Please do join in! Sorry, I was eating dinner. timezones are funky.
So far the campaign I'm GMing hasn't started because I've been so nervous I keep delaying it. :s
Like i know the rules fairly well, but gosh...the speaking out loud and improvising and storytelling part...I've never done anything like that before. >.<
And yeah I think the concept spiked in popularity due to various things. one of which might be 'actual play' podcasts. like The Adventure Zone, Friends at the Table, Critical Role, etc etc. It's pretty interesting to me and I don't mind it being a nerdy thing to be into.