Live and Let Live

A brief note about professional vs. amateur content creators.

RPG BLOG

2021-04-03 2 Min read

So, there is something that occasionally pops up in my social media feeds that I wanted to mention. Something that might earn me some boos and hisses.  I am not a professional content creator. And yet... I stream (some of) my games. I post them on YouTube. I put some effort into it, though I'm not trying to monetize it. I just enjoy sharing what the players in my group and I create together. And that's okay. 

I know there are many people who are making a living at this, or hope to. Who are producing professional #TTRPG shows, with staff and production value and sponsors. That is AMAZING. I try to support as many of them as I can. I watch and listen whenever I can, be it podcasts or streams or posted videos. I'm astounded by the cosplay, the voice acting, the storytelling talent on display. I want to see more of it, and know that my little streams will never come anywhere close to what these good people have achieved. 

An important point here is that, if you put your TTRPG content out there for public consumption, then regardless of the size of your audience you have to hold yourself to a certain standard of conduct. Safety tools don't work the same way in a live setting as they do in a private setting: people may naturally not want to break up the flow of the game, because it is being broadcast live. That means there is a special burden on the group, but especially the GM, to ensure that boundaries are being respected, that everyone is safe and is having a good time, that all players feel empowered to stop the game regardless of whether it is live or recorded or otherwise broadcast. 

Likewise, if you are posting content that will live potentially for decades to come, you had better be damn sure that everyone involved is absolutely clear about that, and is comfortable with having their likeness and recorded actions posted for all the world to see. That includes the expectations of all concerned regarding monetization. If I am running a game and posting the videos, I don't get to decide halfway in that, oh wow this is getting big, I should start making money off this. Nope, you are making money off the labor of your players, and that puts them and you in a very ugly position. And yep, at the end of the day, that probably means something written down and signed. It seems odd, it may be off-putting, but it is better for all involved. 

So having said all that, there is a way to encourage adoption of these standards that is welcoming to all streamers and games, and a way that is... not. And more than once, I have seen the very good arguments above phrased in a way that seems to imply that small streams, non-monetized streams, should be chased from the public square, that they are inherently unethical, that they are all some sort of scam waiting to hatch. That framing is, to my mind, not helpful. It's also kind of a bummer to me personally of course, since I am just doing this for fun. Is streaming is closer to a television show than any other medium? Yes. But they are not the same animal. The platforms (Twitch, YT) are open to all*. Not everyone who uploads a cat video, or a recording of their fun RPG game, should be held to the standard of a professional television producer. Sometimes we just want to share.

* And yes, the platforms themselves make gobs of money off said content, but that's a whole different topic.

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