My DMing style naturally favors doing character voices and telling emotionally intense stories. That's just what I gravitate towards and it's what most of my players seem of enjoy. These things aren't unique to Critical Role, although I'm thankful to CR for mainstreaming them. https://twitter.com/TwifairyCosplay/status/1286708466023890949

Those are just features of gameplay that I enjoy. Obviously no everyone has to like those things, but I just...do. At no point while I have been running sessions, which I do sometimes multiple times per week, have I thought "Oh boy this is just like on Critical Role"...

Because my players are not the cast of Critical Role. They have their own stories to tell. And the intimacy of knowing that they want to share those stories with me and let me eave their stories into my story is honestly such an amazing feeling.

Long story short this is a great thread, and it's be nice if we could acknowledge that Critical Role excels at emotional storytelling and roleplay without making the assumption that they were the first to do it or that anyone who also does these things is trying to imitate them.