Why I'm Quitting Start Playing
to book random games and doing this instead
I have been a professional Dungeon Master for a little over 3 years. When I first found Start Playing I wondered if I could do it. Could I charge for my games and people want to play in them? Lo and behold, they did. Like a new business, I wanted to frame the first dollar I made as a professional DM. Over time though, Start Playing became a source of frustration than joy.
Let me start by saying, I am not mad a the company or even the platform. Start Playing has a great Discord with super helpful answering any question I’ve ever had.
So, am I quitting because of burnout? Well, not from running games, but trying to book games. The model of booking games is simple enough, use the tools Start Playing gives you to create an engaging game others want to sign up for and then hit post and wait, and wait and wait.
There are many factors why I didn’t book many of the games I posted, it could have been
Not the right game
Not the right time
People may have thought I wasn’t the right DM for them
All are fine and reasonable, but Start Playing was becoming more of a puzzle to solve rather than a joy to use. Posting games feels like a slot machine. You post (put your coin in), pull the lever and see if your game gets booked (full house!). This kind of randomizer just doesn’t work for me anymore, it stresses me out, so I’m not going use this method to book games on Start Playing.
I am not abandoning Start Playing altogether, instead of using the random way to book games and hoping a group of strangers sign up and can play well together, I am inviting friend groups who may want to learn how to play D&D or some other game and they can book me as group on my page.
Start Playing has some great tools and I’m not saying I will never book a random game again but I am going to lean into my readers, like yourself, and my viewers on my Youtube channel and simply say,
“Hey, want to game this week but you have no DM to run? Don’t want to jump into a virtual room with strangers? Gather up 2-3 friends and let’s play!”
A random person can see if I am the right DM for them by reading my profile and check out my style, experience, etc. But, if you’re a reader of my content or a viewer of my channel, you are getting a much better idea if I am the right DM for you or not because you
You see me consistently post my ideas
You can hear and see my love for the game
You can catch a vibe if I’d be fun to game with
You know that I am player forward and I want everyone at my table to have a E.P.I.C game
For me, being a pro DM is less about a transaction and more about an interaction. I want new people to come to love the hobby of gaming because they had a good experience because God knows there are plenty of players who have had bad ones and never came back.
I want experienced gamers to feel confident that their DM cares about their character and the way they want to play them be it high fantasy or gonzo madness depending on what kind of game the group decides on.
Start Playing has some great tools and is great for finding a game but the random method of booking a game is not for me anymore. If you’re interested in seeing some of the games I’ve run or to read my reviews you can check out my profile.
If you’re not signed up to Start Playing one of the benefits they now offer is being able to favorite your GM’s so they are in your profile and you can always see what your your favorite GMs are running and when.
Whether you are new or are already signed up for Start Playing, I’d love if you added me to your favorites.
If you want to know what kind of player I am you can watch me play Shadowdark every Monday night at 6pm CST.
That’s all for now, have a great week and game on!
Paul