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<blockquote data-quote="jdrakeh" data-source="post: 4027013" data-attributes="member: 13892">You know, I've probably spent more money and gotten less return on RPGs than any other hobby I've ever had. The myth that RPGs give back forever is predicated on several typically false assumptions: 1. You'll always be able to find people to play them with. If you don't have people to play games with, you won't get any substantial return on them. A pile full of unused games is a total loss, financially speaking, unless you bought them as a collector in the first place. If you bought them to play and you can't get people interested in them, you won't be getting anything back from them. 2. You'll always have time to play them. Even if you get people interested in a game, tabletop RPGs require an investement of time that far exceeds that required to indulge in most (if not all) other entertainment mediums. Setting up a night of adventure can take a week's worth of preparation. Setting up a night of movie watching, video game play, or music listening requires one to push a button. As above, if you don't have the time to invest in a tabletop RPG, you'll have a pile full of unused games. 2. Other forms of entertainment are only good for one use. Computer games, novels, movies, music and other forms of media all have the potential to be vastly entertaining over and over again. RPGs do not have a monopoly on replay value and don't have any kind of a real edge over other mediums in this regard. In fact, since replay value is entirely dependent on 1 and 2 above, tabletop RPGs are arguably at a pretty big disadvantage with regard to replay value.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jdrakeh, post: 4027013, member: 13892"] You know, I've probably spent more money and gotten less return on RPGs than any other hobby I've ever had. The myth that RPGs give back forever is predicated on several typically false assumptions: 1. You'll always be able to find people to play them with. If you don't have people to play games with, you won't get [i]any[/i] substantial return on them. A pile full of unused games is a [i]total[/i] loss, financially speaking, unless you bought them as a collector in the first place. If you bought them to [i]play[/i] and you can't get people interested in them, you won't be getting anything back from them. 2. You'll always have time to play them. Even if you get people interested in a game, tabletop RPGs require an investement of time that [i]far[/i] exceeds that required to indulge in most (if not all) other entertainment mediums. Setting up a night of adventure can take a week's worth of preparation. Setting up a night of movie watching, video game play, or music listening requires one to push a button. As above, if you don't have the time to invest in a tabletop RPG, you'll have a pile full of unused games. 2. Other forms of entertainment are only good for one use. Computer games, novels, movies, music and other forms of media all have the potential to be vastly entertaining over and over again. RPGs do not have a monopoly on replay value and don't have any kind of a real edge over other mediums in this regard. In fact, since replay value is entirely dependent on 1 and 2 above, tabletop RPGs are arguably at a pretty big [i]disadvantage[/i] with regard to replay value. [/QUOTE]

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