It's anecdotally true that complaining about the cost comes across to him as whiny?
No, it's just plain true.
My opinion is subjective.
But it is a objective fact that my opinion is that people who complain about the cost of gaming are being whiny in most cases.
My opinion is formed through observation of forums like this. Barring getting stuff for free, playing D&D costs about $40 for a player ($30 PH + dice and taxes), and about $100 for a GM (DMG, PH, MM and dice). The fact that some people might get a bargain through sharing, sales, etc is just exceptions.
Similarly, it cost $200-$400 for a game console, plus about $60 for a new game.
These are the prices of admission.
Compared to other hobbies, that's pretty cheap.
Yet despite that, I see some people complaining that the products cost too much. Usually from students, or people who've blown more money on other things, yet are horrified that a skin pack for Minecraft 360 costs a dollar.
My position is this. Poor people should be spending their scarce resources on food and situational improvement. Having been one, I know. They don't have a right to an Xbox 360, and worse, if they have one because they bought it, being the majority cost in the matter, they have no legitimate argument that the games also cost money, when they could have bought even cheaper entertainment as a whole.
Additionally, anybody who is in such poor financial straights that they can't afford rent or basic equipment, yet they are still attempting to be in a band, or join an RPG group doesn't have their priorities straight, and likely will bring unending drama to the group. Do not hire the drummer who always needs a couch to crash on in your band.
That doesn't mean you can't have "poor" people in your group. But by gods be wary of anybody who's so struggling to pay for a $20 game that they feel that's an outrageous price to pay what everybody else paid. They ain't got their wallet straight. They ain't got their priorities straight if they are trying to engage a hobby that costs money without budgeting for it and being prepared to handle the costs without sacrificing the fundamentals.
Hence what struck me as irritating with the OP. He's got a free ride, he's living very frugally. Nothing wrong with that by itself. But to then have the audacity to expect that gaming should be free (by virtue of his complaint about the costs) is disrespectful to the opportunity he has that other people just plain don't. The costs of gaming pale to the cost of a university education that everybody else had to pay for.
