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).

 

[Bill Zebub]

I think part of the problem with these sorts of art contests is that it diminishes professional work, and propagates a message that the work is not highly valued. It's one thing to ask for a submission of proposals, with the idea that the "winner" will get a larger and more lucrative contract. It's another thing to ask for the submission to be a finished product, with a meager reward to the winner.

And while it's true that professional artists can Just Say No and not enter, leaving it up to amateurs to try to make a name for themselves, that just further devalues the profession. It's basically saying, "And we don't HAVE to hire a professional because amateur work is just as good!"

Try to imagine a similar thing happening in, say, law. "Submit a contract for the formation of my startup. The winner will get a free one year membership to my new subscription service, and your logo on our website." It would never, ever, ever happen, because as a society we believe that lawyers (whatever we think of them as human beings):
1. Have specialized training for which they deserve be compensated.
2. Do something that amateurs can't do as well.

You don't want some 1st year law student, or fan of L.A. Law, writing your documents, do you? You want somebody who knows what they are doing. You want a professional.

Logo contests (of which this WotC contest was a variant) carry the implicit message that artists are not professionals.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Logo contests (of which this WotC contest was a variant) carry the implicit message that artists are not professionals.

And you know what, that's true! The vast majority of artists are not professionals, but amateurs who have no intention of making money with their art. Shutting down contests meant for amateurs is not the way to go if professional artists want to improve their image.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm Irish and also did work experience as a 16 year old for two weeks as part of a voluntary subject for the Leaving Certificate examination. I believe those who do Transition Year (an optional year (in some schools - other schools make you do it) that I did not do had to do longer work experience or shadowing.

Mine was an actual job in that while I believe I only worked half hours (I don't remember working up to 6 - it was more like 3), I did do some basic website programming, problem solving and some minor design work. I was also working in the company my dad worked for, which was part of the reason why I was there (as my work place was 30 to 40 minutes away from my school).

My feelings now on whether it was exploitation, or perhaps more accurately, whether it could be exploitation are complicated. At the time I would not have thought of it that way at all - but I was a teenager just happy to get out of school and to do some interesting work, and the program and my school is designed to protect students. I am also lucky that I was interested in dad's work and could get in there - I know people who were not as fortunate as I, and were forced to do naughty word work (i.e. getting coffee etc.) without allowing work shadowing, which I think is pretty borderline.

To me in these cases it really depends on the protections in place, how possible it would be for a teenager to do the job, and whether the workplace is properly teaching students, and how long the period lasts. My experience is probably fairly unique since I didn't have to interact with strangers to do it.

(FWIW Ireland is not as bad as some countries when it comes to reductions on minimum pay for those under 24 or 25 - at 20 you're paid the full minimum wage, whereas I believe countries like the UK make you wait until you're 25!)

I did that here worked in a bakery. It was 4 hours a week for a month or two. Making pies and bread with free food was more fun than class.

It was also a way to either make you knuckle down at school or drop out and get a job you liked.

Context things were kinda grim unemployment hit 11% and you could leave school at 15 get job buy house 18/19.

Life skills were also taught learnt to swim, cook, camp, basic metal/wood working skills etc.

School dropout rate was 60-70%.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Shutting down contests meant for amateurs is not the way to go if professional artists want to improve their image.

I think artists are probably less concerned about their "image" than they are about being able to afford food.

And if companies would stop de-valuing the profession by holding these contests, artists wouldn't have to complain.

 

[BookTenTiger]

And you know what, that's true! The vast majority of artists are not professionals, but amateurs who have no intention of making money with their art. Shutting down contests meant for amateurs is not the way to go if professional artists want to improve their image.

Isn't the main difference between an amateur artist and a professional artist getting paid for their work?

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Isn't the main difference between an amateur artist and a professional artist getting paid for their work?

You'd think so, but it sounds like a lot of "professionals" are struggling to find paid work. In most industries that would result in people finding other jobs until the supply of art comes in line with demand.

 

[BookTenTiger]

You'd think so, but it sounds like a lot of "professionals" are struggling to find paid work. In most industries that would result in people finding other jobs until the supply of art comes in line with demand.

So then one way to increase demand would be for artists to protest art contests, since art contests are a source of free art, and canceling art contests leads to more demand for professional artists?

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

So then one way to increase demand would be for artists to protest art contests, since art contests are a source of free art, and canceling art contests leads to more demand for professional artists?

No, as has been pointed out before, the purpose of these contests is not to produce art, but to engage fans.

 

[BookTenTiger]

No, as has been pointed out before, the purpose of these contests is not to produce art, but to engage fans.

An art contest that produces art reduces the demand for paid art.

Don't you think there are other ways to engage fans that would not reduce the demand for paid art?

 

[Bill Zebub]

No, as has been pointed out before, the purpose of these contests is not to produce art, but to engage fans.

Yes, I agree. I don't think D&DB was evil for holding the contest, just naive. I also think it's possible that they could have structured it in a way that would have been more respectful. But I'm not a professional artist so maybe not. It may very well be that after years of more cynically-driven "logo contests" there's just no middle ground left here.

Full disclosure: I once (naively) tried to hold a logo contest for a startup, and got some of this same pushback. Which I fought. But I eventually realized that I was, in fact, de-valuing the profession, because I believed (hoped?) that some high school art student might produce something, for free, just as good as what I might otherwise have to pay for.

Actually, that's not quite correct, not free: I did expect to pay for the winner but I wanted my pick of all the entrants. Effectively I wanted all the others to work for free.