I was just thinking about the books I have stored in the attic and wondering why I keep them and if I'm the only one that thinks I might get them back out "some day"?
Even if I could find someone interested in GURPS or RuneQuest, trying to get people to play 290 year old games can be an uphill struggle.
Besides, if they have been sitting in boxes for that many years what are the odds I'm going to suddenly get the inspiration to pull them out and do more than just remember the old times?
How do you justify keep boxes of old game stuff? How often has it even actually been reused?
Well, this is a strange question: first, they are memories from my past; second, many of them still contain useful material - like the fluff in the 1E/2E FR supplements or in GURPS 3E; and, third, I never know if something will be played again: CoC supplements are timeless and should someone be interested in this "D&D thinghie" I would test if D&D is good for them with the Rules Cyclopedia before throwing them into the deep water (we still play 3/3.5E BTW).
I keep my old books for inspiration. I read them and they make me feel good. I also swipe ideas, maps, names, plaots, traps, and items from them to use in other games.
For starters, I don't put them in an attic. All of my old game stuff that I keep fits (more or less) on three bookcases.(two large ones and a smaller one for the games I'm currently running/playing). If something doesn't for there, I sell it. I haven't had to sell anything in about 6 years though...
Quote from: Reckall on October 18, 2021, 07:19:25 AM
Well, this is a strange question: first, they are memories from my past; second, many of them still contain useful material - like the fluff in the 1E/2E FR supplements or in GURPS 3E; and, third, I never know if something will be played again: CoC supplements are timeless and should someone be interested in this "D&D thinghie" I would test if D&D is good for them with the Rules Cyclopedia before throwing them into the deep water (we still play 3/3.5E BTW).
Yeah, the CoC stuff is timeless.
There seems to be limitless sources of inspiration and even memories on the internet so, if I didn't have the space, it would be hard to justify "hording" the materials that haven't been touched in years.
Like the people that pay for Self Storage but don't remember all the things they stuffed away there.
At what point does it become "trashable"?
Throwing them away would be like ditching a vintage car that still runs a-ok.
Except the old-timer would probably have cost less than my gaming hoard.
On the one side I always hope one day I'll be able to play these games.
On the other side I wouldn't mind giving the away if there was somebody who would make good use of them.
On the third side nostalgia and what Svenhelgrim said.
Most likely scenario is that after my death the housecleaners will throw everything in a dumpster and burn or pulp the lot.
Well, I stopped doing that with my last move, about 12 years ago. I had a lot of things I picked up off the bargain rack. Most of it was trash. Of the things I've lost or sold or given away, the only ones I partially regret are mostly things that someone else got good use out of, and that I could replace now if I really wanted to. The one big exception was a board game that I loaned out and never got back.
I have kept a few games that I'll probably never play again because I enjoy looking at them occasionally--and you never know. But if I needed the shelf space for something that I was playing, they'd go in a heart beat.
For the same reason I still have my high school yearbooks even though I never look at them. I might... some day... want to.
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:08:43 AM
I was just thinking about the books I have stored in the attic and wondering why I keep them and if I'm the only one that thinks I might get them back out "some day"?
You are looking at this all wrong. The secret to using old games is to stop buying new games. So the question should be, "Why do you keep buying games when you already have enough?"
Quote from: hedgehobbit on October 18, 2021, 08:34:29 AM
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:08:43 AM
I was just thinking about the books I have stored in the attic and wondering why I keep them and if I'm the only one that thinks I might get them back out "some day"?
You are looking at this all wrong. The secret to using old games is to stop buying new games. So the question should be, "Why do you keep buying games when you already have enough?"
I've written every game I've run for the past two decades; do a search on my post history and you'll see "White Book Mage", d6 Star Trek, Rebuild of Robotech and, of course, Ruins & Realms.
But when I play, it's up to the GM what system we use and because I like to know the rules I pick up the necessary books and that's where the majority of my collection comes from.
I did a purge of my "medium old" stuff because I needed to downsize. Kept the newest stuff (mostly 5E) and the oldest stuff (TSR and Judges Guild) and got rid of a lot in the middle (2E, 3E, 4E).
I have a lot of stuff in my bookshelves, but some shelves are currently empty and I have to admit that I like shelves with the potential to be filled and I like the fact that I don't have piles everywhere.
Some of my stuff is still boxed from the downsize, and if I don't dust it off in a year or so it might go to Noble Knight. The really old stuff I like for nostalgia and because it inspires me, the newer stuff I actually use, the medium stuff was just taking up space.
I unloaded some older books as well, but there's a few I kept for nostalgia or because I like the art.
I recently got people to play an Ars Magica game. My players weren't really that into it at first, but I really wanted to run it - this was after our previous game got derailed by Covid and I wasn't too keen on going back to it. So I decided, "I'm running Ars Magica". I posted an ad on meetup.com and after a month or so, I got a bunch of new players, and then my old players started rotating back in too.
"If you build it, they will come."
A friend of mine had similar thoughts a while back, so he gave me his old 1st ed Pendragon. I don't have that much stuff so I happily took it. Looking at it, it's pretty worn but holy smokes it's a thing of beauty. I almost feel like buying one in mint condition :) Haven't played it yet, but one of these days.....
I'm in my pine box house so unless my daughters in the future need to get rid of my shit after one of them takes the upstairs and my wife and I move to the ground floor suite I'm going to continue stacking. I'd gotten rid of a lot of my old stuff in various moves during university and my young days and deeply regret it. I've been adding through POD but it's not the same.
This all became useful as a younger friend of mine who only played WotC editions watched a video about 2e and decided he wanted to try some old school gaming.
Quote from: KingCheops on October 18, 2021, 11:14:30 AM
This all became useful as a younger friend of mine who only played WotC editions watched a video about 2e and decided he wanted to try some old school gaming.
Living the Dream!
Never really understood the mindset that says if it doesn't have content being churned out, it's not worth learning.
The older games are just fine but, trying to get people to play them is a struggle.
I'm not a hoarder, I'm not a hoarder, I'm not a hoarder, I'm not a hoarder, I'm not a hoarder....
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:08:43 AM
I was just thinking about the books I have stored in the attic and wondering why I keep them and if I'm the only one that thinks I might get them back out "some day"?
Even if I could find someone interested in GURPS or RuneQuest, trying to get people to play 290 year old games can be an uphill struggle.
Besides, if they have been sitting in boxes for that many years what are the odds I'm going to suddenly get the inspiration to pull them out and do more than just remember the old times?
How do you justify keep boxes of old game stuff? How often has it even actually been reused?
Over the span of various moves, out of my parent's place, and then from AK to WA, I lost a good chunk of my gaming stuff. Stuff that I really missed. All of my Basic thru 2nd edition AD&D books, some really great board games and painted miniatures. Some of it I don't necessarily miss, and some I do.
Over the past few years, I've replaced a lot of it via Ebay, 2nd hand purchases, re-releases and Print on Demand from DriveThruRPG.
Now, when I'm faced with tossing some old gaming stuff, I think "Am I going to miss this in a decade or so?"
I've boxed up all my Transformers CCG, and X-Wing Miniatures 1st edition. I have a few armies that I don't play but can't bear to part with. Mostly some Warmachine 2nd edition. And all my RPG books.
Some of it will likely never get used, but I have GMed WEG D6 and 2nd Edition AD&D from time to time.
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:46:20 AM
Like the people that pay for Self Storage but don't remember all the things they stuffed away there.
At what point does it become "trashable"?
That's the big question innit? At what point does one become an RPG hoarder.
Quote(Smaug) had passed from an uneasy dream...to a doze, and from a doze to wide waking. There was a breath of strange air in his cave... He stirred and stretched forth his neck to sniff. Then he missed the cup!
Thieves! Fire! Murder! His rage passes (sic) description - the sort of rages that is seen only when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted. His fire belched forth, the hall smoked, he shook the mountain-roots.
I don't think there's a pat answer. I did recently do a room clean and my rule of thumb is that if I haven't used something in the past year or so, it's eligible for the trash.
I think right now I draw the line at #1. How cluttered is my room? and #2. I'm not going to rent storage space for old gaming stuff.
I would never put game books in the attic. In my old flat there was not enough shelf space for everything so some stuff was in piles in the under-stairs store room, but now that I have umpteen shelves, everything is proudly on display. Visitors often come and marvel. ;D
Quote from: Ratman_tf on October 18, 2021, 12:16:35 PM
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:46:20 AM
Like the people that pay for Self Storage but don't remember all the things they stuffed away there.
At what point does it become "trashable"?
That's the big question innit? At what point does one become an RPG hoarder.
Quote(Smaug) had passed from an uneasy dream...to a doze, and from a doze to wide waking. There was a breath of strange air in his cave... He stirred and stretched forth his neck to sniff. Then he missed the cup!
Thieves! Fire! Murder! His rage passes (sic) description - the sort of rages that is seen only when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted. His fire belched forth, the hall smoked, he shook the mountain-roots.
I don't think there's a pat answer. I did recently do a room clean and my rule of thumb is that if I haven't used something in the past year or so, it's eligible for the trash.
I think right now I draw the line at #1. How cluttered is my room? and #2. I'm not going to rent storage space for old gaming stuff.
It's why I switched to PDF's in most of my new buys. Only after reading it AND if I'm going to play it (and I do mean until I'm going to play it) then I might get the phisycal book.
Probably nostalgia. Lots of games I will never run (or run again). Nowadays, I mostly buy PDFs.
Well, also, I bought some 5e books, you cannot buy those in PDFs, but I've stopped buying 5e stuff a while ago.
I definitely wouldn't rent space for my books (I don't need to, I have fewer than 100 books), but I might be a PDF hoarder (I have about 100,000 files in my RPG folder, but that includes stock art, character sheets, redundant copies, zipped file with multiple books, etc. All legal, most bough in sales or bundles).
Quote from: hedgehobbit on October 18, 2021, 08:34:29 AM
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:08:43 AM
I was just thinking about the books I have stored in the attic and wondering why I keep them and if I'm the only one that thinks I might get them back out "some day"?
You are looking at this all wrong. The secret to using old games is to stop buying new games. So the question should be, "Why do you keep buying games when you already have enough?"
Yes!!! Well played.
Quote from: hedgehobbit on October 18, 2021, 08:34:29 AM
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:08:43 AM
I was just thinking about the books I have stored in the attic and wondering why I keep them and if I'm the only one that thinks I might get them back out "some day"?
You are looking at this all wrong. The secret to using old games is to stop buying new games. So the question should be, "Why do you keep buying games when you already have enough?"
What type of heresy is this!?
I keep them to oppress the young. 8) By hoarding them from circulation they are forced to create their own lesser RPGs, pale reflections of a golden age, so that We may deign their ersatz efforts with Our smug indifference. ;D Huzzah, Our grand conspiracy has come to fruition! ;D
I don't want to get rid of my old books. I go through phases where I rotate which ones are handy, and which ones are stored. I usually alternate between White Box, 1E, 2E, 3E, and 3.5E /// and 4E, Pathfinder, and 5E. One of those 2 groups, is usually the current hotness. 3.5E back, or 4E forward. Lots to use, either way.
Quote from: Greentongue on October 18, 2021, 07:08:43 AM
How do you justify keep boxes of old game stuff? How often has it even actually been reused?
I don't have boxes full of old games. I got rid of them years ago. What I do have are bookshelves full of RPG books that I reach for regularly from my desk. I read them. Get ideas from them. Write apps to simplify or mimic certain die rolls or chargen from rules I'm exploring.
I think the only book(s) I still have that I don't use is Top Secret (oh! and an early edition of Shadowrun). Car Wars gets played every couple of years. All the D&D stuff gets used on a regular basis.
As to why I keep it? Because I might fund people to play a Top Secret or Shadowrun game. I likely won't, but the space they take vs the money I would get for them is negligible.
I'm a data packrat. IMO all information has intrinsic value and should be preserved. Fortunately with the advent of the digital age, that doesn't mean I need to become a hoarder
I hear a lot of variations on "I just like having the original books".
For me, it's just that: mostly an aesthetic/sensory decision. But I do regularly get rid of stuff and get other old stuff.