Thread by @AlisonCybe

So with Paizo's union making headlines, I really have to say... the TTRPG industry as a whole needs to unionize. The entire gaming and entertainment industry does, but this is the part that I work in. Let me be honest with you here... Thread. (1/?)

The majority of the games that you love? They're not made by the people who own them. They're made by employees - writers, editors, developers, artists. Freelancers, like me. But we typically don't own those games. They're owned by corporate managers. (2/?)

Sometimes there's management who 'like' the game. But in general, they don't care. It's a product; and as long as profits stay firm then the product serves its function. It's a business. And I'll let you in on a secret I've learned - businesses aren't your friend. (3/?)

Now this part is going to cut pretty deep. On the whole, management is more interested in protecting the profits of Intellectual Properties that they own than creating enjoyable games, growing community, or going all those awesome things gamers love. (4/?)

In fact, that IP that you grew up with? The one that was formative in turning you into the gamer you are now, and brought you into this industry? I happen to know, from behind-the-scenes stuff, the owners of that IP are... kinda embarrassed about it. (5/?)

You can tell when the owners of a game's IP feel like this - it echoes though the products and, through them, into the community. It's why Games Workshop has the reputation it does with how it positions itself in the market, handles its brands, and pursues its profits. (6/?)

Which IP am I talking about? Well, it could be a number of them. And that's kinda the point, isn't it? This is an issue that impacts on numerous gaming IPs, and the reason it happens is because ownership moves out of the hands of the creators and into the hands of corporate (7/?)

But remember, corporations don't make the games - creators do. People like you and me. We make the games, but don't own them.
Now I know what you're thinking; I'm about to segue into Karl Marx, "the workers should control the means of production", right? (8/?)

I mean, Marx wasn't wrong about that. If we as creative people do not have a loud voice in the creation of what we produce, if we do not have a real hand in creating it, then the people who own the fruits of our labour will hold that power instead. And how does that turn out?

It means people like me can be treated like a 'diversity hire'. It means 10,000 word deadlines with a week's turnaround. It means generic game systems. It means corporations failing to grant third-party developers a voice to advertise products they own. (11/?)

It means the same employees working the same IPs for decades because new, diverse voices are a risk. It means shovel-ware, timed exclusivity, price-gouging. It means the people who make your games can't afford to own a copy of the game itself. Do you see where I'm going? (12/?)

It means that the games you love aren't being made by the people who love them. It means they're being made by people who want to safeguard the profitability of an IP that they own. And, again, I know at least one IP whose owners consider gaming an 'embarassing' hobby. (13/?)

I don't want that, I bet that you don't want that. It's terrible for the community and for the games that are produced. Because we creators, we SEE them as games - not profit margins and IPs. (14/?)

That's why we NEED to have the strong hand in creating them. That's why we need to have a powerful voice, the collective strength, and real control - because we love what we make, we love our community. That's why we need unions. Not just one: across this whole industry. (15/15)

This is why I say #UnionizePaizo and Unionize so much more!

This is gaining a whole lot more in the way of traction than I had expected, so let me expand on a few other ideas as well.
A lot of the issues we have, and I've touched on, stem from control of the product - games, in this case - being removed from the people who make them...

So another possible avenue that I would like to throw into the field here is for creators to form cooperatives. These are business, or other organization which is owned and run jointly by its members, who share the profits or benefits.

One of the advantages that a cooperative model has is its democratic nature - everyone involved holds a vote in the decisions of the organisation. That de-centralises power away from the top and distributes it across all who are involved in the business.

Of course, this works best for smaller to mid-sized studios, and shouldn't be seen as a reason not to support unionization. It also has its own set of flaws too, but it's a good model to look towards. Steps can be made in a forward direction, if we are willing to consider them.