I can certainly appreciate both of these claims. I DO have more than I'll ever play AND I have the game (or really 3 games) I could play forever and never need a new one.
Yet. I still buy games.
I am fortunate really. I can make my hobby pay for itself. I can buy the books I want, when I want.
Thankfully my needs are also small and specific, so I also tend to write the material I want more out need of the material than out of a cost saving feature.
Sometimes though I buy something and I never use it, or, I never use as I wanted to use it.
Take for example D&D 4e.
I have a lot of 4e books. Many I bought REALLY cheap, but some I got new. In any case it represents a sunk cost for me. Even if I unload them all at my FLGS auction, I am not likely to make anything at all back from it.
I'd love to do something with it someday, but am I playing into a Sunk Cost Fallacy?
That is I'll never make my money (time, resources) back by put more money/time/resources int it.
I would love to the run the HPE adventures that are centered around Orcus and the Raven Queen. I have read through them many times and started them and think it would be fun.
There are three scenarios I am considering.
1. Run them under 5e. This one is more of a thought experiment for me really. I'd try to run it as a 4e/5e hybrid to scale 4e's 30 levels down too 5e's 20. I like this idea since it would make for an interesting experiment and test my knowledge on both systems. Converting 4e to 5e is easier than say converting 4e to something else.
2. Convert 4e to Something else. I am honestly thinking of doing this under BECMI. Using the honest to goodness Red Boxes and everything. This idea appeals to me on a lot of levels. BECMI's 1-36 levels map nicely onto 4e's 1-30. Both end in characters being immortals. Naturally this is the hardest to do and appeals to me the most, though I have done it before. The level differences and system differences would allow me to start H1 Keep on the Shadowfell at BECMI level 4 or 5 and give me 1-3 for other adventures. Maybe even the Aleena adventure in the Red Box and the Witchlight Fens adventure in the...Red Box.
The more I think about this the more I like it really. I would need to decided on Class and Race (like AD&D) or Race as Class (as BECMI). In truth it would not be difficult. The 4e races all have a class they seem to prefer. Dragonborn would all be Paladins, Tieflings all are Warlocks, Half-Orcs are all Barbarians and so on. Plus there is a lot I still like about BECMI that I want to do.
This is something I think needs delving into further.
3. Run the adventures under 4e. The simplest solution, naturally, has no appeal to me.
Am I sinking more resources into a fruitless endeavor? Should I cut my losses and run?
No idea yet. But I think I can invest a *little* more resources with out (too much) loss.
4 comments:
It your losses and run. Get what you can for them. I did that a few years ago and have no regrets!
Tabletop games have several great advantages over computer games. Not only do they archive much better, but the editions developed in the mid-1970s run on the same hardware that the modern games do, even though it seems sometimes that the newer processors heat up faster and have less capacity.
You have no call to run anything with them now. If you're certain that you'll never use the D&D4e materials for a game, then you should be safe unloading them and recouping what costs you can. I can't say that you'll definitely need them, but tastes change over time, and some day you might find the urge to play an RPG with strong technical and strategic elements.
Every book is kindling for your creativity. Some more so than others.
If you think it would be fun, then go for it. I personally agree that BECMI would be very fun, but I'm also a bit biased since BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia is my favorite version of D&D.
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