The Monetization of D&D Play

[FrogReaver]

#1 pay to play isn't a micro transaction (think WoW subscription fee)
#2 not all micro transaction games are pay to win (path of exile is a great example)

I can see paying for space in large dense cities where space for everyone is at a premium and it's very possible no one in the group would have enough room to host 4-6 players at their home. In more spread out and smaller cities and towns paying for space would be ridiculous as it's likely someone in the group has a basement or garage or something that everyone can happily play at in lieu of paying to play at the local store. In fact stores in such locations may profit more by not charging for space and having more people frequent their game store more often.

In my town charging for space would be bad. I could see charging to reserve a table at a particular time though. In other situations it probably makes more sense to charge for space. That said, Hobby Stores are rarely about totally monetizing what they do. They are there for love of their hobby just as much as being there about making a living off it. The point is that most game stores don't exist solely to milk their customers out of all their money.

 

[Iry]

I used to run games for money. I had a skill set and the desire to make some money with those skills, so I put out an advertisement (flyer with tear-off tabs) at several LGS that I was friendly with. I ended up charging $20 per person for an 8 hour session (I considered $10 for 4 hours, but I had no shortage of people interested in the 8 hour games). Usual attendance was 4-5 players in on any given night.

I ran the same adventure three nights a week, for three different parties. One guy showed up on two different nights a week and just played a different character. I suppose he enjoyed seeing the plots develop in different ways between two groups.

I can share a few heart warming stories that came out of it, such as one woman who wanted to learn D&D for the first time to surprise her boyfriend for his birthday, one married couple who made a great team, and a father / son duo who wanted to teach his kid to play just like dear 'ol dad.

But I will say that the overall experience was very negative. Many of the players who were willing to pay for the service had seriously bad habits, and sometimes had been kicked out of other games and nobody else was willing to play with them. This included classic problems like the unwashed and foul smelling players, players who fly into rages when they don't get their way, and sexist players who belittle others at the table.

Of course, I didn't tolerate such players for long. But then came the demands for refunds, not just for the night (completely reasonable), but for the entire duration of their adventure with me because they felt like their time had been wasted.

Now, I could have used a more vigorous vetting process to make sure that the right players were matched with the right groups, filtered out the bad players over time, and eventually built up a loyal player base where everyone would have a good time. But, chargeback fees were troublesome, the self employment tax was brutal, and I started to burn out on my "fun" hobby, so I abandoned the venture.

But I did invite some of the really good players to my real table!
So, happily ever after? Kinda.

 

[RCanine]

I don't think there's anything wrong, conceptually with paying to play D&D.

That said, I have expectations. $5/person to rent a folding chair and a card table in a glorified dump with an unprepared DM is ridiculous. $5/person in a clean place with comfortable chairs and a high-quality DM is great. For $10 I'd expect color maps, minis, terrain, the works.

I would also pay to guarantee a seat in the case demand exceeds supply – e.g. in a weekly game, paying to reserve a seat with a consistent party and DM to me is worth it.

I tend to buy my hardcovers from FLGS, although find D&D doesn't provide me much to buy — I hate clutter — and with D&D Beyond's pricing, I imagine eventually I may jump ship and not buy books anymore either. So I can really empathize with game stores trying to make ends meet. I'm not sure how to solve it.

 

[Charlaquin]

As most have been saying, in principle I see nothing wrong with the idea of DMs or game stores charging for a seat at the table. In practice, I think it just makes the experience worse for everyone involved. I mean, if folks want to charge to run games or to pay to join them, that’s their decision to make, more power to them. I wouldn’t want to do either, but I take no issue with those who do.

 

[FrogReaver]

As most have been saying, in principle I see nothing wrong with the idea of DMs or game stores charging for a seat at the table. In practice, I think it just makes the experience worse for everyone involved. I mean, if folks want to charge to run games or to pay to join them, that’s their decision to make, more power to them. I wouldn’t want to do either, but I take no issue with those who do.

I was going to post I would never pay to play a game of D&D but on closer introspection I may. It would just be highly unlikely.

 

[Charlaquin]

I was going to post I would never pay to play a game of D&D but on closer introspection I may. It would just be highly unlikely.

Personally, if I paid to be in a game, it would be because I was paying for something other than the game itself. For example, I might pay to be in a game run by a big-name DM like Chris Perkins, Matt Mercer, Griffin McElroy, etc. But then I’d be paying for the celebrity DM, not for the actual game.

 

[Nevvur]

An interesting distinction came up in conversation with a friend on this issue. There's a difference between being paid to DM by your players (or by a facilitator/store through play fees) and being paid to DM by a sponsor/company/other 3rd party. I would not personally participate in the former, but the latter has produced a lot of great content and, in my estimation, enhanced and expanded the role playing community (see: Critical Role).

I'd love to get paid for a TV show starring me and my buddies being dorks. We were going to do that before you mentioned the cameras and cash!

 

[DRF]

In my country, Denmark, boardgame cafés have become very popular. Typically people just pay a price to enter, and then they can use the room(s) to play the cafe's games or their own. I actually haven't heard of any AL here, so I don't think it exists. Some cafés organize D&D one-shots that are free, but attendance is hard to predict and control.

I've organized a lot of one-shots for strangers in an effort to get to know people I could invite to a campaign (the mission was successful) - I don't think paid GM'ing should necessarily be a thing, but then again, I've bought and paid the adventure book; wouldn't it be fair if that price was split between all the group's members? The DM often invests a lot of time, money and effort, and I'd welcome a culture change that took some of the burden off of the DM's shoulders. Players are already notoriously lazy and entitled.

I'd also gladly pay for games if the price was reasonable, and if a friend of mine wanted to run a campaign then I'd happily pitch in so he could afford the adventure book etc. It doesn't even have to be a lot of money, but it shows a willingness to invest in the game beyond showing up with Légólaz the elf ranger on a coffee-stained character sheet from 2003 and saying dumb things like "IT'S WHAT MY CHARACTER WOULD DO" twenty thousand times while rolling to skateboard on a shield down a flight of stairs.

 

[Morrus]

In my country, Denmark, boardgame cafés have become very popular.

They're popular everywhere. Plenty of them in the US, the UK, etc.

 

[jasper]

hahahahahahahahahahhahahhaahah What a bunch of free loaders are we.. How two faced bit(beep) about paying a cover charge to play d&d on this site. All right you apes raise your hand ( not you Morrus).
Okay you apes lower your hands if you not a Pateron of Morrus or this site.
Jasper quickly lower his hands and knocks out fifty pushups.