Hey, that message is very outdated. This post makes it seem like were a bunch of shady people asking for money in return for a service. We're like any other service and there's more risk for us than there is them.
- Paypal (they can refund and cost us an extra $15) - SPG or startplaying (has plenty of features that protect the players)
So, its not really the wild wild west of dnd anymore. There's safe routes for doing this and i just think that as a community we should push for our paid players to USE the safer routes over trusting someone with their ***** or cashapp and sticking too "be careful with all of them" cause that's really not fair to us that are paying extra for services like SPG to show that we're legit dms.
A lot of people do believe most paid DMs are shady people. I am also a paid DM but I don't use SPG because it's not available in the country I'm in. That is why I try to advertise as much as I can. I currently run three amazing games that I'm happy with and I hope in the future to run more. I prefer my players use PayPal as their form of payment. But all my players are told to pay after I run the session. That way my services are more like a service job where people pay after they received the service. But you are never going to stop people from believing that paid DMs are scummy because most people believe that this is a game they should enjoy for free as they don't take into account all the work a DM has to do each week.
Yeah, it's definitely a hard thing to convince. The only thing we can do is try our best and advocate for things like pointing out that SPG and PayPal are very safe options. I know because I got screwed on PayPal for $80 because I let a player pay me at the end of the month and I got burned when he split the day before payment day. Which is why I only use SPG now.
It sucks because that post is only making the public opinion of us to be even worse. Which i argue with anyone who thinks i'm scummy about the fact that this takes a ton of time. I spend 3 - 5 hours awake prepping for 3 games a week. I have to do VC calls, police a discord server, and make sure everyone gets along at the table. We're the equivalent to mobile apps. They cost money, but if you ask a consumer.... 70% think that if its not free, its a scam. Or a waste of money. But someone paid software engineers upwards of 100k salaries to create those free apps. Maybe staff will read this and consider atleast giving spg some credit (paypal would be cool cause you can refund on Paypal!)
Yes to all of this. I used to advertise here when I started on SPG 3 years ago. I got some amazing players, but also a lot of trolls who insulted me or tried to shame me for taking money for a game - something I'm sure no one would say to any other type of entertainment performer. Kind of hurtful to see the "warning" thread now, or at least the way it's phrased. I'm sure there were other ways it could have been said to get the point across that wotc/dndb have no hand in the payments without potentially nerfing us out of the gate.
I currently run six weekly campaigns. That's upwards of 50hrs of work a week, and I only get paid for about 18 of them - and that's providing all players were present and their payments were in order.
As a professional DM online. I haven't had any requests for a refund. However, I did the smart thing and asked for money first for the reservation, and gave them a guaranteed 50% refund for that reservation cancellation. I make sure to interview them first through a quick voice call. I made a terms and service list they agreed to a verbal contract as we went over what is accounted for punishable offenses in the session. I even offer them deals/discounts to bring in new approved players. I do not see many other Premium GM's taking into consideration learning from their mistakes, as I do when it comes to maintaining order. Especially when dealing with players with a disability, specific needs, and trauma from other DMs. Though it would be nice to start something more main stream with professional players, that is just a pipe dream.
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Hey, that message is very outdated. This post makes it seem like were a bunch of shady people asking for money in return for a service.
We're like any other service and there's more risk for us than there is them.
- Paypal (they can refund and cost us an extra $15)
- SPG or startplaying (has plenty of features that protect the players)
So, its not really the wild wild west of dnd anymore. There's safe routes for doing this and i just think that as a community we should push for our paid players to USE the safer routes over trusting someone with their ***** or cashapp and sticking too "be careful with all of them" cause that's really not fair to us that are paying extra for services like SPG to show that we're legit dms.
COME CHECK OUT MY UPCOMING CAMPAIGNS!
[ CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ]
A lot of people do believe most paid DMs are shady people. I am also a paid DM but I don't use SPG because it's not available in the country I'm in. That is why I try to advertise as much as I can. I currently run three amazing games that I'm happy with and I hope in the future to run more. I prefer my players use PayPal as their form of payment. But all my players are told to pay after I run the session. That way my services are more like a service job where people pay after they received the service. But you are never going to stop people from believing that paid DMs are scummy because most people believe that this is a game they should enjoy for free as they don't take into account all the work a DM has to do each week.
Yeah, it's definitely a hard thing to convince. The only thing we can do is try our best and advocate for things like pointing out that SPG and PayPal are very safe options. I know because I got screwed on PayPal for $80 because I let a player pay me at the end of the month and I got burned when he split the day before payment day. Which is why I only use SPG now.
It sucks because that post is only making the public opinion of us to be even worse. Which i argue with anyone who thinks i'm scummy about the fact that this takes a ton of time. I spend 3 - 5 hours awake prepping for 3 games a week. I have to do VC calls, police a discord server, and make sure everyone gets along at the table. We're the equivalent to mobile apps. They cost money, but if you ask a consumer.... 70% think that if its not free, its a scam. Or a waste of money. But someone paid software engineers upwards of 100k salaries to create those free apps. Maybe staff will read this and consider atleast giving spg some credit (paypal would be cool cause you can refund on Paypal!)
COME CHECK OUT MY UPCOMING CAMPAIGNS!
[ CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ]
Agreed. I haven't had a single response here in over 3 months trying to advertise a paid game.
Thanks,
- Brad (he/him)
Player Since 2020, DM Since 2022, Nerd Since Way Back
Yes to all of this. I used to advertise here when I started on SPG 3 years ago. I got some amazing players, but also a lot of trolls who insulted me or tried to shame me for taking money for a game - something I'm sure no one would say to any other type of entertainment performer. Kind of hurtful to see the "warning" thread now, or at least the way it's phrased. I'm sure there were other ways it could have been said to get the point across that wotc/dndb have no hand in the payments without potentially nerfing us out of the gate.
I currently run six weekly campaigns. That's upwards of 50hrs of work a week, and I only get paid for about 18 of them - and that's providing all players were present and their payments were in order.
As a professional DM online. I haven't had any requests for a refund.
However, I did the smart thing and asked for money first for the reservation, and gave them a guaranteed 50% refund for that reservation cancellation.
I make sure to interview them first through a quick voice call. I made a terms and service list they agreed to a verbal contract as we went over what is accounted for punishable offenses in the session.
I even offer them deals/discounts to bring in new approved players. I do not see many other Premium GM's taking into consideration learning from their mistakes, as I do when it comes to maintaining order. Especially when dealing with players with a disability, specific needs, and trauma from other DMs.
Though it would be nice to start something more main stream with professional players, that is just a pipe dream.