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Revolutions are Always Verbose: Effecting Change in the TTRPG Industry
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<blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 8354996" data-attributes="member: 907"><p>"Under communism, man oppresses man. Under capitalism, it's just the opposite." – John Maynard Keynes</p><p></p><p>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 <strong>good</strong> or particularly professional game designer, but the threshold to making and publishing stuff is <strong>really</strong> low. It's also a hobby that <strong>encourages</strong> 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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>* 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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 8354996, member: 907"] "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 [B]good[/B] or particularly professional game designer, but the threshold to making and publishing stuff is [B]really[/B] low. It's also a hobby that [B]encourages[/B] 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. [/QUOTE]
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