Post/Author/DateTime	Post
NathanForce 04-18-05, 03:51 AM	I posted this elsewhere but I fear where I posted it is dead at this hour, and who knows, may be dead period. I am on the management board of a local college radio station in my home town. I'm also a talk show host. We have about 13 hours of content each day that is totally automated, meaning it is random music from god knows where. There is a fair amount of curiousity about D and D where I live and there are people who assume alot about it but know very little. I'm considering broadcasting an entire D and D gaming session. I a few questions: 1. How likely is one D and D game to represent the entireity of the game and all who play it? In other words, can I really obtain the "average game." I'd like to think that me and my group are somewhat intelligent. 2. How interesting would it be? (it will be totally unedited, from food runs, to the actual game) 3. Is it legal to broadcast Wizard's game content?
Ut-Napishtim 04-18-05, 04:09 AM	I posted this elsewhere but I fear where I posted it is dead at this hour, and who knows, may be dead period. I am on the management board of a local college radio station in my home town. I'm also a talk show host. We have about 13 hours of content each day that is totally automated, meaning it is random music from god knows where. There is a fair amount of curiousity about D and D where I live and there are people who assume alot about it but know very little. I'm considering broadcasting an entire D and D gaming session. I a few questions: 1. How likely is one D and D game to represent the entireity of the game and all who play it? In other words, can I really obtain the "average game." I'd like to think that me and my group are somewhat intelligent. 2. How interesting would it be? (it will be totally unedited, from food runs, to the actual game) 3. Is it legal to broadcast Wizard's game content? 1. Well, considering you're in college I'd say chances are pretty good of finding some intelligent people. 2. I'd advise against the no editing thing, who wants to listen to dead air during a food run? Not to mention you may have to censor some expletives. I'd say edit it down to actual game content and the occaisonal OOC sidebar. 3. Um, you're the Broadcasting student dude. Why not ask your Prof or someone at Wizards?
NathanForce 04-18-05, 04:14 AM	Just floating an idea in that has been in my head sat 1am. Thanks for the reply. During food runs there is usually somebody home. I suppose that would be a good time for a little comentary or interviews. Running comentary during the game itself might be wise, but its also important that the game be captured in its natural state.
Nalampus 04-18-05, 04:31 AM	I'm a radio fan -- haven't owned a tv for over 10 yrs. I'd listen to it :)
Lord Ian Stark 04-18-05, 09:44 AM	I'm a radio fan -- haven't owned a tv for over 10 yrs. I'd listen to it :) :twitch:
Nom 04-18-05, 10:28 AM	To be honest, I think simply broadcasting the transcript would be pretty boring. You'd miss all the visual interaction that occurs, and much of the entertainment in an RPG is participating and interacting. You'd also need to train the players to verbalise a lot more: "Wow, look at that!" doesn't make for good radio if the listener isn't told what just happened. That said, an edited version with commentary could be quite good filler. Narrate what is happening, and cut to the DM and players for important scenes. If the narrator can make the listeners feel like they are there, it could be quite fun. Think of the commentary on a cricket or baseball match, where the action is described to the listeners in an interesting way and gaps in the game are filled in by descriptions of the players and other fun statistics.
olshanski_home 04-18-05, 10:49 AM	Edited version with commentary = interesting. Unedited, uncut, complete as-is: Boring as all hell. Imagine the excitement: "um, I've got a +5 BAB, and I'm flanking, and have a +1 weapon and weapon focus" "Yeah, don't forget your are blessed also" "so thats a total of +8 to hit" "thats right, total of 22" DM: "what's your alignment... the bad guy has protection from good" Well, I'm Chaotic good, but I'm not a summoned creature so it doesn't matter. DM: "no, I think it gives a +2 deflection bonus against attacks from good creatures" Player: Are you sure, I think that only helps against outsiders and summoned creatures. DM: I'll look:.... (long pause) Player: "here it is, page 128 of the PHB" DM: "thanks"... (long pause)... Yep, it gives +2 deflection. Player: Ok, then I still rolled a 22... DM: That misses. Please... its like listening to paint dry.
psionichamster 04-18-05, 11:10 AM	hehehehe i knew there were other radio-and-dndplaying geeks out there! we did this exact same thing once or twice although, i think our listener base was something on the order of 4 people and a cat. maybe just the cat. we aired an entire game session, but keep in mind, our dm was one of those "loose and fast" with the rules-types. rolling dice can be a challenge, at least if your station board was anything like ours...tons of dark, little places where dice can hide easily. i would recommend you play a few games in the room, broadcast or not, but record them. have everyone miked, and whatnot. then, next time you're hanging out at the station, hop on the reel-to-reel (or digital if you're a student at a good school) and edit them down to the terse moments, work in some background music/sfx (people murmuring in taverns and whatnot) then, make them into 3-5 minute segments (particularly good moments, distilled into their MOST packagable format) stick em in your portfolio as future dm-resources, good-times-reminiscing with audio aids, or as a means to launch your "spoken books/voiceover/DJ job portfolio" trust me, it'll seem a lot easier to edit your DnD sessions than say, an interview with some stuffy old dude, or that pep rally last fall skills, practice, and well-edited audio recordings of your games? well worth the time and energy you're investing!!!! (plus, get good at splicing/editing, and you can make your own way in broadcast...engineers are tough to get, at least good, sober ones!) namaste, the hamster (btw, during one of our on-the-air games, a PC jumped into a "well of evil" i wish i had that interaction on tape, i would pay a lot to have it, in fact...)
NathanForce 04-18-05, 03:11 PM	If we did this the recording itself would take place at our usual gaming place, one of our friend's homes. I do happen to go to a pretty good school so we have all sorts of digital equipment. I think maybe something that uses comentary to fill in the listeners would be the way to go. Maybe I could even get a local panel of DMs to help with the nararation. In any event, if we do broadcast this, I'll let you all know the link where you can listen. We do have a webcast.
psionichamster 04-19-05, 08:01 AM	that sounds great, NatanForce... other recommendations...try to limit the snacks at the table during recording sessions for some reason, getting rid of cellophane or the foil bag noise from most snack packaging is stupid hard also consider having pitchers of drinks around, rather than bottles/cans yes, its a bit easier to spill, and you do have to pour, but the glugglugglug sound of beverage pouring can be a good resource. poptop cans opening, not so much, at least not for the typical DnD setting i wish you great luck and a good recording session (you could "hire" your players/dm/friends to supply random bits of background dialogue, or even voiceovers, to keep your voice (or whoever is dming) from being the only npc voice on it...) namaste, the hamster
Andrewinator 04-19-05, 12:05 PM	3. I hope it's legal, because I DM DnD games over TeamSpeak (TeamSpeak is software where you connect to a server and talk to people on the server with your mic), record them, upload them, and let th world download them. Actually listening to them afterwards is not all that interesting, so I advise editing.
Archangel_James 04-19-05, 08:27 PM	It couldn't be an average game. For one thing, there'd have to be a higher-than-1:1 ratio for roleplaying and combat. Combat, if you're not involved, is boring as hell. Roleplaying is what radio is all about. All the players would have to be aware that they are live (I assume you want to do it live; it'd be more fun for the players if it were live), so they would have to tone down their language, while making sure the audience can feel the frustration. You'll also have to control the atmosphere. Outside of the pressure of dungeons, humorous bits and out-of-game chitchat could be entertaining. Snack runs couldn't happen, but well-announced snack breaks could be part of the experience. One player announces "I'll be right back--I need cherry coke out of the fridge" and the DM says "Ok" and the game goes on, then a minute or two later, the player comes back and announces himself. Nothing is lost. The biggest problem is that since you are portraying D&D to a lot of people, you should make sure that the DM is especially prepared, so he's not pored over the book for 10 minutes while the players talk about video games or something. The game should be especially fluid. Making sure everything is perfect will be the hardest and most important part.
Edymnion 04-19-05, 08:52 PM	1) There really isn't going to be an "average" D&D game, even the same players in the same setting in the same campaign are going to change things up. Its kind of like asking if there is an "average" sports game. They'll all have many things in common, but you'll never get one game that makes for an ideal version of an average game. Some will come close, but none will ever hit it. 2) Unedited would not be good. Like the others have said, there is a lot of boring stuff going on if you're just listening to it and not actually playing. Try looking on the net for a transcript of a game, complete with rolls and out of game banter and all of that, and you'll see how tedious it can be just to read. My advice, like the others, would be to edit it. Cut out the boring stuff, cut out most of the goofing off, that sort of thing. But, I'll throw something extra into the pot for you. Have you considered having a commentator? You know, like how a football game has commentators saying whats going on, giving explinations of what just happened during time outs, that sort of thing. You can even do it in voice overs, with comments like "Oh, he's going to Power Attack it, I don't know how smart of an idea that is. This things got a huge AC, so thats a definate gamble on his part!" 3) Yes, it would be illegal. If you're going to be using actual game mechanics on air, using copywritten names (like Mordenkainen) or monsters (like Beholders), its going to be a problem. If you're a broadcast major, you should know this already. Get in contact with WotC's legal department, and work something out with them. Chances are they won't care, and will see it as free advertising. But really, you should ALWAYS check with the legal department with anybody when you are going to be using copywritten names and details. We're in a very lawsuit happy time, and you should ALWAYS have written legal permission to do something even half-way questionable. Its like buying the DVD of a movie, then giving it public showings. Yeah, you bought it, yeah, it might be your equipment, but they're still going to lock you up for it if you don't get permission for it first. WotC might not sue individuals, but you're representing a college. Colleges have relatively deep pockets. And if you cross the line, its a pretty safe bet that Hasbro would push WotC into sueing for copywrite infringement because there is the potential for a big payout.
krichaiushii 04-19-05, 10:19 PM	There are audio transcripts from some group playing through AEG's The World's Largest Dungeon floating about the internet. Listen to a few of their sessions and decide what should stay or go in your radio games. Be advised that their sessions run long.
NathanForce 04-21-05, 03:09 AM	Thanks for the replies. I'm working with my fellow managers to determine how to move forward from here.