Uh's and Um's

[marniem22 1]

I'm not talking about Blaine's skills as a DM. I'm not going to nitpick about this or that role.

 

I'm talking about the constant "um"'s and "uh"'s that he can barely get through a sentance without.

 

If you've ever taken a public speaking course you know how horrible these space fillers are.

 

I do think it would benefit him to go back and listen to the episodes he's been leading because he never used to use those fillers while he was a player. Heck, he was the "what is this.. brought to us by?" guy, with never a pause in his speech.

 

I think this Uming and Uhing is coming from his not having confidence as a DM yet. Whatever it comes from, it's VERY hard to get past and enjoy the episode. Which drives me nuts because I absolutely love Nerd Poker! Please help him out with this as it constantly stops the flow of the game.

[HunterJE 618]

Boy, that was really worth starting a new forum account for this minor complaint!

[StevoDoccerson 97]

Way to take somebody to task for having a slight stammer while playing a game! Thanks for taking the time away from critiquing Diane Rehm's forums giving her shit for spasmodic dysphonia! Ace!

 

Do you call up your blind friends when you see a rainbow, too?

 

Blaine's DMing, and is thinking of 4 things at once, AND having performed comedy since the 90's, I'm pretty sure he's spoken in front of more people than you.

 

In short, get over it or go fuck yourself.

[EdNelson 4]

The point is valid.

 

When Blane was a player, he needed to only worry about his character and the occasional joke/pop culture reference.

 

Now that he is DMing, he needs to control the game, non-player characters, player characters for oft-absent regular players, AND try to throw in zingers and 1 liners. The umms and uuhs are likely unconscious as he searches for what to say or do.

 

Unfortunately, I feel (just my opinion), he is not up to the task of DMing. Frequent dead air as he looks up rules, forgetting how weapons/spells work, forgetting a main characters name(!!) he is controlling, and very repetitive combats (you hear hooves police coming on horseback, you hear hooves police coming on horseback, you hear hooves police coming on horseback, or you hear xylophone music skeletons coming, you hear xylophone music skeletons coming, you hear xylophone music skeletons coming). Blane is clearly overwhelmed as DM.

 

I always anticipated Wednesdays for the new episodes, and the last 2 weeks I find that I have not even finished the prior week's session before the new episode is out.

 

Flame suit on.

[StevoDoccerson 97]

People keep forgetting that they're essentially eavesdropping by listening to this show. Yes it's done as a performance, but really these are a group of people who are talking to each other, and we're listening in. They're making jokes for us, but really they're making jokes for each other, and we get to hear them too.

 

You don't think Blaine is a good DM? Great. Your opinion isn't going to make them change the show. Not in this situation anyway. If it really bothers you that much, there is nothing that can be done about it, other than just not listening to the show.

 

I think people would have less of a problem with it if they were watching it live, or part of the conversation because your brain blocks most of it out. Most speech pathologists will tell you the same.

 

Maybe you have a family member or a coworker that has a lot of verbal static or maybe even a speech impediment. Would you say to them "Hey, you should change the way you talk because it's hard for me to listen to you, also I don't enjoy you talking to me as much as that other guy who used to talk, and really, it's about me, right?" Of course you wouldn't because it's rude, and we're all nice and polite here.

 

But seriously, nothing positive will come out of people giving Blaine shit about how they think he's not the greatest DM especially since it's his I think 2nd or 3rd time DMing? How many of us have gotten better at our jobs because people were giving us shit on the internet?

 

Ssssoooo yeah, cut the dude some slack, relax, and enjoy the show.

[Maraun 2]

 

Steve, if this hits somewhere close to home for you, that's unfortunate. These guys are just offering a professional entertainer participating in a podcast some constructive criticism.

 

We're all fans here.

[StevoDoccerson 97]

I don't really see how suggesting a professional comedian take public speaking lessons or somebody saying they don't like Blaine as a DM qualify as constructive criticism, but if you insist...

[ÚncleƊracula 40]

I feel like the original post implied he had already taken public speaking classes. I think things got blown a bit out of proportion, it's like the forums here have an anti troll secret service for nerd poker.

 

Both sides have legit comments.

Conductive Criticism - less uh and um

Conditional - they're doing this for fun, only accept/apply criticism if it doesn't effect the mood or enjoyment of the players.

 

Also I like Blaine as a DM better, I miss Sarks dialog (and Blaines commercials) but it's more fun to listen to Sark playing things. I hope when he comes back he joins the party. Blaine produces two worlds simultaneously, a serious world with rapidly escalating situations and a cartoon world with musical undead. At least that's my perception.

[Stargoyle 78]

The umms and uuhs are likely unconscious as he searches for what to say or do.

 

 

If only he had someone he could kick it to when he had to kill time...

[NickJewell 5]

I'd love to see sark come back....but work alongside Blaine, so he could provide the voice and sark could have the brains.

 

Ums, Ahs, and lots of rule checks are to be expected with a player character thrown into the role of dungeon master, experienced or new, your gonna be rusty, in the wrong mindset. The beginning was a touch rough. I have a lot of faith now they're in a more controlled environment, dungeons are best for controlling the situation.

[Missy Chrissy 40]

The uhms and uhhs don't bother me none.

[NickJewell 5]

The uhms and uhhs don't bother me none.

 

Know what's funny? I hadn't noticed them TILL this forum post.

[AndrewGould 53]

I don't have a problem with the umming and ahhing - I do plenty of that myself when I'm GMing.

 

But Blaine does need to find a new adjective. "Weird" is a bit overused.

[telegramsam 92]

Blaine is a genius and we are all lucky that we get to listen to him for an hour for FREE once a week, considering he has made a career of coming up with brilliantly funny shit over the years.

 

Moreover, I think the last couple episodes have been funny and engaging, and I don't really mind that the characters themselves haven't gotten very far--to me, what matters is that the show has a good overall flow.

[gravybill 3]

I love Nerd Poker and I listen to it every week. I think everyone involved in it is immensely talented. I think Blaine Capatch is one of the funniest humans in the world.

 

I do think that the podcast has changed into something else after Sark left and that the D&D aspect of the show is now more of a backdrop. I feel the show may be better served by a hardcore D&D rules nerd to DM with an iron fist, even if he/she is technically not a "friend" of Brian.

[schadenfreudian 27]

Blaine's, "Tell 'em you fell into a doorknob," joke from this week's episode (Chevy Chase's Land Shark or whatever it's called) has rendered all past, present and future "ums" he might say invalid.

That shit was fucking incredible.

[boxofgeese 18]

I like donuts!