I mention the above because it’s my personal version of what might be a problem with the TTRPG hobby, namely it’s relationship with consumerism, collecting, and exhange.
What exactly is consumerism, collecting, and exchange in the context of this discussion? If you're using it in the derogatory sense that we're overly concerned with acquiring consumer goods, then collecting seems superfluous here, and what is exchange even mean?
This dynamic goes back to the origins of the hobby, when dnd evolved from a very
DIY practice with very different cultures of play to it’s codification for the sake of commodification in AD&D.
I am told in threads on this very board that D&D is very much still a DIY thing. That your campaign is a lot different from my campaign which is also different from another person's campaign. And as far as codification is concerned, that happened with the very first rulebook. That ship sailed a long, long time ago.
The contemporary version of this would be the explosion of 5e as a “
lifestyle brand,” and along with it all the deluxe products people are making for it (I’m thinking, for example, of the announcement today of the
Beadle and Grimm’s platinum Spelljammer set).
Where's your argument that this is harmful in some way? I know you posted links to Reddit and other places, but in your own words what's the problem with this? Why should I be concerned? I haven't spent any money on the D&D deluxe products available now, but I never thought, "The availability of this product is bad for gaming." If I hadn't already run Curse of Strahd twice, I would have considered purchasing the deluxe version of that campaign.
I realize this is perhaps an irrational worry—if other people want to spend their excess capital on deluxe editions and
$600 DM screens, how does it affect me? Yet I do see aspects of this that mirror monetization in video games—i.e., fine for most people, but predatory for some.
Which companies do you think are engaging in predatory practices? And what are those predatory practices exactly?
At its most extreme, the mindset of buying and collecting opens the door to
“products” like NFTs that are truly exploitative. At its least extreme, and most intangible, it turns a hobby that’s about DIY and creative imagination into yet another corporate product.
D&D has been a corporate product since 1974 and during the entirety of its existence has been published in order for its owner to make a profit. And, okay, you're talking about the extreme, but why not dial it back a bit and think of some of the benefits? It's a hobby we can all pretty much enjoy with a community we can participate in.
Personally, I think there's been no better time to be a RPG enthusiast than now. We have access to a wider array of games that are better produced than what was available in the 80s and 90s. Nothing has been ruined, I've only seen improvement.