A couple of recent events have me concerned about the monetization of D&D play. That is, charging people to play D&D. I am curious what other people think about this trend.
I recently attended an Adventurer’s League day at a local game store in a neighboring town. The store charged $2.50/player/game. The money went to the DM in the form of store credit. At the time, this seemed entirely reasonable to me. It created a very low bar to entry and encourages people to attend games for which they have signed up. I know a lot of FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) struggle with the sporadic attendance of AL night. It also gives a little something back to the DM, always appreciated.
The following week, my regular FLGS announced that after the completion of AL season 7, they would begin charging $5/player/game on AL night. A third store, a geek themed retail store with extra space (not a tradition gaming store), also recently announced AL night for $5/player. They included a sentence stating that players could pay ‘$10 for exp once every three months’. I am not sure what they mean by that, but it appears they are suggesting players can buy experience points for their AL characters, illegal under AL rules.
These announcements have led to conflicted feelings on my part, for several reasons.
First, $5 is starting to turn into ‘real money’. One of the players at my table often attends with his two sons. That would be $15 for 3-4 hours of D&D weekly. While many of us are lucky enough to absorb a cost like that, for people in lower paying jobs, it can be a significant expense. The player in question has already told me he will not be playing next season due to the fee.
Second, if DM begins to earn $30-$40/session, there begins to be minimum expectations. Truthfully, some of the AL DM’s I have played under have been abysmal. There is no real mechanism in place by the FLGS to ensure ‘customers’ are getting ‘value’ for their ‘product’. Even I, with 40 years of DM’ing experience, would feel performance anxiety if I were running a game charging that type of fee.
Which leads us to the third point; it feels wrong for D&D play to be a ‘product’. Historically, playing D&D has been free. In fact, I recall that being one of the great things about playing D&D as a teenager. You buy the books once and get hours of entertainment at no additional cost.
I understand the need for FLGS to make money to stay in business and I admit I am not sure how best to do that, but the monetization of D&D play feels ‘dirty’ to me.
What does everyone else think about this apparent trend in our hobby?
[Update: The retail store that advertised paying for experience has changed their posting, they are now offering non-AL D&D]
I recently attended an Adventurer’s League day at a local game store in a neighboring town. The store charged $2.50/player/game. The money went to the DM in the form of store credit. At the time, this seemed entirely reasonable to me. It created a very low bar to entry and encourages people to attend games for which they have signed up. I know a lot of FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) struggle with the sporadic attendance of AL night. It also gives a little something back to the DM, always appreciated.
The following week, my regular FLGS announced that after the completion of AL season 7, they would begin charging $5/player/game on AL night. A third store, a geek themed retail store with extra space (not a tradition gaming store), also recently announced AL night for $5/player. They included a sentence stating that players could pay ‘$10 for exp once every three months’. I am not sure what they mean by that, but it appears they are suggesting players can buy experience points for their AL characters, illegal under AL rules.
These announcements have led to conflicted feelings on my part, for several reasons.
First, $5 is starting to turn into ‘real money’. One of the players at my table often attends with his two sons. That would be $15 for 3-4 hours of D&D weekly. While many of us are lucky enough to absorb a cost like that, for people in lower paying jobs, it can be a significant expense. The player in question has already told me he will not be playing next season due to the fee.
Second, if DM begins to earn $30-$40/session, there begins to be minimum expectations. Truthfully, some of the AL DM’s I have played under have been abysmal. There is no real mechanism in place by the FLGS to ensure ‘customers’ are getting ‘value’ for their ‘product’. Even I, with 40 years of DM’ing experience, would feel performance anxiety if I were running a game charging that type of fee.
Which leads us to the third point; it feels wrong for D&D play to be a ‘product’. Historically, playing D&D has been free. In fact, I recall that being one of the great things about playing D&D as a teenager. You buy the books once and get hours of entertainment at no additional cost.
I understand the need for FLGS to make money to stay in business and I admit I am not sure how best to do that, but the monetization of D&D play feels ‘dirty’ to me.
What does everyone else think about this apparent trend in our hobby?
[Update: The retail store that advertised paying for experience has changed their posting, they are now offering non-AL D&D]
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