From the anecdotal POV, back in the 80s my group and I had *one* copy of the 1E PHB, MM, and DMG between us, which somebody brought along. So 5 of us had a zero entry fee, and didn't spend a penny on anything other than dice for a few years. 3-4 years later, some of us had a little money from part-time jobs and the like and experimented by buying a few other games, but we had well and truly "entered" by a few years at that point. So I still maintain that the cost of entry is very often zero. The book cost literally doesn't come into it; you just use someone else's.
As for whether the people in question counted as having "entered the hobby" - well, I ended up making a career out of the hobby, so I'd say that's an unqualified yes.
We just started a Pathfinder game last week. The GM bought the adventures, but there was only one copy of the Pathfinder rulebook between us, and that belonged to me. For everyone else, the entry cost was exactly zero. They turned up, they played.
As for whether the people in question counted as having "entered the hobby" - well, I ended up making a career out of the hobby, so I'd say that's an unqualified yes.
We just started a Pathfinder game last week. The GM bought the adventures, but there was only one copy of the Pathfinder rulebook between us, and that belonged to me. For everyone else, the entry cost was exactly zero. They turned up, they played.
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