Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;976959Yeah - when people start talking about banning GMOs I ask them to pick which 3 billion people starve to death.

And frankly - GMOs taste fine and humans have been altering crops for nearly as long as they've been growing them.  We're just better at it now.  It's the shipping from a distance and long-term storage which reduces the taste.

As to higher cost - that's mostly a big city and east/west coast thing.  Even living in a substantial city in the Midwest I can't think of many places which would charge $12 for a burger - and it'd likely be half a pound, include extras (mushrooms etc.) and a side.

GMO crops in North America are comprised from Alfalfa for animal feed, Canola, Cotton, Corn, Soya bean and Sugar beet. I think the Arctic Apple was recently approved as well. It's ridiculously easy to avoid using these products. Cotton probably won't have much effect since it's not ingested and sugar doesn't have DNA.

That said, Genetic Modification will probably be rendered obsolete by gene editing.

Quote from: DavetheLost;977080Not to mention the insulin which keeps many diabetics alive is the product of a GMO.  So if you want to ban GMOs are you willing to personally pull the trigger on the diabetics?

I doubt it.  I know that for PETA - which is against ALL animal testing and production in medicine etc., one of their higher ups uses animal made insulin.

Quote from: Biscuitician;972766It's just a bit sad they have to make this hobby so dear.

That depends on whether your hobby is collecting or playing.

Spread over lots of play time, it's pretty cheap. I won't play 5e so it'd be too expensive for me. But I'd pay the price for a new print of AD&D1e, Traveller, etc. In fact, in the last year or two I've been buying extra secondhand copies of these from time to time, as mine are getting worn out in play. The pages are falling out of the PHB... but I did get it in 1983, so I can't complain too much.

We just finished up a campaign with a TPK, but the party won. That's been going since a bit before April, I think. Maybe 20 sessions. Lots of fun and laughs. Even if I'd bought the game books new... I spent more money on snacks for the game session in that time!

Maybe the OP doesn't have snacks at his game sessions. In which case, I have nothing to say to him, he lies beyond all humanity and decency.

In importance to the success of a game session, it is,


This is from back in the day when rpg.net was almost useful:

https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?250660-Theory-Cheetoism

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;977233I doubt it.  I know that for PETA - which is against ALL animal testing and production in medicine etc., one of their higher ups uses animal made insulin.

That in itself is pretty weird. Most insulin is made using bacteria or yeast.

Quote from: Biscuitician;972749Had a look on Amazon uk at the price of the three core books. £80 not including postage.

Ouch!

  Pretty sure in 1979 with the release of the monster manual it started.  I remember as a kid the books being rather expensive, with that one being 12-15 bucks.  Adjusted for inflation and actual increase of quality, I think the books are actually cheaper now, but I could be wrong.  But I think they have always been pricey,

Quote from: Tod13;977295That in itself is pretty weird. Most insulin is made using bacteria or yeast.

Some is, but the earliest insulin was animal derived, and I think it's still better for some kinds of diabetes.  (I know just enough about medicine to sort of sound like I know what I'm talking about - so I'm not going to even try to delve further than that.)

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;977241That depends on whether your hobby is collecting or playing.

Heck, collecting non-RPG books can be pretty damn pricey once you get into actual bibliophile-level stuff.  And don't even talk about the price of college textbooks or specialized manuals.

What's a nice comic collection run these days?

Quote from: Justin Alexander;977044The sad thing is that there will, in fact, come a day when a genetically-modified crop food is posing an actual health risk to people. And it will be impossible to get anyone to listen because the idea has been so thoroughly discredited by kooks.

Not true. There's a fairly strong anti-GMO market that grow$ every year. Scientific studies have suggested that long term organic yields are comparable to long term GMO yields. The 3 billion starving people is just a propaganda point put out by fat Americans who eat too fucking much.

What GMO's offer is greater short term certainty in an industry subject to uncertainty (agriculture). For a producer that's attractive, but it also means higher input costs. The seed sellers are also the chemical sellers, so they make serious bank with this system.

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;977355Some is, but the earliest insulin was animal derived, and I think it's still better for some kinds of diabetes.  (I know just enough about medicine to sort of sound like I know what I'm talking about - so I'm not going to even try to delve further than that.)

I'm a software developer turned bioinformatician, and took grad classes in molecular biology and bioengineering related ares. But, like you, won't comment on the clinical aspects.

What the fuck does GMOs and Insulin have to do with RPGs and their expense?

Quote from: san dee jota;977372Heck, collecting non-RPG books can be pretty damn pricey once you get into actual bibliophile-level stuff.

That's what I mean. In principle, if it's just going to be glanced at and then go on your shelf, it's not worth a lot of cash; if you're going to get hundreds of hours of fun from it, it's worth a lot.

Of course, in practice it's the reverse. People will pay zillions for shit they never use, and get stingy with stuff they do use. I always think of the guy on the Acaeum who posted up pics of his game library, it was a full-on old school library with varnished wood and green leather-clad table and all that, and something like 17 copies of OD&D, which he'd paid thousands for each... all wrapped in plastic and never played. That's wrong.

In my professional field of being a trainer, there are actually guys who collect old weight sets and... don't lift at all.

Quote from: Voros;977445What the fuck does GMOs and Insulin have to do with RPGs and their expense?

If I didn't have to spend so much on my Insulin I could spend more on RPGs.

Quote from: Voros;977445What the fuck does GMOs and Insulin have to do with RPGs and their expense?

Not a blessed thing. Aren't forum discussions fun? Tangents are just fine unless they pull politics into the game section or vice versa, and I guess this doesn't count.

I agree that it's a bit... odd, and I'd probably lose interest in the thread if it was just this. But it's a pretty normal type of digression for a thread that has served its' purpose (do we all agree that gaming books are a reasonable known expense that has gone up with inflation but not much more than that, that OP had plenty of other options available/suggested to them and simply was uninterested in any other option and is thus a captive audience to a single producer, and had no point except looking for sympathy of which we had little?).

Quote from: DavetheLost;977489If I didn't have to spend so much on my Insulin I could spend more on RPGs.

 Good one  

Quote from: Voros;977445What the fuck does GMOs and Insulin have to do with RPGs and their expense?

The question was answered some time ago ("D&D is -cheaper- now, you're just whiny"), so all that's left is irrelevant digressions.