With the updated Content Bible I believe the series "Critical Role" and its spin off shows are falling afoul of the "Amateur Content" category. I would contest this as an exception because:
While the original airings left much to be desired in technical ability it has matured to a professionally produced media outfit that I think pushes the boundaries of Amateur from titans of the voice acting industry and being a geek culture craze. Its popularity being so great it has spawned multiple animated history animated shows shows that would not fall afoul of the "Amateur Content" criteria (e.g. 'The Legend of Vox Machina' is based on season 1 of Critical Role and the upcoming Mighty Nein is based on Season 2) based on this content. As a now very professionally produced series from established names in the professional acting industry and being the basis of now being made into multiple professionally animated shows alongside its pop culture phenomenon status make for a strong argument for an exception to being removed.
https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/critical-role-campaign-3-premiere-date-cinemark-1235076246/
https://www.cinemark.com/critical-role-events
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/critical-role-dungeons-dragons-1.6691020
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/14/critical-role-helped-spark-a-dungeons-dragons-renaissance.html
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Reply by NerdisaurusWrex
on September 19, 2023 at 10:27 AM
replying to bump this post. I'm curious as well to know if this is something that can be added back for the above reasons.
Reply by Daniel Tal-Or
on November 22, 2023 at 3:30 PM
As I have just had my efforts to add Critical Role dismissed, and spent some time messaging back and forth with moderators on this topic - it seems that "Amateur Content" is not the issue at hand.
Despite the contribution bible stating that "web series" are permitted content, in the words of one mod:
They claim it runs afoul of the entry under "Not Supported":
I have requested a rewording of the bible, because "YouTube videos" to the layperson implies short-form videos rarely above 10 minutes in length, usually standalone or connected only in theme. Critical Role features clear season and episode format; and long episodes, connected in story from episode to episode. Furthermore, the entry for "web series" should specify which platforms are considered acceptable rather than leaving it vague and arbitrary.
Reply by Daniel Tal-Or
on November 22, 2023 at 3:38 PM
I would like to add that this is immensely frustrating as someone who has been using Trakt to track this show for years. TMDB is considered the single source of truth for Trakt, they should be much more considerate before removing a show that is watched by tens of thousands live weekly and with official per-episode overall viewership estimates landing between 1.2 million and 1.5 million.
Reply by NerdisaurusWrex
on November 22, 2023 at 3:42 PM
Very frustrating, we just got it all back up and fixed.
Thank you for working on this.
Reply by mmmorgan
on February 7, 2024 at 8:27 AM
The last message states the show is back up but it seems to be nowhere to be found ? Was the final decision to delete this show ?
Reply by thewayfarer
on February 9, 2024 at 2:02 PM
I’m following this, since the situation is very frustrating. I understand that they have to draw a line somewhere, but I’m unable to see any solid reason to exclude Critical Role. And I agree they should be more considerate, taking into account the popularity of the show.
If the network is an issue, I would like to point out that many YouTube Originals (such as The Age of A.I. with Robert Downey Jr.) are still in the database. Dimension 20 is conceptually very close to Critical Role and it is available, with networks YouTube and Twitch (and Dropout). If these are accepted, I don’t see why Critical Role should not. I really hope this issue will be solved.
Reply by Daniel Tal-Or
on February 11, 2024 at 11:17 AM
Based on my efforts 3 months ago, it's unlikely to be added. It's just a hypocritical and biased interpretation of the submission guidelines on the part of the mods (they accept webseries... just not this one? They allow productions from professional studios on their own sites a la Rooster Teeth, but not this studio because their series are only on user-submitted content sites?). They told me I could submit the theater-released one-shot events as movies, but then deleted them when I did. I tried to add the Critical Role YouTube channel as the official channel for the Metapigeon label (for Legend of Vox Machina) and they insisted that they wouldn't accept it as the company's official channel because most of the material isn't accepted on TMDB (catch 22). I started to compile a large list of reasons for accepting Critical Role (if not all their series), but I was informed by several people over on the Trakt forums that it's not worth the effort and I'm likely to get banned for the attempt. At this point, I've had enough of this nonsense and I'm focusing my volunteer efforts on TVDB and suggesting that others do the same; Trakt supports TVDB-only entries so I have no motivation to stay here.
Reply by mmmorgan
on February 11, 2024 at 2:13 PM
Thanks for your efforts. It's really a shame, especially considering the amount of websites which consider TMDB as an exhaustive resource, only to have such nonsensical decisions made. Including a show of this magnitude (and history !) should not even be up for debate.
Reply by LeighApparently
on March 30, 2024 at 2:20 AM
On serializd I saw that Critical Role was on there, but only the episodes from Campaign 1, I spend a whole day adding every episode from Campaign 3, and the three series of Exandria Unlimited to TMDB. The lengths, titles and official descriptions. And now it looks like the entire show has been deleted off the website? This is frustrating as hell, especially given Dimension 20 is still on the site. Both shows I feel aren't "Amateur Content" given they're made professionally, by industry professionals?
Reply by Daniel Tal-Or
on April 1, 2024 at 3:51 AM
I feel your pain; I did the same thing in November (on mobile no less!). Based on the back-and-forth I had with mods at the time, the issue is not - per se - that they think it is "Amateur Content"; it's that they consider all content that exists only on user-submitted sites (such as YouTube and Twitch) to be "Amateur Content" by definition. They seem to have an archaic and flawed understanding of the content ecosystem by which "if it was professional, it would be on Netflix or Disney+ or live TV". Theater releases of special episodes, despite assurances I could submit them as Movies, were also removed; so I also suspect a vendetta against CR by at least one mod.
The only way this is (possibly) going to change is if there is an organized push for this from every critter on this site. We need to make a request for addition post with all the details and reasoning laid bare and then have it be supported by as many TMDB users as possible. Like I said above, I started to compile a large list of reasons for accepting Critical Role, but dropped it because I don't have the energy to organize people enough to make it happen.
Reply by NerdisaurusWrex
on May 6, 2024 at 3:51 PM
I see that the Geek & Sundry network is on the site still with some shows added on it. Has anyone tried the route for CR allowance by pointing out that CR began on that network?
Reply by parasike
on May 9, 2024 at 2:02 PM
With the announcement of beacon.tv, I think at least some Critical Role entries should be eligible to be entered back into TMDB right? The content is not only hosted on YouTube/Twitch anymore.
Reply by NerdisaurusWrex
on May 9, 2024 at 3:01 PM
Finger's crossed! Sounds like it would fall under the same umbrella as like Dropout.TV then, which has been allowed
Reply by Daniel Tal-Or
on May 9, 2024 at 3:06 PM
I am so excited for this! As far as I understood from my interactions with the mods in the past, this is all we needed to qualify. I'll try to add one of the series as soon as I have a few free minutes.
Reply by NerdisaurusWrex
on May 9, 2024 at 3:08 PM
Once we know we're good, I'm happy to help shoulder the burden for re-adding.