The Perfect Ratio

[PolarBlues]

There is the rate at which you play new games, or at least games new to you.
There is the rate at which you buy new games.

I think for many of us, the latter tends to outstrip the former, to a degree that it becomes impossible to ever catch up.

What's the ratio you are happy with?

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

How does buying a new game affect your perception of a previous purchased game that you haven't got round to playing yet?

And in this context, are Kickstarters with stretch goals and Bundles of Holding and similar offers the work of the Devil?

 

[Moonglum]

I've basically stopped buying new game systems, as I find I've really only played 3-4 systems in the last 5 years or so. I used to hop from system to system more often, but I just don't think it makes that much difference at the table and the cost in time and bother of switching from rules set to rules set isn't worth it to me. Actually, I feel like it isn't worth much of anything. I do continue to buy plenty of material I can use in play, sometimes designed for systems I use and sometimes designed for other systems but easily adapted. E.g., I haven't actually run GURPS in well over 5 years, but I still pick up 3rd edition books if they can enhance one of my Fantasy Trip campaigns. Or, I'll add to my MERP collection, even though I haven't run ICE's systems in well over a decade and now always use TFT or D+D for middle earth games. Similarly, I've bought lots of OSR materials and use them a lot, but I generally adapt them to TFT or stick with my favorite D+D edition (1E) rather than whatever variant the author had in mind.

 

[Dumarest]

What's the ratio you are happy with?

I'm sure I've bought something new in the last few years but I can't for the life of me think of what it was. Ah, just remembered I got the Savage Worlds Flash Gordon game which I'll be lucky if I ever get to play it. So I guess my ratio of old to new is something like 20:1.

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

Only if I find a really good bargain on an old game that I've always wanted to check out.

How does buying a new game affect your perception of a previous purchased game that you haven't got round to playing yet?

I don't understand the question. Why would buying a new game affect my perception of a game I haven't played? Can you explicate what you mean?

And in this context, are Kickstarters with stretch goals and Bundles of Holding and similar offers the work of the Devil?

Neither holds any appeal for me. I don't put my money up for nonexistent games and I don't like using PDFs.

I guess I don't suffer from Bright Shiny New Syndrome.

 

[Lessa]

I got the Bright Shiny New syndrome yes, but only after I pirated it and liked the product first (), then I go out and buy the official product. I do that for RPGs and videogames.

EVEN with that though, I think around 1/3 of my books never saw actual play. I probably read the PDF, love it, ordered it, but never managed to get my friends to play it.

 

[Stevethulhu]

In the guitar playing world, we call it GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome. The unending desire for newer, shinier toys.

I have to say, this last year ive spmurged a bit. Got GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, the new Star Trek core book, Dragon Warriors and a few other bits on pdf. All when they were at sale prices. And this is with me not having a group. Neither online nor in meatspace.

Maybe this year I'll make time.

 

[PolarBlues]

I don't understand the question. Why would buying a new game affect my perception of a game I haven't played? Can you explicate what you mean?
/QUOTE]

I guess that question is tied to the Bright Shiny New Syndrome, from which, as you mention, you are imune.

 

[Lessa]

Are you implying the bright new obfuscate the previous new, making the chances of the later seeing actual play low, and then you enter a cycle where things never see actual play because there's never something truly new?

If so, yeah that's true. Hehehe

 

[spittingimage]

The explosion of small publishers and PDF publication have changed the way I buy game material a lot. Books are stupidly expensive in New Zealand, RPG books even moreso. I used to buy rulebooks once, maybe twice a year if I found them on special. The longest game I've been in as a player (2 1/2 years), only the GM had the physical books.

Now if I see a PDF that looks vaguely interesting and it's under five bucks, I buy it without even stopping to think. I'm probably spending more now than I used to, but that's fine. The stuff I'm buying doesn't have the pagecount-inflating bloat that the big publishers love. (I hate the idea that you can have a rule book, a player guide and a monster manual and each of them clocks in at 200+ pages.) If I search carefully for what I want, the product I get is almost 100% relevant to me. I'll never use most of it, but if it contains ideas interesting enough to change the way I play or think about a game, that's good too.

I don't think buying new stuff has influenced my opinion of already-owned books in the past, but it's starting to. Now I have a critical mass of systems, there's a much better chance of a supplement or variation I come across being applicable to something I already have, even if it's only a quickstart or a microlite.

I don't think kickstarters are for me. I have GM ADHD and by the time a product ships, I've usually moved on into a completely different headspace.

 

[Voros]

I definitely buy more games than I get to play right now but that is partially because when I returned to the hobby I was stoked to discover so many non-D&D options which were hard to find when I was first playing.

I also find short-term games refreshing. I find I enjoy trying out new systems with my wife, this plus boardgames and co-op video games are a nice way to pass the dark, long winters together.

 

[K_Peterson]

There is the rate at which you play new games, or at least games new to you.
There is the rate at which you buy new games. What's the ratio you are happy with?

Well, playing new games is pretty uncommon for me. In one gaming group, we pretty much only play GURPS 4e. In another, we mostly play Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green. There aren't many other new Rpgs that break into that rotation. It's really more about interesting campaigns using familiar frameworks than hopping around and using a variety of games.

So, the ratio's definitely skewed in favor of buying new games. But, that ratio could be deceptive because I don't buy new Rpgs that frequently.

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

Don't do that very often, any more. Most of the material I buy these days is supplemental, and it's rarely the case that I use it for the system it's intended for. But, I'm happy to spend money on material that will inspire a campaign.

A new Rpg would really have to impress me, and offer me a completely new experience to really interest me. My gaming's fine, otherwise.

How does buying a new game affect your perception of a previous purchased game that you haven't got round to playing yet?

I'm not sure they'd have anything to do with one another?

 

[AsenRG]

There is the rate at which you play new games, or at least games new to you.
There is the rate at which you buy new games.

I think for many of us, the latter tends to outstrip the former, to a degree that it becomes impossible to ever catch up.

Not really. Define "using" a game.
I'm a Referee. Can I get some mileage out of a game I've never used? Yes. Adventures, random generators, characters are all interreplaceable. Sure, maybe they don't get a spaceship in a swaschbuckling game* just because I've been using Traveller random generator. But they encounter a ship. Or, if land-locked, a ship's crew.
In a similar vein, just because I'm not going to use Ironclaw's setting doesn't mean the system ain't going to see some use. I just have to re-write Species as Chinese Zodiac and leave all characters human (because one of my players dislikes anthropomorphic animals, and I can't be bothered to care one way or another...

*Unless it's 7th Sea 1st edition, I guess?)

What's the ratio you are happy with?

3:2 is the most I'd accept. After that, I'm slowing down on the purchases...which I've been doing in the last year.

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

Remote, as in not going to play them? No.
Remote, as in I'm going to run that in a year? Yes, every time I back some Kickstarters. And I intend to do it.

How does buying a new game affect your perception of a previous purchased game that you haven't got round to playing yet?

Usually, not at all. Depends on how similar they are, I guess?
I mean, when I found Zenobia, I lowered my estimation of the OSR as a whole, and I didn't even need to buy it - it's free! (43 AD and Warband are what I bought, despite them using the same system - just a slightly different iteration).

And in this context, are Kickstarters with stretch goals and Bundles of Holding and similar offers the work of the Devil?

No. Yes. Not enough data.
I mean, nobody makes you back KS campaigns for things that you aren't going to use. Same with BoH and HB deals. I don't see them as meaningfully different from all the free games that are being offered at RPGNow, but YMMV!

 

[A Fiery Flying Roll]

I think I have about 30 games on my "maybe run this at some point" list, let alone my "random stuff that was cheap on Drivethru" list.

 

[Grelan]

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

The vast majority of my purchases anymore are things I know I will never get to use. Hell, most of them are products I know I'll never read. I have just shy of 50 gigs of pdfs on my hard drive, almost all of which I obtained legally, and the bulk of which I've never read. I'm more of an RPG patron anymore, though I still play and run games. I like to support people creating things that interest me and I have the money to do so.

How does buying a new game affect your perception of a previous purchased game that you haven't got round to playing yet?

It doesn't really. Since almost all of my purchases are digital anymore, they're all just bits on my hard drive.

And in this context, are Kickstarters with stretch goals and Bundles of Holding and similar offers the work of the Devil?

I love Kickstarters, Humble Bundle, and Bundle of Holding. If they're by a creator I have a lot of faith in like Monte Cook, Kevin Crawford, Kobold Press, Frog God, Troll Lord, Greg Stolze, etc, then I will support them to a much higher level than I do with unknown creators. That $75 pissed away on Far West taught me my thresholds. I backed the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition KS at $200, because I had faith in PEG and love running/playing SW. Still, I know I will not read at least half of all the products it comes with.

 

[soltakss]

There is the rate at which you play new games, or at least games new to you.
There is the rate at which you buy new games.

I think for many of us, the latter tends to outstrip the former, to a degree that it becomes impossible to ever catch up.

What's the ratio you are happy with?

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

I don't generally buy games to play, I buy them for ideas and to strip rules out for use in my current game.

However, my current game is a mashup with Revolution D100 skills and RQG spells, although the Players aren't using much magic at all. So, for me, my purchase of RD100 was well worth it.

 

[PolarBlues]

For my part, the rate I accumulate games has generally outstripped my capacity to run, resolting over the years in series of culls of unused, never played games. That makes me a little sad.

The trouble is there are only so many weeks in a years after all and when in your in a group where there are multiple, willing GMs, you got to find ways to let everyone have a stab at the GM role. It's also doesn't help that I've been busy writing my own games. That adds to the pile of stuff to play without even counting as purchase!

But in more recent times I have I cut down on my purchases, mostly limited to things like cheap adventures pdfs for games I play like ICONS. I am not 100% sure but I think that the last complete game I bought might have been "Owl Hoot Trail", something l three years ago . I did run it a few time. It was fun. I'm not sure I'm likely to run it again though as fantasy/western is such a niche and I have since written my own Wild West game. So even though I like Owl Hoot Trail, it too may eventually get culled.

I don't do Kickstarters. I just don't like the model. Unlike Rich who posted above, I prefer to see myself as customer than a supported. I don't have the same issue with Bundles of Holding and such, but I haven't come across one that really tempted me.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

I don't have a good ratio.

 

[noman]

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

I buy games I intend to use.

I may not use it right now...or next month...or this year...but I'm going to use it. At some point. Hopefully.

No, seriously. I only buy games I'm pretty sure I'm going to run, or that supports other games that I plan on running. For example, I bought Godbound, which I've run and will run again, but also bought Scarlet Heroes (and pretty much everything else Keven writes) even though I'm unlikely to run that particular game. I can mine those games for system and ideas even if I never run it. And even if I don't get as much out of it as I thought I would (which is rare), I still put some money in a publisher/writer's pocket, so that's cool.

How does buying a new game affect your perception of a previous purchased game that you haven't got round to playing yet?

It dosen't. Games are isolated, closed systems unless there's some kind of mechanical relationship that ties them together.

And in this context, are Kickstarters with stretch goals and Bundles of Holding and similar offers the work of the Devil?

My approach to these things is I only buy KSs or bundles that are related to the systems I've already purchased individually. I've got Savage Worlds, so I'll gobble up every SW KS or bundle I see. I don't go for a bundle or anything like that unless it's a system I've previously selected for my gaming catalog. So if it's The Complete XYZ Collection, and it's really cool, I still won't pick it up unless it's related to one of the systems I've already chosen.

 

[Simlasa]

I pretty much have the systems I like to use and any new purchases are intended for use with them in some fashion.
So I even though I might buy a new system, it's so I can mine it for ideas to use in LotFP, DCC, or some BRP game.

 

[Ragr]

What's the ratio you are happy with?

Do you buy games knowing that the chance it will get much use is remote?

How does buying a new game affect your perception of a previous purchased game that you haven't got round to playing yet?

And in this context, are Kickstarters with stretch goals and Bundles of Holding and similar offers the work of the Devil?

In a similar way to Voros, I came back into the hobby a few years back after a short hiatus and decided I wanted to significantly broaden my gaming circle from where it had previously been. I found a massive and diverse menu that I had to sample and dived in with a vengeance. Of course, I then found that not every meal was to my liking and over time I've whittled away at the purchases to sort them out. What I have gained over that time is an ability to keenly sniff out what was and was not to my taste; something that I didn't initially have on my immediate return. This has allowed my acquisition to slow right down and become much closer to a 50/50 buy/use situation. I'm pretty happy with that. A few of the things I've bought other people have run for me so I count them as a use as well. My target is buy and use everything, even if that just be to strip mine, but that might be ambitious.

There is a cull on the way following a room rearrangement at home.

I don't see much effect on previous purchases with the arrival of a new one; very little I buy supercedes what I already like in any way. Sure, something might get pushed down the usage timeframe but I don't think that's because of the "new shiny" effect; or, if it is, it's one of many factors.

I did plunge in with gusto to the KS phenomenon as part of "the return" but I've almost totally abandoned them as I don't like the methodology of the vast majority of projects. I'm a consumer here not a risk shield and initial concept of KS has been subverted over the past few years into a glorified pre-order system that serves me as a consumer no purpose whatsoever.

So, overall, my purchases have to be primarily for use rather than collecting these days.