I’ve been enjoying TTRPGs for some time. A means to meet people. Have some fun. Escape the drudgery of life and get creative. Perhaps I’ve lived under a rock, or a boulder, but I’ve come across an entire ecosystem of Professional DMs selling table time. Literal pay to play in a creative world. Where, even with the cash grab of wizards of the coast or the negation of imagination in place of 3D extravagence, we now monetize play, too. Perhaps play isn’t the right word. Something that combines camaraderie, enjoyment, a third space, imagination, and kindred spirits. Whatever that is, its monetization of the experience by a for profit dungeon master feels wrong in some way I can’t quite place.
Why must everything devolve into this? What do we loose when we monetize creativity, community, meeting people to such a degree?
We live in a capitalistic hellscape where some of the best DMs are trapped in dead-end retail jobs. Why must you judge them for trying to make a living doing something they are passionate about? Yes, some will be grifters, but that is always true of any profession. With that being said, I think you’re going to run into less grifters in the arts than you are in other spaces, and likely the folks trying to make an honest buck doing a thing they enjoy are not there to grift you.
Not judging. I never said DMs who run paid sessions were being judged. I’m just wondering why they would seek payment and got some very good insight and answers. Frankly, it’s a diverse set of reasons and great insight helping me navigate my own play and motivations to DM.