NOT buying new stuff is hard...

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NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

but doable. Last week I decided I was done buying new RPG material. Since I already own hundreds of RPG's, thousands of adventures, and if I live another 51 years, I likely won't get around to playing half of what I own nearly as much as I would like to.

I made this decision without taking into account the fact that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the very next weekend.

Yet, here we are, its Wednesday, and I am happy to report that despite MANY very tempting sales I didn't buy anything.

So while it was hard, very hard, much like fighting addictions, I was able to talk myself out of numerous sale buys. Much like fighting addiction, it was harder at first, took lots of internal debate, and just saying NO! numerous times, but by the last ditch efforts of Cyber Monday deals being carried over into Tuesday, I managed to say no to everything with just maybe 10 seconds of internal debate. So still an internal fight, but one that is much easier to fight than it was last Friday. Fortunately I won all of the fights, too. Like I said, I bought absolutely nothing. I hope I can keep my record going into the future for many months and maybe even years. Addiction is an insidious enemy, so may win some more battles, but hopefully I will win the war, and get a lot more play time in on what I already own than I dare hope.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Revturkey »

I made the same pledge about a week ago too....and yet here I am having just bought loads of ‘Fragged Empire’ pdfs and Core Book in print to look at lol :)

It’s an affliction. Rpg system and dice buying! I need help. I don’t need any more and still....ooh...what’s this? Click...

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

It is very much like fighting an addiction.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Revturkey »

It defies logic! I know I have enough. I know I don’t have enough time to play all these games, let alone read them properly...I know my budget is tight...but still....Ooh this one uses d6’s...I love d6’s...click lol :)

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Buttmonkey
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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Buttmonkey »

Nice work. There are at least a half dozen games I would really like to buy, but I've held off because I don't have time to play pretty much anything right now. I sadly don't have time to read through new game systems. :-(
tylermo wrote:Your efforts are greatly appreciated, Buttmonkey. Can't believe I said that with a straight face.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

Buttmonkey wrote:Nice work. There are at least a half dozen games I would really like to buy, but I've held off because I don't have time to play pretty much anything right now. I sadly don't have time to read through new game systems. :-(
Reading is a trap. I used to use that excuse too. Its just another addicts tactic to trick themselves into buying more of what they don't need. If I want to read I will just pull out what I already have and read it again. If nothing else, it will inspire me to put more effort into getting to run or play it again, rather than get me to buy yet another product I probably won't live long enough to get around to playing.

I'll be the first to admit, there are tons of cool games out there I have yet to buy or play. Still doesn't change the fact that I already own tons of games that I have yet to play, or have yet to play nearly as much as I would like. All buying even more would do, is ensure I will never play anything as much as I would like to. So my game plan is to focus on getting to play what I already own even more. Buying more to read is like a crack addict saying they will just take a taste to remind themselves of what they don't have. No one is surprised when they turn around and buy themselves another full hit. An RPG addict "reading" is only different in that crack can kill you, while another RPG just costs you money, and time.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Lurker »

Wait, the world is upside down, you are not buying books yet I'm buying more and more (well have recently bought more) ... Between recent bag of holding buys, the 4 'The One Ring' PDFs I bought a few weeks ago, I've been on a splurge (or to keep the addict theme going a bender)

If the world keeps shifting like this ... roll 20 may just start giving me constant good rolls !
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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

Lurker wrote:Wait, the world is upside down, you are not buying books yet I'm buying more and more (well have recently bought more) ... Between recent bag of holding buys, the 4 'The One Ring' PDFs I bought a few weeks ago, I've been on a splurge (or to keep the addict theme going a bender)

If the world keeps shifting like this ... roll 20 may just start giving me constant good rolls !
I don't recall if I've ever told you just how much I have. So I will just mention how I have 4,000 PDF's on just drivethru rpg. I also literally own over 2,000 pounds of books.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Rigon »

All it took for me to not buy was realizing I could get a new book, or pay a bill. I probably won't buy anything new for quite a long while. Need to reduce my debt by a lot first. Adulting is hard.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Go0gleplex »

Rigon wrote:All it took for me to not buy was realizing I could get a new book, or pay a bill. I probably won't buy anything new for quite a long while. Need to reduce my debt by a lot first. Adulting is hard.

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Dang it man! This is a family board. No using the "A" word here! :p But yeah. Keeping the collections away comes before shelf stuffing that will likely never get used. :?
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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by alcyone »

Every once in a while I think, I'll just choose the best one of each genre, but of course there's no such thing.
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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by maximus »

I was sorely tempted to go on a shopping spree, but resisted as well. I need to use more of what I have first.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by anvil242 »

I failed, and now have Mutant Year Zero and Gene Lab Alpha. Hello, My name is Patrick and I'm an RPG addict.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Lord Dynel »

I'm not buying...much...but I agree it's hard. This time of year, our family has little rule that we can't buy things for ourselves starting October 1. So that helps with my buying. It is very addiction-like, but that makes me wonder. If my game(s) of choice were "dead systems," and I completed the collection, would I continue to buy more? Or even ones I'm collecting? Or would I continue to find other "dead systems" to collect? What makes me (or us) want to collect/buy more stuff? I think these are interesting questions. For me, it goes back to the above: "I collect 5e, so I need to go pick up the new release." Switch "play" with "collect" and "5e" with "The Dark Eye," and that's my justification for purchasing TDE stuff (I just backed their new KS today, truthfully). Could I stop, cold turkey, and never buy another gaming product? I think so, but probably under certain conditions. But I wonder if I would set those conditions so unrealistically (subconsciously) that I would never be able to meet them.
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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Rigon »

Everything I own physically, I have in PDF. I even thought about getting rid of my 1e hardbacks. I bought them second hand so no real connection for me. Heck, I thought about selling almost all of my stuff, baring a few choice books/sets (my C&C books, a couple AD&D box sets, my original 2e PHB and MM), just so I could pay down some of my debt. Having the PDFs makes that a real possibility, as most of the time I use the PDF when I reference older materials. It's just hard to get rid of stuff I spent a few years collecting. Perhaps I'll just hold onto everything for a while yet.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by serleran »

I have not bought any new RPG stuff, unless you count console games (wife and I went to RetroGameCon 5 in Syracuse, NY) and some Munchkin rarities (primarily non-English releases.) My birthday is approaching so I'm hopeful to get something new but then I can say "I didn't buy it."

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

C&C makes it very easy to buy a LOT of RPG's. Its so easy to adapt so many to the SIEGE engine, or to simply replace the "home" system with the SIEGE engine. So that has certainly helped enable my buying a crap ton of systems. Since I have been gaming heavily for over 30 years now, I got exposed to a lot of other systems out there, and have continued to buy them ever since. Most notably Legends of the 5 Rings, Rifts, and Shadowrun. Fortunately I got really sick of the rules bloat with Shadowrun 5E, so have quit buying it. Now L5R is being adapted to a completely different mechanic by FFG, so I am now done with buying that RPG over and over again.

Cubicle 7 was going to stay pretty close to 1E and 2E Warhammer, but now they are saying they are doing some major revisions to "improve" the game. Famous last words, in my experience. Hopefully I will agree, but if not, I am perfectly happy with what I already have, so have no real interest in the new version any ways. So unless I get convinced it really is an improvement, I'm done buying Warhammer.

The tough one on me is the new Mongoose Traveller. I've bought all the new core books, and The Great Rift setting. I haven't bought the new Drinaax stuff. Well, some, but far from all of it, and none of the core stuff. However, I have come to realize their new build system really isn't all that much of an improvement, and the core rules are still largely the same, just now they use a boon/bane dice like so many other RPG's now do, which is easy to completely ignore and just do it how I've done it for every earlier version of Traveller. So I have come to realize I don't really need the new material, its easy as pie to adapt previous versions to 2E. The only change I saw in the play test that I am still interested in is the Mercenary material. So I will likely buy that. So aside form that book, the only real temptations for me are going to be all the new campaign materials.Not that I need any more of that either. I already have so much of that kind of material from all of the previous editions/versions, that I could probably run a weekly game for the next 40 years with what I do have combined with my own ideas.

So the more I think about it, and the more I commit myself to not buying more, the more comfortable I get with the idea, which makes me more confident that I will actually be able to stop.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by DMMike »

I've been doing ok with my purchases by keeping a couple of rules:

1. If I can get the item as a pdf, get that instead of a hardcopy.

2. Don't pay more than $15 for a pdf. Ever.

3. If there's OS stuff you want, see if noble knight games has it. If they do, go through the hardcopy collection and drag enough out so that I can buy the new book with credit from the "lightening" of the collection.

Granted, I still have 2/3rds of a walk in closet full of stuff, but its slowly shrinking. I don't count pdfs, as Tree noted you can have 4k and they don't take up any real room. :)

Now...I just have to talk myself into getting rid of all my Avalon Hill General mags. I've got the whole run on pdf, so they're just taking up space. Plus its not like Liz will want to ever read 'em.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

DMMike wrote:I've been doing ok with my purchases by keeping a couple of rules:


2. Don't pay more than $15 for a pdf. Ever.

Mike

Oh yeah, I definitely follow that rule! Another rule I have for PDF's is to never buy them unless they are on sale for more than 25% off. Unless they are already a crazy deal, such as Paizo's core book PDF's being $10. Between Humble Bundle, Bundle of Holding, and buying bundle deals to support catastrophe victims, free with purchase of print copy, etc... I have gotten my PDF's pretty darn cheap.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

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Treebore wrote:
I don't recall if I've ever told you just how much I have. So I will just mention how I have 4,000 PDF's on just drivethru rpg. I also literally own over 2,000 pounds of books.
Yeah, I know you easily have me beat to 1 or more on PDFs and hard books ... However, it is the fact you are going cold turkey but me, after going years and only buying a book here or there, having now started to buy more and more that unbalances the world.
Treebore wrote:
DMMike wrote:I've been doing ok with my purchases by keeping a couple of rules:


2. Don't pay more than $15 for a pdf. Ever.

Mike

Oh yeah, I definitely follow that rule! Another rule I have for PDF's is to never buy them unless they are on sale for more than 25% off. Unless they are already a crazy deal, such as Paizo's core book PDF's being $10. Between Humble Bundle, Bundle of Holding, and buying bundle deals to support catastrophe victims, free with purchase of print copy, etc... I have gotten my PDF's pretty darn cheap.
Rgr on all PDFs, and them on the cheap. However, those darn 4 books for The one Ring were more than I like to pay ... So, I guess I'm addicted too.
Treebore wrote: C&C makes it very easy to buy a LOT of RPG's. Its so easy to adapt so many to the SIEGE engine, or to simply replace the "home" system with the SIEGE engine. So that has certainly helped enable my buying a crap ton of systems. ...
Rgr that, almost all the Bag of Holding etc bundles I have bought were to mine for ideas of C&C, that or setting that don't fit C&C (future settings etc). Heck even The One Ring books I got were originally to mine for C&C, and unless I can bend my brain around the rules they may end up being great mining material for C&C.
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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Jyrdan Fairblade »

When contemplating a purchase, I always try to ask myself will I use it or will it inspire me? If the answer to both is no…well, I can’t say I always leave the RPG product on the shelf. But it helps.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

Frikkin Humble Bundle has me relapsing. The new Bards Gate PDFs was the straw that broke me.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Revturkey »

Stand firm! :) I’ve been weak as well...but to the benefit of C&C...Classic Monsters and Monsters and Treasures of Aihrde in print. I deleted and sold every other game except the Leagues of Adventure stuff that I am currently running (which had a good first game)... got to limit myself to one or two games at a time!

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Lurker »

and the current bundle of holding will lay me low .... Drat 'The One Ring' .... all that Tolkien good ness .... can't resist .... to make it wors I bought the player's and lore master books (both the regular and 5e version) at regular PDF price a few months ago, .... I'll get all the books at less than I paid for those others ...
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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

Lurker wrote:and the current bundle of holding will lay me low .... Drat 'The One Ring' .... all that Tolkien good ness .... can't resist .... to make it wors I bought the player's and lore master books (both the regular and 5e version) at regular PDF price a few months ago, .... I'll get all the books at less than I paid for those others ...

Ohh yeah, I got the original bundle when it first went up, so snatched up the new bundle as well. At least its a game I already own, and want to play, hopefully, a lot. I was actually hoping they would end up doing a new bundle with the PDF's for the newer books. Glad my patience paid off in such good savings. I don't own what I do because I pay full retail. Most of it was bought at serious discount, whether print or PDF. Like the vast majority of 3E books I own, I bought when people sold off their books for a dollar or 3 each when they switched to 4E. So I got a couple of thousand dollars of books (full cover price) for maybe $150. Might have been as high as $250. My best recent deal was the main "pirate" adventure book by Frog God Games. Its like $100, maybe $150, and I got it for something like $30, in print AND PDF. Thats the real reason I own so many books, I don't buy until I get them for a steal, in most cases.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

Oh, and if your into 5E material, or like me, and are fine with using 5E material for C&C, go to Humble Bundle and check out the Frog God games/Kobold Press PDF deal. AWESOME price for a LOT of great product.

Note: HUMBLE Bundle, not Bundle of Holding. I usually get my PC games for cheap on Humble, but every once in a while they do awesome comics and RPG PDF bundles.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

Grand Knight Commander of the Society.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

Well, over all, I've been doing pretty good. Since I am currently running 2 games a week of Traveller, I now own all the core rule books they have out so far. I've taken a hard look at their PDF products, but fortunately talked myself out of getting those, because they cover material they did for 1E, which is still very easy to use for 2E, and I already own the 1E version.

Bundle of Holding keeps breaking me, though. Such as the new W.O.I.N. PDF's. I already had their sci fi PDF of ships in my Drivethru wishlist, for $10, so I talked myself into buying the Bundle since it was only $15 more for all those other PDF's. Fortunately their mechanic, a D6 dice pool variiant, seems easy enough to convert to Traveller. Need to do more reading to decide on how it can be converted to the SIEGE engine. Regardless, it has some quick and dirty rules for building a setting, which can then be used with any Mechanic, so I can get some use out of that material.

So while I have succeeded at cutting back a lot, I'm still buying some stuff. So I'm still working on it.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

Grand Knight Commander of the Society.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by serleran »

It is hard, if not impossible.


I have not been buying much in the way of RPGs but I have been buying, or supporting, a bunch of board games. TMNT Munchkin, RDI 7, etc.

Was tempted to get the annual Troll Lord Crate but the upfront cost is too high at the moment -- pay for the whole year in one drop, but get free shipping and a slightly reduced rate. I then decided I didn't want it anyway since it'll likely have bunches of stuff I don't care about, like digital this and that.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Kayolan »

For me it's not buying old stuff that's hard, like the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, of which I already own a copy but the new PoD one looks so damn nice that I'm fighting the urge not to buy. Partially because I'm a bit unsure if it will always be available and also because my current copy is in terrible shape, actually had to super glue the binding to keep it from falling apart.

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Re: NOT buying new stuff is hard...

Post by Treebore »

Well, over all, I am doing much better than I used to. I'm just finding it impossible to not buy material for something I am currently running or playing. I have gotten very good at saying no to stuff I don't already own and/or play. So over all, I am spending a lot less, so that is good. I will keep working at it.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

Grand Knight Commander of the Society.

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