Critical Role dropped some major news to fans as they launched their own streaming service. Beacon will be Critical Role’s streaming service where fans can subscribe to unlock exclusive content and discounts on future merchandise. When I found out about Beacon, I activated my free trial. I wanted to share my initial thoughts about Beacon and whether the cost is worth it.

Before Beacon‘s launch, I was watching Critical Role on YouTube since I didn’t have Twitch. While watching on YouTube works, there is a delay between when Critical Role streams their episodes and when the episodes are available to watch on YouTube. Their main campaign streams on Thursdays late at night and I don’t have the bandwidth to stay up till midnight to watch the full episode as it airs. Additionally, YouTube has ads every thirty minutes which lengthens the time it takes to watch an episode of Critical Role. With Beacon, I can watch each episode with no ads and the episodes will be available immediately. For me, this has made watching Critical Role so much easier.

With Beacon, Critical Role created its own Discord server for fans to connect. The Discord alone is worth the monthly cost of Beacon. When I signed up for the trial, there were about 6,000 members, now it’s up to almost 12,500 people in Discord. I have talked to several other fans about other TTRPG systems, cosplay, and other geeky interests that expand beyond Critical Role. It’s been a great way to connect with the fandom and chat with others with similar interests.

While I do like Beacon, I do want to be up front about some bugs I experienced recently. The first is Beacon didn’t keep track of where I left off on an episode. Since Critical Role‘s episodes are hours long, it’s annoying to have to remember what time stamp I left off on. I will say that this has been fixed on my end and is no longer an issue for me. Another thing I noticed was how there isn’t a progress bar on each episode. For example, when I log into Disney+, there’s a purple bar below the episode showing me that I finished watching the episode. To my knowledge, I’m not seeing this within Beacon. As a completionist, I like being able to see progress in what I’m watching. I hope that this is fixed in the future.

The big question is whether Beacon is worth the cost. I think it boils down to how big of a Critical Role fan you are. I think Beacon is worth it because it gives me access to all of Critical Role’s content including Candela Obscura. If you’re a casual Critcal Role fan or the idea of adding a streaming service is cumbersome, I don’t think you would be missing out by skipping Beacon. I am happy for Critical Role as I think this is a big step for them and I’m excited to be included as a fan.