The shows follow the rules and utilize all mechanics, but you need the context. As someone familiar with 3.5, Critical Role got me 95% to playing the 5th edition without touching the books.
Can’t say the same would apply to someone new to pen-and-paper RPGs.
Welcome! Hope you have fun!
Don’t worry about understanding - all you need is patience and a hard skull to break through the more user-unfriendly pieces.
Or, you know, maybe some people are assholes and we should not always look for excuses for them?
You put it on your profile on a dating site, so you should be OK with this as a conversation starter.
For example, I do not wear a Nirvana t-shirt in public because I don’t want some teenagers asking me if I know this great song “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
Alright but Spotify is one of the very few subscriptions that are actually easier than pirating. As long as you have a family plan, it is great value for money.
I don’t know of a good way to support artists outside of direct transactions.