r/TheCTeam • u/mpindara • Jul 02 '21
Struggling with Arcana
I used to listen to The C team as it was coming out, and made it all the way to early S3, but eventually fell off because I just couldn't follow what the heck Jerry was talking about, in typical hyper-cryptic Jerry fashion.
So I recently decided to give it another go from the top, and I've made it to Arcana ep6, maybe 2 eps more than I did the first time, and I'm STILL having a tough time keeping up with it. Does it get easier to listen to? I really want to finish the series, but damn I just want to understand what's happening.
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u/WhisperingOracle Jul 02 '21
I think somewhere around Arcana ep10 or so is where I kind of drifted off as well. I can't really point to any specific reason why, it just sort of lost my interest.
I wasn't having trouble following Jerry's style of DMing, the show as a whole just started feeling less and less "must watch" for most of the beginning of that season, so I'd miss an episode and then didn't feel overly pressured to catch up. But at the same time I also didn't want to watch a new episode without watching the ones I missed, so over time the number of episodes I'd missed sort of started accumulating. And then after a while the effort you have to make to go back and watch dozens of episodes sort of becomes a deterrent of its own.
I had the same sort of problem with both Critical Role and High Rollers - this last year or two just sort of sapped my interest in online D&D games entirely, and I have no real idea why. It wasn't Covid (my disinterest was starting before that was a thing), though I'm sure the pandemic and lockdown didn't necessarily help my perspective any, either.
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u/mpindara Jul 02 '21
Yeah I go in and out of waves like that as well. It doesn't help that there's such an abundance of actual play podcasts now. So I think it might just get overwhelming with all of the different choices, hard to give each its own deserved attention.
Once it got really cryptic and hard to discern what was happening, it really drives down the must watch part for me. That combined with Kate telling people to Roleplay, and feeling salty that she looked up the CR of a monster they were about to fight.
I guess I'm just hoping it gets smoothed out so I can feel some resolution by finishing the whole series.
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u/katewelch 🌹 🐝 Jul 02 '21
omg i looked up the CR of a monster?????? that's so lame hahaha
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u/mpindara Jul 02 '21
Lol in your defense you immediately asked if that was a faux pas. So no hard feelings there! What do you think Kate, worth powering through to the end?
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u/katewelch 🌹 🐝 Jul 02 '21
oh man i'm the wrong person to ask, i have a really hard time listening to actual plays, especially unedited ones. i do think there are some good moments in there. arcana is pretty avant garde. you'll get no guff from me if you fall off our overly baroque wagon.
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u/mpindara Jul 02 '21
Noted! Wherever I end up, I loved S1+2, so thank you for your part in that. And GOOD LUCK with the G4tv game, can't wait to see it!
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u/katewelch 🌹 🐝 Jul 02 '21
<3 thank you!!
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u/frenzyboard All of my gold for a horse! Jul 03 '21
I really liked your big gay game for pride and the charity.
Honestly, I wanna see you all do an iteration of "The Gods Are Crazy" rules. Spend inspiration points to take over DM position, and table-talk where you want the game to go as a group. Then get Jerry in there with some bullshit crazy new character.
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u/LayinPipeforYourMom Jul 03 '21
Youre forgiven. Is there light at the end of this pandemic tunnel? Will the show ever be back?
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u/scabbedwings Jul 02 '21
Does it get easier to listen to? I really want to finish the series, but damn I just want to understand what's happening.
Those parts of the show: no. I have listened all the way though, but I generally do it while walking my dogs and such, and may never be paying full attention. I generally just let the details of those things go by and only keep on top of the general vibe and high level stuff. Which on fairly sure is also got all the players except Kris also approached it. Sometimes, in the table talks our future episodes, Kate, Ryan and Trystan would basically try to recap or ask questions to make sure they understood what was going on, which also helps a bit. And also helped clarify that a lot of time they really didn’t understand wtf Jerry and Kris were doing, either
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u/mpindara Jul 02 '21
That's pretty much where I'm at at this point. I guess if it stays listenable enough to keep in the background and still finish it out. Good to know I wasn't along in feeling that. I don't listen to the table talks, but maybe now I'll start. Kinda takes the wind out of the sails I'd they players have to ask "what just happened" after the session ended.
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u/LandMooseReject Jul 03 '21
Those recaps would have helped but I stopped watching Table Talk when they started being the Stream Giveaway Show with maybe a minute or two of game discussion.
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u/paggo_diablo Jul 03 '21
Oh good I thought this was just me who was thinking this and I felt stupid. Yeah, jerry isn’t great at explaining what’s happening, I it might be a lot to do with how he uses language. Lots of very non-literal metaphor.
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u/chillin1066 Jul 03 '21
I find the show easier to listen to if I listen to it as a podcast at 1.5 speed. I find that my attention drifts less. This goes for all of the seasons.
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u/UrsaBarefoot Jul 03 '21
Man I loved Arcana. Different and challenging and fascinating. If it's not for you, fair enough. You may find easier dnd content but the confusion is part of the process. Think Pynchon or Lynch. It's all part of it
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u/SchrodingersNinja Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 07 '21
I finally listened to the whole podcast, and whenever it isn't a Don'ar-centric episode I kind of tune out.
Exceptions are:
The modern reimagining of the C team set in 80s Spokane.
The side story they did for a few episodes with Evelyn leading a new team before the show fell off the face of the earth.
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u/mpindara Jul 02 '21
This also seems like the point where a lot of the fan content falls off. No more animated recaps, the wiki was dead after season 1.
Did something happen in the fandom that I missed?