I do not do paid games (I do not want to be beholden to the players) but in LFG threads, there is alot of spamming of paid games and thus those who are looking for games or DM's offering free games, those threads quickly get knocked to the bottom of the pile. Anyway for the powers that be to open a section for Paid games? If not, why?
That's a good idea - it would simply make it easier to find both types of games. And given how busy this particular section of the forum is, it would overall help everyone.
Either separate forum sections or something built into the existing forum interface that allows you filter the "paid" tag out or in. Also support the idea.
That or some sort of control on posting LFP posts so paid games can't spam. Like a paid game can only post once every 24 hours or some such. I don't think the Forum was intended to be a marketplace and it does seem like the folks with cash motives are the ones most guilty of spamming the forums.
Roll20 I think also has throttling, meaning someone posting a paid game can only do so once a day or 48, or am I thinking of somewhere else? Of course the problem are the "DM Mills" where the DM is running the same one shot every day of the week so pretty much is posting the same ad just with slightly different schedule time slots.
I just don't know whether the limitations or filters are possible with this particular forum interface so maybe separate paid games vs unpaid game sub forums might be the only remedy.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I don't think there's anything wrong with paid games (I do not run any myself). It's perfectly ok for a DM and a player to want to enter into an agreement to play and expect a little more. But it would make it easier for everyone if it was separated into paid and voluntary games (I hesitate to call it free, since it still costs people's time).
Nothing's wrong with paid gaming in and of itself. Clouding the LFP sections (and posting at a higher rate as non paid DMs because you see it as part of "your job") is taking advantage of things. Analogously, it's like the folks who share their creative/artistic endeavors in the Arts and Crafts section. Most post to show their skills to the community. There are also folks who want to do portraits or sculpts or whatever for hire ... and they have to post in the advertising area. Individuals trying to market a paid service not vetted by D&D Beyond should be cordoned accordingly.
I find the paid game tag easy enough to scan through to avoid paid games. What I do find annoying is trying to find games suitable for my time zone. As often as not the start time or time zone is buried n the text so filtering out the games played in the US evening, which is the middle of the night for me ,is a pain. It would be nice to have a tag which the op must fill in giving the start time and day.
I would like to add that it’s frustrating to see a free game not marked as a pay game only to find out only session zero is free all others cost bit of a bait and switch IMO.
I would like to add that it’s frustrating to see a free game not marked as a pay game only to find out only session zero is free all others cost bit of a bait and switch IMO.
I didn't know that happened, but am not surprised. It sounds like, if DDB made new community rules about solicits for paid gaming, this should be a practice that could be reported to some sort of moderation ... of course they'd likely have to get a whole new moderator to manage the section. I think this is a matter a lot of sites are trying to contend with, or at least I'd like to think they're actively thinking about it. Paid gaming has flourished considerably over gaming (a lot of it, in my scan of the phenomona is a lot of folks coming to gaming out of poorly researched click bait "you can be gainfully employed doing this" articles. I don't think a lot of the sites that traditionally hosted relatively unmanaged LFG/LFP boards anticipated the growth of folks who should have the $ tag attached to the solicitation. As I've said before, I don't think paid games should be advertised in spaces where there isn't oversight. It's rife for abuse and that's why anecdotes of the worst conduct pop up in places like Roll20 which explicitly washing their hands of any financial transactions between participants.
Again, that's not to say paid gaming is essentially bad, but current events have bloated the market with a mix of providers who either don't know what they're doing or are actually acting maliciously/unetheically.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I did try the pay to play route a few years back and boy did I regret that, in all cases I got the dregs of the dregs in my groups, people who would not pass muster in a normal free to play D&D game IE you are trying to make a buck, so you let go how annoying the person sounds, the back round noise, the horrible mic problems and the entitlement players feel they should get if they pay. Lastly, with DM'ing free games I have more control whom can sit at my table, my imagination is not limited nor do I feel beholden to the players. Still wish roll20 or dnd beyond would put these paid games in separate section, just looking over at LFG, i see already 4 or 5 paid games spamming that folder. Roll20 at this time has like 20 paid games spamming that folder. Well my 2 cents lol.
It can be frustrating trying to sort through all of that to find a free game. But, have you considered adding some variety to your gaming routine by trying out some online gambling? As for a separate section for paid games, I've been using joywallet.com and I can see why it might make sense. But, at the same time, it might not be the most practical solution. Paid games are becoming more and more popular, so it might not be long before they become the norm. But, until then, you could try using a different search filter to find what you're looking for, or even reach out to the mods to see if they can help you out.
Howdy-
I do not do paid games (I do not want to be beholden to the players) but in LFG threads, there is alot of spamming of paid games and thus those who are looking for games or DM's offering free games, those threads quickly get knocked to the bottom of the pile. Anyway for the powers that be to open a section for Paid games? If not, why?
thanks
That's a good idea - it would simply make it easier to find both types of games. And given how busy this particular section of the forum is, it would overall help everyone.
Either separate forum sections or something built into the existing forum interface that allows you filter the "paid" tag out or in. Also support the idea.
That or some sort of control on posting LFP posts so paid games can't spam. Like a paid game can only post once every 24 hours or some such. I don't think the Forum was intended to be a marketplace and it does seem like the folks with cash motives are the ones most guilty of spamming the forums.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I also wish there was a seperate section for paid game as everywhere games are advertised, paid ones are spammed.
Whats nice about roll20, you click on looking for free games and it filters out the paid games.
Fortunatly for Roll20, because their forum section LOOKING FOR GROUP is also spammed with paid games
Roll20 I think also has throttling, meaning someone posting a paid game can only do so once a day or 48, or am I thinking of somewhere else? Of course the problem are the "DM Mills" where the DM is running the same one shot every day of the week so pretty much is posting the same ad just with slightly different schedule time slots.
I just don't know whether the limitations or filters are possible with this particular forum interface so maybe separate paid games vs unpaid game sub forums might be the only remedy.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I don't think there's anything wrong with paid games (I do not run any myself). It's perfectly ok for a DM and a player to want to enter into an agreement to play and expect a little more. But it would make it easier for everyone if it was separated into paid and voluntary games (I hesitate to call it free, since it still costs people's time).
Nothing's wrong with paid gaming in and of itself. Clouding the LFP sections (and posting at a higher rate as non paid DMs because you see it as part of "your job") is taking advantage of things. Analogously, it's like the folks who share their creative/artistic endeavors in the Arts and Crafts section. Most post to show their skills to the community. There are also folks who want to do portraits or sculpts or whatever for hire ... and they have to post in the advertising area. Individuals trying to market a paid service not vetted by D&D Beyond should be cordoned accordingly.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I find the paid game tag easy enough to scan through to avoid paid games. What I do find annoying is trying to find games suitable for my time zone. As often as not the start time or time zone is buried n the text so filtering out the games played in the US evening, which is the middle of the night for me ,is a pain. It would be nice to have a tag which the op must fill in giving the start time and day.
I would like to add that it’s frustrating to see a free game not marked as a pay game only to find out only session zero is free all others cost bit of a bait and switch IMO.
I didn't know that happened, but am not surprised. It sounds like, if DDB made new community rules about solicits for paid gaming, this should be a practice that could be reported to some sort of moderation ... of course they'd likely have to get a whole new moderator to manage the section. I think this is a matter a lot of sites are trying to contend with, or at least I'd like to think they're actively thinking about it. Paid gaming has flourished considerably over gaming (a lot of it, in my scan of the phenomona is a lot of folks coming to gaming out of poorly researched click bait "you can be gainfully employed doing this" articles. I don't think a lot of the sites that traditionally hosted relatively unmanaged LFG/LFP boards anticipated the growth of folks who should have the $ tag attached to the solicitation. As I've said before, I don't think paid games should be advertised in spaces where there isn't oversight. It's rife for abuse and that's why anecdotes of the worst conduct pop up in places like Roll20 which explicitly washing their hands of any financial transactions between participants.
Again, that's not to say paid gaming is essentially bad, but current events have bloated the market with a mix of providers who either don't know what they're doing or are actually acting maliciously/unetheically.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I did try the pay to play route a few years back and boy did I regret that, in all cases I got the dregs of the dregs in my groups, people who would not pass muster in a normal free to play D&D game IE you are trying to make a buck, so you let go how annoying the person sounds, the back round noise, the horrible mic problems and the entitlement players feel they should get if they pay. Lastly, with DM'ing free games I have more control whom can sit at my table, my imagination is not limited nor do I feel beholden to the players. Still wish roll20 or dnd beyond would put these paid games in separate section, just looking over at LFG, i see already 4 or 5 paid games spamming that folder. Roll20 at this time has like 20 paid games spamming that folder. Well my 2 cents lol.
It can be frustrating trying to sort through all of that to find a free game. But, have you considered adding some variety to your gaming routine by trying out some online gambling? As for a separate section for paid games, I've been using joywallet.com and I can see why it might make sense. But, at the same time, it might not be the most practical solution. Paid games are becoming more and more popular, so it might not be long before they become the norm. But, until then, you could try using a different search filter to find what you're looking for, or even reach out to the mods to see if they can help you out.