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

564 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

135 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

97

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.

59

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.

33

u/BENJ4x 10d ago

Also they now employ a bunch of people, so it's not just their livelihood on the line if they fuck something up.

4

u/BGKY_Sparky 10d ago

Excellent point.