Don't Try to Be the Perfect DM 

When I was a dungeon master for the first time, I didn't really know much about pen and paper or the world. And that was a good thing! Of course I had a rough overarching story and my players had a main goal far away, but the real story was the way there. From trading in the fishing village, to being trapped in a bandit camp or crossing a steppe and a swamp - I put small and large obstacles in their way - yes, it was a kind of railroading, but not very strict and I thought that was the perfect mix. They could do whatever they wanted at any time. I always adapted accordingly. I also got to know more and more about the world itself and made it 50:50 - half was my own story/fantasy (and I always thought about that first) and the other half I read the wikipedia sites of the given fantasy world, cities, monsters, plants, charms and so on to be inspired. The two often complemented each other really well. This meant that I had to put in a lot more work, of course, because I had already thought up half of the world, the monsters and the stories myself and didn't just have a pre-made adventure, and I found that much better and more personal.

Being told railroading is evil definitely had a negative impact on my DMing for awhile XD

I am not a player YET, but I find this content fascinating!! What a great video!

2:53 to 3:09 Specifically in regards to controversial content being bad and progressivism and inclusivity being good in world building. These are issues that a good DM needs to discuss with players, especially new players, prior to starting a game, especially if it is meant to be a long running campaign. There is nothing wrong with making a fascist dystopian setting if the players want to tell a story about how their small band of rebels defeats the evil empire and destroys its weapon(s) of mass destruction. On the flip side, there is nothing wrong with a group of players who wish to, whether on purpose or through divine comedy, destroy utopia and set themselves up as dictators. As a DM or GM it is simply your job to decide if you are willing to run a game like that and then be flexible enough to come up with consequences for the players' actions in order to challenge the players and keep the game fun for the whole group. My current game setting has "racism" in the form of "kobolds are viewed as vermin, a little worse than sewer rats." This causes a bit of a challenge to my one player who only plays kobolds for some reason because he then needs to decide if he is going to play one that hides his identity, defies the stereotypes to try to prove the general populace wrong, or embrace the stereotypes and play an evil and conniving character. As the DM I need to be able to judge his (the player's) mood to know if I'm getting too close to annoying the player in real life while roleplaying the NPCs' biases. Sometimes I push it over the edge if it is meant to be a particularly unlikeable NPC, but that's just because I know the player enough to know that he understands why I'm doing it. I have even asked him if he wants me to stop and his response is that he likes the roleplay of it. And luckily the rest of the group understands as well and will typically treat his character a little poorly for the first session or two before "overcoming their own biases" and accepting his character as part of the group completely to roleplay the change they want to see in the world.

A DM that gets semiotics? Your group rolled a nat 20!

My idea of "perfection" in a DM or Player is someone who is Flexible. This video's expressed the idea of perfection through a 'checkbox' system. You're right, everyone's check boxes are different and checking the box of one player, might remove a check from another but if you view perfection not by WHAT the DM does but HOW they DM, there's a larger chance for 'perfection'. If the players agree on the style of gameplay they want, like described at the end of this video, then a good DM will be flexible in the wants and needs of their table. Take the example of Matt not being the best DM for a bunch of old-school combat-heavy players; I disagree. Matt has proven to be FLEXIBLE, it's just that what we usually see of CR content IS very roleplay heavy and story immerse, but I have no doubt that Matt would change his style to suit his table. That's my idea of perfection. Great video by the say. I'm not trying to say your point was moot but to agree with you that "perfection is SUBJECTIVE" and that's my idea of Perfect DM. Bravo.

Love coming across your content. Really interesting stuff, please keep it up! Definitely enjoy it!

I agree with most points with the video, save for one... The first one. There is a form of 'achievable functional perfection'. A functionally perfect DM is one that has experienced and learned from all core parts of their toolkit to a degree of mastery of every major subject. Improv, storylining, mental reading, conflict resolution, pacing, speed, system knowledge and some more. These can be functionally mastered in a realistic manner by one person. Its no different than an athlete mastering a sport, or a scientist mastering their given subject.

There is no perfect DM, however there could be the perfect DM for you. Another person may not agree with you. Just have fun running what you want how you and your players want.

I feel like I've watched this video three times

There's no perfect player or dm. But that's not really the point. Because regardless of how amazing the plothooks, voices, or characters are, it's a medium where friends can strengthen their bonds.

I don't think railroading is evil but I don't think it's what the majority at tables want. It's my DMing philosophy that I am an equal player at the table entitled to fun the same as any other players, but that means I'm not above my players either. I wouldn't allow any one player to control the story in ways the group wasn't on board with so it's reasonable that I act the same way. As to your example of people who had never played before I'm sure they had a good time but they didn't really know any different as far as they knew that is how DnD works. I also think that sort of sets them up long term to be worse players as they'll expect the DM to feed them narratives instead of acting with any agency.

Agreed mostly...I think of dnd like pizza, bad pizza is better than no pizza, bad DND is better than no DND...but I mean specifically bad DND, not toxic or terrible DND...I mean bad...like room temp pizza where the cheese isn't very melted and toppings have slid off is fine and pretty good, toxic pizza that is now just its own biome for all sorts of dangerous bacteria etc. Also, No dnd is better than Toxic dnd... But that's just me being pedantic... good vid. Also I liked and subscribed... My style preferences is comedy, story, role-playing, semi-linear storytelling, combat-light, rules-light, and have had many players that much prefer rules-heavy strategic gaming, I've played in their games and still had fun (not as much) and they have played in mine(also not as much) but again I agree my current players are very much down for my silly story first style with combat that serves story.