Failed promises

[The_Universe]

Are you sure you aren't the odd man out?

Pretty sure. See above.

 

[Macbeth]

I've been in both situations, it really depends on the game. My D&D game, everybody has the core books. However, tonight we're playing Mutants and Masterminds, and I'm the only one that even has the core books.

It all depends on the player. I like to read, and I have a good bit of income set aside for books and such, so I end up with a tonne of gaming books. One of my closest friends, a guy that plays in just about all the games I run, has a spattering of d20 books, but not much. So when we play D&D he brings dis books, but when we play some other stuff (Spycraft, Mutants and Masterminds) he just goes with the flow. He doesn't have the money to buy a huge number of books, so I'm happy to run a game with just my one copy.

Just becuase somebody can't/won't buy a book doesn't say to me that they can't play in my games. I'm more then happy to provide a book and my GMing skills (such that they are) to anybody that'll play, even if they don't have the books. I think that's more of an indication of a 'healthy gaming group' then one where everybody has to buy books.

I can understand books getting more expensive, but the minute GM tells me I have to buy all the same books he has to play in his game, I'm leaving. If I had to match BardStephenFox's collection to play in his game, I wouldn't be able to pay for gas to drive to the game.

 

[Psion]

To wit: A group where one person buys all the books is not, in my view, a healthy gaming group. Heck, I'll go farther and say that groups where one person is constantly GMing is usually somewhat problematic as well.

So, in short, other people have a different economic arrangement than you do so you use it as an excuse to pass judgement on them and puff your shirt out as if you are better than them based on some wierd pop psychology analysis of how "healthy" the group is.

My current group has all the books for the CURRENT game (which is D&D, so no big surprise), but you go far afield from that, and I frequently see not all the players having the core book. And my group has yet to melt down or need psychological assistance.

 

[Sammael]

After three years of playing with the current group, there is still one member who doesn't own even a PHB. The others own a varying amount of books, but a large number of those were bought to them as birthday presents and such. Few people in this country have money to spend on expensive hobbies. I am fortunate to be one of those few (and yet my gaming budget is sevrely limited).

 

[eyebeams]

So, in short, other people have a different economic arrangement than you do so you use it as an excuse to pass judgement on them and puff your shirt out as if you are better than them based on some wierd pop psychology analysis of how "healthy" the group is.

My current group has all the books for the CURRENT game (which is D&D, so no big surprise), but you go far afield from that, and I frequently see not all the players having the core book. And my group has yet to melt down or need psychological assistance.

It's interesting to see the broken elephone play out here. I was responding to a situation where *one* person bought the books, not where *one* person didn't buy books or not everybody owned exactly the same books.

Now that I've reminded you, feel free to reply to what I actually said: That one gamer being the constant economic contributor for the entire group is a bad idea.

 

[Mark]

Now that I've reminded you, feel free to reply to what I actually said: That one gamer being the constant economic contributor for the entire group is a bad idea.

What if he's the head of the household and DMing for his children as he teaches them to play?

 

[eyebeams]

What if he's the head of the household and DMing for his children as he teaches them to play?

That's obviously not the context in which we're discussing this.

 

[kingpaul]

Are you sure you aren't the odd man out?

Not everyone in my group owns the core books either. There's a couple folks who don't own the PHB, they just print out the portions they want of the RSRD.

 

[diaglo]

Nope. It's the same here. Can't remember a single group where everyone hand the core book.

Some games, I was amongst those who didn't have the rules.

ditto. i have been the only guy other than the GM to own some books.

heck, the OD&D campaign i ran. i was the only guy to have any of the books. for years.

 

[eyebeams]

That doesn't work for several reasons:

There are indeed not that many players around, at least not enough I know well enough to burrow a book.

I'm occasionally interested in stuff others don't want/need, so I cannot borrow that stuff, either.

I want to read through my books myself before I even consider lending them to someone else, and I suspect that others are the same. I also don't want to give a book away for weeks until they have read the whole thing (people do have other things to do), and expect others to be the same.

So if you know a lot of people who no only buy stuff blindly - stuff you want, no less - and are nice enough to let you borrow it and read the whole thing, that's nice. But it's not like that here, and I dare saying that it is not the norm, either.

Nah. I know people who are patient, who have a good relationship with local game stores and can skim before they buy and, on occasion, one of us takes a risk on a book. That risk may mean we're goping to be disappointed with it, but nothing can ever give you a flawless consumer experience, and making perfect purchases the critera for whether you should do something makes all positions in this thread equally worthless.