That's a fantastic story, and it's one of the reasons I also fell in love with everything - the community feels very welcoming. I hear the other stories of problematic players (and I watched all of C1 of CR so I did see a bit in Orion), so I know it's not all roses but it really seems like most people try to be very accepting. It's really great that it was such a positive influence on you.

For CR, I still think C2 is my favorite, but C3 is getting pretty damn crazy right now so tough to say. All of them have been pretty great.

For D20, also very difficult although I think the funniest, and therefore my recommendation for noobs, have been Starstruck, the Seven, and Escape from Bloodkeep. Fantasy High is straight gold also.

So far I've played a stars druid and now I'm multi classing fighter/wiz (only level 3 tho so not very far in). I'm def trying to play a pally and a bard next, but eventually want to try basically everything lol.