Acquiring books (but not reading them)?

[Sword of Spirit]

And despite that, and despite having had a set of shelves literally collapse under the weight, I'm still having a hard time reconciling myself to getting rid of some of those books that have never (and will never) seen use.

Don't do it! It only leads to pain, regret, ebay searching, and settling for pdfs rather than glorious boxed sets of olden dayes.

 

[MNblockhead]

Don't do it! It only leads to pain, regret, ebay searching, and settling for pdfs rather than glorious boxed sets of olden days.

I traded all of my TTRPG stuff from the early 80s with someone from the local SCA group in my college town for a couple crates of bottles of homemade wine and mead and they took it to Gen Con and sold/traded it all.

I regret not having some of that stuff for nostalgia's sake. Sure, I could buy a lot of it from the used-books shelves of my local FLGS, but it is not the same as having the book YOU owned, with dings and skuffs and marks that are associated with memories.

All I have left from those days are a dog-chewed d20 from the redbox, a 3-ring DMs binder from my 1st-edition Warhammer campaign that an old friend had kept all these years and two D&D action figures--which my parents kept in the toy box for visiting grandkids (and which have somehow survived decades of abuse from me, my kids, my sisters' kids, and my niece's kids).

 

[delericho]

Don't do it! It only leads to pain, regret, ebay searching, and settling for pdfs rather than glorious boxed sets of olden dayes.

If only the collection was glorious boxed sets and other treasures! But for every gem there are half a dozen Encyclopedias of Demons and Devils or Quintessential Psion. Basically, a LOT of dross.

 

[Mercule]

I go through cycles. Moves, fits of pique, and new editions have periodically prompted me to purge blocks of books from my collection. Most recently, I started working from home, which has caused me to reevaluate how I arrange my functional space. Last night, I actually ran my few remaining 2E books, a couple old Shadowrun core books, and Hero 5E to the Half Price Books. I'm debating what to do with all my New World of Darkness stuff that I bought about the same time 5E was announced (D&D won). The hardest, though, is the span of Dragon and Dungeon magazines I have, going back to the 1980s. I don't really reference any of them (occasionally Dungeon), but I don't really want to get rid of them. Those and my high-end Aces & Eights book, even though no one else in the group has any interest in westerns.

Still, I collect. I just have started collecting digital books. I'm slowly getting all the Eberron books from DMs Guild. I have a bunch of Fate stuff, in digital form. I don't really love reading and referencing PDFs, but it seems like the most likely format to be able to keep around, regardless of whether I'm actively using it, or not.

 

[Blue]

I regret not having some of that stuff for nostalgia's sake. Sure, I could buy a lot of it from the used-books shelves of my local FLGS, but it is not the same as having the book YOU owned, with dings and skuffs and marks that are associated with memories.

I'm with you on this one. Though it's a really interesting view on what I feel nostaligic about. While I sold my original basic+ sets when I was a kid, I have my AD&D 1st and 2nd edition books. But I've given away my 3.0, 3.5, and 4e - though 4e I did the online subscription so I don't have nearly as many physical books. Other game systems are the same thing - for Champions/Hero system I don't have my old softcovers anymore unfortunately, but I still keep my falling apart Big Blue Book on my 'active' RPGs shelf even though it's several generations out-of-date. (And that's not it being my only version - I've got 5th, FRed and a couple of the books of 6th - never used in an actual campaigns unfortunately.)

 

[MNblockhead]

Still, I collect. I just have started collecting digital books. I'm slowly getting all the Eberron books from DMs Guild. I have a bunch of Fate stuff, in digital form. I don't really love reading and referencing PDFs, but it seems like the most likely format to be able to keep around, regardless of whether I'm actively using it, or not.

I'm really trying to keep my digital-content purchases under control. If I don't have a plan to use it within a week, I don't buy it. When I do need it, it'll still be there. At least with physical impulse purchases, you can add it to a book shelf. It becomes part of your living space and one of the joys of building a library is browsing through it as rediscovering something you bought a year ago and forgot about and start reading on a whim. Buying digital content gives nothing to you unless you consume it.

 

[Mercule]

I'm really trying to keep my digital-content purchases under control. If I don't have a plan to use it within a week, I don't buy it. When I do need it, it'll still be there. At least with physical impulse purchases, you can add it to a book shelf. It becomes part of your living space and one of the joys of building a library is browsing through it as rediscovering something you bought a year ago and forgot about and start reading on a whim. Buying digital content gives nothing to you unless you consume it.

I think that's why I'm able to build slowly. I'm in the process of adding about 60 linear feet of built-in shelves in the basements, for the express purpose of holding gaming stuff -- geared toward board games, but there will be space because that's a lot more shelving than it sounds. We'll see how that impacts my collecting habits.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

If only the collection was glorious boxed sets and other treasures! But for every gem there are half a dozen Encyclopedias of Demons and Devils or Quintessential Psion. Basically, a LOT of dross.

Ah, yes. There is a difference between that 1e Manual of the Planes or Dragonlance Saga System, and that Dungeoneer's Survival Guide.

 

[Starfox]

Games Workshop back around 1980 printed a softcover a version of the 1E Player's Handbook. I bought that as a poor teenager, and later sold it to buy the hardcover version (which I still have, with the original cover). I sometimes miss that softcover book even today.