I mean, there are several APs that I enjoy like Mystery Quest because I get to se how new games are played, but I like my friends more. Even when I game with strangers like when I go to cons, I normally enjoy myself more because I'm actually playing rather than just watching/listening.

Idk why, but it's always easier to remember the great moments when my friends nailed a scene, had a great plan, got into shenanigans, etc. I remember and cherish my successes and my fails and those of people around me.

I get confused when people are disappointed that their table isn't like Critical Role. I mean, why should it be? It can be its own unique special brand of fun!

I hate the, "unpopular opinion," (along with all its variants) disclaimer so much. It's cowardly. Just say what you believe.

"Unpopular opinion: I enjoy the company of my friends"

Yes, and having sex is better than watching porn.

This is not controversial.

Is this an unpopular opinion at all? I don't think watching dnd is expected to be a comparable experience to playing.

The verb you use to describe what you do with a game is that you PLAY it. Not read, watch, listen, taste, you PLAY it. And that's what make YOUR game matter.

I personally don't care about watching shows about people playing game myself when I can just play my game.

Playing the game is more fun than watching the game as it is with most games.

I generally don't watch APs. I'd rather be playing (or prepping).

I have a specific Danish actual play called "Eftersidning på Eventyr", where three guys of my age play an occult version of their childhood town in 1998. It is the campaign I cannot play, as my friends now are not from my childhood, but I also know they nailed it in a 70-hour playthrough. Geeze, some of those moments are just epic.

Otherwise, horror; I am a happy Vaesen player, but some of the actual plays in that scene inspire me a lot. Same goes for Call of Cthulu

I have yet to find it very rewarding to hear an DnD actual play, and only some Dragonbane and Forbidden Lands. But well, it is not like I sit down and listen to actual plays; it is inspiration while I cook or vacuum.

"Playing with friend is more fun that watching other people play" is not an unpopular opinion. It's literally why there's a hobby at all. To answer the question, "Why do people want to watch other people play?", not everyone has a table to play with, or can play as much as they'd like, or they're interested in how other games work, or they just like seeing other styles of play.

It’s not, I can’t believe this has upvotes.

Especially when you aren’t even expressing an unpopular opinion. I roll my eyes so hard at this point whenever somebody says “hot take” because I just know that there’s a 99.99% chance that the rest of their post is going to be the coldest of cold takes that’s ever been took. Like you said just say what you have to say dammit, who cares if it’s a hot take or unpopular it’s Reddit we don’t even know each other

I have never found actual plays interesting, not even Critical Role. RPGs are not a spectator sport for me; they're a participatory activity I do with my friends. I don't care about other people's campaigns. I don't even like it when someone at a convention starts telling me about their home game or their character. Dude, stop, I don't care. The only RPGs that matter are the ones I play with my own group, and in the same way you have no interest in that, I have zero interest in your actual play.

That being said, I'm glad actual plays have brought new people into the hobby. That's cool for them.

I will skip every actual play episode my favorite podcasters do, ignore every AP YouTube video. I just do not enjoy watching other people roleplay.

I find actual plays to be boring in general. Even when I'm trying to see how to play a game, or how a favorite game was run, it's usually completely grating to me in short order. Wil Wheaton's Tabletop, with heavily edited and timed episodes, was about the only one I got a feeling for.

But I come from camp "Don't tell me about your character," so.