Critical Role’s D&D Book Breaks Sales Records, And Gamers Have Feelings About It
The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount is making waves in the D&D community, topping bestseller lists and making people have feels.
There’s no denying the impact Critical Role has had on Dungeons & Dragons. From a streaming show in a living room to a powerful media empire with their own studio and upcoming Amazon animated series, Critical Role has spread far and wide, cresting the wave of 5h Edition D&D’s popularity alongside a surge in popularity for the voice actors and players that make up the cast of the show. Now it’s coming to official D&D canon with a Wizards of the Coast backed book, The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount that is already on track to becoming a bestselling D&D book.
In fact, the day it was announced, the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount quickly climbed to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list out of all books in general, beating out even Sneezy the Snowman. Of course that’s to be expected. Critical Role’s Kickstarter is one of the top ten biggest Kickstarters of all time, regardless of category, it shattered records to the point that the folks from MST3K showed up to pass the torch when they raised eleven million dollars to create an animated series, which was then bought up by Amazon. So, to say Critical Role’s fans are hungry for that sweet sweet content is a bit of an understatement.
Now, according to data from Wizards of the Coast and relayed by Greg Tito in a D&D News segment, the Wildemount book is one of the biggest ever in terms of pre-sales and pre-release excitement, reaching numbers not seen since the hype around the release of the core books.
Naturally people on the internet are reacting strongly to this fact. Some are celebrating the fact that their beloved show is doing so well.
#Critters and people who have never seen a single episode of Critical Role are going to love this book. Most of that is because of Matt. Not just his excellent writing, but the way he treated, educated, and fostered his team.
Advertisement— James Introcaso (@JamesIntrocaso) January 14, 2020
Others, seem to take it almost as a personal affront that Critical Role is getting an official WotC book instead of something like Dark Sun or Planescape, and are convinced that getting this book means the others will never get made.
Still more are taking a rather dim view of Critical Role’s fanbase in general, talking about how none of them even play D&D.
https://twitter.com/SnoreCardgage/status/1216702598755078152
But this person was quickly ratio’d into oblivion, with many Critters pointing out that they got their start with D&D.
I personally don't think I would have purchased the PHB, DMG, Monster Manual, or Volo's had I not become a Critter. I don't think I would've played the game either without seeing the fun CR Cast had doing it
Subscribe to our newsletter!Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.— Devan Siebert (@CHEEZCUD) January 13, 2020
And that’s not even touching on the gatekeeping aspect of the sentiment:
Veteran gamer who's been playing #ttrpgs for 15 years or so chiming in to say that I'd 100% rather play with someone who just found out about #dnd because of critical role 15 seconds ago, than one of the weaselly gate-keeping men who used to tell me dnd "wasn't for girls".
— Diana ➡️ Occasionally Awarewolf (@Superdillin) January 13, 2020
Of course coming out and saying something positive someone likes is sure to draw out people who take issue with that. It seems that one of the big issues at the heart of the difference of opinion that continually swells anytime Critical Role does anything, is that folks are worried their success is somehow part of a zero-sum game, and that in order for them to succeed, something else must fail. Or that it’s simply not something they like, in particular.
But there are an awful lot of folks who will come crawling out of the woodwork to say how much they don’t like this particular things–which is nothing new. You can define yourself as much by what you’re not as you can by what you are.
But for all that there is an extremely vocal minority protesting it, the numbers don’t lie and Critical Role’s Wildemount is looking to shake things up. Already the book is doing well, and even the official D&D Beyond streamed game features adventures in Wildemount. Whatever happens next, we’re seeing a whole new era for D&D.
Happy Adventuring!
