Quote from: TristramEvans;897083Generally speaking I'll go out of my way to give money to any creator I like, and I game with hardcopies only; pdfs only have value to me as previews.

I have a really awesome tablet which I use for PDFs but I still like having hard copies of game books when possible.

Quote from: AaronBrown99;896974My problem is the "people deserve..." idea.

You deserve nothing. You are entitled to nothing. If you can fulfill some need, perform some service that others are willing to pay for, good for you.

But no one owes you anything. Learn that lesson, and spare the rest of us your entitled, self-indulgent whining.

I wish I could hand you a mic to drop. *claps fervently*

Quote from: Lynn;897056The 'no spec' public shamers use the same sort of arguments to attack art contests and doing any work for free. The few times they've gotten hot with me I thank them for letting me know they shouldn't be considered for future art work (and if they ask, I do tell them about how I've done work for free very specifically for promotional purposes).

Yeah over on BGG they get pretty stringent about "no spec" now and then. Even for free PNP games?!?

I haven't read the original article yet, but starting to see this conversation play out on social media.

I do believe in a good minimum wage for regular jobs, but I also think those are different than a creative or niche field, where you have a lot of hobbyists contributing content. That changes the equation somewhat. Especially since many people are self-publishers basically writing their own paycheck, so it becomes a question of how much time they are willing to put into something knowing they might not make back all that effort in cash. That said, I don't begrudge a company that wants to try setting higher prices if that helps them make back what they are putting in in time and labor.

In terms of freelance writing, this is just not a good field to get into to make a living. I wrote outside this industry and you can earn a living wage doing things like writing for local papers, contributing to magazines,etc. But anytime you take a chance on something more creative like writing a novel, writing short stories, or writing RPGs, the reliability of a good income goes way down. Some people succeed and earn a full living, but it is rare (just like most musicians have a day job). Still a lot of people stick with it because they love that kind of writing so much.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;897091I haven't read the original article yet, but starting to see this conversation play out on social media.

I do believe in a good minimum wage for regular jobs, but I also think those are different than a creative or niche field, where you have a lot of hobbyists contributing content. That changes the equation somewhat. Especially since many people are self-publishers basically writing their own paycheck, so it becomes a question of how much time they are willing to put into something knowing they might not make back all that effort in cash. That said, I don't begrudge a company that wants to try setting higher prices if that helps them make back what they are putting in in time and labor.

In terms of freelance writing, this is just not a good field to get into to make a living. I wrote outside this industry and you can earn a living wage doing things like writing for local papers, contributing to magazines,etc. But anytime you take a chance on something more creative like writing a novel, writing short stories, or writing RPGs, the reliability of a good income goes way down. Some people succeed and earn a full living, but it is rare (just like most musicians have a day job). Still a lot of people stick with it because they love that kind of writing so much.

This guy does't actually want to write at all, he wants to be paid a "living wage" on top of paying other people to write, illustrate and publish his games for him.

Quote from: Omega;897087Yeah over on BGG they get pretty stringent about "no spec" now and then. Even for free PNP games?!?

It is the same muddled story where if you aren't being paid a living wage by UK or US standards for everything that drops off your pen you are being exploited. They shame art contests as exploiting young artists that somehow demeans the value of all art, all because of their frustration on a really cut-throat freelance market.

The world would be a much better place if everyone had even a rudimentary understanding of economics.

Quote from: Piestrio;897101The world would be a much better place if everyone had even a rudimentary understanding of economics.

Apropos of nothing, and totally off topic:  I wish it were taught in schools as part of a mandatory course load.  There's so much most people don't know.

Quote from: Piestrio;897101The world would be a much better place if everyone had even a rudimentary understanding of economics.

It saddens me that Economics, Personal Finance, Home Economics and penmanship are no longer taught. For all the life skills that kids are supposed to be learning now because they aren't being taught them by their parents, there sure are a lot of useful ones that have been removed from curricula.

Thomas Sowell to the rescue.

I can't help you with the penmanship, I'm afraid.

The article doesn't excite me too much. I feel like I'm missing the point. I mean...

"Why we need to pay what games are worth?"

How is it from the sellers/producers perspective that an RPG product could be worth more than it sells for? I just don't see it.

If you're dropping $ into a product and your sell point doesn't make up the difference it means your game is worth the debt you owe. Such is reality.

This guy needs a hand full of pennies and a well to stand over.

Quote from: Lynn;897118It saddens me that Economics, Personal Finance, Home Economics and penmanship are no longer taught. For all the life skills that kids are supposed to be learning now because they aren't being taught them by their parents, there sure are a lot of useful ones that have been removed from curricula.

It was taught when I was in high school. When did it get pulled and for what?

Sorry, I couldn't quite read the article to its conclusion. It tripped my circuit-breaker's by exceeding the bullshit limit pretty early on. I threw in the towel when it said people use "dream job" to devalue the work. The notion itself is so pregnant with fallacies that it's impossible to even discuss the central point of the article in any meaningful way.

Quote from: Warboss Squee;897126It was taught when I was in high school. When did it get pulled and for what?

These days if its not on the SATs, chances are they dont bother with it. I know mine was the last class to have the option of taking Latin for a language credit.

Quote from: TristramEvans;897069My belief is mainly that people have the same amount of disposable income that they will spend, regardless of anything else. So no matter if they pirate something or not it doesn't change the amount of money going into the hobby.

No hobby is a monolithic entity. The more money, the more power for certain people to dictate "how things should be done". So, the problem of "who" isn't irrelevant, I think.

Quote from: TristramEvans;897069Some people have very strong opinions about piracy, to the point that humour totally bypasses them even when a smiley is attached

...I feel they should address you and explain which part of your statement they have problem with, then. Shouting "you suck!" from the back row has zero impact - it won't change a thing and in fact might strengthen your beliefs, since "if they fight me, I may be on the right track"

Quote from: Krimson;897085I have a really awesome tablet which I use for PDFs

Out of curiosity, do you own some WH40k RPG PDFs? Dark Heresy, Only War, Rogue Trader, etc? How fast does this tablet of yours render them? How long does it lag between switching pages in comparison to, say, simple B&W PDFs?