D&D 5E How many players would use a service like this

[DND_Reborn]

Also, I don't really see this as much different from DMs who design and develop 3PP materials and sell them online.

Is that also a blight on the D&D community???

I do get a discount on my food and drink that night,

Yeah, that is pretty standard IME. DMs don't pay for drinks, snacks, pizza, etc. in general (unless they want something crazy expensive LOL).

 

[J.Quondam]

But still, I simply cannot believe that many people are so desperate for a DM that they will pay for one instead of the group having someone step up and do it.

To be fair, it isn't simply about being desperate for a DM, but also being able/willing to pay for one. There are lot of geeky people in high-paying white-collar jobs with a lot of disposable income to burn. As far as I can tell, those gamers are the primary target audience for these DMs.

 

[DND_Reborn]

But still, I simply cannot believe that many people are so desperate for a DM that they will pay for one instead of the group having someone step up and do it.

For a lot of players, especially older ones, it is also a matter of time. For a player to step up means they have to learn to DM and to put in the time to learn or create content. Many also find the hassle of managing everything in a game overwhelming and so forth.

As mentioned, if a player has the money to spare and just time to play, hiring a "professional" DM makes sense. Newer DMs might want to join a game for a while to learn how to DM better, etc.

 

[overgeeked]

I was directed by another DM friend to a website and he asked me my thoughts.

I don't want to promote these clowns, so not giving the website link, but it promotes itself as: "the largest online platform for players to find tabletop roleplaying games and professional GMs for any game system and any virtual tabletop! " I scrolled through their various GM's, and found one guy who thinks he is worth 40 bucks US a session, per player. At those rates, it is almost a gig that pays the mortgage. The average rate seems to be 25 bucks per player per session.

Not asking for any poll, and I don't even know if a fan website is actually an unbiased source, but this kind of thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have never charged for my DM'ing skills, nor ever will, and never paid, and never will. But apparently there is enough demand to justify it, or at least some think so.

What I find truly egregious, is that many of these vampires are running a module, not even their own stuff.

Commodification is where hobbies go to die.

 

[Laurefindel]

Commodification is where hobbies go to die.

By definition, « going professional » means it’s no longer a hobby; it’s a job. But it being a job doesn’t prevent it from being a hobby at the same time, or being a hobby for others.

DMs asking 25-40 bucks for a game do not target the original poster as their market, but as it was said above, there IS a market for it, and « professional DMs » are not about to oust all « amateur DMs » playing with friends. Different markets, different demographics, and they don’t overlap much

 

[Reynard]

I care because I see it poisoning the community. There are at least two gaming cafes in my town. One has only free DM's (I am one of them_. The other appears to be allowing only DM's that charge. That is awful. Yes yes, I know...market forces. It does not change the fact this is a blight on the D&D community.

I have done some pro DMing. I don't like doing it because of how it changes the relationship at the table, but I don't think it is some sort of evil. When some people are willing to pay for a good or service, someone is going to provide it. My biggest issue with it is when i see GMs asking to be paid and they don't have actual play videos up to display their style. I would think that is the most important thing.

A friend of mine uses pro-GMs fairly regularly for one particular purpose: to be able to try games he wouldn't otherwise be able to because he doesn't know a GM willing or able to run the game. I think that is a great way to use such a service. I don't know anyone who pays for a regular campaign, but I wouldn't begrudge someone who did so.

 

[MarkB]

But is the DM there to "entertain" the players? I don't think so, not in the direct sense.

He is if they're paying him. And he'd darn well better do a good job of it if he wants to keep the gig.

Commodification is where hobbies go to die.

Streamed play sessions were the start of commodification of D&D, and I don't think you could make a serious case for them being the death-knell of the hobby.

Sports are hobbies, and they all have professional sectors to them which have some overlap with the amateur sectors.

 

[Stoutstien]

I get paid in food a lot of time which for me is probably close to 20-30 $/HR

I've done some pro/paid gigs in the past. Not my cup of tea.

 

[Thomas Rainsborough]

Also, I don't really see this as much different from DMs who design and develop 3PP materials and sell them online.

Is that also a blight on the D&D community???


Yeah, that is pretty standard IME. DMs don't pay for drinks, snacks, pizza, etc. in general (unless they want something crazy expensive LOL).

It is very different for me when someone crafts an addition to the lore/canon/tool with a 3rd party project, as opposed to someone opening up a module and running a game from that. The site in question seems to be 95% of DM's doing that. I homebrew my entire campaigns, but would never think to sell them as modules, let alone charge people to play in my campaign.

 

[MarkB]

It is very different for me when someone crafts an addition to the lore/canon/tool with a 3rd party project, as opposed to someone opening up a module and running a game from that. The site in question seems to be 95% of DM's doing that. I homebrew my entire campaigns, but would never think to sell them as modules, let alone charge people to play in my campaign.

But if someone else designs an entire campaign and writes it up as a module that they sell on DMs Guild or Kickstarter, would you consider that wrong? And if not, why is it wrong for them to charge for their time and effort more directly?