EnWorld- The Professional Society

[Belen]

I think you overestimate the generosity of people. $200 buck a year to market specifically for D&D, not even RPGs in general? I'm not trying to be stingy, but Hasbro would have to pay me if they want me to do their marketing for them. Now supporting EN World I can see, but as far as supporting the hobby, I'd rather see my $200 go towards a 5-7 game books or 80 minis, and by doing so support my local FLGS, which hopefully by it's very prescence attracts newbies to the hobby.

As I said, that is just a high end membership rate. However, if 200 bucks got you around 3 PDF book, or a subscription to the journal, and some kick tails discounts?

I know 200 is a lot. Would you pay 75 or 100? This would be supporting EnWorld and the hobby at the same time.

 

[Zappo]

I love this concept! That said...

Whoa! I am as supportive of ENWorld as anyone, and even more supportive of the hobby. But 200$, even 100$ per year is a big wad of money for my poor student's finances, far too big. It's more than what I actually spend on RPGs. I would gladly pay that kind of money if I had a decent job, though I would demand to know how it's being spent, down to the last dollar.

Right now, I just barely might be willing to pay 75$ for one year, to see if it gets spent well and if it produces some results. If and only if it seems that the thing works and is managed in a professional fashion, I would make a habit of it.

I'm afraid that 5000 people is a very unrealistic number, even for 75$, even with good benefits. It would be interesting to know the total number of community supporters, to get a feeling of the general goodwill level.

 

[tarchon]

There has never been a professional society of fans. Even the RPGA only exists to promote games at cons. They certainly do not have the funds to market or grow the hobby.

The reason for that is that professional societies are generally oriented toward... professions. A club of fans is a "fan club."

 

[Belen]

I love this concept! That said...

Whoa! I am as supportive of ENWorld as anyone, and even more supportive of the hobby. But 200$, even 100$ per year is a big wad of money for my poor student's finances, far too big. It's more than what I actually spend on RPGs. I would gladly pay that kind of money if I had a decent job, though I would demand to know how it's being spent, down to the last dollar.

Right now, I just barely might be willing to pay 75$ for one year, to see if it gets spent well and if it produces some results. If and only if it seems that the thing works and is managed in a professional fashion, I would make a habit of it.

I'm afraid that 5000 people is a very unrealistic number, even for 75$, even with good benefits. It would be interesting to know the total number of community supporters, to get a feeling of the general goodwill level.

Most societies do offer student rates, although that would be difficult to do with an EnWorld society as we're not actually training people like they do with medical societies etc.

As I said, it would take some dedication, but I think it's doable.

See, I spend so much money on books that never get used, but I spend a messload of time on EnWorld and seem to get a lot more from it than a lot of sourcebooks. EnWorld game days rock too!

Maybe a graduated membership where you could pay for extra benefits etc. The highest level of membership allows you to be nominated for positions of leadership in the society or serve on the EnWorld council etc.

 

[Belen]

The reason for that is that professional societies are generally oriented toward... professions. A club of fans is a "fan club."

And who says that professional like Monte Cook or Keith Baker could not be in the society.

The thing is, the world is changing, so why don't we find a way to change along with it. Just because it has never been done, does not mean that it is impossible. Fan club generally do not support a hobby, show etc. There are a lot of fan clubs for things that have died or ended.

Our point is to help make the hobby grow, expand and stay around for a long time to come.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I'm thinking this idea has great potential!

Here are my 2 cents as a person who has been in several professional organizations:

Cost: Obviously the $200 figure was just thrown out as an idea to kick off thinking about it. One thing many professional organizations do is have different levels of membership, often times having a "student" rate included in there.

Focus: Of course it does seem to be true that we are D&D and d20-centric here at EN World, but that does not mean the organization would have to be. It would all be determined by what the organization sees as its charter. Is it the promotion of RPGs? Is it the promotion of d20? Is it the promotion of gaming (even non-RPGs?). If it were RPGs in general, there could be subgroups within the organization that would be focus on different aspects and be a resource:

A group dedicated to working to promote a greater ROLE playing focus in the rules etc. They could work to put together guidance documents for roleplaying.

A group dedicated to game balance: The Rules-lawyers committee.

A group dedicated to d20 and the SRD: making recommendations and the like.

I'm just spitting out ideas at this point.

 

[Belen]

I'm thinking this idea has great potential!

Here are my 2 cents as a person who has been in several professional organizations:

Cost: Obviously the $200 figure was just thrown out as an idea to kick off thinking about it. One thing many professional organizations do is have different levels of membership, often times having a "student" rate included in there.

Focus: Of course it does seem to be true that we are D&D and d20-centric here at EN World, but that does not mean the organization would have to be. It would all be determined by what the organization sees as its charter. Is it the promotion of RPGs? Is it the promotion of d20? Is it the promotion of gaming (even non-RPGs?). If it were RPGs in general, there could be subgroups within the organization that would be focus on different aspects and be a resource:

A group dedicated to working to promote a greater ROLE playing focus in the rules etc. They could work to put together guidance documents for roleplaying.

A group dedicated to game balance: The Rules-lawyers committee.

A group dedicated to d20 and the SRD: making recommendations and the like.

I'm just spitting out ideas at this point.

Exactly! The is the entire purpose of a society. Cool benefits are just the frosting. We'd be attempting to promote the game we love.

Just think, a committee on how to increase the number of women in gaming etc. I'll bet some of the women here like Buttercup or Sheri would have ideas on how to do that.

A society allows us to come together and influence the way things work. And if Hasbro decides to end the hobby etc one day, then we're here to keep it alive.

A living organization actively promoting the hobby would be far better than a fan site trying to keep alive something that has passed away.

 

[Tom Cashel]

However, if depends on EnWorlders willing to spend money to support the hobby. I think this is not a very far leap from us sending money to save EnWorld!

Yeah, and despite all the money contributed to EN World, the site is as slow as its ever been. Like molasses, even. I'd be pissed if I had sent money.

So is this plan going to work out, um...better?

 

[jmucchiello]

Devil's Advocate Mode:

We have to ask ourselves a question. Where will our hobby be in 10-20 years?

We do? I don't. Maybe you might. But to answer the question, I hope to be gaming with my children. And eventually their children.

EnWorld controls a huge number of resources tied to Dungeons and Dragons. For every person that visits the site, another four exists that share the hobby.

If you had said another 40 or another 400 this would be accurate. Internet forums so not make up even a tenth of the number of participants in an activity worldwide.

This means that EnWorld controls a significant amount of marketing potential. I believe that EnWorld can go where no other fan base has gone before. I work for a professional society and I have seen what a small number of members can do.

You should list some of these things more specifically because I don't see anything compelling in your argument.

Unlike a fan site, a professional society can have a much greater influence on our hobby. The potential is staggering. However, if depends on EnWorlders willing to spend money to support the hobby. I think this is not a very far leap from us sending money to save EnWorld!

There are probably an equal number of dragon's foot and rpg.net members who would be aghast at learning the 3.x D&Ders were going to unite in a common cause.

Finance: Imagine. 5000 members who pay a yearly membership fee of 200 dollars. That is 1 million dollars a year.

I'll point out that half of the responses to this thread (so far) have been made by people who haven't even spent the $35 to become EnWorld Supporters. (Yes, myself included.) People are hard to convince to part with their money even in places they support.

Marketing: An EnWorld Society could use membership funds to market the hobby.

Ad campaigns will not get people to play D&D. People join this hobby by meeting existing hobbiests, becoming intrigued as to how someone gets together with friends periodically to play a game, and joins said game after observing the behavior first hand.

Publications: A free subscription to the EnWorld Journal or EN Publishing PDFs?

Those same 1 in 4(0(0)) folks who don't come to EnWorld are the same people who would not buy or want to own a PDF.

Benefits: Any society that controls such a market share and has access to funds, will draw companies to pay attention to us. Also, such things like "share the love" threads could be propagated throughout the membership base.

We already have "share the love" threads, what does the society ad to such things? Your benefits seem nebulous from my point of view.

As the society grows, so would the hobby. I am not saying it would be easy, but it would be worth it!

I need more.

 

[Belen]

Yeah, and despite all the money contributed to EN World, the site is as slow as its ever been. Like molasses, even. I'd be pissed if I had sent money.

So is this plan going to work out, um...better?

I have noticed that issue. I wanted to post this thread last night, but I could not access EnWorld from my dial-up account at home. I went to eat dinner and came back a half hour later and the page was still loading.

I think it will work out better. A society would have a professional staff that would be able to take care of these things. As I mentioned before, organizations such as Smith, Bucklin and Associates provide business staff for organizations.

Yes, we do not need them, but such a company could really help us get off the ground as this is their area of expertise, thus leaving members to be gamers or be part of action committees etc.

Now, Morrus owns the site, so I have no idea what we would do in that situation, although as executive director he could have his own salary. Not sure, but I think the executive director of my society makes around 60k+....

Heck, we only have 3500 members!