Greetings DnD, @Devil_Master and I are bringing this topic to the community as a whole for discussion rather than making an executive decision like we had to on Piracy.
- The Question
While this has not become an issue yet, it would be a good idea to start this discussion now rather than later. So, the question is, where will we as a community draw the line between OC and Homebrew posts, and advertising.
- Why This is an Issue
This community is an open space for everyone to share their ideas, questions, stories, art, maps, homebrew, ANYTHING relating to Dungeons and Dragons (within the rules). We do not want to discourage anyone from posting, BUT we have to draw this line because no one wants to be spammed with advertisements.
That being said, there are those who create content for sale on various platforms, which is by no means a bad thing and entirely expected when someone puts their heart and soul into OC content. For example I am talking about OC art prints, OC modules, OC maps, OC homebrew, etc. These things take enormous amounts of time and talent to create and it is completely within those content creator’s rights to ask for payment for their product.
What we as a community need to decide on, is how to define when something goes from content sharing here, to advertising.
- Solution for Discussion
OC content MUST be posted in a way that is freely accessible by users of this community regarding the specific thing posted.
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Artwork - OC Artwork must be viewable here, without paywall, but may be linked in the body text to payable prints, higher resolutions for sale, etc.. No comment spam, No reply spam, just a single link in the body text of your post.
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Battlemaps - OC battlemaps must be viewable here, without paywall, in a usable and not excessively downgraded state but may be linked to a payable version of a higher resolution/quality/detail etc.
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Homebrew* - OC Homebrew Content must be posted in a viewable, usable, and not excessively downgraded state but may be linked to a payable version that has higher detail/quality/etc.
*Clarification - Say you have a homebrew race. You can post here at the bare minimum, a basic framework of the race, how to use them, how to create a character with them, etc. and then you may link to a PAID version where maybe you have more details, lore, art, formatted in a way you’d see in official books etc.
Looking forward to the community's ideas on this topic and establishing a rule set for this in the near future. I think it also goes without saying this will be a living rule set and will be amenable in the future.
Edit: We have also considered the idea of implementing post limits if that becomes an issue, for example if someone wants to show off their art work and link to their site, they can only do so once per week to cut down on the spam.
Sorry for jumping into the conversation so late, but what’s the feeling on podcasts? I have a very small one that I’m quite proud of, and I’d love to share it. I don’t think a post for every new episode release should be allowed, but I feel like an occasional post about milestones or information that others could use should be acceptable. In essence, posts intended to engage with everyone instead of just sell to them.
What's your release schedule like to begin with? Of it's weekly thats probably too much, but an episode a month is probably fine to post them here. Otherwise yeah if it's weekly probably limit it to every once in a while, important episodes or milestones etc
We release every other week, but I like to post maps, stories, and other homebrewed content instead of just saying, “Episode 538 is out now! Please listen to my stuff!”
I do think it’s important to be a member of a community instead of just using a community. So maybe there’s a criteria of interaction that comes along with self-promotion?
Drop a link in my DMs I'll subscribe! But back on topic, any time you post a map, a DM log or something like that you can feel free to include a link to your podcast in the post body.