the hobby itself would survive.
the problem, I see, is that people have the perception that official stuff is usually "better" (not in quality terms) than any fanmade or third party content, just as wombat said. what irks me, tho - why do people use house rules then?
and free doesn't necessarily have to mean "free and no one gets any money". donations will generate income, for example. or, as already said: core stuff free, adventures etc. via subscription or other "non free" products. there are business models out there that would create a new market or even an industry.
someone mentioned world of warcraft wouldn't work in a "free" environment. I'll focus a bit on that: essentially, in wow you play on your little server, how many people are that, tops? 3k? 10k? in the end, the server is just one of many, all running the same ruleset. there are already freeshards out there that work donation-based (or with boni for donators etc.) that deliver the same stuff, only tailored to my personal needs. and with the internet today, I am probably not alone with that, and in the end, we would meet on that specific server.
ttrpg's are, in principle, the same. a group of people that prefer to play together the same rpg with that specific ruleset. why has that ruleset to be backed/supported by a big company? what am I actually paying for?
there would be one big factor, the local groups. while I can always play online etc, finding people to play with me face to face might be a problem. let's assume the market is totally open, this would only be a problem at first. people would adapt. it might be impossible to find a group locally for that totally niche rpg (as it is now), but there would _always_ be groups to play with. maybe not my preferred rpg, but probably something else.
the question remains: what are people actually paying for? the constant stream of "official" content which is only a perception issue? the quality? it has already been proven that "free" content can be very high quality. to support the hobby? no one keeps you from donating money if you'd like to. in the end, there will always be enough stuff that the hobby will survive, only some parameters will change. the arguments, right now, are the same that come up in every discussion regarding "free vs. open", some more valid than others.
(hi btw, finally found a reason to register.
).
the problem, I see, is that people have the perception that official stuff is usually "better" (not in quality terms) than any fanmade or third party content, just as wombat said. what irks me, tho - why do people use house rules then?
and free doesn't necessarily have to mean "free and no one gets any money". donations will generate income, for example. or, as already said: core stuff free, adventures etc. via subscription or other "non free" products. there are business models out there that would create a new market or even an industry.
someone mentioned world of warcraft wouldn't work in a "free" environment. I'll focus a bit on that: essentially, in wow you play on your little server, how many people are that, tops? 3k? 10k? in the end, the server is just one of many, all running the same ruleset. there are already freeshards out there that work donation-based (or with boni for donators etc.) that deliver the same stuff, only tailored to my personal needs. and with the internet today, I am probably not alone with that, and in the end, we would meet on that specific server.
ttrpg's are, in principle, the same. a group of people that prefer to play together the same rpg with that specific ruleset. why has that ruleset to be backed/supported by a big company? what am I actually paying for?
there would be one big factor, the local groups. while I can always play online etc, finding people to play with me face to face might be a problem. let's assume the market is totally open, this would only be a problem at first. people would adapt. it might be impossible to find a group locally for that totally niche rpg (as it is now), but there would _always_ be groups to play with. maybe not my preferred rpg, but probably something else.
the question remains: what are people actually paying for? the constant stream of "official" content which is only a perception issue? the quality? it has already been proven that "free" content can be very high quality. to support the hobby? no one keeps you from donating money if you'd like to. in the end, there will always be enough stuff that the hobby will survive, only some parameters will change. the arguments, right now, are the same that come up in every discussion regarding "free vs. open", some more valid than others.
(hi btw, finally found a reason to register.
).
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