Most Expensive Gaming Habit
 

Brian's post about model assembly made me start to wonder.

Which gaming habit is most expensive?

Tabletop strategy, videogames, Tabletop RPGs, LARPS, card games, and board games are the only ones I can think of, but I'm sure there are more.

So, how much does your gaming habit run you?

Me? Varies, but I'd say about $75 a month as a videogamer. I'm about to purchase a Wii though, and I already own a $150 slim PS2, and DS Lite ($190 import).

The Wandering God

Well it all does depend on how 'hardcore' the individual gamer is, but if I had to hazard I guess, given someone 'hardcore' in their given gaming medium, video games and tabletop strategy (if that's like Warhammer and such) are the most expensive.

My brother dabbled lightly in Warhammer and quickly slowed down when he found out how INSANELY expensive the models are. He started collecting some of the cheaper, "lesser-name" brands, but even those are pricey.

And well, if you're hardcore in video games, that's a whole lot of $50-70 games...

For me, well, I've never tabulated actually...

I own the ENTIRE Wizards d20 Modern line of books, purchased over a period of two years, so that's probably a few dollars a month right there. Back when I played Dungeons and Dragons Online, that came to $17 a month...

I haven't bought a console since the PS2, but I bought a $1500 gaming computer a little over a year ago. In that time I've bought maybe...three or four games, all new.

That actually comes to about $74 too, not including d20 Modern, which would definitely add a few dollars.

As far as I'm concerned TCGs are the most expensive. I got into Yu-Gi-Oh (laugh and you die.) a few years ago and I must have sunk thousands into that damn game.

Depends on your definition of gaming, but a bad night at Atlantic City can give a whole new meaning to the word 'expensive'.

One that involves ball-peen hammers and some really unpleasant crunching noises.

I'm going to second this post, although I play Magic. If you want to seriously compete in constructed deck events, even on a local level, you have to sink significant cash into singles and packs. And if you like limited formats like I do...well, then you're really screwed. Having to pay $13 every time you want to do a draft on Magic Online adds up WAY faster than I usually realize.

I agree that TCGs suck a lot of money out, and are probably the most relatively expensive game versus what you get. You essentially get one game, hundreds (or thousands) of cards you'll likely never use, and limited playability.

I think computers can get to be more expensive. I keep upgrading my computer so I'd hate to think of how much money I've put into computers over time, but I get a lot more playability and versatility out of it. So while I might spend more than I would in a TCG, I get more "stuff" out of it.

So it really depends on the perspective.

Yeah, cards are rather unruly too...I'm sure there's well over $1000 invested into my Grade 7-8 Pokemon Card collection. :P

Oh well, on the bright side I caught 'em all. Now I just need to hope some eccentric japanese man will buy the deck for $100,000 in 40 years. Cash outtttt!

TCGs and Clix. No question. Sure, RPG books are 20-30 each (Unless we're talking about a huge game like World's Lamest Dungeon), but I know people who spent 30 bucks that much a week on TCG cards.

A week? I've spent that much on a single card. More, actually. I've stopped lately because I've been pretty broke. But to continue my earlier post, I've sunk way too much money into TCGs. Several grand (over time) into the deck, more money every time a new set comes out - around a hundred I think. More when games are boxed with limited edition (or brand new) cards, $5 to $10 every week for locals, $15+ once a month ofr so for regionals, $20+ for larger events.

And people wonder why TCG events have problems with theft.