Polygon: Indie TTRPG Companies are "sitting in their own little corners of the internet and wringing their hands"

[Divine2021]

I, for one, am perfectly happy to point out that Polygon sucks.

In the next two months I’m planning to run Tales of the Valient, Mothership, and DCC. Sure, these folks aren’t making Hasbro money, but they’re putting out quality products for people who will pay for them.

 

[MGibster]

This is a sentiment shared extensively by a lot of D&D youtubers who wish they didn't have to cover D&D. (In fact I can recall no less than 3 videos bemoaning the point the month alone).

You hear the same sentiment from YouTubers in the miniature world in regards to Game Workshop. If they're not painting a Warhammer 40k model it's hard for them to keep paying the bills. Even when they're not painting a Warhammer model, they'll often mention it in the title of their video just to get some of those sweet, sweet views. I imagine this view is prevalent in other areas of YouTube as well. The the algorithm is both a blessing and a curse.

 

[Panzeh]

I think the problem of algorithms basically means that every article creator has to make headlines that present its material as provocatively as possible, so it ends up being some rousing attack on D&D(and current indie creators) while also being about the biggest thing in the room. It's sad- so much of our behavior is shaped by this. No one seems to be able to escape the orbit of D&D, not because of the qualities of D&D, but how widely known it is.

That's sort of why i think these sites try to phrase especially their headlines, but increasingly the articles themselves so provocatively to who they perceive to be their readership.

 

[DEFCON 1]

This is a sentiment shared extensively by a lot of D&D youtubers who wish they didn't have to cover D&D. (In fact I can recall no less than 3 videos bemoaning the point the month alone).

After a certain point, you have to wonder if it was even worth monetizing the "hobby" if they hate it so much.

That's the issue with a lot of people on YouTube (and other social media)... the ones that do it for the job, career, and monetization rather than just doing it because they think it's fun are invariably the ones that are least happy about doing it... and as a result the audience can sense that and will not become as invested in their product.

If you do stuff on YouTube just because you want to do stuff on YouTube and you are unconcerned about trying to make it your job... you care much less about following trends and algorithms and instead just do what makes you happy. And audiences sense that (no matter what size of an audience it is) and more often than not you'll become more popular because of the authenticity of what you do.

 

[Aldarc]

As someone who had a TTRPG-focused channel and now is starting a new one, the algorithm is horrible for anything that’s not D&D and very specific games created and pushed by YouTubers (DC20, Draw Steel).

A lot of these YouTubers and games are pretty also D&D- or 5e-adjacent to begin with.

It's a bit of a miracle that Seth Skorkowsky's channel somehow rises above this when he is posting about games like CoC and Traveller.

 

[TiQuinn]

A lot of these YouTubers and games are pretty also D&D- or 5e-adjacent to begin with.

It's a bit of a miracle that Seth Skorkowsky's channel somehow rises above this when he is posting about games like CoC and Traveller.

Shout out to Seth whose stuff is still just damn fun to watch!

 

[beta-ray]

I, for one, am perfectly happy to point out that Polygon sucks.

I haven't read Polygon much for TTRPGs but I did read them a little in the videogame space… a lot of that coverage was not the best…

 

[Gorgon Zee]

Honestly if a journalistic outlet doesn't have a strong point of view that it's fairly open about, I don't think I trust that outlet, because it just means they've got a point of view they're not willing to admit, or that, at best, means they're so clueless they don't realize they've got one because they think they're "normal" or something.

Agree strongly. In fact I really like (and subscribe to) Rascal because when I disagree with them I know why and appreciate why they think the way they do.

Plus they really do great coverage of Indie games.

 

[Von Ether]

As I said on BlueSky, I generally like Charlie Hall’s work. In this case, I agree that pointing the finger at indie publishers for their lack of coverage is a tonal misstep. We all want Polygon and other sites to write about our games (and Polygon has covered A5E in the past, but most aren’t so lucky).

I get it. Nobody reads the non-D&D stuff. Even here they don’t. We continue to publish non-D&D articles and shows nevertheless, but we’re fortunate in that the news business doesn’t have to pay the bills as it’s subsidised by the publishing business. We can afford to publish niche content. Not every outlet has that luxury.

Still. The tone was unfortunate.

I can state that just doing a non-fantasy 5e game is a huge drop off.

In pitching Esper Genesis an action sci-fi 5e game to the press, I had one reporter reply with, "I don't know if my audience would be interested in anything not fantasy." And this was a game that got an ENnie nomination despite getting little coverage before that.

And from what I understand, these mergers are killing off ttrpg coverage as the new owners look to tighten their belts and see how small the traffic is for ttrpg compared to their other beats.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And from what I understand, these mergers are killing off ttrpg coverage as the new owners look to tighten their belts and see how small the traffic is for ttrpg compared to their other beats.

Yeah, several sites have been pretty open about that as their coverage gets axed.

It's healthiest for the market if there are multiple competing outlets, but from a financial standpoint, maybe all the traffic and advertising and membership dollars needs to go to a single place.