“Critical Role is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons. The show started streaming in March 2015, partway through the cast's first campaign” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Role](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Role) \ \ Fandom Facts * Holy **crap** Critical Role is popular: is is the most popular it has ever been (aside from March 2019), but also, its popularity coincides with a [massive increase in popularity in Dungeons and Dragons](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fg%2F11clghjr0y,%2Fm%2F026q9,%2Fm%2F04dzk1_) (but _not _Pathfinder) * There is a site entirely devoted to [stats about the critical role game](https://www.critrolestats.com): d20 rolls, puns, lore, you name it! * “After the split from Geek and Sundry, the cast announced a fundraiser for an animation of the popular Whitebriar arc. The campaign asked for $750,000 but reached $1 million within an hour, ending with a record-breaking $11.3 million in donations.” ### First Impressions **T:** I honestly had very little impression of what CR actually was. My only exposure was through following ItsGinnyDi on Twitter and seeing various Jester-related cosplay (I actually forgot that the show’s premise was voice-actors playing Dungeons and Dragons)! I might have seen some humourous animatics with Jester too… but when G said that the episodes are like three hours long and unedited, I was skeptical. **Z:** I think I first heard about this from G, and I thought it sounded kind of like The Adventure Zone. And that was kind of it. Not because I don’t find D&D interesting, but instead because I felt like I’d heard The Adventure Zone and I was good on the recorded tabletop RPG playing front. Aside from that, though, it seemed to me like it was kind of like the Game Grumps ...
As we continue wrapping up Fanthropological, we talk about several alternate universes (AUs) of topics we could have covered. Topics we would have liked to have covered * Number 5 * Z’s Choice: Haruki Murakami, or <insert niche author du jour> * T’s Choice: VTubers * G’s Choice: Folk Music * Number 4 * Z’s Choice: “Concept: Are there fandom archetypes?” * T’s Choice: Dan Harmon’s Community * G’s Choice: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure * Number 3 * Z’s Choice: Zappa * T’s Choice: Western Comics * G’s Choice: Drag * Number 2 * Z’s Choice: Cyclists * T’s Choice: Undertale * G’s Choice: Breadtube * Honorable Mention: * Z’s Choice: “Is admiration for a politician, fandom?” * T’s Choice: Archer (or possibly H. Jon Benjamin) * Number 1 * Z’s Choice: Aidyn Chronicles * T’s Choice: Classic Anime (In particular, 90s anime) * G’s Choice: Improv Comedy And more! All in about thirty minutes. ## Where can I get updates? If you want to follow us on social media, we’ve got you covered: * Facebook: [facebook.com/thenickscast](https://facebook.com/thenickscast) * Twitter: [@thenickscast](https://twitter.com/thenickscast) And of course, we can be found where all fine podcasts ...
What if you were listening to the latest episode in Dolby Surround 11.1 (that's right, this one goes to 11.1)!? Well, probably nothing, but we're sure someone out there would care. This week, we're talking about ~~the highest~~ super high definition displays, and unearthing why folks care so much about 4k resolution! All this in 20 minutes or less! **Sources** - Opening music, ["Diggin' til the Very End"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - Ending music, ["Bounty Hunter"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) ...
