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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 7659008" data-attributes="member: 22424">Wow, those numbers are scary!By way of context, a five-second Google search suggests that McDonalds (in the US) pay their cashiers between $7 and $9 an hour (that's cashiers - fry cooks get slightly more). So if we accept the ballpark figure that a $0.01 per word rate is equivalent to $2.50 an hour, then the $0.03 rate Morrus is using is roughly equivalent to working for McDonalds.(Though, given the choice, you're probably better off taking the job with McDonalds. Firstly because it's more likely to be stable. But also, while we tend not to think about careers with McDonalds, they do have career paths available, and like to make noise about promoting from within. Working for McD wouldn't be my career of choice... but it probably beats freelance game design.)On the flip-side, a person who is good at game writing probably has more than one skill: in addition to good literacy they probably need a decent understanding of probability (as well as other skills). And while having one such skill is reasonably common, the combination is much rarer.Which means that a person likely to be good at game design can almost certainly make much more money elsewhere.That's not good for the health of the industry. It probably means that it will have an awfully big turnover - people come into the industry to make a bit of extra cash while at university (or similar), stay a few years, and then move on. Either because they now have their 'real' job which makes more money (and takes up their time), or because they realise they just can't make a living at it. Those few who stay either get employment at WotC or Paizo, set up their own companies (and probably work at those part-time), or in some rare cases become big enough 'names' that they can command much higher rates.As arjomanes says, it probably means that customers really should be paying more (a lot more) for our RPG materials. But given that the indications are that people just aren't willing to do that, coupled with the fact that most of our games don't need any additional purchases beyond a Core Rulebook or three, I really don't see any prospect of it changing.</blockquote>

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