I decided to dip my toe in this after not really clicking with Critical Role and I like it! I started with Fantasy High season one?
It feels edited, which thank God I do not have time for three hour episodes like CR.
Just did the character introductions and I like it.
Critical role is way more dense yeah. D20 can get phatboys but they dont usually feel that long
I think a lot of that is the difference between professional comedians versus professional actors. It's really rare for D20 to go more than 10-15 minutes without some sort of comedic bit thrown in, even in super serious situations. But at the same time they very rarely outstay their welcome or actually undercut the seriousness.
And the recurring bits add a whole new level of meta absurdist humor across the various campaigns, even if not directly story related (IE - Ally always having insane Nat 20 roleplaying rolls).
I decided to dip my toe in this after not really clicking with Critical Role and I like it! I started with Fantasy High season one?
It feels edited, which thank God I do not have time for three hour episodes like CR.
Just did the character introductions and I like it.
Critical role is way more dense yeah. D20 can get phatboys but they dont usually feel that long
I think a lot of that is the difference between professional comedians versus professional actors. It's really rare for D20 to go more than 10-15 minutes without some sort of comedic bit thrown in, even in super serious situations. But at the same time they very rarely outstay their welcome or actually undercut the seriousness.
Two episodes in and Thousandaires feels underwhelming. Vic and Lisa's choices have been the only ones that really worked for me. Most of the others were either just funny ideas in theory that ended up being a bit dull or things that were probably fun to do but not to actually watch.
The Smartypants Society has been better. Most of the presentations have had some solid laughs, and only a couple have felt a bit flat. Very much looking forward to Paul F. Tompkins giving his talk.
The only one that fell flat for me was Raph, because he fell in that crater between 'hyperbolic version of myself' and 'character'. He didn't commit to being fully the character and it just kind of fell apart.
The second half of Ratfish dropped, and my baffled side-eye to the camera after the reveal of who the Ratfish was continued this week as nothing that person did seemed very funny, and their decisions felt mostly arbitrary. He felt entirely detached from the vibe of the rest of the cast. Real downer nerd energy, which is wildly at odds with the jazz hands theatre kid optimism of most of the cast.
Kind of iffy on this Gamechanger finale, I think. Splitting everyone up and having them be alone and interacting only through the screen began to drag for me by the end. Compared to the rollercoaster of emotion and laughs in, for example, Sam Says 3, it felt under-par, especially for how difficult and costly it must have been to set up.
Also the way they determined the winner seemed like they really robbed second place, who guessed everyone correctly a whole round earlier. The point of the game was to guess who everyone was, but the winner was the person who did that second but made the artwork the unfunny guest no one knew the identity of liked the most? Kinda lame.
I really wanted a reaction reveal from the cast when they saw who the ratfish was and not getting that felt like it really sucked some air out the whole thing.
I think avoiding the reaction reveal was a kindness to the contestants; I'd hate to have to watch them grimace their way through trying to pretend that the person playing the ratfish was in any way shape or form funny or worthwhile or a good choice. Ugh.
+4
MonwynApathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime.A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered Userregular
The second half of Ratfish dropped, and my baffled side-eye to the camera after the reveal of who the Ratfish was continued this week as nothing that person did seemed very funny, and their decisions felt mostly arbitrary.
Extremely on-brand for that guy
Legitimately never understood how he got a following
The second half of Ratfish dropped, and my baffled side-eye to the camera after the reveal of who the Ratfish was continued this week as nothing that person did seemed very funny, and their decisions felt mostly arbitrary.
Extremely on-brand for that guy
Legitimately never understood how he got a following
I'm not a fan of Tim and Eric but they are absolutely massive producers now and I feel like having one of them in the dropout sphere is a good thing for the platform overall
I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
I think Ratfish mostly sucked. It was long and boring in that it robbed me of what I come to the show for - a bunch of friends who genuinely love one another try to make each other laugh. When you lose that connection the whole thing falls apart.
I liked ratfish. I think the guest wasn't like, that interesting, but the whole concept was fun to me. They did a great job with the characters and seeing them all roleplay and deduct and game each other was cool. I think you still got that fondness for each other through this, since so much of it is them trying to piece together like, the senses of humor and connect them to their friends. And you still had them making jokes for each other.
+5
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Yes it wasnt my favorite game, but i applaud them for constantly trying new stuff. Still a great season overall.
I'm a bit behind, but I have to say I thought the second episode of Thousandaires was better than the first. Only Teo's seemed kind of not aimed at being funny for the people watching, while his and a couple of the first episode bits seemed more aimed at the players. Which good for them, but not as a good for a show.
I turned off today's edition of Um Actually when one of the guests said "I've only ever watched one horror movie, and it's the one I'm in". The episode today is horror themed.
I want to see picky nerds fighting to achieve supremacy, not people playing pin the tail on the um actually donkey!
I turned off today's edition of Um Actually when one of the guests said "I've only ever watched one horror movie, and it's the one I'm in". The episode today is horror themed.
I want to see picky nerds fighting to achieve supremacy, not people playing pin the tail on the um actually donkey!
Yeah, I like the themed episodes, but they have to do a much better job of vetting the contestants to really dive into stuff, as well as adjust the shiny questions going forward. Not being able to follow along with half of those is a real turn off. But it does feel like the show itself is less...cutthroat? Hostile? this season, and the laid back vibe doesn't mesh with the premise of pedantic minutia.
On the flip side, the Kids TV/New Moms episode was fucking great, because it was obvious that the contestants actually knew and cared about the shows referenced, and wanted to win. But, it really seems like this season skewed more towards "what minor celebs can we get on, and let them chill and maybe answer some questions" and less "here's all our statements/questions, which of the Dropout crew and friends can we get that maybe has a shot of knowing this shit".
I turned off today's edition of Um Actually when one of the guests said "I've only ever watched one horror movie, and it's the one I'm in". The episode today is horror themed.
I want to see picky nerds fighting to achieve supremacy, not people playing pin the tail on the um actually donkey!
All three contestants starting the show by going "fuck your format we're doing an improv show instead" was a bad sign and it only got worse. I like all three of those people but this episode should never have aired, or should have been heavily edited
0
ButtersA glass of some milksRegistered Userregular
edited June 19
In a vacuum the ratfish was fine even though I agree with most of the critiques of it in this thread. I think the real problem is using it as a mediocre close for what was otherwise a very strong season of Game Changer.
In a vacuum the ratfish was fine even though I agree with most of the critiques of it in this thread. I think the real problem is using it as a mediocre close for what was otherwise a very strong season of Game Changer.
Same. It felt like a high concept on paper that didn't deliver on camera. I thought Eric Wareheim did a good job as the ratfish, but by the middle of the second episode it seemed like everyone, including the ratfish, was kind of over it, and then the cast started looking to do dumb improv bits over the chat rather than play the game.
I know this season was especially taxing on the crew, so maybe the goal here was to give them a break at the end of the season?
The Dropout presents starts off with a bang with Hank Green. It's very Mike Birbiglia, deeply personal story-based comedy, and I'm totally here for it.
+1
Lord Palingtonhe.him.hisHistory-loving pal!Registered Userregular
The only thing that was disappointing about the Smarty Pants episode is that the website Zach Reino put into his presentation just goes to the main DropOut page.
Other than that, absolute classic, loved every second!
I'm loving the concept immediately of "Jumanji, but in 80s action movies". The cast is having SO much fun switching between the Real World personas and the Badass 80s Action Hero personas. I also love that it's over an hour before the first die roll. The storyboards are great and thematic and add a lot to the GM descriptions. The Blue and Yellow stripes on the dome are so great at evoking that Blockbuster video feeling. Apparently, Lake Elsinore is a real city in California? I thought it was an anagram for something.
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But for real, congrats, that's so cool!
Critical role is way more dense yeah. D20 can get phatboys but they dont usually feel that long
I think a lot of that is the difference between professional comedians versus professional actors. It's really rare for D20 to go more than 10-15 minutes without some sort of comedic bit thrown in, even in super serious situations. But at the same time they very rarely outstay their welcome or actually undercut the seriousness.
And the recurring bits add a whole new level of meta absurdist humor across the various campaigns, even if not directly story related (IE - Ally always having insane Nat 20 roleplaying rolls).
Every single time a very dramatic thing happens and they're like "cake explodes across the ramparts" or whatever it's newly funny.
Blimey!
"THE PRICE MUST BE PAID" is still one of the best scenes in all of D20
Like they got clerics in this universe yall! He didn't have to do that!
The Smartypants Society has been better. Most of the presentations have had some solid laughs, and only a couple have felt a bit flat. Very much looking forward to Paul F. Tompkins giving his talk.
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Kind of iffy on this Gamechanger finale, I think. Splitting everyone up and having them be alone and interacting only through the screen began to drag for me by the end. Compared to the rollercoaster of emotion and laughs in, for example, Sam Says 3, it felt under-par, especially for how difficult and costly it must have been to set up.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
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But then there's that evil laugh...
Extremely on-brand for that guy
Legitimately never understood how he got a following
I'm not a fan of Tim and Eric but they are absolutely massive producers now and I feel like having one of them in the dropout sphere is a good thing for the platform overall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gnnFVRlucg
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I want to see picky nerds fighting to achieve supremacy, not people playing pin the tail on the um actually donkey!
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Yeah, I like the themed episodes, but they have to do a much better job of vetting the contestants to really dive into stuff, as well as adjust the shiny questions going forward. Not being able to follow along with half of those is a real turn off. But it does feel like the show itself is less...cutthroat? Hostile? this season, and the laid back vibe doesn't mesh with the premise of pedantic minutia.
On the flip side, the Kids TV/New Moms episode was fucking great, because it was obvious that the contestants actually knew and cared about the shows referenced, and wanted to win. But, it really seems like this season skewed more towards "what minor celebs can we get on, and let them chill and maybe answer some questions" and less "here's all our statements/questions, which of the Dropout crew and friends can we get that maybe has a shot of knowing this shit".
All three contestants starting the show by going "fuck your format we're doing an improv show instead" was a bad sign and it only got worse. I like all three of those people but this episode should never have aired, or should have been heavily edited
Same. It felt like a high concept on paper that didn't deliver on camera. I thought Eric Wareheim did a good job as the ratfish, but by the middle of the second episode it seemed like everyone, including the ratfish, was kind of over it, and then the cast started looking to do dumb improv bits over the chat rather than play the game.
I know this season was especially taxing on the crew, so maybe the goal here was to give them a break at the end of the season?
I think Eric Wareheim is incredibly underwhelming for a guest but I didn't think he did poorly.
Would have liked to see both billboards at the end, not just the winner's.
Other than that, absolute classic, loved every second!
FFXIV: Tchel Fay
Nintendo ID: Tortalius
Steam: Tortalius
Stream: twitch.tv/tortalius
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Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I'm looking forward to watching this every week.