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[FEEDBACK] Blades

RollPlay: General & Archives
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#148

Being in Japan I pretty much never get to watch any of the shows live, unless I happen to not have to work and wake up in time in the morning, and I never expect a show that would fit my schedule.

Because of that (an just to support in general) I’m subscribed and pledged on Patreon so that I can watch the VODs later when I get home as well as listen to the MP3s when I’m out and about. The MP3s have been amazing, the sound quality and immersion I get from listening to them has actually helped me get into some of the episodes better (both CoS and Blades).

All that to say, what do the numbers look like for VODs, YouTube, and MP3s? Since I can’t show my support for the shows by watching live I have to do it in other ways. I just hope that those ways are also taken into account and that you aren’t just focusing on live viewers (I’m assuming you don’t but just getting it into the discussion).

#149

I second this, watched the first couple sessions and just didn’t get hooked at all but I have consistently over the last years only ever enjoyed and followed about half the shows.

1 Like
#150

i usually like all of the rollplay shows. blades somehow doesn’t interest me. i don’t like the “we are all evil and that’s so cool” angle. i really like geoff but even that is not enough to keep me interessted in blades. adam and steven are very good storyteller and they always keep the story interesting even if the players aren’t on their a-game. i haven’t watched a lot of blades so i don’t know where jon falls but he at least didn’t impress me with his dm’ing in the first 2-3 episodes.

you are awesome
i like the cast.
i don’t like the story.
i can’t judge jon.

i hope this was somewhat usefull.

1 Like
#151

It pretty obvious from this thread that the number one and maybe even only reason is the time slot. I don’t know if JP have some kind of analytics on where his viewers are based in the world, but if you recall one of the first post on this forum about where are people from, huge chunk of that was Europeans. It’s kinda impossible for us to watch a show at 3am-7am.

And I dare to say, if Court of Swords and Blades were flipped in timeslots, you would be asking this question about CoS now. Sure some peole will not like some of the shows. But if you look at the YT VODs, they are either even or Blades is beating CoS in couple thousand views.

1 Like
#152

It starts at like 2AM on a weekday for me, i usually try to catch the vods from twitch the next day though

#153

EU here, it’s too late for me and i can easily watch the vod at work the next day so i think i have never watched an episode live.

#154

Not strictly true with regards to the timeslot.

For a lot of people (EU) the timeslot is an issue. It is very easy feedback to give and you would expect it to be the common feedback. For a lot of people the timeslot is not the issue but they still arent watching.

The numbers and analytics are a much more useful way of looking at the effect of the timeslot.

You are right about the Youtube numbers, the difference is mainly on twitch from what I can see but the last ep of blades is sitting at about 600 views on twitch atm.

5 Likes
#155

I love blades, and I am enjoying all the characters. In general I don’t have a lot of time to catch streams so I joined your Patreon specifically to get this mp3.

Blades got me into @rollplay in general and now I am enjoying a lot more of your content, most of which is in mp3 format.

One thing I will say using TV terms is Blades is like a drama that if I miss even the first 5 minutes I’d rather catch the vod than try to figure out what’s going on.

2 Likes
#156

100% the show is suffering because of when it is.

I have to get up every morning at 5:30am and Blades ends at 1am. So right off the bat it’s hard for me to justify staying up for the show. There’s also the fact that by 9pm when the show starts, I’ve already been up for 16 hours, so I’m starting the show tried. Last night is a great example, where there was no CoS so I thought I’d stay up for Blades. I woke up this morning, stiff necked, face on my desk, not even remembering all of the Preshow, let alone anything that actually happened in the show…so now I’m going to have to watch the whole thing again.

If I’m struggling that hard to watch the show while living in NA, I can just imagine how impossible the time is for EU viewers. That’s why I really only watch Blades Vod’s. I think the sunday slow will help immensely.

Also worth remembering is that the show hasn’t been super consistent the last few weeks, so it’s entirely possible that inconsistency in shows also played a part in lower viewership. A ridiculous amount of people, after all these years, still haven’t learned to follow Rollplay on Twitter, or just check your schedule page. Hell, I see people who are regulars on the channel coming into your Rollplay shows and asking how much they’ve missed (despite the shows always starting at the same time)! So schedule irregularities absolutely are going to mess with the show.

As far as the content itself, I think it’s a show that deserves success. You have a great cast, great GM, interesting world and story, easy to understand mechanics, and great roleplaying. The show might be a little too serious for some people, but given how silly Nebula Jazz is, I think it’s a nice contrast.

So I definitely hope you give the show a shot at a new timeslot before you consider giving it the axe.

edit: Oh, and keep in mind that Horizon Zero Dawn released yesterday, and that game had a fair bit of hype around it, so you may have also lost viewers to that.

1 Like
#157

I agree with this a lot. To me it actually improves the show since it’s sort of “the crew of pros” rather than people dicking around as experienced RPers playing silly roles or relative newbies – it’s a nice change. BUT I can see why it might not be enjoyable; the players pretty much go out of their way to work in traumas or problems for story’s sake, and handle pretty much everything like what you’d want an optimal group of players to do. Even the conflict between Aldo and Carriless with the lie about the diary was defused pretty easily – the players are so in-sync with both how to RP and how to play “optimally” as a group that maybe they let each other off more lightly than, say, the conflict between Prosper and Higgins in Swan Song (I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it’s another example of no real setback or danger). So far Blades reminds me a lot of Light Side Balance of Power, and how it got less views.

2 Likes
#158

Love the show, but two weaknesses stand out to me:

  • I believe the rolling / system needs more input from the PCs. When I compare Blades to The Bloodletters campaign and try to identify the differences the biggest that stands out to me is the Bloodletters players have an intimate knowledge of the system and take as much (if not more) part in defining the parameters of the rolls, devil’s bargain suggestions, etc, than the GM. So from the moment a roll is invoked to the result is fast, like really fast. In Blades it can take quite long to explain the risk/rewards and by the time a roll is made I, as a viewer, have to remind myself what the original point was. Even some of the Blades players know it is taking too long as they just roll before John has even broached the subject of the Bargain. Take a leaf out of the Nebula Jazz players who are now using the compel function to be less passive players in their system/story.

  • Time (from UK).

8 Likes
#159

As general feedback, I personally just caught up to the VODs and was able to catch my first live Blades show since release last night, when I looked around and saw the low viewer numbers as well.

For that night, I think it’s just timing. No Anne means her audience isn’t tagging along, GDC is going on, Nvidia talk, Horizon Zero Dawn swamping Twitch (I was watching Strippin before and after the show). As for in general… I agree that it’s at a bad time slot, as an east coast viewer. I’m really spoiled to watching shows end at midnight EST at the latest, like Swan Song. In the final hour of last night’s Blades I kept finding myself looking at the clock. Court of Swords being right before would also discourage me from marathoning, if I were watching that live (I’m catching up on CoS next, now that I’m caught up on Blades; 14 weeks to go~).

#160

I feel the same way. I love the cast and like the system. However, compared to past GMs (Steven, Niel, and Adam), John just does not feel as energetic as they do/did.

I still watch the show but only on VoDs. I dont really know if any time would work for me because I like watching at my pace instead of having to schedule time to watch it. Maybe if Twitch had a way to pause live streams I would start watching it live then pause it over night to watch it the next day.

4 Likes
#161

JP, I have been a sub off and on for years. I have loved your channel since SotG. Rollplay Solum was my shit, and let me just say that I LOVE Blades. I have seen every episode and if you change the time I will do my best to catch it live but please don’t cancel it. Having seen many DM’s on your channel, I think it is obvious that John is very talented and I’m sure you can see this. Don’t take too much stock in the criticisms of him here. This cast is the best of any Rollplay show thus far.

#163

For me its not a matter of me being from the EU, its a matter of not having enough time to watch it. I havent started watching it, because i am addicted to Nebula Jazz, and i try to desperately keep up with CoS, and i get hyped AF for the one shots, and the liveshows etc.

Blades got on my chopping block, with work and family, and other social engagements, and from just the name, i never gave it a chance. It could be great, but i wouldnt know. Im sure its amazing, the cast is great, but i had to have some breathing room, so alas, i never started with Blades.

#164

I said it before, but I really agree with you here so I’m gonna reply and agree again; in Bloodletters, the players know the system. Maybe not all 100%, but they all have a working knowledge of it. For people whose problem with Rollplay:Blades is the time it takes to choose/position/resolve/question everything and say “Well, it’s clearly the system then, right?”… go watch the more recent Bloodletters games. When the game doesn’t have to be explained/re-explained constantly, the flow is far more on point, and the rolling-forward action and drama follows right along nicely.

Rollplay:Blades really could use having at least one Stras. I mean, maybe not actually Stras, but somebody in the crew who has a level of system mastery where they can help the other players out from that side of the table. Think of the progress that Dan has made on CoS, where he’s really bought into D&D, he put the time in and learned the system and the mechanics, including the ones that may not directly apply to his current character/class. They have him constantly there as the player who is engaged and informed on a mechanical level, and it helps them out drastically with keeping things moving.

A possible two-sided coin here as well is the player number. In my experience watching, playing, and running Blades, I really think that 3 players > 4 players. Passing spotlight time and letting each player stretch out and be awesome when their time to shine hits without stepping on other players’ toes or having one or more players sidelined for long stretches seems to flow better with 3. That’s just personal experience/observation, your mileage may vary etc. It’s maybe a little less apparent on non-streamed/camera games where you don’t have that sidelined player still there being watched as they wait/quip/browse Reddit/whatever, but on stream it is easily apparent.
Now, the other side of the coin however is also not to be discounted for this scenario specifically: each player, being a streamer in their own right, brings some of their own audience in with them from outside of Rollplay potentially. And fewer players does indeed mean a smaller pool of “extra” viewers coming in. So, that’s not a concrete plus/minus.

6 Likes
#165

I gotta agree here - there is almost no real danger/threat to the PCs lives, which somewhat makes things a bit less personal and relatable
they feel like Managers directing minions sometimes, not Adventurers dealing with Monsters, as many RollPlay viewers are used to

1 Like
#166

feels like a sandbox with too many “open quests” at a atime, and yeah I too think the players are “OP” as you say in the sense that theres rarely direct danger, you can auto-dodge any problems by “resisting” and just taking a pointless amount of stress, and the danger feels out-of-the-way as opposed to in-your-face with other game systems

#167

You say that, but I remember at least 3 times when a character has been in serious, mortal danger… and then rolled a 6 or two. It’s like the inverse CoS.

1 Like
#169

I wasn’t sold on the first show, gave it second chance and asleep during the 5th or 6, loved the 10.5 and I was uninterested with last night show. I’m trying to like it.

The setting and fiction are cool dapper steampunk shady crime lords ghosts demons and immortal colossus whales. John seems to passive with adding narration, the show has long pauses where both the player and dm twiddle their thumbs. Adam would fill this space with “the camera fades” or “let check in with how x players feels”. The world doesn’t feel alive out side of the PC. Lack of notable risk and rewards Devil’s Bargain either don’t get offered up enough or when they do are deflected by the PC’s with flash backs. Maybe the PC’s have been very good at avoiding negative effects stress?, strain? I think heat is one?

Also No Hit points. ( As a person not invested into all the rules of Blades)
Hit points are easy for me and new viewer to understand. If a player has 1 out of 24 I know they are in trouble. Blades has and uses a bunch of terms that only mean if your invested into the rule book. Making it a hard show for a new viewer to understand.

4 Likes