The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[Ryujin]

Well sure, it isn't a cheap as taking a walk around the neighborhood or a day at a local beach.

But compared to most other activities that require me to pay money to engage in, cost per time spent with TTRPGs is hard to beat.

... until the dice addiction kicks in.

 

[CleverNickName]

Well sure, it isn't a cheap as taking a walk around the neighborhood or a day at a local beach.

But compared to most other activities that require me to pay money to engage in, cost per time spent with TTRPGs is hard to beat.

 

[prabe]

View attachment 347991

 

[Thomas Shey]

I can't help but take a little amusement in noting that the person who got escorted out of another thread is a person that my unwillingness to tolerate their nonsense got them to block me some time ago.

 

[overgeeked]

Well sure, it isn't a cheap as taking a walk around the neighborhood or a day at a local beach.

But compared to most other activities that require me to pay money to engage in, cost per time spent with TTRPGs is hard to beat.

The argument is basically that RPGs are a good investment in time and money because they are, on a long enough timeline, worth the investment.

So who are you trying to justify your spending to and why? You like the things you like and, just like every other human, will bend over backwards to justify your preferences. But you don't need to. Especially not here of all places.

Why does the cost-benefit analysis of RPGs matter? Do you really think it will convince anyone to pick them up as a hobby? As I said above, there are cheaper hobbies that you can engage in more often than RPGs. Does that fact in any way persuade you to drop RPGs and pick up those hobbies instead? At a guess no. Because it’s not a convincing argument and no one picks up or abandons hobbies based on a cost-benefit analysis.

So, considering we're on a dedicated RPG forum, surrounded by RPG nerds, why is this meme so often repeated? Why repeat something that not only cannot be proven, but wouldn't matter at all even if it could? It's literally a pointless thing to say.

 

[Thomas Shey]

So who are you trying to justify your spending to and why?

I suspect people who say they're too expensive, because it can give a false impression to other people.

 

[overgeeked]

I suspect people who say they're too expensive, because it can give a false impression to other people.

People in the hobby don't bat an eye about dropping $150 on a book or two for an RPG they might never play. It's not expensive to you because you regularly spend that kind of money on books you'll likely never use because you can afford to spend that money. It's a shifting baseline / Overton window thing. To people outside the hobby or those who aren't as well off...it looks nuts. I've worked in comic & game stores and had more than a few people flip the books over and literally laugh at the price tag before dropping them back on the shelf and walking away. I've also brought a lot of people into the hobby over the years, people are more reluctant to drop all the necessary money on the books and peripherals than they are to playing pretend and looking silly. Honestly the proper response to "it's not that expensive" should be "your privilege is showing."

 

[Cadence]

Regular reminder.

As the mods will sometimes point out, this thread isn't the place for ongoing arguments or taking swipes at identifiable folks. If one finds themselves doing either of those, it might be beneficial for the good of the cause to try avoiding this thread for a while so the source of aggravation can be buried by posts on bards and pizza and gnomes.

 

[billd91]

Jeebus, what is wrong with some people?

 

[prabe]

Jeebus, what is wrong with some people?

Uh ... practically everything.