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Owen KC Stephens' Tabletop RPG Truths
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<blockquote data-quote="JLowder" data-source="post: 8008568" data-attributes="member: 28003"><p>The vast majority of people who work in RPGs (or fiction or comics), as side gigs or as careers, are well aware that they could make much better money elsewhere. At one time or another, they probably have, when the freelance creative work was slow or they were between company jobs. (As I mentioned on one of Owen's Facebook threads, a few years back I did some website writing for a big local law firm; they paid me more to watch a few hours of training videos than I have made on months-long RPG projects for big game companies.) As others have suggested, the reason people stay is that they value the creative work. They also value the best parts of the community, which can be <em>amazing</em>, and that's both the design/publishing community <em>and</em> the player/hobbyist community. Most of us are also aware of how fortunate we are to do the work we do.</p><p></p><p>Pointing out the harsher realities of the gig is not complaining so much as sharing the reality. </p><p></p><p>It's important for people in the design community to hear that others have the same or similar experiences. Many people who work in the hobby are isolated a lot of the time. Even in companies such as Green Ronin and Chaosium, staff are scattered around the U.S. or the world. Knowing that others in the TTRPG community go through some of the same trials helps diminish that isolation.</p><p></p><p>It's important for people considering creative work of any kind to realize that it's more glamorous from the outside. I wish this kind of resource had existed when I was starting out, because it would have helped me avoid some mistakes that cost me years of my professional life and brought me quite close to leaving the industry.</p><p></p><p>It's important for the player and hobbyist communities to hear these observations because they might help you keep some things about the products you buy and the people who put them together in perspective. 'Nuff said there, I think.</p><p></p><p>There are more perspectives, of course, and I hope those will be shared, too, but women or people of color who speak up the way Owen is here face very different pushback than just someone casting their comments as whinging about money when they could just quit and make more in a different profession.</p><p></p><p>Cheers,</p><p>Jim Lowder</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JLowder, post: 8008568, member: 28003"] The vast majority of people who work in RPGs (or fiction or comics), as side gigs or as careers, are well aware that they could make much better money elsewhere. At one time or another, they probably have, when the freelance creative work was slow or they were between company jobs. (As I mentioned on one of Owen's Facebook threads, a few years back I did some website writing for a big local law firm; they paid me more to watch a few hours of training videos than I have made on months-long RPG projects for big game companies.) As others have suggested, the reason people stay is that they value the creative work. They also value the best parts of the community, which can be [I]amazing[/I], and that's both the design/publishing community [I]and[/I] the player/hobbyist community. Most of us are also aware of how fortunate we are to do the work we do. Pointing out the harsher realities of the gig is not complaining so much as sharing the reality. It's important for people in the design community to hear that others have the same or similar experiences. Many people who work in the hobby are isolated a lot of the time. Even in companies such as Green Ronin and Chaosium, staff are scattered around the U.S. or the world. Knowing that others in the TTRPG community go through some of the same trials helps diminish that isolation. It's important for people considering creative work of any kind to realize that it's more glamorous from the outside. I wish this kind of resource had existed when I was starting out, because it would have helped me avoid some mistakes that cost me years of my professional life and brought me quite close to leaving the industry. It's important for the player and hobbyist communities to hear these observations because they might help you keep some things about the products you buy and the people who put them together in perspective. 'Nuff said there, I think. There are more perspectives, of course, and I hope those will be shared, too, but women or people of color who speak up the way Owen is here face very different pushback than just someone casting their comments as whinging about money when they could just quit and make more in a different profession. Cheers, Jim Lowder [/QUOTE]
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