Is it nostalgia?

[Mercador]

I got a psychological question for you folks (not sure I'm on the good sub though, mods feel free to move). I got a similar question last year but it still bothers me.

Since a few years, I started to buy TTRPG books. At first, I was DMing a few games but I noticed that I don't even do that anymore. I like to purchase TTRPG books for the settings and the lore, not really for the rules or to play with them. Though, I got bored quickly and I'm looking to purchase another TTRPG book after a few weeks.

I'm trying to understand "why" I do that. I got shelves of lore books that I don't read. Why not just simply read novels (I do that as well)? It's like I want to recreate all the world describe in the lore books but I don't have that kind of brain power anymore (aging I guess). So I wonder why I purchase those books, is it simply nostalgia ? For collecting them ? Can you relate to this?

Thanks! And happy new year!

 

[Blue]

An unconscious desire to support the RPG industry steering your recreational reading?

A hope that one day you will get to run all of them?

 

[Mercador]

Yeah, I'm happy to support them, moreover when they are indies. But I don't more than 10% of each, I don't get it.

 

[MarkB]

Just an interest in seeing a fictional world you enjoy being fleshed out, I'd guess. This isn't limited to RPGs , after all - look at how many people buy Star Trek technical manuals, or atlases of Middle Earth, etc.

 

[MNblockhead]

Same issue, both with books to read and gaming material. I've drastically cut down on kickstarters and kindle purchases by instead creating lists of books to read and games to try. That said, I find this easier with digital material as purchasing a lot of digital books that you are not reading is basically an expensive way to make a list. But creating a library of physical books and games is different. It can be nice to have a collection of interesting materials to browse when you have downtime. I basically cut down when I was running out of space in the area I store game books and games. I will still by materials that I may not have a plan or opportunity to play for a long time, but now I generally only do so for high quality, unique items that I can at least enjoy paging through and browsing now and then.

 

[Mercador]

Just an interest in seeing a fictional world you enjoy being fleshed out, I'd guess. This isn't limited to RPGs , after all - look at how many people buy Star Trek technical manuals, or atlases of Middle Earth, etc.

Yeah, you are right, I got ASOFAI, LOTR, Dark Souls books as well. But why I don't read them then..?

 

[Mercador]

It can be nice to have a collection of interesting materials to browse when you have downtime.

When I have freetime, I take time to find and purchase a new book, I don't read those I've already bought.

 

[trappedslider]

I have the same thing, but luckily for my wallet there isn't a FLGS nearby otherwise,i'd pick up copies of 5th PHB,GURPS IW,and a few other books that I'd like to just read because i like the sound of the setting looks at Shadowrun

 

[Stormonu]

For me, it was Collectoritus- I had to have everything. Partly, it was because I wanted to be knowledgeable about anything D&D, or RPG related. Partly, it was a sign of wealth in my profession, coming from a rather poor childhood where I had to hand-copy rules onto school paper because I didn’t have the money to buy the books I wanted.

However, now I find myself with way too much stuff - I managed to collect all the official products for 1E to 3E (and dozens of other RPGs). I’ve done a fair job whittling it down , but it’s still excessive considering what I actually use, and I still grab books (and minis) here and there that catch my fancy.

 

[Cyan Wisp]

On a furious de-cluttering purge, I donated all of my collected D&D 0e, 1e, 2e books, extensive Planescape collection, and other accessories to a university gaming club. I wasn't using them (played 3.5e at the time) or even reading them casually. It was the logical thing to do. However... it created a weird vacuum in my mind. It was like those reams of paper, those dense tomes of imagination, anchored me, somehow, in a living Nirvana.

Years later, my cousin, now grown-up, responsible, and over his RPG obsession, asked if I wanted his old books. Apart from lack of Planescape (except for my long-lost Baator map!), his collection was bigger than my old one! I hungrily took possession of them, and, like Gollum, pored over my new Preciousessss. Once again, I feel at peace with my paper brick anchors.

Nostalgia is a big part of it. A hoarding impulse, maybe - I also dredge the internet for RPG content and digitally hoard it - even though the rest of my life is quite austere possession-wise. Unlike the OP, I can pick any of them up any time and wallow in a good read, be it about 2e Thief kits, Spacemaster skills, or 0e fighter subclasses - it doesn't matter. I think I have just allocated a lot of my brain to RPGs and now they are a strange comfort.

tl;dr I kind of get the OP, I love a physical collection - maybe too much - but can't fathom the lack of interest after purchase!