tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post3587995638832774405..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: The Price of Doing BusinessAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-14641056867977422792016-05-03T06:36:22.527-06:002016-05-03T06:36:22.527-06:00Thanks for expanding about that, Alexis.
My line...Thanks for expanding about that, Alexis. <br /><br />My line of reasoning was trying to help myself (and maybe others) to put such-and-such amounts into perspective. Tim's suggestion of improvisational theatre classes seems like another one, and a very good one at that. However, now I feel I need to explain myself a little. I'm a very frugal man, right now. I save and save like there's no tomorrow (well, I expect it to be: I will be retiring from the workforce (at least a few years) when biology calls and my firstborn appears in this world). As such a frugal person, I'm used to have to reason with myself to justify every last expense. It's a good exercise. But that's ultimately just one part of the equation: how much will I offer, if this is a bid. Lots of other parts of the negotiation have to happen (start with an anchor, I don't think I need to tell you about the rest) before a final price is settled and money is exchanged. More people and perspectives may still tilt the balance further in the direction of possible. I also suspect your US potential customers are both much richer than me (in terms of monthly income) and way more accustomed to higher spending on their hobbies.<br /><br />You're putting here another convincing part. How much do you need to relieve stress and allow you to live. "Ten people at $150 a month; Twelve people at $125 a month; those are realistic numbers. Two parties of five or three parties of four." Well, there you have it. Some amounts for bid, some amounts for ask. Since it seems there is a spread, it certainly isn't a done deal. But now you can start a real auction, if you want to, starting bid and all. If enough places are filled, gig starts. If they don't, well, you tried and found out more information, possibly much more than with the poll. As you may already know, people behave differently (and sometimes, very differently) when the time comes to show the color of their money. <br /><br />I will advance a last angle. Wouldn't you consider that running a single group of, say, the five highest bidders, four times a month, to be a productive test of the system even if it doesn't allow you to wholly live from it? I wouldn't know, not being as creative as you, and not ever having to juggle two part-time jobs, but I have a few friends that have been surviving the last few years in similar ways. A day job and a creative side-enterprise, that is how the paradigmatic starving artist makes do. Scarbrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14354844943665937610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-57949909549372366112016-05-03T03:17:35.449-06:002016-05-03T03:17:35.449-06:00The problem isn't one of getting folks to pay ...The problem isn't one of getting folks to pay for playing. The problem is building a business. While it's possible Alexis could get his rent paid...sometime down the road...by running a number of sessions for a number of people and charging "what the market would bear" (based on demand spurred by word-o-mouth), that doesn't solve the lack of income coming in NOW, nor the issue of needing to find other work and (thus) not having the energy needed to start and grow the business.<br /><br />Have you considered doing some classes on Udemy? You've got a lot to say and are pretty good at saying it; you're handy with the tech and presentation stuff, and you could probably speak to a number of interesting subjects, not just game and writing-related. It could be an additional revenue stream and it could circulate your name if you do (down the road) start charging for your services as a DM.<br /><br />Just a thought. There are some great courses with terrible presentation that are still making (some) money out there.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-61229659700056100772016-05-02T22:55:20.065-06:002016-05-02T22:55:20.065-06:00Things I'd pay money for:
History lectures or...Things I'd pay money for:<br /><br />History lectures or essays (like the post on the Don Cossacks)<br /><br />Private consultation regarding my own personal game world. We all love that you give advice away for free and that a lot of it applies regardless of what our own world looks like, but how much cooler would it be to get direct Alexis access regarding one's desired level of world building and entity placement? You could charge a pretty penny per-hour (I won't suggest a figure), or maybe have some kind of rate per-question. Additional costs if a client wants your help building out a set of rules or a table or what have you. (I suppose one bit to consider here is that if someone wants help that would also be good as a blog entry they might feel cheated if you wrote something up for them, then turned around and blogged it shortly after. So the consulting angle might be more fruitful)<br /><br />This one might be a bit farfetched: tuning in to a viewer's game live via webcam or watching a video they record and post for you (the latter seems much more practical), then giving commentary on what aspects of their DMing needs improvement or attention -- player management, presentation, tension, etc. Maxwell Joslynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02309867478186083339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-60614575699713791422016-05-02T21:00:23.794-06:002016-05-02T21:00:23.794-06:00For the past several years I've taken improvis...For the past several years I've taken improvisational theatre classes, which basically amounts to 2.5 hours a week spent with 10-12 other people laughing, playing theatre games and performing scenes. For seven weeks of classes we pay $366 (Canadian dollars), which works out to about $20 an hour per person. It's a pretty decent gig for our instructor, who runs 4 or 5 classes at a time and also works as an actor. With twelve students in each class, assuming five classes she's probably totalling about $1200 a week.<br />I bring her example up because I think people should think of D&D in much the same way. I keep doing improv despite the costs because it's enormously therapeutic to let go and play every week, and my classmates justify the costs in the same way. Most people are in their forties or older and they have some disposable income on hand to pay for these classes, and many of them are performers so they can justify the expense as part of their own work.<br />D&D provides many of the same experiences especially when given the chance to work with someone who's been doing this as long as you have, Alexis. Furthermore, it's an opportunity for people with that disposable income to get some reprieve in their weeks. Given how valuable an improv class might be, I think it's entirely fair to charge a similar price for a D&D game. While a D&D game you play with a few buddies may be free, the analogue in theatre of putting together a show or an improv troupe with some buddies won't necessarily provide the same opportunity to learn and develop (or even have fun) as a paid class. Maybe that's the angle you need to take? I'm not saying the actual model needs to drastically change: running players in your game still provides an enormous opportunity for teaching the techniques of D&D, and even after seven years of improv classes I still keep it up regardless of my own skills as an improvisor. Interest in my classes has spread mainly through word of mouth, as lots of new people join us after their friends recommend the classes. If you get things going and provide a great experience like the online campaign before, I'm certain you can start more parties and get bigger groups going.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03496502173819113887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-66447395565158049302016-05-02T18:18:03.945-06:002016-05-02T18:18:03.945-06:00I don't know about that, Fuzzy. Things have c...I don't know about that, Fuzzy. Things have changed since those early days; I'm selling maps through <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=3015466&ty=h&u=3015466" rel="nofollow">Patreon</a> Come and see! Unlike those other maps you mention, I'm trading publisher files to my patrons that are interactive and can be adjusted, adding roads, details, notes, removing cities, changing river courses or borders as desired. I just sent a raft of these off to people, including updates for things I've changed on maps in the last month.<br /><br />As well, my donations in the last 12 weeks have been $3,323. This is keeping me alive at the moment. I don't see this commitment as 'tips' - but gratitude is certainly involved.<br />Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-24378109959380950032016-05-02T17:13:53.488-06:002016-05-02T17:13:53.488-06:00I was about to suggest another attempt at what you...I was about to suggest another attempt at what you did back in the early days of the hobby - making maps and selling them. The only trouble is, probably about 50% to 75% of modern DMs have had the same idea, and combined with the glut of free products of moderate to good quality, there's no way to make an actual living from it. (And considering your description of how the majority of your "clients" back then ended up stiffing you, I'd say that most such people will go find a halfway-usable free map rather than pay for a great one.)<br /><br />I ran into this same issue; my father suggested that I try for a career in writing and drawing D&D material, but I had difficulty explaining the saturation of product in even a relatively small and new hobby as this one. Granted, your own material (from what I've read on your blog and in <i>Ternketh Keep</i>) is excellent, but there's still the distribution/marketing to take into account.<br /><br />Then there's the issue that a very reasonable price from the consumer's point of view is often insufficient to support the producer, as you demonstrated. Ideally, there would be a way to attract people who are unfamiliar with the hobby, but wouldn't mind paying a reasonable (from your perspective) sum to experience it. The issue there is that an "outsider" might balk at having to pay money <i>and</i> flex their reading, thinking, and socializing muscles... even though, as you point out, people go to restaurants and clubs all the time. The digital equivalent of a tip jar would certainly create less resentment (among those inclined to be bitter about spending any amount of money on anything), but would probably bring in even less than its restaurant equivalent.Fuzzy Skinnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10606454596061907461noreply@blogger.com