Dealing with Player / Dm Complications

Hello all!!

I need some help with what I should do as a player in this really difficult situation with my group. Because truthfully this entire situation is pretty much just a complicated mess and the DM is completely oblivious.

I have been playing CoS with my party for a little over 6 months as of now. We’ve been a pretty good group and me and a few of the other players have become pretty good friends, and that’s where this situation starts from.

The player who plays the Cleric, has mentioned more than a few times that he’s never played a good D&D game. At first I didn’t think this was a sign, and really, for a good while he was enjoying himself.

However this seems to have changed as of recently.

He’s become fixated on the smaller issues of the game, and these small little errors that have pretty much added up and ruined the entire game for him, and by extension myself because I have to hear all about it.

These issues are

The DMs character favoritism, as their spotlight / favorite character to talk about shifts every few sessions and that character gets a little more stuff thrown at them

Clerics own lack of interest in their characters own arc, that they feel the DM hasn’t put much focus on (their character has been hand picked by Strahd and turned into a Dhampir, however Cleric doesn’t care for Strahd as a character. Therefore not fun according to him)

The DM forgetting something the cleric wanted to happen in game (they texted asking if theyre character could meet up with a NPC and DM said yes and it hasn’t happened yet, therefore the cleric is really upset because they believed it would’ve happened sooner)

One dimensional feeling NPCs (Ireena, Ismark, Strahd are all pretty one note)

The DM not breaking their DMPCs devotion paladins oath after a decision that pushed the party into a arguably evil act

Character Spotlight sessions, Clerics character hasn’t had one in a few weeks

The dm hasn’t been informed of any of this, because the cleric is afraid if she is, than she’ll just end the game entirely. She’s had some major burnout and that could be the tipping point.

However despite this, I told the cleric that they need to communicate with the DM if their not having fun, and in response they’ve just completely shut me down and told me it’s not happening and their just going to grin and bear this game they're not enjoying.

I don’t know what to do. Because on one hand he has valid points, the DM is forgetful, she does show favoritism, however I can deal with this.

I personally feel awful because last session my character was the main focus (she’s a werewolf and we went to the werewolf den where her sister is the pack leader) and now he’s really upset about character spotlight sessions because his character hasn’t had one in a good bit. And I’m having fun with the game.

However hearing all these complications is making me lose interest rapidly and just start to dread doing something that could make it worse for either of them

I guess I’m looking for some advice with all of this. Because it’s a player and DM issue but no matter what if this keeps up it’s going to lead to either the player drops out completely or the DM cancels the game entirely. And me and the other players are stuck in the middle of this, there’s only 4 of us in total, one is the player and the other his wife. If he quits game is also over.

Help 😔

Should I reach out to the dm? Or stay out of this completely?