I like the release of actual sales figures for the Starter Set. 126,000 in North America in 2014 (from the July release); 306,000 in North America in 2018. I wonder what we can extrapolate from that!
Are you old enough that you maybe remember the world before The Service Economy took over?My logical brain mostly agrees. I do see a difference between charging for a piece of portrait art and running a game. I charge strangers for painting miniatures, but it seems different to me. As I said, not saying it is logical objection just something my old gut finds a little sad.
Absolutely great news for the hobby!
I don't have anything against it in principle.
But every read up I see of these professional DMs seems like they target people who have never played before. They work on voices, music, ambient sounds, and props, but that doesn't tell me at all about how they run the game. It's hard for me not to see it mostly as hoodwinking.
I should also note I am inherently distrustful of anything I perceive as "gimmicky" so they may also be great DMs I just can't tell from what the articles and write-ups say.
It feels somewhat like paying somebody to be your friend.
It feels somewhat like paying somebody to be your friend.
While that seems weird to me, I don't fundamentally see anything bad about it. Though if I did pay for a friend I would have much higher expectations of them then my regular friends.
Your friends are supposed to help you move*, but the last time I moved, I hired movers.
* True friends help you move bodies. BEST friends help you move up to 30 feet on your turn, interact with an object, say a few words, and take an action.
Really, it's similar to cooking a meal for a bunch of friends versus going out to a restaurant together: but this feels weird, like witnessing the first restaurants come into being. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, just alien to the down-home DMing I'm used to.
That's a good way to put it.
To further the analogy: the articles I've read seem to focus on the ambiance of the restaurant, the music that's played, the parking, the aesthetics. But I can't help but wonder is all that to make up for bad food?
Are you old enough that you maybe remember the world before The Service Economy took over?
Well, the guy they focus on for this article does stream online, so the food is available for taste testing.