We talk a little about the different “boom” periods in the history of TTRPG Actual Play, but we don’t talk about how those *also* coincide more often than not with *turnover* in the field. CR’s running a victory lap because there’s few APs that survive that long — or even a fraction of that time.
And I'd argue that CR isn't the juggernaut they were since Dropout has eaten their lunch in audience capture and they remain adhered to their long form formula
And I’d argue that presenting Dropout and CR in a horse race is maybe good for SEO but fundamentally misunderstands the companies’ positions in relation to each other, their respective use of AP, etc.
I think they are aiming at different things, yes, but it's clear that Beacon and that expansion is aiming for the same goal with their audience that Dropout has. They also are working in more industries with Darrington, the animation, etc.
But that from a purely AP standpoint a lot of D20's growth has come from being a lot more accessible and digestible than CR for the average person
We don’t have a ton of data to compare D20 to CR in audience aside from MAYBE live ticket sales which don’t have good 1:1 corollary. I don’t disagree that D20 is more inherently digestible, but CR always had fans doing a fuck-ton of digesting for more casual fans & now does that digesting in-house.
Again: literally everything they have said publicly, and specific company actions, have made it clear they’re not competing — they’re colluding, if anything. It’s key that they are seeking different things w/ entirely different org structures — bc I don’t think they have the same goals w/ audience.
I think a lot about how much of my book describes lost or nearly-lost media already.
While it’s a shame that’s the case, I’m glad someone is doing it.
That said, there ARE long-running APs pushing 15-20 years of consistent output (emails, I get emails). Most current AP creators have never heard of them.
Would love to learn about them! Any suggestions on how to find those older but still going games?
I’ll say I found some by doing a podchaser search and getting results in reverse chronological order (similar searches can be done on YouTube, which has a set of Boolean commands that allow you to search before a certain year, etc)
Did you search for TTRPG or something like "recorded play" or "actual play"?
Not exclusively, given the term had other meanings in the earliest days of recording gameplay online.
Oooh! Thank you for this awesome advice! *Scampers off to find new podcasts*
There might be turnover of the turnover. I like to think I was starting to build a little following and I am now attempting to come back. Hopefully it pans out for me
Oh there’s waves and waves of turnover, as there have been multiple moments of the form reaching mainstream attention or new technology/platforms and new participants came in. We just didn’t notice how many shows went under in say, 2018.
Party of Ones backlog is a graveyard of finished or abandoned AP productions.
The closest analogy seems to be popular bands. Sometimes they get out one big album and then fade away. Others make it to arena tours. Some work with each other well while others have individual members who always jump in the studio at every opportunity.
I hear the band analogy (in line with use of “scene” language) a fair amount. Like most analogies it works until it doesn’t. What strikes me is how analogies/parallels/training DO impact how folks see what they’re doing & can lead to conflict (when analogy stops working, or conflicting expectation)
What the band analogy misses is that there is a significant line of demarcation between AP’s: in person, and remote. As someone who has produced and done both, they are drastically different experiences for the audience and the player. But it seems to be a truth that Many don’t want to confront.
Like…there’s a reason CR never even attempted remote games.
We did both on our show and I completely agree. The energy is different and we prefer in person taping rather than remote. Ironically, our most popular show was remote, but that may speak to it running up views during the heavy lockdown period.
I of course agree with you in many ways, though I’d note that the audience experience of remote born-audio AP isn’t necessarily as wide from in-person as it is on the video side — and of course, there’s lots of other points of divergence in play (so to speak)
100%. There’s categories within categories. To your point, audio only AP is impacted less by a lack of in person. I just tend to view these things primarily through a video lens (no pun intended) since that’s my background.
Talking to fellow musicians who are also TTRPG performers about this kind of analysis has been endlessly fascinating. Related...I still say one of the reasons I love TTRPG performing is it's the closest I (as a classically trained orchestral musician) will get to playing jazz.
Jazz musician here: Yes
I def cited a paper on jazz improvisation in my dissertation to talk about performing for your fellow players and them performing for you in turn.
It'd be interesting to read about churn in AP versus simply playing normally, with campaigns fizzling. I can't imagine that filming yourself with a game makes burnout less likely!
I think it’s hard to compare — especially since there’s a LOT of overlap (AP *really is* some folks actual home games, especially for those that started in lockdown) But yeah, longform projects end before they want to for lots of reasons — which is 1 reason there’s been a turn to limited runs.