Rules for Paid Games and hiring a Games Master

[ddavison]

Some players like that there are games they can join and play even if that means paying for each session. Other people dislike the thought of paid GMs entirely. We allow paid GMs to post and recruit for their games here but we have a few new ground rules that we are laying out.

Please follow these basic rules before posting any paid games.

1. Your games should obviously use Fantasy Grounds. Please do not post if your game won't be using Fantasy Grounds as the VTT for your game!
2. You should not attempt to get users to sign up to an alternate forum and calendar system
3. Your games should be clearly advertised as Paid Games within the title and in the description of any listing
4. If you are streaming the game or recording it to stream please state this in your post/ad
5. The price should be clearly listed. Payment method should be something safe like Paypal.
6. You should post your own threads for this and not post into everyone's LFG threads directly. Let them find you as opposed to actively recruiting across all other game threads.
7. All paid games should be posted in the Paid Games forum

This is a new policy and it may be subject to change over time based on feedback from our community.

If you do not like Paid Games, please do not go into the Paid Games forum. Posting negative opinions about paid games in the Paid Games forum will not be allowed and will be moderated.

[LordEntrails]

Thanks for addressing this. Good gaming everyone!

[JohnD]

Good rules. There's some feedback.

[dulux-oz]

For the record:

All of the DORs (Dulux-Oz Rulesets) and DOEs (Dulux-Oz Extensions) have a specific clause in their Licenses stating:

(4)(a)(i) You May use this Program and the Accompanying Materials for personal, non-commercial use only.

Use of any of the DORs or DOEs by a paid-GM in a paid-game would constitute non-personal, commercial use and would therefore be in violation of the License (ie is not permitted).

Also for the record:

Explicit permission to use any of the DORs or DOEs in a paid-game will not be given.

Why I Oppose Paid Games

[Mgrancey]

Just to clarify, as I was thinking of getting back into running but using already constructed modules; how would asking Players to contribute to cost of Modules or Extras they agree on count. I had planned on pretty much everything listed in post #1, so didn't think it would be an issue but since I saw this figured I should to double check anyways.

[damned]

I personally have no issue with someone running Pay to Play.
And i think that it is quite fair for you to ask your players to share the cost of the adventure module.

[ddavison]

I think there is also a difference if these are players that you already game with regularly versus you recruiting players you've never met. If you don't really know the players at all then I consider this to be a clear pay-to-play game and it should be advertised appropriately.

[dulux-oz]

I personally have no issue with someone running Pay to Play.

And I respect your right to hold the view that you do, even though I don't respect the view itself and I hold the opposite view. This is one of the great things about this Community - the fact that people can have a discussion such as this and not have it degenerate into a "slinging match"

And i think that it is quite fair for you to ask your players to share the cost of the adventure module.

I agree (and have said as much in my Blog Post), but this is, I consider, a different issue.

[LordEntrails]

Asking for financial support and requiring it in order to play are distinct for me. Though I admit their is a wide grey area.

Friends would not expect a friend to bear all of the cost or burden. This is why we have potlucks, or why it is customary to bring a bottle of wine or other token gift for the host of a dinner party. But going to a restaurant is different. It is a business arrangement and not a social one. Paid games are the same, they are a business, not a social arrangement.

[PhorgottenSon]

This is a stickied thread about the rules for posting Paid Games and postings for hiring a paid Game Master. Please take the debate on the rightness or wrongness of this activity elsewhere and leave this thread to those asking about something they don't see in the rules, making suggestions to the rules, and/or looking for clarification on the rules that are there.

Thanks.