Game Purchase Priorities (Or are Gamers Broke?)

[Teflon Billy]

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

I loves me them little pirate ships

 

[Glyfair]

I'd say the single biggest trend stopping me from buying more RPG stuff is the trend away from soft covers and towards hardbacks. I know more gamers apparently will buy the hardcover books. I've seen them here (I need them to take a beating and last forever).

However, to me it's just a waste of money for something that will spend a good amount of time on my shelf as a mine for ideas. Unless it's something I'll use over and over (the Core Books and maybe a campaign setting), I don't want the extra expense for the hardcover.