D&D 5E D&D Beyond Cancels Competition

D&D Beyond has been running an art contest which asked creators to enter D&D-themed portrait frame. DDB got to use any or all of the entries, while the winner and some runners up received some digital content as a prize.

There was a backlash -- and DDB has cancelled the contest.

Thank you to all of our community for sharing your comments and concerns regarding our anniversary Frame Design Contest.

While we wanted to celebrate fan art as a part of our upcoming anniversary, it's clear that our community disagrees with the way we approached it. We've heard your feedback, and will be pulling the contest.

We will also strive to do better as we continue to look for ways to showcase the passion and creativity of our fellow D&D players and fans in the future. Our team will be taking this as a learning moment, and as encouragement to further educate ourselves in this pursuit.

Your feedback is absolutely instrumental to us, and we are always happy to listen and grow in response to our community's needs and concerns. Thank you all again for giving us the opportunity to review this event, and take the appropriate action.

The company went on to say:

Members of our community raised concerns about the contest’s impact on artists and designers, and the implications of running a contest to create art where only some entrants would receive a prize, and that the prize was exclusively digital material on D&D Beyond. Issues were similarly raised with regards to the contest terms and conditions. Though the entrants would all retain ownership of their design to use in any way they saw fit, including selling, printing, or reproducing, it also granted D&D Beyond rights to use submitted designs in the future. We have listened to these concerns, and in response closed the competition. We’ll be looking at ways we can better uplift our community, while also doing fun community events, in the future.

Competitions where the company in question acquires rights to all entries are generally frowned upon (unless you're WotC).

 

[Charlaquin]

Any reason that couldn’t have just changed the terms of the contest without cancelling it?

Presumably, because it wouldn’t have benefited them enough to be worth running the contest under better terms. The fact that they canceled the contest entirely instead of simply changing the terms to be more equitable for the artists really puts paid to the idea that the aim of the contest wasn’t ultimately to get them free art.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Fully agree. But you took my post for what it is not. I do not advocate working for nothing. But a contest, is a contest. If somebody wants to get you to work for nothing. It is a no go. But a contest is not a comissioned work. far from that. And a contest might be the little push you need to get known.

It's a very clear difference.

Working for free is when you do some work and don't get paid.

A contest is when you work for free and have a very low chance of getting paid.

It's a very clear difference.

 

[Maxperson]

If "negative feedback" and "complaint" are equivalent to you... why didn't you continue to use the phrase "negative feedback" as the people you were responding to were?

I don't do euphemisms. If you want to call complaints negative feedback, you're welcome to. They're the same thing. I'm going to continue to call them complaints, because they are.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I don't do euphemisms. If you want to call complaints negative feedback, you're welcome to. They're the same thing. I'm going to continue to call them complaints, because they are.

Would you classify this as a complaint about the term negative feedback?

 

[Helldritch]

Working for free is when you do some work and don't get paid.

Quite right

A contest is when you work for free and have a very low chance of getting paid.

Nope. Entering a contest is a chance to get other people see what you can do. It gives you a chance to shine, get known and make a living from what you want to work for. I have seen that many times. The "X Country" got talent are a good example of contest. And even if you do not win, someone might take notice and give you the chance you need to get started. This is far from working for nothing. At the Voice, it is not always the winner that becomes famous. The same can be said of many contests.

 

[Maxperson]

Would you classify this as a complaint about the term negative feedback?

Sure! People complain about all kinds of things

 

[BookTenTiger]

Nope. Entering a contest is a chance to get other people see what you can do. It gives you a chance to shine, get known and make a living from what you want to work for. I have seen that many times. The "X Country" got talent are a good example of contest. And even if you do not win, someone might take notice and give you the chance you need to get started. This is far from working for nothing. At the Voice, it is not always the winner that becomes famous. The same can be said of many contests.

Ah ha, I think this is the big difference between other contests and "digital art contests."

Usually, in digital art contests, the non-winning work doesn't get exposed to a wider audience, but is still owned by the company holding the contest.

It would be like if on America's Got Talent, they only showed the winners, but everyone else's work could still get used to make money by the company running it.

 

[Hussar]

and no one was forcing people to enter, right? WoTC wasn't threatening to take away their books? You could enter this contest of your own free will? The terms and conditions were clearly stated? And if you didn't like the terms and conditions, you were free to not enter or ignore the contest, without repercussions?

So much point being missed.

Imagine that a restaurant had a contest that patrons clean the restaurant. The patron that cleans the best gets a free meal. Or, heck, free meals for a year. They run that contest for six months.

So, for six months, the restaurant is cleaned, for free, daily. At the end of six months, they reward the winner. Fair contest or not? After all, cleaning a restaurant is work and work, by law, requires paying minimum wage. But, they got the restaurant cleaned daily for free. Totally fair right? After all, you didn't have to enter. The fact that the restaurant got free labour for several months is perfectly fine?

Because that's EXACTLY what you are saying here. It's perfectly acceptable to accept ownership over people's work for free just because you are going to award one person? Work deserves to be paid. Full stop. That's the end of the argument. Anything else is just exploitation. The company can exploit it's market presence to steal the labor (and yes, taking labor from someone without paying is stealing by definition) from people and it's perfectly acceptable? Seriously?

I have zero idea how much a company would have to pay an artist to create a token frame. Call is 20 bucks. I don't know, I'm picking a random number. Say they get 1000 entries - probably not an unreasonable number. That means they got 20000 dollars worth of labor for 400 bucks. Hell of a deal for the company.

Sorry, but, if you want 20000 dollars (and it's probably a HELL of a lot more) worth of labor, you have to pay for it. Anything else is exploitation.

 

[Morrus]

It's a very clear difference.

Working for free is when you do some work and don't get paid.

A contest is when you work for free and have a very low chance of getting paid.

It's a very clear difference.

And both are wrong. Despite the 1% difference between them.

If you use somebody’s work, pay them, it’s really that simple.

 

[Faolyn]

Yes, and no.
Exposure will make you known. And being known brings you work as an artist. I have seen that with my friends and a quite a few others. My friend is a power engineer just like me (but he's now retired) and fully works as an artist now. And not all potential customers are on the internet. And art is not restricted to RPG.

Exposure is great. Trying to pay people with exposure in lieu of actual money or goods is the type of thing that makes up the vast majority of the r/choosingbeggers subreddit.