Subscription Unbased Gaming
I was inspired to write this by a Bradford Walker article. Anythings he says is right, correct and succinct. I'll be expanding on this with a load of word vomit without adding any more good points about it.
So the issue described boils down to effectively to this: corporate consumerism will destroy your hobby. You ought to fight against this.
A tale of a James Worckeshoppe
Once there was a tiny company called Games Workshop. They created miniatures, and in its employ there were great people. Great modellers, great painters. People were in it for the hobby. Go look at the old White Dwarves. There's articles in there about how to make hover tanks from a deodorant bottle. There's an article about espousing the sheer balls of a man who decided that he'd paint one army to completion, put on three layers of varnish and never change the list. It was a company of hobbyists for hobbyists.
Over the years this all changed, however. The C-suite realised they were leaving money on the table. Cut the hobby talk from the White Dwarf. You want to sell figures, not inspire people to create their own from scratch. Push out new models at a more rapid pace. Make sure they're a bit too strong at release, so the consumers have to buy them if they want to stay competitive. With each new edition of the core rules, alter just enough that something else becomes strong and people have to purchase other things.
Of course, you don't want too large of a backlog; that becomes cumbersome. You start culling. Delete armies that are played the least. Delete old model ranges and don't put in statblocks for those figures into new army books. Create churn so people have to buy new products. Their collections can never be enough, that way lies decreased profits.
It's Collectible Card Games all the way down.
Wizards of the Coast is King at this sort of business model. They ensure a constant card churn by having formats in which a certain numbers of sets are legal. Hell, they even destroyed the so-called eternal formats, the formats in which sets from all eras are legal. They are bad for business; they allow people to play without having to constantly shell out for new cards.
This framework is now seen everywhere. Miniatures war games. Video games, where new expansions add stuff so much stronger that playing without it puts you at a severe disadvantage, and of course, also tabletop RPGs.
Designed by the Red Queen
It's a hypothesis from evolutionary biology based on a quote from Lewis Carol. The Red Queen says to alice "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." If you aren't using the newest stuff you're not getting the best experience, or worse: you cannot play at all.
The Tabletop RPG equivalent
Now, of course, to some degree one could argue this is much less the case in tabletop games, but there are some very clear analogies. You have to keep people in a state of uncertainty. Make rules which are meant to dazzle but aren't entirely clear in how to run. Make the referee instructions unclear enough that attempting to create your own content, be it a world, be it a module, or even just a monster, is an exercise in trial and error.
Then you've hooked them. If you announce a new "improved" ruleset people will believe that this edition will finally fix those problems they've been having for the last year. This module will be able to be ran smoothly. These new classes will allow players to finally make characters that mesh together and allow them to realize their ideas.
In short: you want to create an environment that disempowers people to create their own content. In spite of what people say, this hobby isn't hard. Corporations made it hard because they can earn more money off of you that way. Two guys in someone's basement started the hobby. It's up to you in your basement to continue expanding it.
So how do we fix this
The simple answer: refuse to play their game. Do not buy from these people. However, we all know that we aren't the target of these companies. We're a weird subniche of a weird little corner of a hobby.
But we can guard against people like this. You need to keep the gate and sanitize your hobby spaces. Do not allow people who aren't hobbyists to advertise or sell. Do not give products which aren't a labour of love the light of day. Refuse any corporatism or consumerism.
Subscribe to the hobbyists
There are plenty of people out there who do know what we need. People who are, and have been, in this hobby long enough to figure out how to create modules that can be properly ran. Who can create a system, or an offshoot of one, which can be ran and altered as needed. Hell, many of them release content for free on their blogs. Hobbyists will empower other hobbyists to create their own games. Hobbyists will be enthusiastic to discuss ideas. Hobbyists will share their knowledge and material, instead of hoarding it because they wish to create a product one day to make money off of you.
Until next time, create some new adventures, count your torches, and keep mapping.