Don't believe the hype.
Preface
When there are more games than you could ever play in your lifetime, money becomes a secondary consideration. Buying stuff is easy. Just look at the "pile of shame" that most tabletop gamers have tucked away somewhere. Actually playing/reading/painting them is much harder.
There are only so many hours in the day and the reality is that most people simply don't have the time to keep up with more than one game system.
What I'm talking about here applies to boardgames, RPGs, and miniature games. Basically any part of the hobby where you feel like the products release quicker than you can actually play them.
As the name of the blog implies, this is from the perspective of being a solo tabletop player.
The FOMO Problem
I hate it with a fiery passion.
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| What is FOMO? |
Constant marketing emails, ads on every webpage, social media shoving everything down your throat. No wonder that FOMO works so well. Just think about the insane amount of time you are bombarded with new product releases that scream at you to buy them.
That includes unofficial content like social media posts of hobbyists sharing their recent purchases, unboxing videos, early preview videos, and all the other ways you might encounter the "hot new product".
How many times have bought something because you saw it in a video or somewhere on social media? Did you really want it or were you just craving the short-term satisfaction of acquiring something? The fleeting dopamine rush of unboxing a package with content that you like the idea of owning.
How many times has that purchase gathered dust in a corner somewhere?
How many times have you actually needed to own it so soon after release?
That is the core problem that being a patient gamer is trying to address.
What is a "Patient Gamer"?
How long they wait depends on the game, but it's usually more than a year and can even come close to a decade.
The Advantages
- Without the pre-release marketing hype, reviews and community opinions are a lot more realistic
- You know what is available and won't be surprised by any needed purchases after the fact
- Videogames get cheaper over time
- Additional patches, expansions, or DLCs lead to a better experience
- Older games don't need expensive state-of-the-art hardware
- You can ignore all the FOMO marketing and the unrealistic hype machine
- The publisher can't ambush you with unexpected or unwanted changes
The Disadvantages
- Multiplayer games have a short lifespan and can become unplayable if you wait too long
- You won't understand or be able to participate in major online discussions about the new releases
- You could stumble upon story spoilers because people don't care after a few months or years
How can that be applied to the tabletop hobby?
The major differences
- Tabletop games typically get more expensive over time
- The second hand market can become ridiculously expensive for some games
- Stocks are limited and games can be sold out
- Most games suffer the fate of being out-of-print at some point
The Price Problem
Yes, most tabletop games become more expensive on the second hand market. Especially if there is some aspect of nostalgia associated with that game. However, these are not the games you should be targeting as a patient gamer. Instead, you should be looking at the less popular games that might have flopped on the market, or games with newer editions that invalidate older products.
An example of a game that was less popular than expected, which led to an overproduction and a stock that wouldn't sell, is the Runewars Miniatures Game from Fantasy Flight Games. For months, I would see the entire German product line discounted from 70-90% off. That is an insane value for money, even if you only use the miniatures and never play the games itself.
After roughly half a year, the offer was still around so either the stock was extremely large or it wasn't selling well, even at these prices. I ended up buying a bundle with the entire product line (1 box each) for ~80% off, which ended up costing me around ~150€. Since then, I have used the minis in various mini-agnostic games, and I still have a ton of them left for whatever I might need.
A more recent example would be the Age of Sigmar Dominion box from Games Workshop. Apparently, they produced way too many of these boxes and they still float around various shops for less than the release price.
I didn't plan to get into Age of Sigmar because GW stuff tends to be really expensive and I was already invested in 40k. That was until I saw the Dominion box for less than 100€.
Limited Stocks
Producing tabletop games or miniatures is very expensive. Combined with storage and shipping costs, it is certainly understandable why companies only produce a limited amount of their product line at a time. For popular games, that constantly get restocked, that isn't an issue, but what about smaller companies or niche products?
I know it's hard to accept, but some games will just vanish or become too unrealistic to acquire. As a patient gamer, you really need to pick your battles here. Don't chase after obscure games that cost more than several newer games combined.
Be patient. Don't get tunnel vision hunting after your Moby Dick. Remember that Cursed City debacle where everyone rushed to buy a copy because GW suddenly removed it from their store without saying anything? Well, it became available again a few months later and is still available today. Don't let FOMO lead your purchasing decisions.
Look for deals at your favorite stores and, now and then, look through your local second hand stores or online marketplaces like ebay. You'd be surprised what people put out there. The best deals are usually from people that are dissolving their entire collection, where they're just glad that somebody is coming to pick everything up.
Most importantly, don't disregard unpopular products. Especially as a solo gamer, you can repurpose the components of many games. Who cares if the rules are bad if you only intend to use the miniatures? Who cares if half the tokens are missing if you're just interested in the dungeon tiles?
Embrace mediocre games, for they are the ones with the best deals.
The Tabletop Patient Gamer
The Advantages
- Without the pre-release marketing hype, reviews and community opinions are a lot more realistic
- You know what is available and won't be surprised by any needed purchases after the fact
- If there are erratas, updated books, or overhauls, you get to decide which version to use
- You can ignore all the FOMO marketing and the unrealistic hype machine
- The publisher can't ambush you with unexpected or unwanted changes
- You don't have the time pressure of a new edition or update around the corner
The Disadvantage
- Multiplayer environments like tournaments, hobby clubs, and in-store games, typically don't use older games or editions
- You might only be able to find second hand copies
- Availability and price of products can fluctuate wildly
- You won't understand or be able to participate in major online discussions about the new releases
Closing Thoughts
The 10th edition of Warhammer 40k was announced and I'm sitting here thinking about all the Warhammer Imperium magazines that I haven't even received yet. They're telling me, that all these things will be basically out of date the second I receive them. There are 25 weekly magazines still left and they only come with 9th edition rules and statistics. What an absolute joke.
I feel like I've barely decided on a paint scheme for my space marines and the codex is already on its way to be an expensive paperweight. There have been recent codex releases and I don't even want to imagine how people feel who bought those. This wasn't my first edition change so I don't know why it affected me this deeply. Maybe because I bought more books than usual and it somehow feels like the edition was only released a short time ago. In my mind, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what this edition had to offer.
Thinking about my soon-to-be outdated books, I decided to stop trying to follow GW's release schedule. It just doesn't make any sense for me in my current situation. I simply don't have the time or money to keep up-to-date with several boardgames, RPG systems, and miniature games. The FOMO of not being able to do that has sucked too much enjoyment out of my hobby.
Instead, I'm going to relax a bit and enjoy all the products I already own. My backlog (aka pile of shame) is gigantic and varied enough to keep me entertained for a long long time.
If I want to dive deeper into a game like 40k, where there are several different editions to choose from, I'm going to research which edition might be the best fit for me and focus on that. One advantage of the hectic release schedule is that many people end up reselling their older books to afford the newer ones. I heard that 7th edition is on the crunchier side so that sounds like a good starting point.
Thank you for reading this far and I hope that you found some of this useful for your own hobby approach.
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