Episode 166: Jim Pinto Talks About D&D as "Work," Player Agency vs. Consumer Agency, and the DM/Player Compact

Jim Pinto is an experienced and influential game designer who has some thought provoking opinions about the state of the art in role playing games. One of his opinions is that as D&D has evolved as a game, that the role of game master has become more like "work" and less like "play" and that there is an imbalance in player expectations and game master responsibilities. We discuss this phenomenon, the concept of agency in role playing games, and the dynamics of the DM to Player social compact. What do you think the proper role of the game master is? I give my answer in this episode, but I'd love to hear yours. You can leave a voice message with your response or email it to me at [email protected].