Revolutions are Always Verbose: Effecting Change in the TTRPG Industry

[PsyzhranV2]

Dead? That's just silly. Can't comment on Zoom meeting or white collar habits, because I've no experience with either.

600k COVID deaths in the USA. Over 30 million cases, many with long-term aftereffects. Who do you think formed the largest portion of that number? Who was most affected by COVID? The people who got to stay home with a cushy office job and a decent health insurance plan, or the people working their ass off daily and have to keep working despite dangerous conditions, who are barely making a living wage with horrible health coverage (or no health coverage!), and who are probably already neck deep in personal, medical, and familial debt? Service-oriented businesses are throwing a hissy fit over people not wanting to come back to work and no new workers to fill the gap, not seeming to realize that the workers they are looking for don't feel safe working for a boss that couldn't give two rat's asses about their well-being, nor do they feel serving a clientele that doesn't respect them and in some cases actively endangers them with their ignorance. And that's not counting all the ones that are six feet under.

Rent varies wildly across the USA. But since RPG writers are not geographically bound to their occupation, a wise move would be to live where rent is low.

Moving's expensive, people aren't just willing to drop all their social and business connections at the drop of a hat, and the ass-ends of nowhere were rent is the lowest also tend to be lacking in local services and resources. Would you want to live in a town where there's only one grocery store?

I dunno about it being 'insensitive'; so long as urban planning focuses on jamming as many people as possible into the smallest area possible in order to elevate real estate prices, rent is going to stay high in major urban sprawls, that's just a simple fact. Anyone doing long-term career planning should take that into consideration. I learned the hard way that area-cost-of-living is a key consideration when weighing the merits of various employment options. In a very real sense, less can be more.

For a lot of people, "long-term career planning" isn't a realistic thing. It's work or starve. Or they can't work due to circumstances outside of their control and have to survive off of measly unemployment or disability benefits with no certainty as to waht the future holds. Maybe we could be campaigning for rent control, or for higher wages for workers, or for better benefits and protections for workers so that people don't have to make these hard decisions. Something, anything at all to decrease the cost of living! But no, the corporate lobby has captured all the regulatory agencies, and won't ever give an inch.

 

[Ovinomancer]

10% is the correct amount. Now, if you're in a situation where you're in a large group, meaning your wait-staff is only dealing with your table alone, you generally pay 15%, but in a normal situation, yeah, 10% is fine.

I'll bite, correct according to whom? I've worked in the industry, 20 odd year ago now, and 10% was a cheapskate tip -- someone who didn't know better. 15-20 is standard, and what you find as customary in almost any guide on "how to tip in the US." Frankly, I tip 10% for terrible service only. If I was your waiter, I would either think you an absolute cheapskate or wonder what I did that was so wrong (or both). Again, I've been out of that industry for 20+ years.

I mean, the amount you have to tip is nothing. But, 10% as "correct?" I'd really like to see your source on that.

 

[Yora]

According to where? In some places waiter get a decent base wage, in others a pittance.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Snip.

Don’t feed….. The thread has already been moderated.

 

[Ovinomancer]

According to where? In some places waiter get a decent base wage, in others a pittance.

Sorry, who are you asking?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

AHEM!

This is not a thread about tipping practices of cheapskates and high rollers. My understanding is it’s about improving the employment compensation side in the RPG hobby,

Instead, I see a group of people tarrying and meandering around other topics. They are not moving back to the main topic. None of them are even juggling the main topic.

Let’s see more about that main topic. Otherwise, the Forest Moderator may be forced to act…

 

[amethal]

It’s fascinating to see different cultures even similar ones like US and UK be so different about something like this.

The UK has free* healthcare. The US does not **. That makes a big difference.

Also, the UK has end-of-life care homes which, while not free, have a maximum cost of "all of your assets". I assume elderly Americans get what they can pay for and nothing more.

*Free at the point of delivery, or whatever the technical term is. Obviously, somebody is paying for it.
**I'm not very familiar with how medicare, co-pays and all the rest of it actually works; as I understand it the system won't leave you dying in the street but might leave you dying slowly at home

 

[Staffan]

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

"Under communism, man oppresses man. Under capitalism, it's just the opposite." – John Maynard Keynes

The source of the problem of compensation in the RPG biz is that it's really easy to be a game designer. I mean, it might not be as easy to be a good or particularly professional game designer, but the threshold to making and publishing stuff is really low. It's also a hobby that encourages creative expression: making new worlds, adventures, spells, classes, monsters, and whatever else. It's what the game books tell us to do, so there are a lot of would-be game designers out there.

This translates into a large labor pool. You don't want to write for 5 cents a word? Someone else, who's just happy to see their name on an actual RPG book for their favorite game, does. I don't honestly know how to fix that.

And, with the exception of Wizards of the Coast and maybe Paizo*, it's not like the owners of various game companies are rolling in dough. In most cases, they're people with a dream they want to realize, and they'll take what shortcuts they can to get there. The problem is that most game material is underpriced, but people won't raise prices because then customers might turn to other games. That's probably also why things like hard covers and full color have gotten more prevalent – even if they don't raise production costs by all that much, they contribute to a product that feels more valuable, so people are willing to pay more for it.

* It is my understanding that Lisa Stevens and Vic Wertz are loaded, but it's mostly money they got from Wizards stock when Hasbro bought them.

 

[amethal]

This translates into a large labor pool. You don't want to write for 5 cents a word? Someone else, who's just happy to see their name on an actual RPG book for their favorite game, does. I don't honestly know how to fix that.

Is that actually a problem?

I'll happily write an adventure for you, free of charge, for any system with which I am familiar. (Seriously - if you want one, just let me know.) Gareth Hanrahan, on the other hand, will charge you the going rate.

However, if you pay Gareth you know you'll get the final product, he will meet the deadline (I assume, never hearing anything to the contrary), there will be a boost in sales from people who really like his work, and the adventure will simply be better in every possible way. You get what you pay for.

Now, there might be mediocre would-be professional adventure writers whose work isn't significantly better than mine. You might be better off getting me to write your adventure, taking the risk that the direct cost saving will outweigh the extra editing time needed, lack of incentive to meet deadlines and the general amateur nature of what you'll get from me. Maybe - I dunno. But if such a hack writer does exist, I don't see why we need to support them.

 

[Umbran]

Is that actually a problem?

Insofar as anyone who is putting in a full day's work ought to be able to earn a living wage, yeah, it is a problem.