Che Webster

Saturated

The other day I cancelled my pledge for a Kickstarter and got asked by the creator to comment on why I had cancelled. I think this was mostly a desire to find out if there was something wrong with the campaign or project itself. The problem, I realised as I replied, is that I am at saturation point.

I’d love to support creative and exciting new projects in the RPG sphere because I love to support creative people. I’ve long been a collector of RPGs and Worlds to play them in – my collection is extensive, even after recent downsizing. But I can’t face it anymore because I can’t honestly say I’ll play any of these games.

However compelling the proposal, the chances are that I won’t ever bring that new game to the table. This is doubly true if I have to learn a new RPG system to do so because I am tired of learning new systems to play one session of a game before it all falls apart. That’s assuming we get it to the table, which we probably won’t.

I have only so much time and I don’t want to play a game for the sake of giving it a go. I don’t want to learn new RPG systems because, after 40 years or more, I have come to the conclusion that no one is going to truly innovate in this sphere anytime soon. Not in the way that I need to take my hobby… it’s not coming from “out there”.

As for Worlds (aka settings), well, I have hundreds I have yet to play in. Learning them takes time that I don’t have much of in the first place, plus the idea of RPG canon gives me the chills. Is there really anything all that original out there? I doubt it. It’s riffs off the same tunes, much like modern popular music.

Finally, I don’t really have the spare cash to blast on games and worlds I’ll never get to play. Reality is that less than half the things I have bought have been read. Playing them seems a luxury. Why would I keep buying games and books that I will never even read? Much as I want to support creators (and I do) it’s getting harder to justify.

I’ve been trying to support those creators who work in the niche that I am playing inside, or those people I know on a personal level. Sometimes the support doesn’t need to be actually buying the product, especially if I can help promote it and talk it up. I’d rather share the love and spread the word than fill my shelves any further.

But of course, after all that, I still back people’s projects. I still buy new stuff. I just realise that I am at saturation point.

Game on!

6 comments

  1. As we get more mature (older in my case), the argument for novelty becomes less convincing. We’ve already experienced a lot of options, and have a good idea of which ones we like.

    When you’re young, try new things, because if you haven’t tried many things yet there’s a good chance you’ll discover something you like better, and you’ll get a long lifetime of enjoyment from it.

    When you’re older, hone in on the things you already know you like. The odds of finding something you enjoy more than your favorite goes down, because you’ve already tried many things. The upside of finding something better goes down too, because you’ll have fewer years to enjoy it. So trying something new is a worse risk/reward proposition. It’s a kind of morbid way of looking at it, but it’s true.

    If you spent the week in a foreign city that you wouldn’t get back to for a long time, and had one more night to eat out, would you try a new place, or go back to your favorite one more time before you had to leave?

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  2. Don’t let any body guilt you into “supporting” creatives. Let the people who want and need and will use their products “support” them. I hear and read this kind of think all the time, and it’s just ridiculous. Your money is a limited resource and you need to treat it as such. “Support” *yourself* first. Groceries are nice.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I keep saying the same thing, and then keep getting the next shiny. I have slowed way down, and I also like to feel I am supporting the creative people. And yet – the stuff piles up, sometimes I don’t even get around to reading it.

    We need an RPG Anonymous group for those of us who need to stop getting new stuff and just use all we already have! Though I have started spelunking my stuff and actually using library software to track it. Just slow going.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  6. I completely understand–I still can’t get people to play Mage: the Ascension or D&D, much less have everyone learn some system that conflicts with the couple we may have in our heads.

    I did go on a rampage of buying dice though, including a lot of twelves when I thought I would get into ‘dodecohedron’ that a nice chap online made, but I lost interest and now have a ton of gorgeous 12-sided (and only 12-sided dice)…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to Treasure Law Released – Roleplay Rescue’s Blog Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.