Ratio of Spending to Gaming

[megamania]

Normal = 500
Last six months ...100

Sessions 15 x 5 hours each 75 hours

With no miniatures released is so long the number is low plus I'm in a bit of trouble fincially now. Otherwise I would be about 5-6 hundred which is baaaad.

 

[Arnwyn]

So, curious, what is everyone's ratio of gaming materials to actual play time for the past 6 months?

That's kind of a neat question.

Let's see, past 6 months of product = $400 (probably a bit high)
6 months of sessions = 12 sessions (96 hours)

$/session = $33/session

$/hour of game time = $4.17/hour

I agree that game time is best to use, as both reading time and (especially) prep time will vary much more widely than game time. (And for me, reading time is right out, as I absolutely hate reading many d20 books. Fanastic resources for the game, but horrendous reading material. But then, I've never enjoyed reading textbooks, either.)

 

[Ace]

Some comments in other threads about spending habits on rpg material made me wonder what sort of relationship there was to spending habits in proportion to actual playing time. I mean, everything is relative so it's hard to look at a single number without context... (obviously, publishers and all are just interested in how much is spent total. but if trying to guage how much is "too much spending" well that needs a comparison).

So, curious, what is everyone's ratio of gaming materials to actual play time for the past 6 months?
SNIP


So I would classify myself as spending too much (I mean, what, almost $40 spent per game that I've played in 6 months... that's a lot)

How about the rest of you, what are your ratios?

Of late -- pretty good

I haven't bought anything in a few months and I have played a few sessions

My prefered ratio is 1 purchase (call it $30 US) per week and 3-4 games per month

If I am not playing D&D/D20 the purchase drop to roughly 1 a month -- 2 if I am playing GURPS -- this includes Eden stuff and the odd minis purchase

 

[Altalazar]

I haven't had time to game since I started law school - before that, I tried to game about once a week. Now, for three years... well... I've kept up with the books, but I've not gamed... so that makes my ratio infinite...

 

[Crothian]

I'm not sure the ratio matters much. The books are useful for more then just gaming, and how to you count PbP that don't have sessions? It is just one of those things that doesn't relaly work.

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm not sure the ratio matters much. The books are useful for more then just gaming, and how to you count PbP that don't have sessions? It is just one of those things that doesn't relaly work.

Per hour of play, of course. Calculate the time spent posting, and divide that into the dollars spent.

Really, it isn't hard.

(Whether it matters or not is an entirely different question. It could be a good indicator if you think a certain way, though. Hell, even the original poster noted that "everything is relative".)

 

[JamesDJarvis]

i spend about $35.00 a month on gaming. I play once a week on average for about 3.5 hours each session. So with 24 sessions to keep the math simple that means'

$8.75 a session.

$2.50 an hour of play

but if you put in reading game materials, paintign minis, building scenery,dithering about on the internet about RPG and DM prep time it works out to 21 cents an hour from what i can guesstimate.


Most of the folks i play with on a regular basis have one rulebook , a couple of dice and a miniature or two they've bough tin the past 4 years. so they are spendign about $20 cents a session.

 

[JamesDJarvis]

I just realized i spend about 5 hours a week doing D&D related stuff at work.

that means in six months i get paid at least $3000 towards gaming.

So my life is enriched by at least $116.00 per gaming session.

 

[twofalls]

I run two games, each twice a month that average 6 hours per session. So over 6 months thats 144 hours of gaming. I probably average $150.00 in game purchases a month, so over 6 months that is $900. That means I spent about $6.25 an hour gaming in the past six months, or $37.50 a session. Is that too much? Perhaps.

I will probably be loosing my job soon so my game purchases have stopped. Even so I haven't overspent in comparison to what I make, so I'm comfortable with my purchases to date. I've not ever rid myself intentionally of a single rpg book, module, suppliement, or what have you, and I will always be able to go back to my shelf, pull a book and read it. Had I spent that money on gambling, expensive dinners, crack cocaine (joking), then the money would be gone and there wouldn't be a lasting return.

I'm proud of my game collection, I take great joy in it, and that makes it worthwhile.

 

[Arc]

For my current campaign:
2 books - 50$
22 sessions to date

~$2.27/session

It's on IRC, so I don't need to worry about contributing for snack funds, or buying dice.