I spend way too much on RPG's.

[Neonchameleon]

The thing about gaming is that as hobbies go the only cheaper ones I can think of are Chess, Go, Darts, and Origami. Spending on RPGs seems expensive - but compared to what? A boardgame is $50 or so. Some more. Tabletop wargaming? Model aeroplanes? Model trains? Yauchting? Any sort of driving? Collecting ... just about anything? Magic the Gathering? High end gaming? (That said, WoW is probably even cheaper than RPGs.)

The floor to enter and have a vast amount of fun with RPGs is ... a pencil, a pad of paper, and a set of dice. Sometimes not even that. But people like hobbies, and like getting things for their hobbies. You probably get hours of fun per $ - and more than for most other hobbies you could have - so what's "too much"? More than you need to spend? Probably. More than you would be spending on another hobby? Almost certainly not. More than you can afford? That's the too much level.

 

[mmadsen]

But people like hobbies, and like getting things for their hobbies.

I have a number of hobbies, and I've noticed that other hobbyists spend more time and energy -- and money, of course -- buying things associated with the hobby than doing the (supposed) hobby.

I don't think the buying and collecting element ends up as fulfilling in the long run.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I have a number of hobbies, and I've noticed that other hobbyists spend more time and energy -- and money, of course -- buying things associated with the hobby than doing the (supposed) hobby.

I don't think the buying and collecting element ends up as fulfilling in the long run.

I'll raise an exception here - but it's an exception that very clasically proves the rule. Painting minis is a hobby in its own right and it can be fulfilling.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don't think the buying and collecting element ends up as fulfilling in the long run.

You take that back!

In my defense, most of my hobbies involve collecting things so I'm predisposed to enjoy that ancillary aspect of other hobbies. When the collecting aspect involves great expenditures each time, though...

Two of my hobbies are jewelry making and playing the guitar, neither of which is a cheap hobby if you get into the collecting aspect. Stones may run from just a few bucks to millions, with guitars priced likewise (but within a narrower range). Hell, guitarists even have an acronym for this phenomenon: G.A.S., Guitar (or Gear) Acquisition Syndrome.

 

[Treebore]

The good thing abut what I do buy is it is stuff I do use, or can use, because I only buy for RPG's I play, have played, and will play again, even if only at conventions. If they are not such RPG's then I only own the core book.

Now D&D type stuff is an oddball for me, because while I do not play Pathfinder, etc... I do run my games using Castles and Crusades, so do get use out of even the Pathfinder material I buy, especially the Adventures, Maps, the Bestiary Boxed set, etc...

So its not like I don't, or never will, use what I do own. I am simply spending a lot fo money on things I do not NEED to have in order to play the RPG's I love.

I certainly do not need all the Pathfinder stuff I still buy, despite cancelling my subscriptions over a year ago. I certainly do not need the 25+ Mongoose Traveller books I own, especially since I also have essentially all of the same material in the Classic and MegaTraveller materials I own.
So I certainly do not need to buy a single additional book, for any RPG. Just PAthfinder and Traveller are my more extreme examples.


I can be much smarter with the money I have spent on all of this stuff. I could put all that money into quickly building up that 6 month nest egg we are all supposed to have, rather than build it at the barely anemic pace we have been. I could pay off all my credit card debt considerably faster, even though I have done a decent job at that, I have paid off several thousand in just the last 4 months. Still, I would like to go faster.

Plus we have wanted to go on a long family vacation to Europe for many years now. If I focused on putting money away that I spend on the gaming, we could go on that trip in a couple of years, even faster once I get all the credit cards paid off, which should be in about another 4 months.

So it is just really hitting me how much I could do in terms of far more responsible and important ways if I stopped buying RPG materials I seriously and simply do not need, at all. I have had way more than I "need" for all of my favored RPG's, Castles and Crusades (which for me includes all D&D material, such as Pathfinder), Traveller, Eclipse Phase, Cthulhu Tech, Legend of the 5 Rings, and Shadowrun, soon after each came out.

I do not need the supplements. All I ever really needed was the core book, or books. I think its time for me to demand the self discipline I need to stop wasting my money, and finally build that nest egg, finally go on that trip to Europe, save up for a new car, etc...

I think all the success I have had with paying down my Credit Cards is just really driving home how much faster I could do it by not buying crap I do not need. How much faster I can do all the smart financial things we are all supposed to do. How much sooner we could actually go spend a month in Europe. For our first time ever.

Yeah, I think it is long past time for me to get really smart about our money. To accept the fact that I do not need any more RPG stuff. I really do own more than I/we can ever fully use. We in no way need any more.

So I am gong to try and do it. Do all the truly smart and responsible things I am supposed to do. Pay off CC's, get that nest egg, pay cash for our new car, go to Europe for our first time ever. Then I can consider spending my money on things I don't need once again.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You CAN do it!














(P.S.: while you're in Europe, see if you can score any cool games... )

 

[Stormonu]

Then I can consider spending my money on things I don't need once again.

One of the great things is, once you have made a habit of cutting back on the spending, you don't usually go so easily back to wasting it again.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

THAT depends on who you are.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I've spent far too much on RPG books over the years. And I still have the goal of owning every Shadowrun book ever printed in the US.

Then I found the only game I really need: Savage Worlds. It's $10. I'm safe now, right? I mean, I've only bought it six times...

 

[Votan]

Though I will be getting some of the WotC reprints (Unearthed Arcana, A-series, S-series), I mainly only purchase from Paizo and Frog God these days...

My two biggest cash sinks as well. Although Troll Lord is occasionally slipping into my list . . .