Sorry for responding to you post in reverse and breaking it up a bit, but here's how I think about it.
Yes, but only for the first 2 episodes, whereas the Kickstarter funded the show through the Briarwood arc.
Sure, but its just a nice gesture for a pre-release party. It is not something I as a backer ever expected. Given my timezone, I'll probably just RSVP for the VOD.
I mean when I give to, say, PBS, I don't expect to get early access to the shows.
I'm sure there are contractual and logistical reasons why it is not good for them, or they just can't, give early access to the entire series. Personally, I don't really understand anyone upset that they don't get early access.
I think there are two forms of complaints, that are, to some degree, being conflated with one another.
The first is frustration with backers not receiving a permanent/owned copy of the series. While this is something that's certainly reasonable to want, it's also something that was never advertised as a Kickstarter reward.
Agreed.
The second is frustration with needing Amazon Prime to view the series. Here I think there's a much stronger case that the CR team is in the wrong. The opportunity to view the series was advertised to Kickstarter backers, and while CR seems to think the availability of the show through a free trial fulfills this, the free trial isn't actually free- it requires providing financial information and precludes using that free trial for some other purpose.
Well, okay, I can see the point about having to enter a credit card to create an account. But as a backer, having this picked up by Amazon or Netflix was the best result. I backed it because I wanted to support something like this getting made and now there is a good chance that more than one season will be made and the creators will have the funds to create more content that there is a good chance I'll enjoy.
I am sure there are some people that backed this that will be upset enough to never support Critical Role again, but I think the number is small and insignificant compared to audience that the Amazon deal will bring.