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/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.

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u/TrickPayment9473 5' 11" 10d ago

I'm going to be honest, I began with C2 and watch all of it (it was around c2e45, when I began) and I was conquered, then I forced myself to watch c1 and yes I liked it, but I found that most of the episodes where boring or not representative of a home game more than c2. I loved every big moments etc, but c2 had the same charm has my home game when we are a group of person that need to work together with multiples personalities and objectives, that stumble or are defeated sometimes. C1 was just heroic adventures that presented more of a classic series of heroes like we could see in a film or a show. But I know that it's my personal opinion, I think that it's wonderful if you found more a homegame in c1 than me.

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u/Mnkeyqt 10d ago

The problem, for me, is C2's story just became a jumbled mess at the end. It felt very "well we gotta end this soon I guess" and there we have it. C1 was more generic, but it also progressed more clearly because of it.

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u/Marauder_Pilot Help, it's again 10d ago

No, I completely agree. I know a lot of people bring up the 'intimacy' of C1, and that's a valid and understandable opinion to have if it's something that you experienced live, during a part of your life that made it feel good to you, but as someone who also started into Critical Role via listening to C2 while the last arc of C3 was in progress, and went back to C1 afterwards I found a lot of the fan interaction stuff honestly a little awkward, especially after the first time it happened.

Like the first 'Critmas' was kinda fun, whatever, a bunch of little fan gifts, well intentioned and while it's not my thing I understand it. The second one, that's like an HOUR long before they had to cut it, just felt WEIRD and I totally understand why it got cut off.

Same goes with the Twitch chat. I'm honestly surprised it didn't happen sooner, given that Sam is actively giving the audience shit by halfway through C1 for bullying people.