Lack of direction

[Glennishless 15]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who has had to recently admit to myself that the show is becoming less enjoyable for me. I'm also in the boat that generally I still love the show, the format, and everything about all of the cast and guests ... but something just seems off. Feel free to deride it as petty griping, I'm a fan and this is my feedback (many others like it, yada yada).

 

The "something happened which made another thing happen" well is close to running dry. Part of what made Sark's campaign so enjoyable to me was the detailed blow by blow skirmishes (which frequently and delightfully spun off their own tangents). The fighting feels dumbed down and imo, spurns the cast to not be quite as vested in each decision they make. Also the continuity issues seems to be more prevalent recently, I feel like we're getting a lot of "who are you swinging at, the guy with one arm or the guy in the ground?" type situations where neither the listener, the players, or frankly the DM have paid enough attention to what's been happening for that kind of question to get answered quickly and quite frequently we just get a quick, "oh yeah I forgot about that so another thing happens which makes another thing happen".

 

I think what made a lot of the earlier playing so enjoyable to listen to was how well the players got the characters they were playing and they were having fun playing them. I don't get that feeling with Brian, Sarah, or Gerry's characters right now. Houg started off perfect, but now seems quicker to whip out his dirk than to cast a spectacular eeluzee-on, got a couple HP'S under his belt and he's just not the same skittish magician I fell in love with.

 

The guests have been fantastic, but the constant switching of who we're heading week to week, to me at least, detracts from the cohesiveness of the overall campaign. I feel Telfer would be perfect as a regular, he really adds a lot to each ep he's on.

 

I hope this is taken how I intended it, pure constructive criticism from a long time fan. I still listen every week and can't imagine ever giving up. The comedy that happens between Blaine, Brian, and Ken every week makes the game play a secondary concern, but it's a concern nonetheless.

 

Thanks for listening and ROLL TO SAVE FROM VOMITING

[qrter 79]

I used to be a big fan of the podcast, it was on my list of 'listen instantly after downloading' podcasts, but I stopped listening months ago.

 

For me the problem turned out to be that there seemed to be no stakes for this new group of adventurers - which is just another way to say 'directionless', I suppose. I think it didn't help how the group of characters came together. At the time there didn't seem to be any reason for these characters to be together, and then to continue to travel together. Perhaps that has improved since then, I wouldn't know.

 

And let's not mythologise Sark's DM-ing - there have been plenty of Sark episodes that felt like they were 90% of Sark talking and the players hardly doing anything. I believe Blaine is a more than competent DM, the campaign perhaps has a structural weakness because of the lack of goals/stakes.

 

And I've always been a huge fan of the tangents, btw, they're an essential part of the fun of playing the game.

 

And just to be clear - I'm not saying any of this to take away any of the enjoyment current listeners are having - more power to you.

[McRib 11]

[Shampoodler 1489]

 

Seriously. Now is the perfect time to start a fresh campaign.

[please delete this account 16]

Red Giants are better than skeletons. And now there are blue giants, too. Blaine is def. getting better, last few episodes feel like it's moving towards something more interesting. If Blaine's listening, I'd just say there's no shame in playing God, if you have a good twist, just force them into it. If it's getting slow, just let them be captured and then put them on the boat. Or let them die, the odds are stacked way against them with these opponents, and you can always bring new characters into the story. If winter dies, maybe he's replaced by a yellow giant that helps them or something, then they have an ally that fits in and that would make things easier for everyone to keep things moving.

[Cam Bert 8145]

I was tempted to start a new thread to ask my question, but as a lot of how I'm feeling is already in this thread I might as well join in.

 

I have a long trip ahead of me soon and I thought "Why not get caught up with Nerd Poker." I stopped listening around episode 91 or 92, because the show just became unbareable to listen to for me. While everyone seems quick to go into "Blaine is a good/bad DM" or "We need Gerry/Sark" arguments, my issue has nothing to do with that. Well, maybe a little. To me,with the smaller group and Blaine being in charge, it has just become a different show. The last episode I listened to was about 20 minutes in and they had not started playing or even talking about the game. It was just Blaine going crazy with references and jokes with Ken and Brian joining in and Sarah just repeating "Too old, I don't get it." To me that is what the problem is with the show now. Blaine has always loved to throw in his pop culture references and what not, but when he was a character it was limited to when he had something to do. Even then, when they'd all get into it Sarah and Sark some how seemed to refocus the show back onto the game and move on. Now Sarah is alone and as a result nothing ever happens. Blaine just makes his jokes with abandon, and Brian and Ken join in. Then someone will remember they are suppose to be playing, so into the game they'll go. Then an anachronistic reference will be made and we're back down to reference theater. Blaine was a good player, and I do feel is a good DM but the free wheeling nature of his direction of the show got too much for me. While I appricaite the hard work they put in and the hours of free entertainment they gave me, but the current direction and style is not for me.

 

My two cents out of the way, I needed something to listen to for my trip and I noticed that Steve Agee and Dan Telfer are pretty much regulars on the show now. I assume filling in for Gerry's character of Winter and Sarah's when she can not be there. This gave me some hope as with new people there group dynamics tend to change. So the question I had and wanted to ask at the start is does their presence change the unwilledy nature of the show? Is there more of a balance now or is it still going to be like where I stopped with half the time spend making references and not actually talking or playing the game?

 

 

TL;DR: With Dan and Steve there is it worth getting back into the show?

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

TL;DR: With Dan and Steve there is it worth getting back into the show?

 

Honestly, in my opinion, it's about the same, so take that as you will. I still enjoy the show and listen every week, but I do agree with a lot of what has been written on this thread. I am glad that Steve and Dan are regulars now, I just wish they would roll their own characters instead of just continuing with Winter and Lyra--who never had much in the way of development anyway--so I don't think they'd be missed too much.

 

My theory as to the change in the show is that, when Blaine took over as DM, I believe it was always intended to be a temporary thing. In fact, I believe they said at the start that they would just do a "danger room" (I think that is the term...I don't play D&D, but I imagine it is an encounter driven game rather than a story driven one) until Sark possibly returned. Therefore, I don't think Blaine ever had much in the way of a story to begin with, and once it became evident Sark would be out indefinitely, he has been more or less winging it. I do think he has tried to inject some story, but since the guys tend to go off the rails, all plans tend to get shot down pretty quickly. In fact, the whole reason Sark was going to do a postmortem on his campaign was because of this kind of derailment.

 

If I were to make an educated guess, I would say that when NP first aired, Sark had plenty of time (and experience) to hammer out a map of his world and story, so if they ever went rogue he could figure out a way to get them back on the right path. For instance, I recall them sinking the Collector ship at the start of the campaign, and I 100% guarantee you that is not what he thought they would do--hence drifting at sea for an episode or two. But, since his world had some structure, he was able, without too much difficulty, to get them back in the game. He was also pretty rigid (in a good way) of keeping it moving, by employing the timer. He still let them go off on tangents, but never for too long.

 

Conversely, Blaine was never really afforded the same time or luxury to really prepare much of anything, and honestly, he never pretended that he did. Consequently, he has no real reason to reign them in like Sark did, because, in many cases, I am sure he is just as surprised as they are with what happens next.

 

I hope that didn't come off too critical...I really do still enjoy NP a lot.

[AndrewGould 53]

Part of the problem, I think...

 

I want to say since this last post, Blaine has really stepped up the game - he gave them a goal (the golden city) and the players have stepped up to that mark.

 

I've DMed many aimless improv games over the years, and all of them have been fun as heck - but none of them have been as good as the ones where there I've had an overall story arc.