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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 7700912" data-attributes="member: 3285">As role-playing games continue to rise in popularity, the game is increasingly getting attention from professionals in other industries. What are the ramifications for the gaming community as it grapples with its evolution from a casual hobby to a professional industry?[ATTACH=full]272889[/ATTACH] <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/gamble-dice-luck-game-probability-5512737/" target="_blank">Picture courtesy of Pixabay.</a><h3>What's a RPG Professional Anyway?</h3>Much of the debate about what defines a professional any field pivots on pay vs. conduct. Wikipedia's definition begins with the core assumption that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional" target="_blank">professionals are paid</a>:I covered the trials and tribulations of the professional game master in <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?3043-D-D-Goes-to-Work-Part-II-Professional-Game-Masters#.V6xfiDWaAtg" target="_blank">D&D Goes to Work Part II: Professional Game Masters</a>. What co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons Gargy Gygax originally quantified as being the ultimate aspiration for a professional in Master of the Game now has a much lower barrier to entry. Thanks to the rise of the "pro-am" or "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_professionalism" target="_blank">professional amateur</a>," the new Open Game License, and publication channels like DriveThruRPG <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?3299-Can-Wizards-Avoid-Another-OGL-Glut" target="_blank">and the DM's Guild</a>, earning money on a RPG product is more feasible than ever before.Increasingly, the lower barrier to entry means that there is no longer a pay distinction between a professional and a hobbyist -- both can make money at producing RPGs.  So what sets them apart?  One possibility is a code of conduct, which Wikipedia also references as part of being a "professional":The theory around this aspect of professionalism is not without controversy:By looking at the commercialization of the nascent role-playing game industry with this lens, we can see how being a RPG professional has morphed from a hobbyist who makes a living to an industry where a code of social conduct is enforced. And yet, even when business dollars, customers, and shareholders are involved, the personalities that owned the D&D brand struggled with their own codes of conduct. <h3>The TSR Years</h3>Gygax outlined the elements of what might constitute a RPG professional in <a href="http://amzn.to/2bp45Zj" target="_blank">Master of the Game</a>, ranging from mastery of rules and systems, to mastery of scenario and campaign creation, to creating a role-playing game from scratch. Two elements Gygax did not address were making an income full-time from gaming or any code of conduct:TSR later produced its own code of ethics for writers and published it online.  It's a fascinating look at TSR's sensitivity to one of its most lucrative target markets: children, although it's notable there's no mention of kids in their <a href="http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/rec.games.frp.dnd/TSR-Ethics" target="_blank">Code of Ethics</a>:The list is exhaustive. No satanic symbolism was allowed (shades of the Satanic Panic of the 80s); no detailed discussion of creating weapons or drugs; law enforcement was to be respected; criminals should be cast in a negative light; no profanity, narcotics or alcohol, excessive gore, or sexual themes; no disparaging the disabled or other "non-monster" races; slavery should be portrayed as evil; no disparaging real religions; no real-life rituals or activities of a "criminal or distasteful nature" should be presented. TSR, sensitive to accusations that D&D caused kids to commit suicide by acting out their fantasies, also put a stake in the ground regarding the limits of one's imagination:This extended to Live Action Role-Playing (LARPs):Of course, many of these rules did not apply to the company's own products. Gygax himself would later grapple with the definition of professional conduct in the company he helped create. <h3>The Wizards of the Coast Years</h3>Wizards of the Coast's online policy towards fans was very different from TSR's, in no small part due to then CEO Peter Adkison's uncomfortable experience with a Palladium lawsuit. As described in <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?3454-D-D-Fandom-Part-III-The-Golden-Age" target="_blank">D&D Fandom Part III: The Golden Age</a>, for a while the Open Game License -- greeted with initial skepticism -- brought fans back in droves to the game, not just as players but as co-creators. The D&D brand was now shared by all. That partnership wouldn't last.The Open Game License allowed publishers to use much of D&D's sourcebooks without completely replicating the rules therein (experience points for leveling up, for example, were missing). <a href="http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/the-open-game-license-a-case-study-in-open-source-markets/" target="_blank">Chad Perrin explains at TechRepublic</a>:The OGL was just the tip of the iceberg and included the D20 System Trademark License, which indicated compatibility with Dungeons & Dragons. That compatibility was tested with the arrival of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D20_System" target="_blank">Book of Erotic Fantasy</a>: WOTC's new quality standards <a href="http://www.onlamp.com/2004/11/04/examples/d20guidev5.rtf" target="_blank">were as follows</a>:The OGL's success helped created an industry for RPG independent designers:The biggest success story is of course Paizo Publishing.  In CEO Lisa Stevens' own words in Designers & Dragons -- The 00s:Through WOTC's layoff of game designers, the OGL, and the rise of digital online retailers like DriveThruRPG, the company created an entire industry around role-playing that has since branched off to thrive on its own.  The barrier to entry to the tabletop gaming industry is still relatively low, a boon for am-pro gamers but still fraught with challenges -- as the incident over the Book of Erotic Fantasy demonstrated.  But even the D&D brand holders, in both TSR and WOTC's stewardship of the game, discovered the line between professional and hobbyist the hard way. We'll discuss their travails in the next installment.</blockquote>

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