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?
I think there are plenty of fair comments and perspectives in this thread. I appreciate the responses.
What I’m working through now is how the contractual element in a pay-per-session arrangement changes the character of the gameplay journey, so to speak. Do you get the same depth of connection to others? Memories? Or does the psychology change because of the economics?
But that’s just something to stew on for a bit.