These numbers are approximate, exactly meant to be order of magnitude.
Maybe 1 in 10 folks who RPG also GM.
Maybe 1 in 10 folks who GM also do some design.
Maybe 1 in 10 folks who do some design publish anything.
Maybe 1 in 10 folks who publish actually make money.
Maybe 1 in 10 of those make enough to think of it as a profession.
Some RPGs have a firm distinction between player and GM. Some have a small one. Some try to make it easier to GM, or to remove the role entirely. Some put more effort into the GM role, making it so fewer people can really do it. Dungeon and Dragons has historically been like this.
Some games make it easy to hack, AW and fate and Fiasco being the most obvious. AW also makes it easier to make money. Some games have so much going on that it is nearly impossible to hack.
Some gamers ignore rules we don't like. Some are sticklers.
Some systems have fiddly bits, and others have broad rules.
None of these are right or wrong; they produce different experiences. Its those experiences that matter, not some book on a shelf.
I know what my preferences are. What are yours?
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These are interesting ideas, but I disagree with your statistics. I think way more people GM and write/design than that (although probably that few actually publish in a way that will get them paid). Perhaps the difference is in what I consider signficant enough to merit "GMing" or "designing"?
ReplyDeleteEva Schiffer These aren't meant to be precise. At all.
ReplyDeleteBut, that does lead to a more interesting question: What do you mean by GMing and designing?
What do you mean by "preferences," William?
ReplyDeleteRobert Bohl Preferences for systems. I know where I like my systems to rate on difficulty of GMing, hacking, designing, fiddly bits. I know what produces the sort of experience that I'm looking for.
ReplyDeleteWell, does someone who has GMed one game or two, but isn't their group's regular GM count? How about someone who ran a con game but doesn't have a regular group at home? What if I ran several multi-year games but haven't GMed in the past 5 years?
ReplyDeleteDoes it count as design if I write something for the 200 word RPG challenge that I don't intend anyone to every play? Does what I write need to be playable? Does it need to have been played at all to count? Does publishing include on my personal website? etc.
I suspect various people will answer those very differently.
My preference is for games that are easy and fun to play. I don't have a preference for hackability. I like games that are meant to be played by the rules and where doing so is rewarding. (To address the metrics I can detect.)
ReplyDeleteI bet they will. I'd count anyone as a GM who counts themselves as one. And I'd count anyone a designer who counts themselves as one.
ReplyDeleteThat is, I'll call people what they want to be called. It means there's a lot less work for me, except to determine where I fall. Which is bloody hard enough; I'm pretty sure most of my design is either shitty or derivative, and that the rest is a love letter.
So, do i count as a designer? Probably not.
Robert Bohl Cool. I also like games that are easy to run, and i want games to be hackable because that creates more games. I think pbta created this virtuous cycle of game creation, where I get more and more games from differnt perspectives and with different interests at heart.
ReplyDeleteSee, I would say that if you've written a game (even if derivative or you think it's shitty) you are a designer. You don't have to be a brilliant genius to be making things. ;)
ReplyDeleteI've had this argument too many times with the word "artist" subbed into it, so possibly it's become a slight button for me.
I've seen that happen. There's some outgoing bullshit that happens there, and telling people that they are not artists/designers/GMs/gamers/people is shitty.
ReplyDeleteSaying that I don't consider myself one because the games I've written don't hit the standards that I've got for myself is something different.
Adam Koebel did an Office Hours a while back that touched upon this whole "who is a designer" thing. He argued that if you tweak anything when you play a game you are doing game design. When you GM do you "house rule" something? Boom. Design. Have you created a custom move? Boom. Design.
ReplyDeleteEh, my concern with that is there's a difference between the things I produce and the things Adam has produced.
ReplyDeleteUsing the same word makes it harder to have those shades, and some of them are relatively important. sure, I'm a game designer, but I don't really publish in a meaningful way and i sure don't make more than a few dollars at anything related to RPGs. I spend money on the hobby rather than making it.
So, to use the same word for me and Koebel or Morningstar or Baker seems a bit of a simplification.
Well... I think Vincent Baker might lean in the AK direction too. I would recommend listening to episodes 80 and 82 of Sean Nittner's Narrative Control podcast (http://narrativecontrol.libsyn.com/) for some strong and in depth opinions on this topic
ReplyDeleteI wish I enjoyed podcasts. I really do. I've tried savage love and freakonomics and a few others, and i keep realizing I'd rather read a book than listen to a podcast.
ReplyDelete