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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vartan" data-source="post: 2324076" data-attributes="member: 26155">I am the guy at the head of the table, and I enjoy myself immensely. I don't need to be paid: I have a job, and role-playing is strictly a hobby for me. It's something fun that I do with my friends to relax and have a good time. I put a lot of work into my campaign because I enjoy the work myself: I like writing and being creative, and I like the end result of my hard work. I have spent a lot of money on books, but I did that because I wanted the books, not because a player put a gun to my head and made me buy them; therefore, I'm not entitled to financial compensation for those purchases. If buying books were a hardship for me then I would play with the books I already own.I prefer to host my games at my apartment because I'm more comfortable there, I don't have to haul around my book collection, and I can easily hop on my computer if I forgot a game document (no laptop here). My players usually bring extra card tables, folding chairs, and their own snacks/beverages. They're always very polite about helping me clean up after the game. Hosting games isn't a hardship for me and, even if it were, we could always go somewhere else.If I turned to my group halfway through a campaign and said "You need to pay now" then I would be a jerk, and they probably wouldn't pay. If I let them know at the outset of a campaign that I would charge per session then they would probably opt to not pay. Then, I would be left with no game, which would suck because I actually DM for (gasp) my own enjoyment. So no, I don't think I'll be implementing fees any time soon.Now, my perspective is based on the fact that I play with my friends, and I know that I can always get a game together with them any time our schedules click. I can understand that some people don't have the luxury of a regular group and, for them, the ability to show up at their FLGS on any given Saturday and play is probably worth paying for. However, if the DM wants to keep something like this going then he'd better be really good at what he does: sooner or later those people who always show up and pay to play will look around the table and say "We've got a group right here. We can do this ourselves. Let's go home and start our own campaign."Any DM who wants to get paid for running a game will be held to a much higher standard than other DMs. Some people on this thread have compared RPGs to movies, video games and professional sporting events. Be careful what you wish for--nobody pays to watch little league baseball, and if a widespread competitive market developed for dungeon mastering then you would realize very quickly that you probably aren't the Barry Bonds of D&D. That being said, I would pay to play in an RPGA event at a con because I know that the DMs are certified, knowledgeable, experienced, organized and intimately familiar with the professionally-designed material that they're running. I would pay to play with Gary Gygax, or any other number of talented RPG writers, because they are seasoned professionals who know role-playing better than anyone else out there.</blockquote>

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