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Yep! I'm hopefully going to be hiring some content writers for small contributions to Fedora Noir, and this is definitely something I'm thinking about. I think payment on word count alone misses some things. 
https://twitter.com/iammattsanders/status/1328418314171932675
https://twitter.com/iammattsanders/status/1328418314171932675
Let's use an analogy. I'm a adjunct faculty at a community college, and I get paid by credits taught. Each credit is an hour of instruction per week, so 15 credits ought to be more work than say, 12 credits.
But the actual number of classes makes a huge difference in how much work I'm doing. If I teach a bunch of 3 credit classes, or if I teach a couple 5 credit or a 10 credit class, my workload is dramatically different.
I have to create syllabi, policies, learn names, track more information, create, and grade more assignments. 12 credits can be a lot more work than 15, and I will get paid less.
For game projects, think about all the work creators are doing outside of the writing. They are learning the system, communicating with team members or the project lead, probably balancing one job among many. Lots of other stuff I probably haven't thought of.
I don't have a good number or a good system to offer, I'm new to this part of RPG publishing. Let's pay each other well, reflecting that each project involves a base level of work regardless of the ending word count.
