The Matt Mercer Effect (2024)

Is it now the Critical Role effect?

While I may be new to Critical Role, a slick, actual play D&D production starring professional actors, the series has been around since the early months of 2015. From its inception, the broadcast has piqued the role playing curiosities of people outside TTRPG (table top role playing), creating an unexpectedly substantial fan base and generating millions of dollars in revenues.

A cursory screening of my Twitter feed suggests that Critical Role and its impact on introducing D&D and role playing to thousands of people is generally well received. However, as someone once remarked, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Hyperbole aside, there have been unintended consequences, including the fairly well documented ‘Matt Mercer effect’.

For newbies to Critical Role like me, Matt Mercer is the Dungeon Master or Game Master (DM/GM). His primary role is to guide the player characters through the world they inhabit for the game. In other words, he aids the players to visualize their surroundings; he creates and presents role playing opportunities; and, he helps to clarify any rules or guidelines which allows players to assume their roles effectively. Think of him as a orchestra conductor: there is no music to enchant us without skilled musicians; yet, it’s hard to imagine the musicians playing so beautifully and synchronously without a conductor.

The ‘Matt Mercer effect’ is the assertion that his ability to conduct D&D games has created unrealistic expectations for other (amateur) game masters. That is to say, new, and perhaps veteran, D&D players are entering into local games expecting their DM or GM to provide an identical experience to the one Matt Mercer provides to his players and audience. Or conversely, a DM or GM imposes these improbable and stressful expectations on their own role before the game even begins. Such outcomes are impractical for many reasons, notably Mercer is a professional actor, the players in his campaigns are also professional actors, and he has access to resources that are typically unavailable to most DMs or GMs.

In fact, this effect has been recognized for some time now and it compelled Matt Mercer to make a public statement about it in 2018. In his statement, he reminds fans and players that the people involved in Critical Role, including himself, have been involved in immersive storytelling and role playing for decades. And not only is the expectation of a similar game experience unfair, it is also “absurd”. Mercer then goes on to state that people need to have honest conversations in order to co-create the expectations for their adventures, so that they may collectively tell a story in a way which best represents all who are involved. Frankly, these are sage words for anyone who is considering guiding a TTRPG game or campaign.

Nonetheless, with the continued success of Critical Role, I wonder if the ‘Matt Mercer effect’ has morphed into a broader ‘Critical Role effect’. After its first successful public campaign Vox Machina ended, there were a number of ensuing spin-offs, including podcasts, comics, and merchandise. Now, it seems that media spaces like Twitch are home to another sort of spin-off: countless actual play broadcasts of TTRPG by those hoping to emulate the success of Critical Role.

Is this explosion of actual play broadcasts creating unrealistic expectations for the TTRPG community? In other words, are people not only expecting a Matt Mercer-like DM or GM but also a glossy, elaborate, and highly immersive play experience similar to the one found on Critical Role? Will this have the unintended effect of alienating or disappointing new players who come to the table with such expectations?

Subsequently, there have also been mounting public criticisms not only about Critical Role itself but also about the intention of those following in the footsteps of the show. The latter is a shot at the current and upcoming generations who, according to some pundits, are preoccupied with the shallow pursuits of fame and fortune rather than the actual development of one’s game play craft. Whether or not this geezer thinks such a generalization is a fair criticism is inconsequential; nonetheless, it seems unlikely the relatively rapid expansion of play broadcasting occurs without a generation growing up in a follower-driven, social media world.

From my perspective, I think that it’s a good thing that Critical Role has helped cultivate new fans of D&D and TTRPG, in general. Participating in TTRPG is often a wonderful experience that combines immersive, collective storytelling with friendship (and hopefully a healthy dose of snacks!). Yet, as other have rightfully noted, the commercialization of creativity and art can frequently generate a set of unintended consequences. Ultimately, I think that TTRPG will survive Critical Role and actual play broadcasts because of its inherent imaginative and positive characteristics. However, I am intrigued as to how widespread broadcasting of TTRPG, along with the continued evolution of virtual game play spaces, will shape the community and the games it loves to play in the immediate future.

Flagons and Dragons