The Gamer Dome recently got an unexpected rebate check for some parachute pants we bought back in 1986, and we promptly went to the game store and dropped a few hundred dollars. Now, obviously 22 year old rebate checks don’t happen every day, but it did bring to mind that question: how much do you spend on your gaming habit?
We hear gamers complaining all the time about price increases on books, board games with 10 pounds of cardboard and wooden pieces that dare to charge a fair price for it all…but really, do you spend too much on games? It’s a fair bet you drop $100+ on your internet/phone/television megaconglomerationmediaaddiction, maybe $15-$50 bucks a month for MMO subs (and more than that buying gold and items on the black market), and a helluva lot on pizza and beer. So, if you drop $100 a month on board, card, and roleplaying games…is that really so bad? In the long run, it’s not a large chunk of change, and in the short run you get replayability, and even a secondary market if you’re buying into collectible games like Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures or Magic: the Gathering.
So, what’s your budget, and do you complain?
In the Dome, you get your money for nothing, and your ‘Clix for free.
10:54 am on April 14th, 2008 1
Right now I’m basically between jobs, so money is an issue, but not a gigantic one. So I’m trying to decide if I should buy my 4E books from Amazon or the FLGS… If I was actually employed it would be FLGS all the way, but with money tight… And don’t even suggest that I forgo the purchase entirely!
1:14 pm on April 17th, 2008 2
Not as much as I used to. Back in the heady days of d20, I was spending an average of $300 a month on books and accessories. Now, it probably averages out to $100 or $150 between my husband and me.
Oh, to be rich! And oh, to have a place to put all the crap I would like to buy!
5:44 pm on April 24th, 2008 3
The reasons you cited and others….cable, phone, utilities, rent, taxes, gas…..these are all part of the reason that dropping $100 on games is a tough call for me. I used to be able to spend cash hither and yon, but over the last several years I’ve watched my disposable income get chipped away, bit by bit. Plus, the problem of competition for my bucks remains; I’d love ot buy boardgames, for example, but can’t justify the cost when I know I’ll get more immediate entertainment out of a new video game. A good example of this for me is comics: I collected comics right on through college, but several years ago let it dwindle and finally stopped entirely because the dollar-to-entertainment value of a comic is way out of proportion with a role playing game, video game, movie or book. And even movies are struggling, I think; long gone are the days when I’d spend full price on a ticket to see a film five or six times on release….now it’s more economical to wait for it to show in the dollar theatre, or watch it once in the theatre then wait for the rental later on.
Boy, I’d love to spend $300-400 a month like I used to, but for some reason (cough >the economy