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The situation with pricing ttrpg content isn't "marginalised indie game designers vs marginalised indie game buyers"! In this thread I'm gonna go over 5 ways you can provide free or low-cost content alongside full price versions.
1) community copies: limited numbers of copies that are freely available, usually for people with low/no income or limited budget. Some people match this to sales, others add them whenever, and some do a combination. It's like inverse PWYW. Here's a guide: https://twitter.com/DeePennyway/status/1175026730244984832
1b) notes for sellers: afaik there's no way to make community copies track sales automatically; you gotta update manually
notes for buyers: afaik there's no way to identify who downloads a community copy, so no-one's gonna judge you or your circumstances, if you're worried
notes for buyers: afaik there's no way to identify who downloads a community copy, so no-one's gonna judge you or your circumstances, if you're worried
2) voluntary/opt-in discounts: a decent-sized discount that's usually limited to people from marginalised groups. As with community copies, this comes down to people's self-identified need. Here's a guide: https://twitter.com/DeePennyway/status/1175023957369675776
3) demo, preview, and playtest versions: you can release some content for free by checking the demo box on a file upload. I use this for: taster content (e.g. oracles), page-limited previews (like DTRPG's), and releasing no-frills playtest files free when I put up the full game.
4) basic game texts for free, supplements and fancy versions (with proper art, layout, etc.) at a cost: upload everything to itch, set the main project price to 0 or a lower cost, then set a higher price on the stuff you want to charge more for (in the file upload area).
4b) Here's an example: Let's say you've got a project with three files for download: one free and two marked as $6. If someone pays $0-5.99 they can download the free file. If they pay $6+ they can download all three files. They pay $6 /once/, not $6 /per item/.
5) higher base price, regular sales at an accessible price. People can pay for time/convenience or they can wait until a sale rolls around.
Technically not 'alongside', but it has similar benefits.
Technically not 'alongside', but it has similar benefits.
Personally, I've used a mix of community copies (10 copies at launch, then 1 per sale except big bundles), demo files (a mix of previews, tasters, text AP writeups, and earlier versions of games), and semi-regular sales.
Each has its upsides and downsides. There are probably other ways, and other uses for these methods that I haven't written here.
The point is, it's not hard to charge for stuff while still keeping it available to people with little money to spare—it's just a little obscure. I hope this thread opens some doors for people who didn't know they were there!
Credit to @mrfb and @DeePennyway for the community copies/opt-in discounts.
Now, I've gotta go update my community copies.
Now, I've gotta go update my community copies.
