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I'll reply with some personal perspective here--I might share a bit of what I've seen from other #DnD / #DMsGuild creators but, obviously, I don't speak for them or with perfect knowledge of their own experiences.
Thready-thread mode so I can draft and not look like a dolt https://twitter.com/FallOnMyBlade/status/1279682378613559303
Thready-thread mode so I can draft and not look like a dolt https://twitter.com/FallOnMyBlade/status/1279682378613559303
I have the top-listed item on the Guild site right now and it's a pretty good example of the tools at my disposal on the Guild. I'm going to avoid a lot of product specifics because, hurkledurkle, this isn't a fuggin' ad but I want to use it as a solid example.
1. IP as content source. About 7 (piecemeal or whole) of the 14 chapters use non-SRD creatures or lore-based IP that's only usable on the Guild. You can frame that as either a cool resource for Guild publishing or a nefarious content control mechanism depending on your view.
2. Trading on the power of names. Being able to invoke names like Ezmerelda d'Avenir, Mordenkainen, Volo, etc is a powerful selling tool to a 5E audience. We get to cash in (metaphorically/literally) on the kind of 'social credit' of the decades WotC has invested in those names.
3. Even occasional or nonspecific WotC/D&D mentions or advertisements of the Guild brings more attention to the marketplace than individual promos. Site sales funnel shoppers to a very specific marketplace where our products are located more than a sale or promo on a general site
4. DMsGuild creators (currently) lack site tools that translates attention on the Guild to a transferable audience. The storefront is the same as DTRPG, but the Guild is a Community Content program--they don't have the same suite of tools (1/2)
(2/2) as publisher accounts on DTRPG. Specifically, there are no soft 'landing pages' for a specific creator, no e-mail lists, no way to follow a specific Guild creator. Those features are long-promised by OBS, but the wheels turn very, very slowly.
I know I'm in some good percentile of content sellers on the site, but I also see creators with far better social media outreach and equal (probably much better actually) sales who are scared to switch from the Guild and worry about their audience following. Uncharted waters.
Over time, more and more long-term Guild creators are tiring of the incentive of a potential Adept and/or WotC freelancer gig. Several have in fact explored doing their own Kickstarters/etc; I've been on a few. So those transitions/changes DO happen.
This, of course, has all been framed JUST in the prospect of going from Guild-centric 5E creation to non-Guild-centric 5E creation. The prospect of moving to non-5E has barriers, concerns, or dislikes that are personal to individual creators.
I really love D&D. I really love 5E. Without any doubt, I will continue to make 5E content. I've also crystallized in the decision to branch out further from the Guild and publish (my own) 5E content outside that sandbox.
I created my first published non-5E game earlier this year and will continue to do so. If freelance opportunities to work for companies that are non-WotC or even non-D&D arise, I'll continue to be open to them.
But even that ^ sentiment is a privilege that stemmed from a pipeline that originated with Guild work. Even if I chose to never publish on the Guild again, I cannot and would not begrudge someone for doing so.
