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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is TTRPGing an "Expensive Hobby"
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<blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 9275699" data-attributes="member: 6796661"><p>Yeah, that actually one of the benefits of TTRPGs and video games for that matter. Much of the more expensive things you need to play are multi-use. I wouldn't count my laptop as a TTRPG expense any more than I would my dining table and room. The equipment I've had to buy for my kids hockey and skiing don't have any use outside of ice skating and skiing and are a lot of money for season activity. I was about to say one shouldn't be factoring in the cost of transportation. But that's a rather privileged way of seeing it. As my other post mentioned, TTRPGs are a lifestyle hobby that assumes you have space to play and/or a way to get to a place to play. </p><p></p><p>It isn't just whether one is poor. A lot of it depends on the where you are living.</p><p></p><p>When I was living in Taiwan it was not cheap to have my kids take badminton, tenis, and swimming lessons, but much cheaper than affording a place where they would have been able to regularly have 4-6 kids coming over to play TTRPGs. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Not even a close comparison for me. I blow through a lot more money on board games than TTRPGs and there is not a board game I've owned that has seen as many hours of play as one campaign of D&D. I admit that I'm not the norm, in that I cycle through games and very few stay on my shelves for more than a few years. To get anywhere close with TTRPGs I would either have to be collector buying a lot more TTRPGs than I will ever play, or spend a lot on miniatures and terrain. That's the challenge with these discussions. To compare apples to apples, you kinda have to look at "entry costs" (what you need to play, which can be close to zero, assuming you have a place to play), typical enthusiast spend, and you kinda need to ignore the outliers. ANY hobby will have certain uber fans with a lot of disposable income spending huge sums on their hobbies. Some people build ice rinks in their back yard, some travel all over the world to hike, some build out TTRPG-focus game rooms with $10,000 plus game tables and expensive electronics to play. But I don't think these outliers reflect the typical fan who like to play hockey, hike, or play TTRPGs. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Streaming services are less expensive that what I spend on TTRPGs per year, but that is because I get Prime along with the shipping service I would already be using, and my extended family share accounts on Netflix, Hulu, etc. Plus I'll subscribe just long enough to some services to watch a single show. But I've went to lower tier subs on VTT hosting and D&D beyond, and if I would stop buying the same books in multiple media, I could easily play online for less than what I pay for TV/movie streaming. </p><p></p><p>Hard for me to call "crafting" a hobby. Way too broad. Doesn't help that the only crafting I've done in the last 10 years was TTRPG related. </p><p></p><p>Yep, for most people (I expect, I don't have numbers) it will be on the lower end. And for people struggling to make ends meet, it can be one of the few affordable hobbies they can engage in, especially if they are a player, and have a place to play for free.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MNblockhead, post: 9275699, member: 6796661"] Yeah, that actually one of the benefits of TTRPGs and video games for that matter. Much of the more expensive things you need to play are multi-use. I wouldn't count my laptop as a TTRPG expense any more than I would my dining table and room. The equipment I've had to buy for my kids hockey and skiing don't have any use outside of ice skating and skiing and are a lot of money for season activity. I was about to say one shouldn't be factoring in the cost of transportation. But that's a rather privileged way of seeing it. As my other post mentioned, TTRPGs are a lifestyle hobby that assumes you have space to play and/or a way to get to a place to play. It isn't just whether one is poor. A lot of it depends on the where you are living. When I was living in Taiwan it was not cheap to have my kids take badminton, tenis, and swimming lessons, but much cheaper than affording a place where they would have been able to regularly have 4-6 kids coming over to play TTRPGs. Not even a close comparison for me. I blow through a lot more money on board games than TTRPGs and there is not a board game I've owned that has seen as many hours of play as one campaign of D&D. I admit that I'm not the norm, in that I cycle through games and very few stay on my shelves for more than a few years. To get anywhere close with TTRPGs I would either have to be collector buying a lot more TTRPGs than I will ever play, or spend a lot on miniatures and terrain. That's the challenge with these discussions. To compare apples to apples, you kinda have to look at "entry costs" (what you need to play, which can be close to zero, assuming you have a place to play), typical enthusiast spend, and you kinda need to ignore the outliers. ANY hobby will have certain uber fans with a lot of disposable income spending huge sums on their hobbies. Some people build ice rinks in their back yard, some travel all over the world to hike, some build out TTRPG-focus game rooms with $10,000 plus game tables and expensive electronics to play. But I don't think these outliers reflect the typical fan who like to play hockey, hike, or play TTRPGs. Streaming services are less expensive that what I spend on TTRPGs per year, but that is because I get Prime along with the shipping service I would already be using, and my extended family share accounts on Netflix, Hulu, etc. Plus I'll subscribe just long enough to some services to watch a single show. But I've went to lower tier subs on VTT hosting and D&D beyond, and if I would stop buying the same books in multiple media, I could easily play online for less than what I pay for TV/movie streaming. Hard for me to call "crafting" a hobby. Way too broad. Doesn't help that the only crafting I've done in the last 10 years was TTRPG related. Yep, for most people (I expect, I don't have numbers) it will be on the lower end. And for people struggling to make ends meet, it can be one of the few affordable hobbies they can engage in, especially if they are a player, and have a place to play for free. [/QUOTE]
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