Revolutions are Always Verbose: Effecting Change in the TTRPG Industry

[Snarf Zagyg]

If anyone is wondering, the word is capitalism.

Fun fact- I managed to keep myself to one (1) Trotsky quote when I wrote this!

 

[MGibster]

As a consumer, it's tough to keep track of everyone involved in creating a game. When 5th edition was released, there was a lot of online hate going around for one of the contributors. I had never heard this guy's name before, I wasn't sure exactly what he had done to piss so many people off, and I wasn't inclined to do a lot of research to figure out what the hubub was about. I haven't heard a peep about Ernie Gygax anywhere but here. If I had just gone away for a few weeks I likely never would have heard about TSR(3) or ThreeSR or whatever it's called.

 

[aramis erak]

They can police the speech, but not the thoughts! Or can they ...

Nevertheless, imo the answer to the op seems to be a writers guild similar to Hollywood, or another sort of union. At the same time, it becomes a bottleneck, where only writers can only make it through established channels. I have been following J Michael Straczynski from Babylon 5 and other works, for a while, and he recently published Becoming A Writer, Staying A Writer and he has talked about the lack of independent writers in Hollywood.

The issue is that one cannot limit the right to publish in the current market. TT RPG sales simply don't justify living wage based upon typical sales. Oh, and wizards is paying near local minimum wage. Seattle is currently $16 and change minimum.

 

[cmad1977]

It is almost like there is a word for a system that enshrines oppression and exploitation as its core values...

That there is capital thinking…

It’s probably some kind of … ISM.

 

[MGibster]

Fun fact- I managed to keep myself to one (1) Trotsky quote when I wrote this!

I mean, so long as we're taking digs at political/economic systems, the one Trotsky is famous for holds that all art is propaganda. Assuming you could even get the central planning committee to agree on an expenditure of labor to create a role playing game, you're going to have to make sure the game sends whatever message the state approves of.

 

[aramis erak]

I mean, so long as we're taking digs at political/economic systems, the one Trotsky is famous for holds that all art is propaganda.

Pretty much every economic system oppresses some for the benefit of others.

Assuming you could even get the central planning committee to agree on an expenditure of labor to create a role playing game, you're going to have to make sure the game sends whatever message the state approves of.

Oh, getting the game approved? No problem.
Not getting shot after the players get caught treating the "Bolshoi Irgi" as a nasty bit of sattire? Eto bolshoi problema! (Sorry, too lazy to actually put it in cyrillic today.)

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Pretty much every economic system oppresses some for the benefit of others.

Oh, getting the game approved? No problem.
Not getting shot after the players get caught treating the "Bolshoi Irgi" as a nasty bit of sattire? Eto balshoi problema! (Sorry, too lazy to actually put it in cyrillic today.)

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I mean, so long as we're taking digs at political/economic systems, the one Trotsky is famous for holds that all art is propaganda. Assuming you could even get the central planning committee to agree on an expenditure of labor to create a role playing game, you're going to have to make sure the game sends whatever message the state approves of.

I'm sorry, but the central committee does not approve of this post.

On a more serious note - I worked in TV for years. About 13 of them as paid labour, another 2-3 as unpaid labour. Fun fact - while working as unpaid labour in TV jobs I worked in that other great, poorly unionised, and terminally underpaid industry - hospitality.

In the end I gave up on TV, I just couldn't justify doing work I enjoyed for little to no money. (And TV is better paid than game design.) The sad truth is the arts (be it film, TV, games, dance, painting, what ever) just don't pay. This is not fair. It will remain unfair as long as these industries can't organise in some way. I can't say what way that is. A freelance writer probably needs different mechanisms to, say, a dancer. But they are similar in that they are "gig economy." So my very broad and uncertain thoughts are along the lines of get rid of the gig economy.

The gig economy isn't new. I was getting screwed by the gig system as far back as the 80s' and I am far from the first generation to be worked over by it. The expansion of "gigging" into areas that have traditionally been more stable for employees is new. Maybe the broadening of the damage will encourage more people to oppose it, and by opposing end it.

@snarfzagyg - I assume the Trotsky quote was "Hi Dr. Nick, Hi Everybody!" I mean Trotsky and Dr. Nick do have the same facial hair...

 

[dragoner]

If there had been a Soviet counterpart to DnD, it would have been like some Mork Borg-ish psychedelic sci-fi:

Back to the op, creatives often make very poor money versus the few who make a lot. This is where public policy is better than individual initiative, things like a functioning NHS in the US, and either higher minimum wage or expanded public assistance would help people, creatives in particular.

 

[MGibster]

In the end I gave up on TV, I just couldn't justify doing work I enjoyed for little to no money. (And TV is better paid than game design.) The sad truth is the arts (be it film, TV, games, dance, painting, what ever) just don't pay. This is not fair. It will remain unfair as long as these industries can't organise in some way. I can't say what way that is. A freelance writer probably needs different mechanisms to, say, a dancer. But they are similar in that they are "gig economy." So my very broad and uncertain thoughts are along the lines of get rid of the gig economy.

I think the fact that you were willing to put in thee year's of unpaid labor into television is indicative of why artists are often paid very little. Many of you are willing to do the work for peanuts because you love doing it. I suspect many game designers either do it as a side job or they move into other more lucrative industries once they get tired of scraping together the rent money month after month.