whats the appeal of watching ppl play DnD

• To explore and learn new systems I want to pick up and run.
• To feed my craving for audio dramas and similar media, because I grew up on recordings of old time radio shows.
• To find new communities to engage with (because everyone has a Discord).
• To fill my very long commutes.
• To fill my very long commutes with something other than political news or amazeballs NPR podcasts that make me too sad about the conditions of the world to keep listening without a long break--escapism, in a word.
• There's something about the oral tradition and telling fireside tales, or listening to them, that gaming groups do that other audio programs just... don't? Listening to people playing these collaborative stories just scratches a very primal itch in my brain.

Most of them are unpopular. There are just a lot of them streaming their campaigns because they want to be the next Critical Role, or they think they are more entertaining than they really are.

So you end up with a lot of talentless, boring streams that makes it seem more popular than it is. With paltry viewcounts across the board.

Maybe they just want to share the stories they're telling with an audience wider than just their table. Even paltry viewcounts are eyes on something you created and experienced and now shared with them.

Not everyone sets out to be a commercial success like CR. Some people just want to show off something they're having fun with and proud of.

Ive tried to watch the popular ones but it just serms like proffesional actors doing stuff which isnt fun. But once Moistcritical started his own group Ive been watching that, many of them have never played DnD either before so its more watching a bunch of friends playing which feels more natural and fun.

The Adventure Zone

I tried watching the BG3 cast do that one shot and it was kinda fun. But I don't think I could ever get into it unless it was heavily edited

As long as each episode isn't like 4 hours each like CR is.

You could try Dimension 20, they do edit theirs down.

I did really enjoy their first campaign, but I've kinda heard it stops being good after that. How true is that?

I know they don't use D&D for the next campaign, that might have something to do with it.

Travis ran the third season, Graduation... and honestly the less said about it the better...

They go back to D&D with Ethersea it's alright... It might be Travis' worst character he's played though...

I seem to remember Travis being my least favorite player in Balance.

I also didn't like him in D20's Tiny Heist. His most memorable moments were a really weird attempt to metagame the bad guy's real name and trying to handfeed Justin a resolution to his character.

Maybe they just want to share the stories they're telling with an audience wider than just their table. Even paltry viewcounts are eyes on something you created and experienced and now shared with them.

What's a good series of theirs to start with?