Quote from: Christmas ApeRight now, it's looking less like "I want reliable players" and more like "I wanna get paid to GM".

My feeling is if JimBobOz can find people willing to pay to be in his online games, then good for him!

Quote from: JimBobOzIf I rent a dvd then get bored and turn it off halfway through, should I get my money back? If I order a $18 steak and chips, then halfway through don't feel hungry any more, should I get $9 back?

Off topic, a couple of anecdotal things:

Initially when a Blockbuster came to my neighborhood, they were an absolutely fantastic place.  On one occasion, I rented a game from them and decided that very night I loved it.  So, I went to the store, found a copy and bought it.  Now it was kind of pointless to have the rental, so I took it back, explained my position to the manager and she let me return the original game and borrow a different game for the remainder of my rental period without having to pay any more.

Another Blockbuster experience was when I rented some movie that was absolutley horrible.  Plus, this was in the days of VHS and the tape itself was damaged in areas.  I return the tape and explained the damage.  I was asked if the tape was still viewable, and I replied honestly "I suppose it is, but the damn thing is so bad, I don't know why anyone would bother."  Once again, I was allowed to choose something else to rent for the remainder of the time I'd already paid for.  When I couldn't find anything, I asked for a refund and got it.

The last anecdote was when I worked at a place called Cracker Barrel.  There were people who would eat half a steak dinner and then complain it wasn't cooked right so they could get a replacement meal.  Sometimes they'd go through about 4 different meals, and then they'd say none of it was satisfying (after eating half or more) and demmand a refund.  And they'd get it.  Of course, the customers in question would be asked to never return to the restaurant again.

The funniest one was where the customers had more or less eaten the equivalent of 3 steak dinners, and then complained that it was all bad.  When they were asked to leave after refusing to pay for their food, they requested doggie bags to take the leftovers home with them.  :rolleyes:

JimBobOz, it's been just under a month since the initial post, so did you ever find people willing to pay to be in your IRC games?  If so, how did it go?

Thanks for the enquiry. In answer - I didn't look for them. No real mention of it was made beyond this thread.

That month would have been a bad time to look, anyway, being over Christmas and New Year. The time to look would be about February. By that time, people with long-term campaigns would be back into them, people who'd left them, or not had a group for a while, would be painfully aware of their lack of gaming by then.

Incidentally, during this last discussion I forgot an interesting story that might be relevant. I used to run a play-by-email strategic, diplomatic, and roleplaying game called Res Dura - it was "roleplaying" in that you played individual statesmen in the Victorian era, and if you made speeches, they had to be "in character" in that you didn't for example threaten to nuke people (it's undiplomatic, and nukes didn't exist), and in that your country and political faction had certain goals.

I made quite an effort with the game. Each turn lasted ten days, and I produced a 6,000 word "newspaper" describing the results of what the 25 or so players had done. I got period photos to put in it, called it The Geneva Illustrated News, or GIN.. There were spreadsheets for economic and military stuff as well.

Anyway, at one point I lost my job, and at the same time my annual internet connection payment came up due. It was just a couple of hundred bucks, but I didn't have that money at the time. So I said, "sorry guys, the game will be postponed for a month or two while I'm offline, I'll let you know when I'm back."

A few of the guys offered to donate money to keep me online. Four or five of them talked among themselves and offered $40 each, which was enough. To be fair, I offered each of them a "special character". One could have a General or Admiral who'd give them a bonus in battles, another a Diplomat who could create or destroy a casus belli (excuse for war - just declaring war for nothing lost you prestige, which was the xp of the game). One of the guys paying refused any special character, another asked if he could donate more and get more special characters!

Most of the players were unwilling or unable to make any donations. Some were stingy wealthy kids - these were the ones who complained that the "special characters" were "unfair", and also complained about the rules, etc the most. Some were poor kids - had a couple of Brasilians, exchange rates etc would have made any donation prohibitive. One guy got quite indignant at the idea of paying anything at all, and said he was going to sue me under the federal Trade Practices Act. However, I knew this guy in real life, even roleplayed with him, and he's actually a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. His medication makes him a sane, but a bit zombie-like, so sometimes he prefers not to take it, and comes up with really strange shit.

I paid for my net connection, stayed online, the game went on to a successful conclusion, and most people were happy with the results.

This means it was, overall, US$160-200 for a game with 25 players, 20 turns over six months, and 6,000 word newsletters per turn. That averages out to, what, thirty or forty cents per player per turn, or 0.15 cents per word of GIN - hey, that's even less than roleplaying writing pays! Or if you prefer, it was US$2 per turn for one in four of the players, and nothing for three out of four of them.

So about one in four of the players were, once they knew the game was good, willing to pay to keep me online. They actually donated more than I needed, but none of them would take it back, they said I deserved an extra few bucks. From memory, the actual year's internet cost me what was then US$120, but I got US$160-200. One guy sent a Western Union money order because he didn't want records left for his wife to complain about his spending!

I don't know how I forgot that during the last discussion. But make of it what you will.

Not sure if this applies:

The RPGA pays GMs for conventions. They pay them in swag and promotional items, which you get on a quarterly basis depending on how many games you run and report. And in some cases they'll pay for your hotel stay at a con. Usually this is stuff like promo or pre-release items, special 'alternate paint' miniatures, and cards. The cards are weird- like I have one that will allow me to automatically avoid an Attack of Opportunity at any RPGA event. I just whip that out and avoid the attack. Other cards unlock items or races that aren't otherwise legal in the living campaigns.  

For conventions, they pay pretty well:

As an example: here's the D&D eXperience rewards:

GM's and volunteers:

1-3 slots gets a T-shirt and entered in a drawing for a big bag of stuff.

4-6 slots gets you a free book of your choice. Plus everything that the 1-3 slotters get.

7+ slots gets you a free hotel stay for the convention, and a limited edition leatherbound Monster Manual. Plus all of the above.

I'm totally getting that Monster Manual.

Gen Con and other "major" conventions are similar.

Oh wait, MORE to the point:

You have to pass a DM test and qualify to be DM for the RPGA. This is the Herald level test. It's fairly basic knowledge of the rules. It isn't that hard.

Above that level of the test is the Master level DM test, which I can tell you from experience is very hard. (I passed it a few months ago). Very obscure random DM questions.

There is an even higher level qualification in the works which will involve being interviewed.

To DM the Special, the XE Expedition adventure, or the High Level Special (the two premiere events of the con) you have to be approved by the Senior GM, and he has to interview you. You should also be Master-level qualified.

Check out the wording on this:

"...If you want to GM the Living Greyhawk (special or high level), or the Xen’Drik Expedition special, then please focus on running only that event and you MUST contact me with what shows and specials you have run in the past (unless you have run the special before). No offense to anybody, but we want our best GMs on this event as it is the cornerstone of our presence at the show. If you sign-up to GM one of these events without contacting me for approval, your schedule will not be approved until it is corrected."

This is from David Christ, the Senior GM/Coordinator