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I really miss the times before my brotherly pals at MBMBaM decided to make a dungeons and dragons podcast.
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Mar 23, 2018 02:25
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Ariong posted:I haven’t listened to the latest Dust (thanks for the spoilers btw) but I’m curious what exactly you’re looking for in this. What I’m looking for is a story created by four people woth one bringing the setting and the others instigating the action. Dust was great for that, because every event was a direct result of something the players decided to do. It's everything. There is literally not one element that I don't think Amnesty didn't crush Dust in, and certainly Commitment. It had my favorite party, it had the most interesting fights (compare the finale of Amnesty to the finale of Dust or Commitment and it is quite obvious who is used to designing encounters and who isn't), and it had the best jokes. And that's what I want: a good story, with neat characters/setting with goofs and cool fights for color. Yes, it took quite awhile for the party to meet up... but as a result of that we actually got character development from all of them and it all came together in what felt like a more organic fashion. And if they continued Amnesty, that problem wouldn't exist since they're, ya know, a party now. Like yeah, okay, Dust was more freeform, but few of the freeform events were actually very interesting, so why does that matter?
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Mar 23, 2018 02:33
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i liked the characters the most in dust but thought the final fight suffered from the same mechanical problems as griffin's game did, in the sense that the players' actions in combat don't feel like they have real consequences also, i apparently really like having a turn order.
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Mar 23, 2018 03:03
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Mar 23, 2018 03:10
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Deeters posted:I also felt like Dust had a few more jokes than Amnesty. Well Dust had the characters actually interacting with each other.
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Mar 23, 2018 03:11
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Rodyle posted:It's everything. There is literally not one element that I don't think Amnesty didn't crush Dust in, and certainly Commitment. It had my favorite party, it had the most interesting fights (compare the finale of Amnesty to the finale of Dust or Commitment and it is quite obvious who is used to designing encounters and who isn't), and it had the best jokes. And that's what I want: a good story, with neat characters/setting with goofs and cool fights for color. Yes, it took quite awhile for the party to meet up... but as a result of that we actually got character development from all of them and it all came together in what felt like a more organic fashion. And if they continued Amnesty, that problem wouldn't exist since they're, ya know, a party now. See, I don’t remember ANY goofs from Amnesty. At all! I’m also not so sure about character development. Maybe I l’m not very good at reading between the lines, but I never really got a sense of who Ned was, for example. That was the main reason why the characters not being together for a long time bothered me. Each one-on-one segment robs on-screen time from the other two. The combat was more interesting though. I might be okay with Amnesty getting picked up if Griffin gives the others some more freedom, and I think he would. In any case, I have a feeling that whatever Justin brings to the table is going to blow everything else out of the water. Current rankings: -Dust -Commitment (I think I liked this one more than most.) -Amnesty
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Mar 23, 2018 03:16
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The ending was a bit of a mess but I really hope they pick Dust to continue with. I think the smaller scale of weird poo poo happening in a frontier town is vastly preferable to yet another secret society saving the world, and there's a lot that's been hinted at but not seen directly so far. It's got a lot of potential and I've got faith that Travis can grow into a strong storyteller.
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Mar 23, 2018 03:45
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I just finished Dust, it is by far my favorite mini-arc. I loved the mystery (who solved it before the players did? Because I sure didn't), loved the setting, and I loved the characters. The more serious setting didn't hamper the jokes (ghost cashews), and also allowed for some great speeches (all those years in community theater are really paying off). REEAAAAALLY hope they pick this one.
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Mar 23, 2018 04:17
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The final boss did feel abrupt but I think two things happened: 1) the boys found the clues and figured it out maybe 1 episode faster than Travis planned and 2) Griffin released the other fur maybe wasn't something Travis thought would happen so fast either It is also easy to forget that these arcs are also just first chapters in perhaps larger stories. The boss in Dust wasn't the big-bad of the series. He was a "Magic Brian". Easily knocked of the ledge to finish chapter one.
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Mar 23, 2018 04:20
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I can forgive Dusts flaws cause Travis hasn't done this as much, Amnestys biggest problem is that Griffin should know better than to make the errors he did
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Mar 23, 2018 04:33
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Haven't been able to listen to the Dust finale yet but I say it needs to continue so Errol can suplex the Banshee through the Spanish announcer's table
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Mar 23, 2018 04:45
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Okay just finished the Dust finale and I gotta say, I don’t mind the way the final encounter went down at all! That wasn’t Travis pulling a deus ex machina out of nowhere, it was Griffin making creative use of the environment. The only complaint I have is that the NPC dialogue could stand to be trimmed a bit; I found myself kinda going “okay, we get it...” while Connors was explaining his motivation. Also I didn’t get much out of the Blackwells finding out about Jeremiah, but that mainly comes down to the fact that we never got around to meeting them before.
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Mar 23, 2018 05:09
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Was I the only one that burst out laughing when Connors said "I thought you'd be here tomorrow"?
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Mar 23, 2018 05:22
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if dust didn't hook me in episode 1, is it not for me or is it another commitment where it was weird at the start, but the last chunk of the story takes a hard turn and gets real good?
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Mar 23, 2018 07:01
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Rodyle posted:Yes what a thrilling role playing game it was too, especially the part where they did nearly nothing interesting for 3 episodes straight and the 4th episode had an NPC finish off the boss. 
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Mar 23, 2018 07:23
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I was happy with the final confrontation. Dust is definitely my favourite thing TAZ has done in a long time. If you gave me the elevator pitch for each one I would have said that the crypto one was more my jam, but having listened to them all I'm definitely down for dust. Looking forward to Three Sherlocks and a Baby. Tears In A Vial fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Mar 23, 2018 |
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Mar 23, 2018 08:57
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Tears In A Vial posted:I was happy with the final confrontation. Dust is definitely my favourite thing TAZ has done in a long time. If you gave me the elevator pitch for each one I would have said that the crypto one was more my jam, but having listened to them all I'm definitely down for dust. And the baby is also a Moriarty
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Mar 23, 2018 09:04
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Improbable Lobster posted:Keeping the party seperated for more than one episode was a really really big mistake IMHO keeping them separated basically the whole time even more so. i honestly can't recall any of them talking to someone who wasn't griffin, or themself in justin's case. like i know they did, but what little they did was just not particularly memorable.
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Mar 23, 2018 10:37
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I'm having trouble seeing how Dust would play out as a full season. If the setting would be kept and the gang would be going through wacky hijinks in the spooky old west, it might be entertaining since the characters seems to be the most fleshed out of the mini arcs. If the concept of the mini arc is kept and they only solve murder mysteries for a whole season I'm afraid that it might get a bit stale. As I see it, both Commitment and Amnesty has worlds that fits more for fleshing out different types of encounters. On the other hand, I have no understanding of the systems they use, so it could be possible that Dust has just scraped the surface of what it could be, but whatever happens I'm excited for a full length campaign with McElroy goofs no matter which story they go with.
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Mar 23, 2018 12:49
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Run Ammesty but give the GM role to Travis, problem solved no not really
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Mar 23, 2018 15:00
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Chiming in to say that Balance started off with "Here there be Gerblins", which was nearly inconsequential to the future of that arc. I wouldn't worry about how the story would continue.
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Mar 23, 2018 15:14
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You posted:I'm having trouble seeing how Dust would play out as a full season. If the setting would be kept and the gang would be going through wacky hijinks in the spooky old west, it might be entertaining since the characters seems to be the most fleshed out of the mini arcs. If the concept of the mini arc is kept and they only solve murder mysteries for a whole season I'm afraid that it might get a bit stale. Yeah how could three mercenaries killing the sheriff possibly lead to dramatic stories? Truly, not even the most skilled writer could wring drama from this. If only there were some external factors like powerful families, a crime syndicate, supernatural villains, a politician with a motive, SOMETHING that could reasonably propel the plot. Unfortunately our heroes' alibis are airtight and the story can never continue.
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Mar 23, 2018 15:49
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i reckon the best decision would be to leave these characters aside and move the game into the city mentioned at the end, which is more proper territory for an urban shadows game i think dust was the best of the arcs and travis seems to have a real good grasp of how to run the game. the only time i think he noticeably messed up was in the last session when he called for a roll from the PCs before they had described their actions. generally you're supposed to let the rolls flow from the fiction but coming from a D&D background you can still slip up. didn't impact the fun of the session, though, which is really all that matters
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Mar 23, 2018 16:00
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Serf posted:i reckon the best decision would be to leave these characters aside and move the game into the city mentioned at the end, which is more proper territory for an urban shadows game I feel like it was the guys doing it before he could stop them in most instances, rather than him asking for a roll before asking for a description. I don't really blame him if it's the former, because we run into that problem with our D&D sessions ourselves, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that it's technically supposed to go describe then roll. If it's Travis asking for it, that's a bit different, but I can kind of forgive it for him being a first-time GM in a new system. I really, really liked Dust, and I honestly hope they stick with it. I get what Rodyle is saying about Amnesty, because it's certainly something that could have some potential, because the story and setting are decently interesting, but I feel like Dust was stronger in basically every way in what I'm looking for. The distinction I think I'd make is that I think Amnesty would be a pretty decent monthly, semi-improvised radio play, where they all meet up before and collaborate on the story in full, and then just read what they wrote. Dust showed its strength better as an actual role playing game, though, and I would prefer they go with that. Commitment's somewhere in the middle, where I liked Clint as a GM, but just didn't care much for his setting or at all for any of the boys' characters.
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Mar 23, 2018 16:11
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Still haven't listened to the finale and there is definitely stuff to like about Dust, but I just find the setting, story, and NPCs to be boring and rote. If they choose this as the arc I hope Travis leaves behind his desire to keep it grounded and gritty - that approach makes for kind of dull listening imo. I wouldn't be mad if Amnesty was the choice though. The ideal setup would be to have an experienced fifth person GM so that the four of them could play together.
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Mar 23, 2018 16:11
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I've been listening to Not Another D&D Podcast recently. One of the hosts is Caldwell from Drawfee (the YouTube series on which Griffin and Justin designed a board game that one time), who I was already familiar with, and its only like eight episodes deep, so there wasn't all this lore to catch up with. It's a pretty standard dnd setup (I guess, I've never played), and it's scratching an itch that TAZ no longer does. The hosts need to calm down a little, but it's a new show so I guess they'll find their groove.
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Mar 23, 2018 16:34
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TAZ is not scratching the itch right now, but I have faith that once they get going it will be good again. These mini-arcs with their starts and stops are kind of hard listening almost by design because they serve the many purposes of the boys learning a new game, a new setting, creating new characters with backstories and motivations, and somewhere in there making goofs and being funny all in the span of four episodes - and then starting over again. Being free wheeling and funny has definitely taken a back seat to the other purposes, but I think this is temporary. E: If I had to second guess them, I'd say they were overthinking things by doing these mini-arcs. Balance grew organically out of what was initially a lark, and there's no reason they couldn't have spun gold out of whatever game they decided to play next. The magic isn't in the game - it was inside the McElroys all along... Colonel Whitey fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Mar 23, 2018 |
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Mar 23, 2018 16:40
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Colonel Whitey posted:E: If I had to second guess them, I'd say they were overthinking things by doing these mini-arcs. Balance grew organically out of what was initially a lark, and there's no reason they couldn't have spun gold out of whatever game they decided to play next. The magic isn't in the game - it was inside the McElroys all along... I think it was less about testing new systems and more about testing how the others felt about running a game without having to commit to an entire series for it. Like, not just saying "Travis is going to GM this next one!", but saying "Hey, here's what it'd be like if Travis GM'd, let's see how he and you feel about it!" Also, if you're looking for more goof-centric D&D with people who still don't seem to have learned the game, check out Dragon Friends which has been recommended in this thread before. I'm a recent convert, but it's really scratching my TAZ itch.
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Mar 23, 2018 16:47
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You posted:I'm having trouble seeing how Dust would play out as a full season. If the setting would be kept and the gang would be going through wacky hijinks in the spooky old west, it might be entertaining since the characters seems to be the most fleshed out of the mini arcs. If the concept of the mini arc is kept and they only solve murder mysteries for a whole season I'm afraid that it might get a bit stale. This adventure absolutely set up the potential for a full season. It ends with the gang killing the sheriff and becoming the law in a lawless town with lots of scoundrels and feuding factions in it, there’s a thousand stories to tell besides random murder mysteries (which are also fun). Also dragon friends owns. First season audio quality is a bit of a trial but it’s worth powering through. It starts as the players tormenting the DM, but gradually evolves into the player and the DM hanging up on one particular player who tries a little too hard to be contrarian, which is satisfying to watch But like, in a way where everyone’s having fun
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Mar 23, 2018 17:01
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SpacePig posted:I think it was less about testing new systems and more about testing how the others felt about running a game without having to commit to an entire series for it. Like, not just saying "Travis is going to GM this next one!", but saying "Hey, here's what it'd be like if Travis GM'd, let's see how he and you feel about it!" That's kind of what I mean by overthinking things though? Travis already knew what it was like to GM and Justin probably isn't going to do the long arc, so that just leaves Clint really. He could have done a few private sessions with them to get a feel for it. And they should know better than to preemptively ask the audience what they think about creative decisions (though it is very kind of them to listen to their audience on other things). It feels like they just didn't trust themselves to start a new arc and are doing way more work than they need to. They'll be back to form once they settle on something and get into a groove is all I'm really saying here. e: I say 'really' too much Colonel Whitey fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Mar 23, 2018 |
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Mar 23, 2018 17:08
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Love Dragon Friends. Dave's pretty good about allowing the players to gently caress themselves and the story up without letting the entire thing go too far off the rails. But I'm sure he has a lot more experience DMing than any of the McElroys. Probably helps that he doesn't have to voice NPCs.
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Mar 23, 2018 17:14
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i want dust to continue mainly so griffin can become fantasy america's first werewolf president and give dogs the right to vote
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Mar 23, 2018 17:19
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Sivart13 posted:I really miss the times before my brotherly pals at MBMBaM decided to make a dungeons and dragons podcast. Listening to the ads on the newest mbmbam though, it's good to see max fun hasn't changed their policy of hiring people from the Insufferable Podcaster Voice Factory (located in Los Angeles). I still like polygon ish but I guess the mcelroys are busy cuz they push a lot of non McElroy content I could care less about. Simone, Brian, etc. are fun and nice in a group setting with plenty of McElroys but lol at expecting me to watch them if Griffin ain't around at leaaaaast. Still, poo poo like LA Noir VR makes it all worth it. They also convinced me to start playing Into the Breach tho so they're basically war criminals. I notice this with a lot of channels tho, im not subscribed to Polygon and Super Deluxe for similar reasons. They insist on putting out a deluge of other content when I'm mostly there for the meat (fun super deluxe edits and the mcelroys), which fair enough do what U gotta do...but I am not down for having to click Hide like 40 times a week. Punkin Spunkin fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Mar 23, 2018 |
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Mar 23, 2018 17:50
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um excuse me posted:Chiming in to say that Balance started off with "Here there be Gerblins", which was nearly inconsequential to the future of that arc. I wouldn't worry about how the story would continue. Yeah I came here to say this. This podcast started with both Clint and Justin playing stock characters and Griffin literally DMing out of a book, and it was the interaction between the boys and the goofs that really side-tracked it into something amazing. They would do well to do everything they can to let that happen again instead of overthinking it and trying to recreate the magic by force.
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Mar 23, 2018 18:28
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See, I'm on the other end. I could watch Simone and Pat goof around about anything, and I have the good ol' McElroys to thank for that. Really enjoyed Dust, but I guess I owe it to myself to listen to the other mini arcs as well.
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Mar 23, 2018 18:36
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Wasabi the J posted:Yeah how could three mercenaries killing the sheriff possibly lead to dramatic stories? Truly, not even the most skilled writer could wring drama from this. So what I'm saying is not that it's boring or uninteresting, what I am saying is that if the mini arcs are supposed to be representative of the games they would play for a season it could potentially be a more demanding experience compared to monster/super villain of the week. To each their own I guess 
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Mar 23, 2018 18:45
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I listen to podcasts in the background so even for the more casual ones, I miss a lot of little details; so for dust, I actually liked that the format forced the gang to start each episode with “let’s review our notes” because it helped me keep up, compared to the ones where they just assume the listener is remembering everything as well as the players are This is another point in favor of dragon friends, where the players themselves often forget what’s happening, so it’s all very relatable
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Mar 23, 2018 18:49
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Ainsley McTree posted:I listen to podcasts in the background so even for the more casual ones, I miss a lot of little details; so for dust, I actually liked that the format forced the gang to start each episode with “let’s review our notes” because it helped me keep up, compared to the ones where they just assume the listener is remembering everything as well as the players are That's a really good point, actually. The story recap in the beginning was a really good move. I really like the Dragon Friends to. It's an entirely different beast, but as you say part of the charm is probably that the players don't remember poo poo quite frequently. That and trying to screw over Freezo and/or being screwed over by Freezo each episode.
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Mar 23, 2018 19:02
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1000% agree with the story recap. I listen while I'm out and about and it's easy to miss something.
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Mar 23, 2018 19:12
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Overall I liked Dust the best and Travis was a surprisingly good GM. I would really like it if he ended up being the GM going forward. The one thing that irked me was that Travis kind of strong-armed the story. I may be mis-remembering, but the solution to the mystery was forced by Errol's interaction with the Banshee that ended in her essentially giving them the answer in a neat little package and I don't feel like there was any character choice involved in earning it. To be fair Griffin claimed he had a hunch before that whole interaction, and Travis had to have some way of moving the story forward to keep the length of the arc manageable, but the way that it happened seemed a little too easy. Like what would have happened if they'd gone to the Banshee immediately after the casino, or Errol had just gone with the two amicable goons? Would they have wrapped the arc up by the end of episode 3? Mikey Purp fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Mar 23, 2018 |
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Mar 23, 2018 19:36
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