Great interview. I find it fascinating how the same generation (I’m around the same age) have such similiar experiences even though we are 12,000 km apart. Fascinating.
24:40 This is absolutely true for dungeon crawling. If someone tells me they are running a pure dungeon crawl in a TTRPG...... I can just go play Diablo.
Video game expectations also affect just organizing RPG groups, especially among the 5e type gamers, where the game is not part of a social group and kind of an obligation if you make the commitment but something that’s just an entertainment option. It makes organizing groups as a GM really frustrating. That and the expectations of “being like Critical Role” if players have seen that and bring that to a game.
Excellent interview. Near the end when he offhandedly says the ogre will let them passed if they just offer a couple sheep. I suddenly thought of Team A paying the sheep, and then Team B tries to pay more sheep to let them passed but to hinder Team A. And now the ogres on the first layer of the dungeon are the subject of a bidding war between both parties, which is slowly escalating to near ludacris proportions.
My only regret in life is not learning about dnd till I was like 25 and playing my first game at about 29 or 30. I was in boarding school for 10 years, almost no TV, no PC, DnD would've been so good for little HjalmartheThimbleboy
You guys perfectly summed up why I too love linear fighter/ quadratic wizard. I have always thought that complaint or argument was ridiculous on the face of it. Awesome video, love hearing from folks in the community! ETA: Wanted to comment on group dynamic and differences in playstyle: our group has a couple 60+ year old dudes, me at 41, and then we've got a spread of mid-twenties to mid-thirties players. I find I have the most fun interacting and playing with the older guys in the group. Less headache setting fun character moments up, not as many hoops to jump through, I know they'll be there next week to continue the action/plot idea.... its just more fun and I get MORE gaming for my time when I play with older gamers. The younger guys.... miss sessions a lot (not a huge deal in and of itself, but these are flaking-noshows) and once when we were all talking about maybe getting a second campaign going, the whole x-card thing was brought up and I just.... nah, not doing it. I'll take fun D&D with two other guys over a table of 6 with a thousand invisible lines I can't cross.
Things were changing before the Hickmans. They were talented and led the way into a new playstyle, but if not them then someone else would have done it. Most of TSR's employees were new at the time and young and not at all steeped in the Wisconsin war gaming culture. People were coming into the hobby left and right because of its notoriety and because of stuff like Conan the Barbarian movie, etc who had no experience and no INTEREST in war gaming. I think the pull towards the playstyle that Hickman is credited with kicking off was inevitable. It might have taken a little longer to crystallize without the Hickmans, but it had to happen because the whole hobby population just about was pulling that way anyway. And the success of other games with a different focus, like Call of Cthulhu, made it inevitable too. Graeme Davis said that in particular CoC had been popular in Britain, and the mandate he was given when writing The Enemy Within campaign was an investigative campaign with no dungeon crawling and a reduced focus on violence for a fantasy setting. It's fascinating to me that in their market, that's already what early Games Workshop saw as where the market was.
I get these guys' criticism that tabletop games are almost like video games, but the social aspect of the game still matters. I could play Warhammer or Chess against a computer, but I still have more fun playing those games against real people. I don't see anything wrong with tabletop games that have lots of crunch.
Great interview, but I'm commenting about the production. Your set, lighting, camera, sound, and directing are all top notch. Is this your regular studio environment or was this just a special thing for this particular interview?
Great interview. I find it fascinating how the same generation (I’m around the same age) have such similiar experiences even though we are 12,000 km apart. Fascinating.
24:40 This is absolutely true for dungeon crawling. If someone tells me they are running a pure dungeon crawl in a TTRPG...... I can just go play Diablo.
THANK YOU
Video game expectations also affect just organizing RPG groups, especially among the 5e type gamers, where the game is not part of a social group and kind of an obligation if you make the commitment but something that’s just an entertainment option. It makes organizing groups as a GM really frustrating. That and the expectations of “being like Critical Role” if players have seen that and bring that to a game.
This interview is wonderful. Thanks for doing this! Temple of Elemental Evil is no joke, btw. I'm loving it.
Thanks! Spencer will be back on again in the future
Black Lodge Games, I loved this video so much, I had to hit the like button!
Excellent interview.
Near the end when he offhandedly says the ogre will let them passed if they just offer a couple sheep.
I suddenly thought of Team A paying the sheep, and then Team B tries to pay more sheep to let them passed but to hinder Team A.
And now the ogres on the first layer of the dungeon are the subject of a bidding war between both parties, which is slowly escalating to near ludacris proportions.
My only regret in life is not learning about dnd till I was like 25 and playing my first game at about 29 or 30. I was in boarding school for 10 years, almost no TV, no PC, DnD would've been so good for little HjalmartheThimbleboy
You guys perfectly summed up why I too love linear fighter/ quadratic wizard. I have always thought that complaint or argument was ridiculous on the face of it. Awesome video, love hearing from folks in the community!
ETA: Wanted to comment on group dynamic and differences in playstyle: our group has a couple 60+ year old dudes, me at 41, and then we've got a spread of mid-twenties to mid-thirties players. I find I have the most fun interacting and playing with the older guys in the group. Less headache setting fun character moments up, not as many hoops to jump through, I know they'll be there next week to continue the action/plot idea.... its just more fun and I get MORE gaming for my time when I play with older gamers. The younger guys.... miss sessions a lot (not a huge deal in and of itself, but these are flaking-noshows) and once when we were all talking about maybe getting a second campaign going, the whole x-card thing was brought up and I just.... nah, not doing it. I'll take fun D&D with two other guys over a table of 6 with a thousand invisible lines I can't cross.
Glass Canon was my 1st level fighter with 2 HP.
Things were changing before the Hickmans. They were talented and led the way into a new playstyle, but if not them then someone else would have done it. Most of TSR's employees were new at the time and young and not at all steeped in the Wisconsin war gaming culture. People were coming into the hobby left and right because of its notoriety and because of stuff like Conan the Barbarian movie, etc who had no experience and no INTEREST in war gaming. I think the pull towards the playstyle that Hickman is credited with kicking off was inevitable. It might have taken a little longer to crystallize without the Hickmans, but it had to happen because the whole hobby population just about was pulling that way anyway. And the success of other games with a different focus, like Call of Cthulhu, made it inevitable too. Graeme Davis said that in particular CoC had been popular in Britain, and the mandate he was given when writing The Enemy Within campaign was an investigative campaign with no dungeon crawling and a reduced focus on violence for a fantasy setting. It's fascinating to me that in their market, that's already what early Games Workshop saw as where the market was.
25:20 my experience with genz is that they expect an analogue video game in D&D.
From a distance the thumbnail from this video made spencer look a little bit like sandy peterson.... haha
I get these guys' criticism that tabletop games are almost like video games, but the social aspect of the game still matters. I could play Warhammer or Chess against a computer, but I still have more fun playing those games against real people. I don't see anything wrong with tabletop games that have lots of crunch.
i always go for a guy who uses magic and is good with a sword, ready to tackle any situation like a boss
Ya boy done played some games
You guys are in ATX? Wtf!?! Me too
Austin aka little California
Texans have no concept of how bad California and New York are. Austin is nothing like them.
if you're scared of the guy with the rocket launcher this job might not be right for you kid.
Great interview, but I'm commenting about the production. Your set, lighting, camera, sound, and directing are all top notch. Is this your regular studio environment or was this just a special thing for this particular interview?
We are spending some money each month to rent a studio for the podcast. Livestream and other content is done elsewhere
@@blacklodgegames Nicely done; that location looks very professional. Not that I don't enjoy when you guys are just sitting on the couch LoL
It's just a prank bro
2nd ed best ed, fite me