Pay for this, pay for that? ...

[Driddle]

The paid "Professional DM" question revisited...

As was mentioned in another thread, many people already pay out the wazoo for online games like Everquest, which serves the same purpose as a DM (a massively effecient DM) for less creative player interaction. But many also have said they think the idea of paying for a real flesh'n'blood DM's services insane.

Explain yourselves, oh creatures of inconsistency.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I wouldn't dream of paying someone to DM for me.

Then again, I wouldn't dream of paying a monthly fee for games like EQ or WoW either.

 

[Hjorimir]

I pay for EQ2. But I don't see it as paying a DM, I see an inherent cost to running all those servers and paying the developers. For the amount of time available to play (almost 24 hours a day the servers are up), the cost is very, very low.

Running a campaign, on the other hand, is not a business model, it is a hobby (when an activity involves the number of books and hours of preparation it is more than a game). My payment as a DM is the enjoyment of the game and the appreciation of my friends. A couple of times, one of my players has bought a book or something for me. It means far more to me than a handfull of dollars.

 

[jsewell]

I wouldn't dream of paying someone to DM for me.

Then again, I wouldn't dream of paying a monthly fee for games like EQ or WoW either.

I agree. I recently looked at all the MMORPG (????) sites, and was stunned at the prices... I won't pay for any subscription based online services. The way I see it, the companies (should) make enough by selling the product to cover the cost of people using it. If not, add advertisements. As far as a DM goes, I'd hate to see a legion of professional gamemasters arise...

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I wouldn't dream of paying someone to DM for me.

Then again, I wouldn't dream of paying a monthly fee for games like EQ or WoW either.

Same here. I want to play the game with friends, not with professionals. "Hey, you, mister Dungeon Master. According to the DMG, I'm over 10.000 gp short of treasure. What am I paying you for? Fix the treasure or you're fired"

And, I flat-out refuse to pay obscene sums of money every month to pay for a game that already cost me as much as (or more than) the other games I bought. I don't see how I pay them for making sure I can use the product I payed them for.



Well, to be honest, When I heard that there would be D&D Online, I hesitated. But luckily they're screwing up the game by using Eberron (nothing against the setting, but for a game like this, I'd want vanilla D&D, not something with Robots and magical Trains) and Mana instead of vancian magic.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Won't pay for online gaming. I just don't have the time to make it worthwhile. Won't pay for DM either, unless I hit the lottery, then I have had an agreement to hire our group's other DM as a paid DM so he can devote plenty of time preparing games for us. Of course as his boss I would get to write his annual review...hmmm, my character didn't get that staff he was hoping for, oh and there were those two negative levels he got. I don't think you'll be seeing a raise this year

 

[Kae'Yoss]

You know, there's nothing wrong with bribing DM's, but a real salary? Come on, who thinks up stuff like that?

 

[Crothian]

The paid "Professional DM" question revisited...

As was mentioned in another thread, many people already pay out the wazoo for online games like Everquest, which serves the same purpose as a DM (a massively effecient DM) for less creative player interaction. But many also have said they think the idea of paying for a real flesh'n'blood DM's services insane.

I don't pay for either. But I think you have a proble, on line games are not massively efficient DMs. It is a different breed all together, on line games serve their purpose and people obviously find them fun. But DMs in a table top game have so much more responsibility and purpoose they just are not comparible.

 

[was]

I don't pay for either, at least not directly. Totalling up the actual cash value of all the pop and munchies we let our DM steal from us, we'd probably save money by just paying him.

 

[Monte At Home]

If there was a quality DM who needed to be paid for his time, and I could afford his rates, I'd pay. I pay for movies, books, comics, computer games and all other kinds of entertainment, but truth be told I like gaming more than any of them.

In other words, if someone said to me, "you get $100 a month (or whatever) to spend on movies or playing in a really good game with great development and a fantastic DM and group, but you can't have both," I'd choose gaming.

Maybe that's just the way I'm looking at the question. I know a lot of people are saying "I don't have to pay for gaming, I can do it for free." And that makes sense. If I could read all the comics I wanted for free I wouldn't pay for them either. But I'm looking at the question as, "if the only way you could play was to pay, would you?" And my answer is, hell yes--assuming it was a good GM and a fun campaign.