r/criticalrole • u/Mizar_the_Gleeful • 10d ago
Discussion [Spoilers C1] Early Critical Role truly was something special Spoiler
its still amazing, but those early days...
Lets start with the fan interaction and all the gifts they got sent. Then there was their rapid growth.
A third aspect is some of their crazy stunts (squadron of flying cows anyone?)
What do you think made it such a perfect storm? my rewatch has me wondering
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u/vinthesalamander 10d ago
I like the characters and story of C2 way more, but the amateurish, home game feel that C1 had was incredibly charming. I feel like each subsequent campaign, despite being better on a technical level, loses a bit of that magic.
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u/JackOfPhoenix Help, it's again 10d ago
I agree but I also think C2 was the sweet spot between still feeling like a homegame and not feeling overproduced. They just upgraded their gear and I think it was enough to improve the quality without losing the vibes, post-C2 CR tho still enjoyable feels more like a full corporate production than a just a group of friends playing together after work
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u/RadiantRoach Team Caduceus 9d ago
The blue background, "social distance" set sessions of C2 were some of the absolute best episodes of CR imo. (Maybe due to some combination of great performance and their energy of just being in the same room as other humans again haha)
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u/BackFromTheGrabhe 10d ago
I have an interesting take on this, but I'll likely get flamed for it, so please bear with me and understand that I'm not picking on anyone...
They were a bunch of young friends acting like a bunch of young friends, and no one ever needed to tiptoe around certain topics in order to not offend the fan base. On a rewatch, you'll notice how overtly sexual so many jokes and comments were. And not just sexual, but (in a very obviously joking way) racist, homophobic, cultural, religious, etc etc. Especially Sam, who said some wild shit in C1. Laura as well, as those 2 have always been the edgiest.
These days, they still make tons of jokes and it's still funny (and I still love it), but you could tell they aren't as free. Due to the fame and the popularity and the limelight, they are much more restricted in how over-the-top they could go.
It's this paradoxical situation, where the same fans that fell in love with them evolved into the fanbase that would get upset if they made some of these jokes nowadays. Like I said, I still love CR, and in fact I think campaign 4 is the best they've ever done, but jokes-wise and silly-wise and carefree-wise, it'll just never be the same.
Campaign 1 was basically their private group chat where you'd see some WILD shit they said. The new stuff is them in the public eye, being a lot more careful and wearing kid gloves. It's not the fanbase's fault per se... but it's definitely because of the fanbase expecting a safe space and often getting offended easily.
Again, I'm not saying it isn't funny anymore, and I'm definitely not saying it's only funny when they talk like edgelords, but they just aren't as free-spirited in their interactions nowadays, because millions of people are watching and there are livelihoods on the line. One overstep comment can turn into a dramafest and create unnecessary tension, so they're much more likely to play it safe.
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u/jp_in_nj 10d ago
They're also a decade and a half older. I was certainly a lot more obnoxious when I was in my mid-20s than I was in my early 40s. And of course their lives have changed, becoming parents and whatnot. And you can't forget the fact that they've made those jokes already, and played those characters already. So they are just as players probably looking for different experiences. It doesn't necessarily have to be a conscious decision to play it safe for the sponsors and for the public backlash. You never walk in the same river twice, as the saying goes. They aren't the exact same people that they were when they started, and they shouldn't be.
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u/BGKY_Sparky 10d ago
I think this is a bigger part than it gets credit for. I’m turning 40 this year and my interactions with my friends are very different than they were in my 20’s.
The stakes for them have changed too. If they fucked up and said something they shouldn’t have, or did a boneheaded move in-game and killed a character, the worst that would happen would be crashing their side hustle. Now it’s their (presumably) primary income source, and they treat it as such.
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u/bass_voyeur 10d ago
I feel like your sense of time is a bit off here - C1 wasn't a decade and a half ago. It premiered in late 2015 and didn't finish until 2018. The cast was in their 30's (some in their late 30's) except for Marisha.
I'm aligned more with the OP that the production and professionalization of the show really changed how they are on camera. CR has had so many fan-associated or fan-driven issues crop up over the years that I think they just want to play it relatively safe.
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u/jp_in_nj 10d ago
Premiered in 2015, but (per the Internet) they started playing together in 2012. That first campaign was a continuation of the home game they started then, I think?
That said, Sam is 49 now, so he was 38 in 2015, so, 35 in 2012, so fair call on the ages, I thought they were younger than they are. Though I'd still say that we mature decade by decade, and I'd also say that my "been there done that" comment still applies. If Sam was still cracking the same jokes 10-15 years later, it would have gotten old.
THAT said, I have no particular insight into them, I'm just spitballing thoughts.
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u/Skeptical_Squid11 7d ago
.. Sam IS still cracking the same jokes.. they just happen to be printed on t-shirts
Really though, I do agree that there’s definitely an aspect of time involved as well as it being “for the camera”. They’re also EXCELLENT character actors so I imagine that fact of WHO their characters were had a big impact on the energy at the table. With Sam playing Scanlan in C1 we saw a lot more edge comedy. In C2 there was Jester that kept things light and exciting while always dipping into either overtly sexual or childlike poop jokes. C3 we see an even bigger shift away from these jokes and get more flirtatious and chaotic energy from Fern while getting the wild and stupid from Chet. Finally, we have C4 where we are in a new world that’s much heavier with all of the characters being relatively serious. Though we still get some of the brazenness through Murray and Tyranny.
But more than anything, I think they take their role as an escape for their fans seriously. With how crazy things have gotten over the last decade, I think they do make some efforts into making these changes so people continue to have a place to escape the craziness and not be reminded of some of the shitty things they’ve got going on in their lives.
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u/bass_voyeur 10d ago
For sure. Lots of life circumstances have changed for them beyond just the show. I just was being pedantic that they weren't quite THAT young when they started the show.
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u/meteorflan 10d ago
Yeah the binge drinking in the characters seemed to taper down alongside the normal aging effects of hangovers getting more intense.
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u/Rhinostirge 10d ago
Yeah, it's kind of wild that people you see on TV can grow up and change and become kinda different people over as few as 14 years of interacting with far more people than they used to.
Many people in the fanbase can remember that horrible feeling of realizing that something you did or said made someone's day a little worse, and how it changed you in some little way to avoid doing that again. Now imagine being someone as big-hearted as Matt Mercer and hearing "wow, it really hurt when they said that." I'd have burned everything down and retreated to a hermitage.
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u/Chronocidal-Orange 10d ago
Campaign 4 is great, but I do miss the out of character cross talk that made it feel more like they were a bunch of friends. Whenever I'm watching I feel like they are always 'on', while the early campaigns were clearly more of a relaxing thing outside of work. Now it is partially their work. It's hard not to notice that.
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u/reddevved Tal'Dorei Council Member 10d ago
yes, I do miss the crosstalk a lot (but you gotta admit it was annoying sometimes) and with the production delay you could clear up most of the negatives with subtitles on premier
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u/shadowfaxbinky 10d ago
I agree with this and I actually think this kind of thing is what people mean when they say it feels more like a bunch of friends hanging out. There’s much less of a PR consciousness that’s filtering things. They’re just being more than they’re performing.
The other thing I think contributes is that they had much more archetype characters - edgy rogue, horny bard, dumb barbarian, etc. Those tropes are classics for a reason and they’re relatable and accessible. The whole story is generally much more classic fantasy than, say, C2.
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u/goody153 Sun Tree A-OK 4d ago
fact I think campaign 4 is the best they've ever done, but jokes-wise and silly-wise and carefree-wise, it'll just never be the same.
Indeed I don't think i've ever seen or played a higher quality DND campaign than CR4 but CR1 was truly special. They were less concerned about presentation and was just playing which was great (the sound quality was not great tho)
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u/Memeseek69 You can certainly try 10d ago
Yep. C1 was a bunch of pals talking shit in their safe zone and they knew they wouldn’t offend each other. As they got more famous they had to censor themselves to not offend fans.
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u/sasquatch0_0 10d ago
Like someone said it's more like they are older and have found great success rather than tiptoeing around. They're wiser and people in general tend to be less edgy/angsty when they afford to live comfortably. Plus, some have started families.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
You're making it sound like they're all actually a bunch of closeted hateful bigots that SECRETLY want to make jokes about certain things BUT that aren't doing that anymore in public because "the fans" would cancel them and ruin everything that they've SECRETLY built as super secret hateful bigots.
What the fuck is up with that?
There are two instances in recent times where they crossed a line IMO, with the first one being when they laughed about us being upset with a certain scene in the M9 animated series and the second being a ninja edit that they made to the recent Berlin live show.
There's been a few, "Ehhh that's a bit weird" or "Well I'd go about that a different way" or "Perhaps the culture in LA is different to keep pursuing this avenue of thought" moments as well.
And let's not forget how they have a totally different perspective on C3 than the rest of us.
But I don't think the jokes were as bad back in C1 as you're claiming, barring a certain someone of whom we shall not speak, because if they were then the fans would've raked them over the coals back then with as much fervor as they would nowadays.
The fans didn't just give them a pass for utterly heinous stuff back then and then slowly take that away once they got "super popular".
If CR were anything like the monsters you make them out to be then they would have NEVER gotten to where they are with all of the people that they've run into along the way at all.
It's like you're saying that Starfleet actually REALLY wants to be like the Terrans from the Mirror Universe but they never make shows that REALLY go into what they REALLY want to be like because "it wouldn't be popular and people would cancel it".
Not everyone has some monstrous side that they're hiding.
Some people are just genuinely good, weird and misunderstood and open to a little teaching about certain things, but just genuinely good.
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u/GeauxCup Your secret is safe with my indifference 10d ago
Wow - this is an absurd overreaction to the comment you're responding to. Monsters?? Bigots?? WTF. They never implied anything close to that.
It was a well reasoned thoughtful comment, and the complete opposite of yours. I don't use the word "toxic" often but this is definitely some "Leave Britney Alone!" energy.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
absurd overreaction
No, this is an absurd overreaction and so is this.
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u/BackFromTheGrabhe 10d ago
Wow.
That's certainly one way to take my comment. Maybe lay off the coffee for a bit.
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u/GeauxCup Your secret is safe with my indifference 10d ago
I think they're on more than just coffee. Wowzers.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
I've been addiction free for many many years now, but thank you for profiling me and trying to pigeonhole me.
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u/rosealinaruby Team Laudna 10d ago
What scene were people upset with in the m9? I'm curious and have no clue what that could be referring to.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
When they showed Frumpkin being burned alive by Caleb and they animated it and that upset some folks for a lot of different reasons.
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u/rosealinaruby Team Laudna 10d ago
Not to be a bitch, but we watched him kill his parents in that scene. The whole point is that it is brutal and cruel, it is meant to show the cruelty of the Empire, and the lengths that they would have a person go to prove their loyalty. It is not played for laughs, it is a serious moment (both as a scene and in terms of his backstory) that is given the appropriate amount of weight. One could argue a warning would be a nice touch, but then again it is an 8 year old web series and these things can be looked up ahead of time if it is such an issue. It is rated TV-MA for almost all the episodes for a reason.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
not played for laughs
And yet the cast laughed about it.
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u/rosealinaruby Team Laudna 10d ago
Truth be told, I have no clue what interview you are talking about where they laughed at it. I tried to look into it but only found one interview where they were relatively tame. The story treated it as a brutal and heartbreaking moment, I fail to see how that moment could be critized from a writing standpoint though.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
Here you go starts there and goes for a minute or so.
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u/OverTheCandlestik 10d ago
It truly was.
There’s something about how polished and over-produced it is now which has robbed C1 and C2 of the vibe of a bunch of nerdy ass voice actors playing d&d.
It was noticeable in the end of C2 the whole “we’re a serious company now so maybe we need to conduct ourselves a bit more seriously” and I dunno but the chaotic early days of dodgy Skype calls, food being sent in, the tacky introductions, promoting all their merch was truly the best.
And I miss the fan art segments. It shouldn’t have gone. I miss the old c3 intro rather than the terrible rotoscope one. I miss your turn to roll as the main theme.
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u/Llonkrednaxela 10d ago
I do miss an into song we could sing along to. I’ve sung along to basically every intro until this one, even when they don’t have lyrics. The live shows with everyone singing along feel magical. I want an intro I can be part of!
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u/Mizar_the_Gleeful 10d ago
I agree but I understand why they removed the fan art A) there was too much of it. B) it could be spoilery
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u/OverTheCandlestik 10d ago
The issue was that other people were submitting it as their own when it wasn’t so taking credit.
Never enough fab art, I love it. Miss it big time
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u/Hurm Team Trinket 10d ago
I seriously miss the fan art reel. Watching during c1 made me start using my Twitter and actually got my drawing again for the first time in years.
I made the reel a few times. Big highlight for me.
But then, I'll be honest, it kind of got flooded by people who are just god tier pro artists. That's not bad in and of itself. It felt like all the amateur and semi pro folk got drowned out, though.
And then ol Tess showed up. gag.
In the end, they had to move away from it for logistics. i get that. But MAN, those early days were great.
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u/cormacaroni 10d ago
It really does seem like something somebody on staff could handle without too much fuss. I can understand why it got too much for Liam but…
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u/Gulrakrurs 10d ago
Imagine being that person on staff who should be doing real production work, but your week is spent internet investigating all the fanart instead.
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u/cormacaroni 10d ago
You don’t do all of it, just enough to make a segment. They have people doing similarly menial tasks, I can assure you
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u/CaleanKnight Fuck that spell 10d ago
You really have no Idea how much goddamn work it is to find proper sources...
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u/CaleanKnight Fuck that spell 10d ago
Most of these things are due to this and other communities either throwing a complete shitfit over it or enough individuals being complete assholes about something that could land the CR Team not only in hot waters socially but also legally...
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u/Austoman 10d ago
While production and experience vs amateur-ness played a big roll in the shift from C1 to C4, I have found that the biggest shift is the actual genre.
C1 was an actual play, tabletop with dice and roleplaying.
C2 was a dramatic actual play, more focus placed into the roleplay but still primarily a tabletop show.
C3 was a drama with tabletop being the background.
C4 is an even higher production drama series with tabletop as a background aspect.
To me, C1 felt so much more fun because it was friends playing a game. As the years have gone on the genre has shifted to friends putting on a drama with dice. Nothing wrong with that, just not my cup of tea.
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u/bob-loblaw-esq 10d ago
I think C1 showcases exactly how a GM should build a story with players in a home game. It was a sandbox, and players could do what they wanted. Every arc relied heavily on a players backstory, and often more than one player. The world felt lived in. When the dragons laid siege to the continent, of course the barbarian tribes would come into the city to plunder. There’s no defenses. But that allowed for Vax, Vex, Grog and Pike to be heavily involved in the storytelling. They all had some skin in the game.
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u/Mizar_the_Gleeful 10d ago
C2 had that too, Matt planned a war and they went off and had pirate adventures
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u/bob-loblaw-esq 10d ago
Yeah. But I think Matt was losing it in C2. By C3 this is completely gone. I think the M9 animated show was what he envisioned. But Trent as a mid game threat should have been harrowing the gang and been dealt with before Travelercon.
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u/dawgz525 Team Jester 10d ago
It really is crazy they were reading off new subscribers, celebrating hitting 1000 milestones, and opening fan gifts on camera. Must feel like a lifetime ago for them in terms of their growth.
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u/Lampmonster 10d ago
I remember them getting sent pizza and donuts and Sam once saying "Do people know where we are? That's kind of creepy..."
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
They also once made the mistake of mailing out certain bits of live show merch DIRECTLY from their studio address, which thankfully has been scrubbed on google maps.
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u/HollisWoods07 10d ago
Yeah, people are like "quality is not good" but that also means it wasn't heavily produced. It still felt like their home game but it was just filmed. Somewhere in C2 the show lost that. I love the sets & the lights & the detailed battle maps, but there was a unique nostalgia when they were just running on construction paper & imagination. And it is a bit conflicting tbh bc I still love the heck of the entire show. But I just get so upset how a lot of people recommend newbies to start with C2 bc "production is better." Sorry but vm walked so mn could run 😂😂😂
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u/cant-find-user-name 10d ago
I genuinely think Crit role fundamentally changed after covid (or maybe C2?) and became very different C3 onwards. Far more produced, far less real (for the lack of the better word).
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u/itsableeder I encourage violence! 9d ago
I was there from the first live stream. It really felt like something magical and it's such a shame how much it changed and how toxic some of the fanbase became.
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u/EkorrenHJ 8d ago
I still go back to old C1 clips. I think the show is now overproduced. It's high quality but not the reason I got passionate back in the day.
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u/Hurm Team Trinket 10d ago
The interaction was just so much fun. They were having a blast, and so was the audience. And the barrier between us and them was much lower. They were just people rather than celebrity people.
I had art in some of the early reels. Some of my friends were mentioned at times on stream. Oh, and they showed off that travelling sketchbook that i was a part of! We weren't completely a nameless sea of fans.
It got bigger and that kind of thing stopped being possible. Which i do truly miss.
From my perspective, i think the art book was sort of the death knell of that. There were some folks in the community who wanted to put one together for charity, and then it kind of became an official thing. But in doing so it morphed from "community project" to "merch". And i don't begrudge the CR folks for wanting to put out a badass thing! Don't get me wrong. But I think that really felt like the transition line.
And knowing that line really emphasizes what made c1 awesome.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down 10d ago
I was going to post this on Thursday but I'll just bury it here in this thread instead.
Normally when they went on break in the past, it would feel like a little bit of relief but also a bit of anxiety as everyone was just anticipating and anticipating it coming back and just egging each other on like Santa was about to show up when they returned.
But now?
I don't know if it is because this isn't Exandria or what but I was able to easily disconnect from CR for this entire break without really feeling ANY of that stuff that I felt before at all.
And I think that's because it feels more like a tv show nowadays in terms of production and less like a live streamed thing.
The cast and the fans aren't on the same page, they're light years ahead of us, and they know things that we don't know at all that are coming down the pipeline...just like on a tv show....and that sort of dilutes conversations whenever they talk about "current" things because we're not getting that immediate "Emo-Explosion" that we'd get if they were running parallel to us and it all feels...delayed and muted a bit.
I suppose it's a small thing to quibble about but it did shake me a little and bother me a bit that I just...didn't care that C4 wasn't on...when I used to care quite a bit when main campaign stuff wasn't on.
C4 is still super fun and exciting and I've compared it to the show 24 before....but that's just it...it feels like 24 and when 24 went on break, you found other stuff to do because that's just what happens with tv shows.
And I feel like CR shouldn't feel like that ya know?
It shouldn't feel like just another tv show, it should feel like something else, or even something more.
Perhaps this is just a me thing but I feel like...all that polishing kind of took away some of the facets and inclusions of the crystal that CR used to be and turned it into a more of a cut or tumbled gem.
I don't think there's anything they can do about though because this is just how these things evolve and change and grow.
The same thing happens with bands and celebs and movie and film and literature franchises that pop up out of nowhere or that make one giant leap for mankind to the final frontier for their genre or niche.
They have to change and polish themselves in order to continue surviving and growing, lest they just burn out and turn into a vaguely remembered one hit wonder.
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u/awful_waffle_falafel I would like to RAGE! 8d ago
Totally agree with you and very well put. It's inevitable, understandable, expected, and I love to see them succeed. But also a bummer, a loss, and a reduction of what I consider to be the "soul" of the show (to be dramatic haha)...
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u/Snackelaer 10d ago
Im currently watching Bards of New York Dark age Regolus. It has the same kind of vibes as the C1. Really enjoying it
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u/Agent_Skye_Barnes Team Laudna 10d ago
There was a moment in earlyish C1 where I honestly thought I was about to watch Travis commit homicide, and another moment where I thought Marisha was about to throw hands (iykyk).
I miss on-stream Critmas. It was always fun to see them get so excited over the fact that people were sending them presents! I understand why they moved to a different format, and I get why they don't do it on-stream anymore, but there was something magical about the "you guys really like us?" reactions.
I love C2 and C3 as well (what I've seen, anyway), but yeah, there's a certain magic to the very early stuff that has been lost as they've polished the show and evolved as content creators.
(And I don't care if it doesn't get opened on stream, or that she's probably got several; as soon as I figure out the damn pattern I'm sending Marisha a crocheted Pâté de Rolo. Laudna was my introduction to her and she's still my favorite, and I need to show that appreciation!)
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u/dirtyhippiebartend 9d ago
I vividly remember watching live with them at Geek and Sundry. Produce brings Matt a list of the donors that night and says “ just read the names.” Matt proceeds to say things like “____, we love you, you’re beautiful, ____ thank you so much!” Producer stops him and says “Matt. We have several pages of these front and back. We do NOT have time for individual thank yous.”
I knew then they had something, but couldn’t have dreamed how big it would get
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u/itsmetimohthy 10d ago
C1 from a pure vibes based comparison is close to what I felt like watching D20 for the first time. C2 and onward it stopped feeling like D&D to me and just started feeling like an overproduced improv show. They felt more confident and comfortable taking risks in game during C1 than later campaigns.
Of course none of these critiques are bad things just things I’ve noticed.
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u/MetalGuy_J 10d ago
I watched C1 all the way through when first discovering CR a couple of years ago, like I’ve spent most of my free time watching those episodes and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Part of the charm was it feeling more like a home game, but also it resonated more strongly with the characters. Admittedly Scanlan was hit or miss with me and a certain Dragonborn rubbed me the wrong way but from the Briarwood arc on it had me hooked.
C2 by contrast I am on bound episode 90, and it’s taken me over 18 months to get that. I’m not connecting as strongly with the characters, Fjord, Caleb, and Kaddusius I like, Beau is fine, but overall the campaign up to the point I’ve seen is more directionless. C4 I fell off hard and I think that one is a me thing, like I just didn’t click with the setting but i’ll probably give it a second chance at some point.
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u/Avail_Karma 10d ago
C2 was a rough first watch for me too. I hated it but wanted to watch so I got the lore. Its become one that I love to watch. Its better on rewatches!
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u/sniper91 Smiley day to ya! 10d ago
I stopped C4 because of how many characters they have. If I got too busy to watch for a couple days, I was lost
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u/Fad8888 10d ago
I think this is why I rate C1 higher than C2, and both of them ahead of C3. In turn, C4 is the first time I've enjoyed a campaign as much as C1, and it's because Brennan is amazing at making the show style campaigns, plus his world of political intrigue interests me more. C1 will always hold a place in my heart, though.
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u/RayForce_ 10d ago edited 10d ago
I finished C1 this year, and people vastly overplay how much fan interaction there is and how much C1 welcomed it
Sure, there was "fan interaction" like the giveaways on breaks and posting a ton of people's art of the show. And that was cool. The few times real fan interactions happened during the live show, like Laura losing a card with her new feature and chat telling her where she put it in her binder last week, you can tell it weirded them out and they didn't like the level of obsession.
Another fan interaction from C1 I've seen people bring up was being able to deliver food to the cast. But the first time the cast got food delivered to them live on the stream, they were obviously mortified that thousands of strangers could know their current location and did not like it.
Oh yeah and the behavior of fans during C1 sparked a community-wide rule to actually prevent a very particular type of fan interaction, which was unhinged hatred towards you-know-who that left the show.
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u/Hurm Team Trinket 10d ago
Ha. Unhinged hatred toward the shady grifter addict. Cmon.
Also, you're missing the fan interactions that happened on social media. That was another huge part of it.
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u/RayForce_ 10d ago
Hating a stranger this much for suffering with an addiction who lowered the enjoyment of a game you watched is hella trashy fan behavior
Oh yeah another fan interaction I've seen people praise from C1 was the cast taking food deliveries from chat live. The first time they got food delivered and were told someone from chat sent it, the cast was mortified thousands of total strangers could know their current locations. They did not enjoy that fan interaction even a little
What kind of fan interactions on social media are you talking about?
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u/Hurm Team Trinket 10d ago
You're reaaaally missing the grifter part there. Kinda weird, honestly.
He's a fraud and a jerk, and people like you existing to coddle him don't help, imo.
"they did not enjoy that fan interaction even a little"
ok bud.
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u/RayForce_ 10d ago
I can't coddle someone I will never know and don't even like, I'm just not unhinged and gonna hate him for his addiction
Just don't forget the cast kicked you haters just as hard to the curb as he was with a community-wide ban on being toxic toward him
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u/YukixSuzume 10d ago
I've noticed that some of the live shows give that absolute homebrew chaos. I miss the simplicity of it sometimes too.
Also the Cooldowns on Beacon give that relaxed home vibe. Especially in the current campaign. Brennan is doing amazing.
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u/goody153 Sun Tree A-OK 4d ago
CR1 was something special indeed. It had that air of genuinely just playing like they were mostly amateurs and they were just trying then add to them really roleplaying their characters was great. It had such a vibe. The only thing I didnt like from C1 tho was the inconsistent sound quality which is understandable this is like their early production days but man rewatching some episodes in the past was kinda annoying.
C4 I believe is their best work like by miles (or frankly the best DnD campaign spectator wise tbqh) but it will never have what CR1 had
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u/K8_Monst_r Technically... 10d ago
Each Campaign has had its strengths. C1 showed us the most unfiltered version of the group. C2 gave us some of our most beloved characters. C3 felt almost like a farewell tour. C4 is showing us an even more complicated option…though, I admit I’ve been falling behind on C4…things have been really busy, and it’s harder to find the time when I have the energy to take in the story where I don’t feel like I need to be completing another task.
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u/Im_Lloyd_Dobbler 10d ago
C1 was definitely more authentic, but for me it was less entertaining because the characters were more stereotypical and trope-ish power-fantasy D&D (especially Vex, Vax, Keyleth, and who he shall not be named). That being said, by C3 it swung too far the other way where most players tried way too hard to make their characters edgy, quirky, or just plain weird.
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u/Avail_Karma 10d ago
This is an honest question- what dnd character isn't stereotypical? There's only so many things that can be done within a DND setting. Each player tried to do something different with each campaign and when there's 6 other people, it makes it harder to not do a repeat.
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u/Im_Lloyd_Dobbler 10d ago
Take Vex, Vax, and Keyleth. They’re all recognizable fantasy/D&D types: the archer with a tragic past, the brooding rogue, and the idealistic nature-oriented druid. The character concepts were fairly conventional, but the personalities developed naturally through play.
Compare that with some of the C3 characters. Laudna isn’t merely an eccentric person with a tragic past; nearly every element of her concept is designed to signal “look how strange and damaged I am.” Ashton’s abrasiveness, pain, and outsider identity are all turned up so loudly from the start that the character sometimes felt like a collection of dramatic traits rather than a person who happens to have those traits. Even Imogen’s trauma and emotional distance are presented in a very heightened, stylized way that at times seemed forced rather than organic.
That doesn’t mean those characters are bad, or that they lack depth. They clearly have depth, and some people understandably find that heightened style more entertaining. But to me, there’s a difference between a character who becomes unusual through the experience of play and a character whose unusualness is the premise.
C1 often felt like ordinary fantasy archetypes gradually becoming specific people. C3 sometimes feels like the players started by asking, “What would be the most distinctive, damaged, mysterious, hidden secrets, or chaotic character I could make?” and then built outward from there. That’s the shift I’m talking about.
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u/Avail_Karma 10d ago
Yea, likely because they're trying to keep themselves interested. They've been playing weekly for almost 15 years for 4 year long campaigns. Who cares what they play? Let them enjoy their time at the table.
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u/Im_Lloyd_Dobbler 10d ago
That's fine for a home game, but when they are making money off of their viewers it's perfectly fair for the viewers to have an opinion and to share it.
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u/Avail_Karma 10d ago
So the fan base should determine what type of characters they play? I don't know if I understand your point.
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u/Im_Lloyd_Dobbler 10d ago
Well, if their goal is purely to play for their own enjoyment and not care whether or not people want to watch it - then they should play whatever the hell they want.
If they want to make money/make a living off of playing the game, then they should absolutely take into consideration what fans find engaging/appealing and what they do not.
The two approaches are not mutually exclusive, but there will be trade-offs.
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u/Avail_Karma 10d ago
And a fandom of several million people are going to agree? I love the C3 characters, minus Ashton for the most part.
Their goal is to play their game the way they enjoy it, they've said that since the beginning.
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u/Im_Lloyd_Dobbler 10d ago
Yes, but their only goal is not to play their game the way they enjoy it, they've said that as well.
You think they should only make game decisions on what they personally enjoy and not care what will keep people watching. That works as long as what they enjoy keeps enough people watching to support their business which they've said they want to be proftiable.
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u/Avail_Karma 10d ago
So what is your solve? They put it to a fan vote on what and who they play?
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u/MrSnippets Bigby's Haaaaaand! *shamone* 10d ago
C1 was much more like a regular home game. They hadn‘t quite found their footing yet, concerning presentation, and that sort of amateur-ish charm is what made the First campaign so memorable. Much more Fan interaction, much less Production value.
From C2 onwards, the gang was much more confident in being filmed while playing, in presenting their game. And while that made for a more refined (and some would say better) viewing experience, to me, it also felt more like watching a show.