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☆ Critical Role's 8 co-founders say this is how they turned their 'Dungeons & Dragons' home game into an Amazon hit
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-25 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

'The Legend of Vox Machina' season 3's final batch of episodes dropped on Thursday. "The Legend of Vox Machina" has had three seasons of 12 episodes apiece so far. But it was based on a 115-episode-long "D&D" campaign, where each livestreamed episode clocked runtimes of three to four hours. "The Legend of Vox Machina" Prime Video animated series was based on Critical Role's first "D&D" campaign. Riegel told BI ahead of the third season's launch that the crew still has more stories to tell.

Persons: Vox, Sam Riegel, —, Matthew Mercer, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham —, Mercer, Vax'ildan, O'Brien, Ray, Percival de Rolo, Taliesin Jaffe, Jaffe, Riegel, Anna Webber, CR's, Ronin Willingham, Travis Willingham's, Willingham, Jon Kopaloff, Amazon Studios Riegel, Percival, " O'Brien, CR, hasn't, we're Organizations: Service, Business, CR, Getty, Amazon Studios, Prime Locations: Whitestone —

☆ Your employer may start covering weight-loss drugs soon
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A growing number of employers are considering covering the blockbuster weight-loss drugs, several surveys show. Roughly the same share say they are somewhat or very likely to begin covering these medications for weight loss within the next 12 months, according to KFF’s annual Employer Health Benefits Survey. But only 18% of firms in KFF’s survey, which includes those with 200 or more employees, cover GLP-1 drugs primarily for weight loss. Even employers that provide coverage for anti-obesity drugs often put up guardrails, such as requiring employees to receive prior authorization or to try other weight-loss methods first. Outpatient drug costs are expected to climb 11.4% next year, surpassing the 8% increase projected for medical plan costs, according to Segal’s most recent survey.

Persons: ”, Matthew Rae, Mercer, Beth Umland, Eileen Pabon, KFF, It’s, Eric Miller, Segal, Vicky Cathcart, ” Cathcart Organizations: CNN, Workers, Health, Survey, Business, DSV Air & Sea, Employees, Employers, Outpatient, Marroquin Industries Corp Locations: Mercer, New Jersey, Hawthorne , California

☆ What goes on behind the scenes in the most formidable alliance in the nerdworld business
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

At the time, "Critical Role" — the "D&D" Twitch stream that turned the company Mercer co-founded into a key player in the nerdworld business — was just taking off. Advertisement"There's love at first sight, and this is one of those variations," Mercer told BI. These two men have now formed a formidable alliance in the nerdworld business. AdvertisementOn to 'Downfall'Mercer and Mulligan had a lot of fun crafting the world of Aeor together, they told BI. Critical RoleMulligan told BI he had long watched Critical Role, and that he got to dive deep into Mercer's lore while working on EXU Calamity.

Persons: —, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Matthew Mercer, who's, Mulligan, Mercer, gunning, Matt, it's, Aeor Mulligan, Brennan, Lee Mulligan, AeorForever, PhVFddZD4Q — Clara, they're, Essek Organizations: Service, Business, West Hollywood, Garden, Wembley Arena, Tourism Locations: Mercer, Madison, London, Los Angeles

☆ Here's what goes on behind the scenes in the nerdworld business' coolest alliance
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

At the time, "Critical Role" — the "D&D" Twitch stream that turned the company Mercer co-founded into a key player in the nerdworld business — was just taking off. Advertisement"There's love at first sight, and this is one of those variations," Mercer told BI. Mercer is the chief creative officer at Critical Role, working with his eight friends on everything from Amazon-backed animation series' to board game ventures. AdvertisementOn to 'Downfall'Mercer and Mulligan had a lot of fun crafting the world of Aeor together, they told BI. Critical RoleMulligan told BI he had long watched Critical Role, and that he got to dive deep into Mercer's lore while working on EXU Calamity.

☆ Rejoice, millennials: The vampire boyfriend is cool again
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

If you've spent time on TikTok or X in the past few months, you may have spotted a proliferation of videos and posts about two video game characters. There's Astarion from "Baldur's Gate 3," and more recently, there's Vincent Valentine, a fan-favorite character from Square Enix's "Final Fantasy VII" remake. Square Enix; Gregg DeGuire/Getty ImagesMercer's opening line in "Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth" is now a fandom legend. from within the depths of his velvet-lined coffin, longtime "Final Fantasy" fans were introduced to the super-cool, uber-goth gunslinger. "I hope viewers of the work see, too, that there's more underneath the surface of a person than the trope of this decadent, hedonistic, theatrical vampire," Newbon said.

Persons: —, hasn't, you've, There's, there's Vincent Valentine, Edward Cullen sparkled, Edward, he's, there's, Alucard, Valentine, Matthew Mercer, Neil Newbon, Matt Mercer, Zelda, Vincent Valentine, Gregg DeGuire, Vincent, Mercer, I've, Vox, Scott Garfitt, who's, Astarion, Newbon Organizations: Service, Business, BAFTA, Getty Images

☆ Critical Role's heartbreak prince helped make 'Dungeons & Dragons' cool. Now he's coming for the gothic horror gaming scene.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Critical Role recently released "Candela Obscura," a gothic horror roleplaying game. AdvertisementIn October, Critical Role, a crew of eight self-professed "nerdy-ass voice actors," played their long-running "Dungeons & Dragons" game at a sold-out Wembley Arena. These qualities make O'Brien ideal for stepping into the game master role for "Candela Obscura," Critical Role's new gothic horror game, and he's leaning hard into the tragedy. AdvertisementIt's also one of the more punishing gaming systems he's played in, O'Brien told me during our video call. Mercer, the team's designated game master, is the one who crafts the narrative and controls how the story develops.

Persons: Liam O'Brien, —, Matthew Mercer, O'Brien, I've, It's, he's, Twitch, Mercer, — O'Brien, — Taliesin Jaffe, Imari Williams, Aimee Carrero, Alexander Ward —, Taliesin Jaffe, Alexander Ward, Julius Caesar, Irish, Martin McDonagh, Spenser Starke, Rowan Hall, Aabria Iyengar, Starke, Mary Shelley, it's, Amazon, Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham, Ashley Johnson, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer Robyn von Swank Organizations: Service, Wembley, Darrington Press, Hasbro's, Hasbro, CR Locations: Europe, Ireland, New York, Mercer, Starke

☆ Nerd world's most famous faces are out to conquer the gothic horror gaming space — and their heartbreak prince is here to get the job done
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Critical Role recently released "Candela Obscura," a gothic horror roleplaying game. These qualities make O'Brien ideal for stepping into the game master role for "Candela Obscura," Critical Role's new gothic horror game, and he's leaning hard into the tragedy. AdvertisementIt's also one of the more punishing gaming systems he's played in, O'Brien told during our video call. Mercer, the team's designated game master, is the one who crafts the narrative and controls how the story develops. "I always prefer complicated narratively satisfying endings to a neat little happy ending," O'Brien told me.

☆ Cyber Startup Snyk Raises $25 Million From ServiceNow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Cybersecurity company Snyk Ltd. announced on Tuesday a $25 million investment from enterprise software maker ServiceNow Inc. The Boston-based startup also announced an integration with ServiceNow that aims to provide cybersecurity and information-technology executives a view of potential security vulnerabilities originating from open-source code. “Security is a team issue that requires developers, security and IT professionals to work together,” Mr. Bedi said. “Vendors are starting to talk with each other more often and being able to exchange data,” Mr. Horvath said. The eight-year-old startup cut 14% of its workforce last year and now has over 1,000 employees, according to Mr. McKay.

☆ GOP megadonor Mercer family has no plans to boost Trump's 2024 campaign as former president loses more allies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Robert Mercer and Rebekah Mercer attend the 2017 TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2017 in New York City. Rebekah Mercer gave nothing to any pro-Trump group or Trump campaign entity during his last run for president, according to the filings. The 2016 Trump campaign then reportedly used that data to conduct some digital advertising. The Trump campaign paid Cambridge Analytica over $5.9 million for its services during the 2016 election cycle, according to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. The pro-Trump super PAC funded in part by Robert Mercer also paid Cambridge Analytica just over $5.6 million that cycle, OpenSecrets says.

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