gertz ur amazing being an introvert and being extroverted I loved watching him have so much fun.
Well said Matt. You honestly said what needed to be said. Also I enjoy the episodic recaps more than the streams. Keep up the excellent D&D vids! Thankyou
Hey Matt! Glad to see a new diary. I know streaming was probably easier but I really dont have to time to watch 3-5 hours of it. I absolutely love your content in this style. Not that you shouldnt stream of course. Just that Im glad to see more of THIS over that. As for the negativity. Thats what ive heard from many content creators. You simply have to figure out a way to handle it, or just ignore ANY incoming communication. I dont want you to become like some people and give up content creation because of 10% of people. Youre one of the best content creators on youtube. :)
I agree wholeheartedly with you about the stream. I enjoyed the first two and then began losing interest, not because it wasn't interesting, but because I preferred the "Running the Game" and "Campaign Diaries" much more. I love those episodes very much. I believe the reason is because you exude the love you have for the game in them and it's very infectious. Thank you very much for sharing your campaign with us. Thank you for sharing the tips and tricks you have with us as well. I've been unable to read very much of the copy of Priest I bought but I'm hopeful to be able to finish it on vacation in October. I've been running games since the mid to late 80s and sometimes you get in a DM rut and seeing other DMs and how they react really helps break you out of your shell. Not to mention you're reaching a whole new generation of gamers. Once again Thank you.
With this explanation, I fully respect why you stopped streaming... Your goal was never to run a streaming DnD game, so when all these technical issues cropped up, there was no incentive to continue as opposed to going back to running the game you like to run after giving us a peek. Thank you very much for all the effort you put into giving us a peek into your games!
I see that Zombicide in the background you have! Such a fun game! Also a good primer for DnD combat. Playing that with friends helped get us rolling on doing the D&D group that I'm now DMing.
I know this is an old vid, but I just felt compelled to say, thanks for being online as an actual person. You recognize and own your opinions, feelings, and mistakes. You let us learn from them, and you don't pretend to be infallible or impenetrable. What you do on this channel is incredibly valuable. Thank you.
I'm glad you guys did what you thought you had to. Just letting you know though, as a DM just starting out, I found watching you guys playing INCREDIBLY helpful. To see a group of people who aren't actors, and how you engage them, and how they play (differently from CR, but that's good here) was so good for me. My players aren't actors, and getting them to engage can be difficult. I learned a lot from those couple streams, so thank you! So glad you guys did it, but I understand why you had to stop.
Well, we're gonna start again in a couple of months! Smaller group, better gear. Should be more fun for us and more fun to watch.
I too, enjoyed watching the play. I didn't have the constraints of time others have been commenting about. This was my background noise/entertainment as I did my housework. :)
But it gave me a more real sense of how play goes, rather than the false expectation of CR. (My family are actors/artists, but the freedom that it's OK to have to look up a rule, or discuss how that works is OK) The constraints of being fun, interesting and keeping the pace of the story up must be incredible!
I'm just happy if we get through our three hour session with a feeling of accomplishment and enjoyment.
how are you doing now
Nice to see the next, well third I guess, generation start up. I hope you will have much fun.
Sorry you and your friends had to deal with all that hate Matt. The internet can be a shit show. Still, I really liked your party, such interesting and funny people and characters. I still look forward to your videos and hope you know that you guys still have at least a couple people rooting for them :)
Hear hear!
There is a very good way of interacting with chat outside of responding to chat users.
There is a german pen and paper show which is pretty successful and it has people working behind the scenes aswell, and sometimes the DM will show questions like: "Which enemies will the players face as they reach this cave?" - And then people in chat get to vote on what enemy they encounter for example.
It's really great fun.
26:50 Rare footage of Matthew taking a pause between sentences.
Lots of fast talkers on UA-cam, Matt is one of the few I don't mind listening to.
Arktiks His fast talking is one of the many reasons I enjoy his videos. All of the other people the talk about D&D on youtube talk pretty slow.
Hes one of the ones you can listen to at 1.5x speed and still understand
That opening joke is on par with "We have both kinds of music here: Country *and* Western" :D
@Daniel T Grissani What makes you think so?
Gathered that, but why do you think the get-it-like ratio is 1:1?
@Daniel T Grissani I only know this quote from Overwatch, but I guess it's from somewhere else originally?
@@Labroidas the oldest I know of is Blues Brothers.
Rock and Roll
"Your fun is wrong!" Got to love the internet. Love what you do sir. Keep it up!
I love how ethical and fair you are with people, not just us (your audience), but also with your friends. Thanks for caring so much.
Personally, I prefer the condensed campaign diaries. It fits better when you're using events for examples and you are free to talk about what worked and failed. And it's easier to keep up with time wise.
I understand why people like Critical Role, but I much prefer Matt's 40 minute diaries to 4 hours of watching people play the game. It's like being told a story vs watching people make a movie.
I have always thought that actual play vids are boring. I love playing but watching other people play feels like watching paint dry. I would much rather watch your diary than a real game. Nice comment about the distraction of the live game. I always feel that the more brain power you relegate to other tasks the less you can concentrate on being a good DM. great vids, thanks for all you do.
^ This. Yes.
BUMP^
100% agree. I might watch one of those at some point if I've got a 4 hour block of free time and somehow have nothing better to spend it on so I can see what this veteran's GM style actually looks like, but I really prefer the campaign diaries which are condensed down into something that's actually helpful for me improving my own GMcraft.
MCDM is doing a good job of making full games interesting.
Mostly I don't like it either. I've encountered one show, which is really well made, which I enjoy, but other than that, I don't watch entire sessions either.
I really think "Patented Colville Screw" should be the name of a cocktail of some kind.
where all the strong liquor is at the bottom of the glass...
Layered: Rye Whiskey on bottom, Grenadine in the middle and Orange juice on top. It has to have orange juice because screw is in the name.
It would be awesome if the grenadine and orange juice would be both above the rye whiskey in a turnstile way to also make the screw.
Other people had the same idea as I did.. or along the same vein.. I was thinking something like drinking the contents of a screwdriver, but separately. First the orange juice an then a shot of vodka. :P
Matt thank you for posting the streams. I have watched the all those hours of footage, not only do they stand up on their own as entertaining, they are informative as well. I've changed the way I get my players from 3rd person to first person by watching your stream, and it feels smoother. Without the videos of your stream I wouldn't have as much fun.
Thank you.
.. And your players for letting you record them.
Thank you.
Please keep the Diaries in this form. This style of recap is incredibly entertaining with you being able to comment and elaborate.
Your John McClane analogy is dead on. I really do think that is what is most rewarding for the players, getting their ass kicked and barely making it through. We shouldn't want the PCs to fail, we should want them to make it through a hard fought battle. But every now and then, when the PCs get caught with their shoes off, we need to schieß dem fenster, "shoot the glass."
A dynamic return to your regular, excellent form. The higher production level and the ugh perfect colour balance, made it a joy to sit back and watch from start to finish.
When someone mispronounces a word, it's because they learned it by reading independently. Took me years to figure out how to say "satiate". Great vids, Matt. You are really opening my eyes to D&D and the great fun it can be. I can't wait to buy some dice, some graph paper, and start sucking until I get great. :D
Thanks for being a river, man.
:D
My example is Bas Relief, which is pronounced Bah, and not Bass, as I have said it for years.
2 years after and you made me forget how to pronounce satiate
"Sitting there, doing nothing, mesmerized by the voice..." Sorta like us watching these videos, eh?
Hours of D&D for 30 minutes of fun. I think you made the right choice, Matt. Keep being awesome.
Thanks to Matt and your entire group for giving streaming a shot! Honestly I'd be happy with an audio podcast of your sessions. I generally multitask and do my own DM prep with something on in the background like a gaming podcast or Critical Role or your videos. A pure audio format would be perfect for me. Just putting it out there.
"Sigurd successfully stealths past the duergar guards" is my new favorite tongue twister.
phew. no offense but I just didn't have the time to watch the streams so I'm glad the condensed diaries are back.
Some of us have poor excuses for lives interrupting our youtube/twitch viewing at inopportune times y'know.
I think this is the only time I'd seen you get genuinely mad, when talking about people hassling your friends. You're a good friend.
Thank you for all the work you put towards this channel, Matt. You've definitely made me a better GM, and made my my group's play sessions better as a result.
Sorry to hear about all the production and audience issues. The internet is a harsh place. People like to write down & post every little thought they have, whether it be good or bad. Facing all those cynical, critical, or down right insulting comments can easily drag any person down.
As for the play sessions, if recording it isn't an option perhaps showing us your games just isn't meant to be. Although seeing your games would be really cool, if it is taking up too much of your time and is too complicated maybe it just isn't worth the hassle.
Thanks again another great video.
Matt you have got to be my favourite D&D guy on the Internet. Honest, transparent and to the point. So helpful to see and hear how you run your games and you give me something to snider with every diary I watch.
Thank you and yours for all you do for the community!
Man, I hate it when my players find a way to bypass all of my content.
I just break a little inside when it happens and I think to myself "All of that content I build for them to enjoy just... Gone!"
But then I remember that I can just reuse it somewhere else.
I guess that in Matt's case it's not as bad, as he didn't actually put effort to create all that content himself.
Hey Matt, I feel ya on the twitch audience. I used to stream my sessions a few years ago and had 50-100 people watching. Those numbers pale in comparison to yours, but eventually a few ultra rules lawyers or people that lack empathy, showed up in chat. Luckily, the people I modded were quick with the ban hammer, so my group didn't see much of it.
In the end, I stopped due to the lack of fun I was having. I was participating in chat, keeping an eye on comments and letting the adventure get away from me. I did stop getting subscribers in bulk due to this and it's been pretty linear since then. Technical issues were abundant in my sessions for the first year or so, as they're hard to track down or something that you didn't notice in session (if you don't have an extra guy just doing the audio/video stuff), so I understand some of the technical stress of wanting quality to be better.
Even on UA-cam I get comments that, "Some X doesn't work like that" or "they're not supposed to have magic users for X monster". I guess the difference is that people have free time when watching a stream and some of them feel empowered to give direct criticism (constructive or not).
I enjoy these campaign diaries very much and have entertained the thought of doing them for my campaigns sessions for a good while. Your diction is quite good and you have an energetic personality when you're talking. I have to really think about what I'm going to say with a basic script and I get tongue tied with sooo many takes, so doing this proves difficult.
That being said, I'm going to start streaming again soon. Hopefully I'll be able to ignore the fact that we're online, and encourage my players to not listen to the chat. Cheers, great stuff as usual. Sorry for the wall of text, this just resonated with me.
Great video Matt! It sucks streaming didn't work out but it was good while it lasted. Thanks for making helpful and entertaining content!
well we might stream again...
It was a real game, warts and all. I wholeheartedly agree with your defence of your friends and players> I was sad that the technical difficulties made it hard to watch, and very hard for you to DM. I was delighted when The Chain appeared, showing that a variety of real people playing a real game could make absorbing watching. More strength to you. Your stress on creativity, and on the different ways that people can enjoy playing the game, is worthwhile, and encouraging. I am delighted that your material is "out there", and that I can recommend it to anyone who is interested in playing or DMing. Thank you.
I really like the Campaign Diary style you are doing. The enjoyment of listening to you narrating what happened during the game is entertaining, and you still give tips and advice. I really like that because I really can see how the story unfolds. Great stuff.
TBH if you did this as a subscriber I would really consider it.
PS: I bought Stronghold and really think about buying your books in the hope of a narrative style similar to this channel.
Coming back to this after the new stream went up, it's real nice to see that the other stream went better than this one did.
I hope that you're still enjoying doing the other forms of content aside from streaming. I absolutely love the way that we can hear the story from your perspective in the campaign summaries.
The Campaign Diary and DM advice are great! Thanks for getting back to the good stuff
I love the Gibbering Mouther and it is probably my favorite monster. I loved the way you used them for that encounter as well! :D
One of my favorite channels on UA-cam. Thanks for all the tips and info. Currently building my campaign where I will weave a larger story around all the content released from the Wizards of the Coast. Once my DM is done with his run I will take over for him, and thanks to you I'm feeling much more confident about it.
If the campaign diaries aren't too much trouble for you, I love 'em. They're fun and constantly give little tips about DMing and playing to keep in mind. If you can continue these, even if it's not every week, that would be amazing.
You're the best Matt! thank you for making all of this content for us to enjoy
The second bit here is just some back story and thanks, but I have a profound level of respect for your attitudes surrounding content creation, and more importantly in placing your friendships and the those people above any kind of brand you might be building. That takes a distinct strength of character, and I am glad that you made that call.
I'm a "second generation" tabletop gamer, I have many fond memories of lurking at the edge of my parents table as they played hoping that one day they would let me join. As a result, to this day I can sit and enjoy watching other people play video games, board games, and tabletop games. It's not necessarily the game I'm watching, its the people and its just really heartwarming to see people that enjoy each others company come together and do exactly that with a central construct to focus their attention (the game itself). Of course, I have learned a great deal from sitting and watching not only your "Running the Game" but also in watching and comparing style and processes. Every GM is different and I think that's something to be embraced and we all have something to learn from each other I think.
I just wanted to say that while I can certainly tell from watching the youtube replays of your sessions that it was certainly wearing on you, thank you for doing it. I have enjoyed these diaries and while I can utterly sympathize with the growing pains of trying something new without a support staff I still found them enjoyable to listen to while I multi tasked other projects.
I really appreciate the amount of work you put into this!
Fuck the haters Matthew. Thanks for all your tips and what you are doing to share the love of our mutual hobby.
I'm sorry that there were so many people not adding anything constructive to this whole experience. I really appreciate all of your work to get more people involved in D&D so I though I could share a positive story.
Because of this channel I learned to DM and convinced my friends, who now live all over the US, to play. Before we would see each other or talk every few months, but now we are all on video chat every other week for 4+ hours. It has really helped us reconnect. I'm also now just hooked on D&D and always want more so I'm now also helping to DM adventure league nights every week at a local game store.
Thank you Matt
Matt, thanks for how you treat the game and your friends. You've got a great perspective on all of this. It was fun watching you and your friends play, and I learned a lot from watching it live, but you're making the right call.
I love this, I'm so glad you're back, I just did not have the time to watch the streams, but I do mean to sometime. You have a great way of telling a story, it's never boring. I'm engaged and inspired, you're the best.
Hey, I was just watching your railroading vs sandboxing game (which was AMAZING!) But I had to stop and find this one, just to make sure you made it through the pneumonia ok.
I'm really glad to see that you did!
I know I'm late in viewing these diaries, but I think you're group was really awesome and I couldn't find anything wrong with the live video of your sessions. I began with the original redbox set before graduating to AD&D but played 2nd edition the longest. When I was at sea in the Navy my good friend Jeff and several other friends who I still communicate with via Facebook introduced me to 3rd edition and we played for several years. I unfortunately never got into 4th edition but am just now coming back to 5th edition and teaching my wife and son to play. I've never been a DM before so I find your campaign diaries and tips for running the game extremely useful both as fuel for inspiration and as practical advice for running an interesting game. So thank you for all that you do. You're amazing and fun to watch.
Matt, I just want to say your videos have been incredibly helpful to me as a new DM. I appreciate your group streaming your game and exposing themselves -- it was really helpful to see how your game runs, but I never imagined the amount of work and problems that could arise. I'll be watching any content you choose to release. Thanks for everything you do.
Critical Role and Acquisitions Inc. are the only D&D shows I can really watch. I think you're right about it not being a spectator sport, and they're the exceptions.
Depends on the person. I found Matt's stream to be better than AI by quite a bit, but it's more because it was truer to what D&D is in my eyes. Honestly as long as the audio/video isn't cringe-worthy, I think it's fine. I thought the stream was good, but Matt has high standards and it was having a negative effect on his game, so I don't remotely blame him for stopping.
I'd throw the West Marches or really anything itmejp hosts or run by Adam Koebel or Steven Lumpkin onto that list.
You should check Itmejp's stuff with Adam Koebel as DM
Agreed about streaming and Twitch. So much upfront effort and cost. I personally love the recaps, you are in incredible storyteller. I can't imagine playing on camera, I'd play so differently. Anyway, I appreciate whatever you make. Your recaps are better than my games. :P
Hi Matt! For what it's worth, this may be one of my first youtube comments ever. I tend to eschew the comments section given how it can get out of hand too quickly, but I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate what you are doing for us and I wholeheartedly support your cause. Your passion for the game is truly contagious and has been an impetus for me trying my luck at DMing. I tried it only once before, but your enthusiasm has convinced me to give it another shot. Please keep doing the videos, this channel has become by far my favorite subscription. Thanks again!
Just want you to know that this channel has become the only youtube channel I religiously follow because I absolutely love all the content you put out, from your running the game videos to the campaign diary. Thanks so much for this channel and this content you make, and I hope going forward that you don't have to deal with the toxic people on the internet to the extent that it drains your energy and takes some of the fun out of it for you.
i love it when players come up with interesting ways of using spells and abilities like the silence spell. sounds like it was a really terrific session!
Matthew Colville I have watched all your videos over the last 3 months. been playing a long time and i really enjoyed a lot of your tips. I learn and steal from every Dm I watch run. I really hope you keep putting out videos !!
Matt your videos are insightful, full of great ideas, and highly appreciated. You have been a very helpful component, to me running my own DnD games the last several months. Im happy to say I've been able to get both family and friends to join me on my own campaigns, Thanks Again, Keep em' coming.
I feel so bad that you've been having such a hard time with it. I just want to say on behalf of the majority here that we really appreciate all that you do for us!
Thanks for putting in all this effort Matt. I really enjoy the content and hope you don't get too worn out by it all.
I just wanna say "Thank you". You got me DM'ing a simple homebrewn game for people who never roleplayed before and they're all loving it. Keep being awesome.
Thanks for the game summary!
Your reasons for stopping streaming make perfect sense - what's important is that you and your players are happy!
Matt, I really appreciate everything you've made and done for us. I'm also really sorry the internet was garbage to you and your friends - which is even worse as they don't have a platform to defend themselves.
Bummer-inducing stuff is now out of the way. I've DM'd a few times for friends, but they were with vets. I recently ran a game for a vet and two newbies and I used a lot of stuff from what I saw on your videos. It helped me a lot and I really, really want to thank you for all the awesome content you've put out. You gave me the DM itch again; thank you!!!
Even with subscriber-only chat on, the Critical Role Twitch chat is ridiculous.
Subscribers only and slow mode.
Yeah, that slow mode is out to like 5 minute waits now... It's a bummer, but it's entirely necessary.
Any chat really. As the userbase grows, the probablity that there are some douches in it approaches 1.
They have thousands upon thousands of people. What do you expect?
Text-based chat is not built for that. Imagine a couple hundred people talking through eachother in the same room? Its unmanageable. Now amplify that and give everyone a megaphone.
4Head EleGiggle
The live streams took a long time to watch through, and I enjoyed them, but agree that if the live stream is distracting you from DM functions, then I wholeheartedly agree that you give your best to your game friends, and we still benefit from these Campaign Diary recaps. :) Thank you Matt.
Happy to hear more of your stories of DnD!
Oh yes, Balathothormog, patron of the Mine of Phlapdoodle.
hmmmmmm PHLAP TOODLE DOODLE
Wow, I rarely have actual Laugh out Loud moments. You got me with "professionally charming people". Thank you Matt, for all you do. This channel is so fun and does give me new and good ideas to bring to my game table. (high five)
Thank you for all you've done on this channel. As someone who is trying to become a better GM, I've found it invaluable. Please keep it up! (:
Totally understand your frustration. Thx for the work you do. New to dnd and was asked to DM for a group, use your videos to get better.
Another great campaign diary! I always love these, gives me a ton of great ideas and they're sorta like a lil movie. Keep it up!
Matt, thanks for continuing to do the recaps....I'm definitely enjoying the story of the campaign regardless if it watched lived or recaped. I can definitely understand the frustrations with the live stream, but know we're going to watch whatever content you put out.
You are the pro, strange but this type of content got my sub. There is a lot of guys streaming or giving advice in a better format that you, however only you sir tell the story like this. I love it, make me want to buy your books. Amazing!!
Hey dude, I'm a first time DM and your series' have been immeasurably helpful to help shine a light on an actual D&D game. I love Critical Role, don't get me wrong, but I feel it doesn't accurately reflect the normal game. So, I really, really appreciate your help on this. Thank you!
Matt, I'm one of the MANY that is grateful for your channel. You've pushed me to DM again in life. You've also taught me to be patient with my players. Haters gonna hate. Love you, brother.
I have been watching your videos and i actually skipped the live recordings. I love this one on one feel we get from your video. The way you speak and and describe things is fantastic.
I'm sorry to hear the twitch chat expedition didn't play out as you were hoping. I sincerely hope none of your players were negatively affected by the experience, or discouraged in any way. As a DM who has struggled to help players open up at the table, I understand how difficult that can be.
I never did check out the twitch channel, pretty much for the reasons you cited, 4 - 5 hours *watching* people play doesn't sound like my cup of tea. Getting to listen to these diaries, however, how you handled situations, how players reacted, what you planned, summaries. That, to me, is very valuable, and I appreciate you sharing these with us.
So happy you used the firestorm peak map
Love the map, adventure is cool too
My heart broke for you hearing that there were scumbags that felt the need to degrade your friends and players just so they could feel something inside. Your channel is absolutely everything I could possibly want in a D&D channel. Thank you for all of your hard work.
I'm supper cool with this! more of you talking in front of the camera is definitely what I want. I would rather hear about the campaign in this format. Keep up the good work matthew!
Hey Matt, just watching through campaign diaries and i wanted to throw out a shout to you all. Go on with your bad selves. You are all awesome.
Excellent! For a while I thought I had lost the very thing that I liked so much about these diaries; an inside view of the politics and intrigue as well as an exploration of possible outcomes in your fascinating games. I like the style of these videos. The streams were not what I was looking for. Your summaries are much better for me and there is something unique about them. I look forward to hearing more.
48 minutes?! Yayy lets to this!
omg! this made my crummy morning so much better.
yes man, it was like having breakfast with Matt in real life
I watched all of the twitch streams over the last 2 days, at 1.5x speed so I could get it all in. I loved watching you guys play, but I understand completely why you stopped, just don't stop giving us the campaign diaries please.
Loved the Jerry reaction. Fits for so much internet commenting.
My good man - ignore the evil monkeys online.
You are doing a bang up job. I haven't played D&D for years and you absolutely rekindled my love for the game!
Keep it up! : )
I am sorry that the internet sucks. I hope that you are feeling better after stopping streaming. I enjoyed watching you guys. If you go back to streaming I will watch again. Thanks for the good times and I will continue to watch this in the lead up to me running my first game. :)
Balathamog? Sap-suck-a-frog? Three yaks and a dog?
Susan?
Great video series, and especially like seeing Shogun in the background, great game!
Hey Matt,
I think you're awesome! I really enjoy your videos. I have fun just watching you talk; I don't usually watch videos that are longer than 10 minutes, but I've watched almost every single video you put out. You seem like an awesome person, and you've reinvigorated my interest in Dungeons & Dragons. I hope you make videos for a very long time.
Thank you for the Streams. I really liked seeing you guys play and made me thinking about may be try starting a group at work.
I believe in the "Silent Majority" who enjoy watching, and rarely comment. I think you're making the best call for your friends and your enjoyment. Thanks for the videos Matt! I spent an afternoon trying to trace out each of your parties and their paths (Ruby Knight, TRSoQA, RV, SoA). It was solving a mystery trying to understand all the overlapping threads between each (Lady S, Sir R the Chill).
I did enjoy the streams, but I am glad to see the Campaign Diaries return. I understand 100% why you want to stop the streams, and perhaps if you return at a later date many of the issues will be resolved. I still think the World Building streams work very well, though Collabris is near completion. Well done for giving it a shot.
I do believe D&D can be, as you say, a "spectator sport", but every game of D&D is different. The flow can be dramatically altered session to session, player to player. I've been watching High Rollers recently and have loved it, but I watch it "offline" on UA-cam as I did with your streams. I agree that it is unlike other Twitch content because you cannot have that live interaction with the streamers which is "the juice" of the streaming experience.
What i really like about Matt is that addresses and confronts the people that were cancer. This says a tremendous amount about Matt's character. That he stand up for what he believes in and also protects his friends.
With Respect - Rax
You are a great man you do this for everyone. I enjoy your videos and thank you and your awesome friends for trying hard for everyone. Thank you guys, seriously, thank you for doing the streams I really enjoyed all of them. You guys are amazing. BTW Gertz ur amazing being an introvert and being extroverted I loved watching him have so much fun.
Well said Matt. You honestly said what needed to be said. Also I enjoy the episodic recaps more than the streams. Keep up the excellent D&D vids! Thankyou
I laughed out loud when you portrayed the mesmerized players. fantastic!
Hey Matt! Glad to see a new diary. I know streaming was probably easier but I really dont have to time to watch 3-5 hours of it. I absolutely love your content in this style. Not that you shouldnt stream of course. Just that Im glad to see more of THIS over that.
As for the negativity. Thats what ive heard from many content creators. You simply have to figure out a way to handle it, or just ignore ANY incoming communication. I dont want you to become like some people and give up content creation because of 10% of people.
Youre one of the best content creators on youtube. :)
I agree wholeheartedly with you about the stream. I enjoyed the first two and then began losing interest, not because it wasn't interesting, but because I preferred the "Running the Game" and "Campaign Diaries" much more. I love those episodes very much. I believe the reason is because you exude the love you have for the game in them and it's very infectious. Thank you very much for sharing your campaign with us. Thank you for sharing the tips and tricks you have with us as well. I've been unable to read very much of the copy of Priest I bought but I'm hopeful to be able to finish it on vacation in October. I've been running games since the mid to late 80s and sometimes you get in a DM rut and seeing other DMs and how they react really helps break you out of your shell. Not to mention you're reaching a whole new generation of gamers. Once again Thank you.
Thank you for all your hard work!
With this explanation, I fully respect why you stopped streaming... Your goal was never to run a streaming DnD game, so when all these technical issues cropped up, there was no incentive to continue as opposed to going back to running the game you like to run after giving us a peek. Thank you very much for all the effort you put into giving us a peek into your games!
Actually i have watched them all. I learned a lot from this experience thank you for your time!
I see that Zombicide in the background you have! Such a fun game! Also a good primer for DnD combat. Playing that with friends helped get us rolling on doing the D&D group that I'm now DMing.
thanks for the videos, I love watching them especially in this form and find them very helpful running a game for my kids (the princess game).
Matt, thank you for all that you do. Seriously.
These diary reviews are my favorite! Keep 'em coming, good kind sir.
Also, watching this video while listening to Tangerine Dreams from your playlist was highly enjoyable. Maybe you will put music to your diary... eh?