Game Purchase Priorities (Or are Gamers Broke?)

[Voadam]

I am inherently frugal, thrifty, well let's just say it, cheap. I am also a bit obsessive in my desire to have rpg materials. This means I rarely spend a lot on rpg purchases in any month and everything I get is on sale or to round out a free shipping requirement on an amazon order. The last new book I bought was Complete Warrior and DLCS when they were at 60% off. My decisions are now whether or not I get the used Creature Collection II that is going for 11.50 including shipping and handling. I want it, but I've got so little shelf space and time for extra reading. So do I justify it to myself? Its in my shopping cart where it will likely stay until September when I allow myself a new monthly splurge purchase, although I might prefer to get the $10 pdf Horrors of the Wierd West since pdfs are more likely to be used by me. But it is only half the size of CCII. These types of debates will keep me occupied for a while. The last game book I bought at full price was back in 2e days. I don't mind waiting for things to drop in price significantly or even to wait for the pdf option. My big splurges were when there was the ENPub $1 sale, the GM's day sale, and the Malhavok anniversary sale. I probably picked up 30 pdfs for under $100 over a three month period with those three sales.

 

[Campbell]

The inherrent truth of the matter for me is that once I have the basic material that I need to run a given game, I don't find that supplements really up the fun factor of my games all that much. I've also found that the more I create material for my games, the less I end up using material from other sources. In fact the supplements I've enjoyed the most in the past couple years, like the Artificer's Handbook, and Grim Tales, seem to be those that encourage GMs to make up their own material.

 

[eris404]

I buy the about same amount of product as I have the last three or four years, I just find ways to pay less, like through ebay or amazon, etc. I hate paying retail price for most things. The other day I was forced to buy something at a game store, because I needed a birthday gift in a hurry, and I was mortified at the $32.99 price tag. I hate to make this into a local store bash - I really do support local retailers for other goods and services - but I work at a university and make considerably less than I did three years ago when I worked for a corporation. I don't spend this much on food, so it's really difficult to justify spending it on game books.

I also think (in the long run) WotC didn't do us any favors by pricing the original PH at $19.99. That price sticks in people's minds and when they felt like they were being forced to rebuy the core books when the revision came out, they also felt like they were being ripped off. It doesn't matter whether WotC lost money on the original books or not, it still gives them the appearance of being greedy to certain point of view. Some people are still bitter over that and may not be as willing to buy books from them or anything else that has the d20 logo on it. So, yeah, I think there is a certain amount of disillusionment out there, too.

 

[scourger]

My purchasing has slowed down due to my FLGS closing. There is a local comics store that sttempts to carry RPG stuff, but they just don't have the new products that I want in stock. My last special order with them for 2 books was a mixed bag. I love The Awakening (for the Judge Dredd RPG), but I find The Trojan War (from Green Ronin) not really useful to me. I have my eye on 3 new products, but it's tough to just order them sight unseen. I may give the EN World store a chance so this site gets some support. In general, I wait before buying to read reviews and just really think about whether I need the product or not.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Henry's assessment is dead on, I think.

Though I have noticed lots of posts in the theme of 'to heck with it' moreso than people posting to say, 'oh guys, its not THAT bad.' But there is definitely some truth behind the idea that if these are, indeed, imagination based games, a copy of the basic rules is all you really need to get things underway.

 

[TDRandall]

Well, I wondered how the market hadn't crashed with the recent lack of purchases on my part, and after reading these posts I'm really concerned that the RPG industry is about to implode! (all TIC, of course)

For me, I've been forced to reprioritize over the past couple months since we got news that my job site/account is closing down. No exact date when, but it will be by the end of the year. So I'm trying to save up for the lean times coming, consolidating debts to fewer accounts, etc. We've tightened up our budget quite considerably. I'd bail now if the right thing came along IF I weren't due a satisfactory amount of severance if I stick around to help shut the door. Still, keeps things (especially the tension) up in the air.

I'm still tracking all the products, shuffling them around in my "to buy" order, and have now a 3 page list (!) of products I would buy right now if I won the lottery or something equally filthy rich. Of course, I already have almost a full shelf of stuff bought that I haven't yet gotten through, so it's not like I NEED anything for this compusive personal area in the short run. I'm afraid that for many of those products, by the time I get to it I'll find them out of print.

I have cringed more frequently at the cost of items recently (Babylon 5 and Stargate sound nice but OUCH!), but then again I can get most things nearly 40% off at alldirect.com pretty consistently. I always end up with the free shipping since I did it bulk (once a quarter or so) and toss in stuff for the wife and kids too - $200-250, sometimes $300 was pretty much a given, and their portion ended up being far less cost-wise then "mine". Or I might pick things up second hand at a local shop - but the rate of their discount on those products has dried up considerably in the last year or two especially.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

How much I spend depends on what's available that month.

In the last month, I think I spent about $180 at my FLGS, in two massive purchases. One was the inevitable D&D purchase, and the other was the massive subsidy to White Wolf (as I build up my Exalted collection). Of course, I don't have a car or family to maintain, which leaves me in a decent position to do this.

I anticipate another surge of spending in about a week and a half, when the GenCon releases make it into the FLGS stream.

While I have a PS/2 and a computer, I don't buy that many games for the PS/2 (most of which involve the word "Dynasty" somewhere), and I've stopped buying computer games; I've been dreadfully disappointed by every one I've purchased since Diablo II's expansion.

Brad

 

[jester47]

This is the cut and paste of my want list:
----------------------------------
Must Haves:

[OUT]
Players Guide to the Wilderlands
The Book of Unussual Treasures
Creature Collection Revised (for the frikken ratmen)
Grey Citadel
Lamentation of Thieves(for cut up)
The Bomegarden (3.5 ToH monster updates in book form)

[Forthcoming]
shining south
libris mortis
Beyond countless Doorways (HC)
Wilderlands Boxed set (GC'05)
CSIO (OCT)
Rappan Athuk Revised (summer/fall 2005)
Combined Revised Freeport Series (next year[stamp Mar2004])
Sidewinder: Recoiled
Complete Adventurer
Codex Anathema
The 2 rumored fiend books.

PDF Wants: (just spent $45 on these)

[OUT] interested:

Adventures I
Adventures II
monster manual 3
Black Sails over Freeport
Village of Oester
Counter Collection Gold
-----------------------------------------

Thats it. I am not really interested in anything else.

 

[Buttercup]

If I want it, I buy it. Thing is, I don't want as much in the way of d20 stuff as I used to. I mean, when you've already got four books on, say, dwarves, why buy a fifth one unless it's really special?

I've got four equipment books, so I doubt I'll buy another one of those. I've got 10 or 12 monster books, so I probably won't buy too many more of those. I've got more books on magic items than I'll ever use, especially given that I like low-magic campaigns.

What I am still interested in are city books. You know, like Thieves Quarter. Maps, NPCs, plot hooks and so forth. Oh yeah, I love those. I also like stuff on world building, certain campaign settings, and I buy adventures, though I rarely run them.

 

[wizardoftheplains]

I still spend quite a bit on games but any (roleplaying product) I buy must fit at least one of the following criteria:

1. Something new and different. This is rare.
2. Amazing story, crunch and quality. i.e. Mutants & Masterminds and Midnight (oh, and AU.) The book must have it all.
3. A license I have a fondness for. i.e. Conan or LOTR

Source books that expand on DnD just don't have the attraction for me. Feats all start to look alike. And just how many books on dwarves or ranger variations do you need?

Lately, German board games and those darn little pirate ships have been sucking up most of my disposable income.

Gary