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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malmuria" data-source="post: 8718404" data-attributes="member: 7030755">I linked to it in the OP, but the Satine Phoenix/Jamison Stone situation is a good example of the concrete negative effects of Dnd as a monetized lifestyle brand.  Look at the Kickstarter page for <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stonejamison/sirens-battle-of-the-bards/description" target="_blank">Sirens: Battle of the Bards</a>. Look at how glossy everything is!  So many add ons!  Dice, Syrinscape, Wyrmwood trays, VTT support, etc etc.  Endorsements from people in the hobby. A $3000 support tier that includes the "opportunity" to play a game with Phoenix and Stone.  And then, two pro-forma paragraphs of possible risks...which of course didn't include the possibility that the creators would be outed as unethical and abusive people.  Their celebrity status is what allowed them to both raise $300,000 for this product and mistreat the freelancers who worked for them, as they were actual gatekeepers to those freelancers being able to make a living in the hobby.  If you go to the comments page, you'll see that Phoenix/Stone has shut down their discord page and probably won't deliver the product, let alone all the fancy dice and stuff people pledged for.When these sort of situations go disastrously wrong, they are treated as exceptions and 'scandals.'  What I'm wondering, however, is if the way that dnd is monetized creates the conditions for these types of situations.  If, when the kickstarter launched, one had criticized it for its influencer-based commercialization, I think the response would have been 'well, if you don't like it don't back it.'  Which is a fair response, as it's not like one could predict what would happen.  But it leaves aside the connection between that monetization and the way they were allowed to operate as a business.</blockquote>

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