Ever get gaming burnout? What about people who sell their collection?

[aliensstudios]

I'm one of those people who prefer the collecting aspect more so than the gaming aspect. I don't think I would sell it all but I have decreased the size of my collection by about 60 titles this year

[turf]

"It's fleeting. I've put too much work into this and spent too much time. "
You mean you're to far deep in it to back out now? And if you hadn't, it's possibly you wouldn't be doing this, or?

When I look at my collection, I don't just see games.  I see lots of memories, laughs, and good times that I had hunting all this stuff down.  There were lots of thrills of finding rare stuff in the wild. 

I couldn't get rid of all this stuff.  It's a big part of my life.  I've enjoyed the adventure more than I have/will the destination.

[darkragnorok]

Recently I have have been on the verge of selling off a couple of games from my collection. Not because in need of money or anything but rather to get rid of some clutter that derived from buying so many games on impulse and having them just sit there collecting dust. These are games that I look at and willingly know that I will never get to them and quite frankly I dont care at this point. This doesnt really apply to games I have owned for while and not parting ways with but just some random pick ups that I felt when I bought I did so blindly and just out of reflex. And who knows maybe one day I will somehow get my hands on said games and have the time to play and care but as of now, I dont really care.

[burningdoom]

Sometimes, but I have enough other hobbies to keep me busy until I get the itch to play again.

[necrosexual]

I'm gonna answer that second question first, because I can collect my thoughts on that one.  I've known people who have sold their collection, and they had mighty collections.  Then a year or two later they start collecting again.  Only one person have I seen not revert back to collecting, but I think collecting ruined a relationship for him, so maybe he knows better or something.  On several occasions I have thought about selling my collection and doing something more "productive", but the only "productive" thing I can think to do is to go back into game design, which wouldn't be bad.  I've got the skills, knowledge, and tools to make games, and I'm an approved Wii U developer by Nintendo.  I've just never done anything with that knowledge short of proof of concepts and prototypes.  I usually get something working and playable, have some folks test it, say it's great, and then I stop working on it. 

I don't think I'll ever sell my collection, but I could see one day down the line, getting fed up and selling off more than half of my collection.  I was pretty burnt out with collecting... back in... 2014?  Maybe it was 2015.  I did most of my "online" collecting through a fairly prominent Facebook group, it wasn't a very good group, admins were always power tripping and scamming folks.  Eventually I got fed up and continuously called the admins on their shit until I started getting banned from other groups because the admins threatened to ban their groups members if they didn't ban me.  I pretty much don't do any of that group BS any more.  I pretty much stopped collecting for about 6 months because of it.  The main leader of that group is relatively local to me.  So I stopped going to places I knew I might run into him at, because I have temper problems and the guy is like 4' 8" and I'd be too tempted to throw his Bobby Lee looking midget ass.  He later opened up a shop another city over, he massively scammed hundreds of folks over stuff like NWC carts and stuff.  I wanna say this whole thing was mentioned on some prominent podcasts.  People threatened to kill him and burn down his store, so he shut down his store for a while, renamed the business, and now he pretty much doesn't leave his store and he sends his cronies to flea markets and stuff to get more stuff to scam folks with.  Guy was a real Crook, fam.

As for burnout... Sometimes.  Usually burnout revolves around one thing or another for me.  I was pretty burnt out after playing through the entire Assassin's Creed franchise recently, I think I took a day or two and stopped playing games altogether and then I did a kind of pallet cleanser and played some random games.  Sometimes I just get tired of playing altogether and I'll spend a day or two just watching Netflix or something.

Thank you for your honesty.

"ruined a relationship for him"
Hmm.. I mean I have some ideas, but how?

"I've known people who have sold their collection, and they had mighty collections.  Then a year or two later they start collecting again."

I think it's quite a bizarre phenomenon. I can understand selling your collection when you're young and regretting it later, or just needing sell for the finances/family obligations in semi-adulthood. But to just sell off randomly like its purge then rebuy; then damn..., some even sell the collection again?

Idk I just find pretty weird/strange to me, and usually pretty hush hush when its mentioned as to why?, or not given much detail/depth. Some of them howeverwhen they sell off their collection, they just disappear basically or some have almost like a kind of "religious" (metaphorical terms)  fanatical negative outlook on anything about, or related to video games, or those "who play" video games after they sell off. Sometimes as I said but usually just go cold turkey and disappear, still worth mentioning.

ngl if i could 'purge' my collection for $100k and turn around and get the surgeries i need and another $40k to spend on recovery efforts (pay off a full year lease to landlords, repair my car for the return to the workforce (new engine, new clutch, some aesthetic repairs while i'm at it) and things like that) i would probably do it in a heartbeat.
but my surgeries are considered aesthetic surgeries, many insurances do not cover it. i would probably keep some of my CEs but the rest i could get back later.

so if i could purge it and start anew and feel destressed about the size of the library, and net a win on my end due to what are life-saving ~aesthetic~ surgeries for me, you know, i'd be all right with that. not even going to lie about that.

but i probably won't do the same thing i did when i was 17 where i literally hawked the whole lot off because i felt overwhelmed by the number, and knew (and still know) that going from 1xx at the time, 3xx now, games would greatly reduce an overwhelming backlog that clashes with my all-or-nothing complex just so i have to focus on a fewer number of games to play. nah, i know now i prefer the act of collecting at the end of the day. i rope it in via only 'good' games (subjective) for the most part, but i'd not sell it for anything other than paying surgeries.

sadly, i think the value of the whole lot that i do have is probably hovering around $8k? maybe $10k? it would cover the first surgery, but i have a hard time justifying it rn.

all or nothing and i wouldn't get 'all' for it, so i can't justify it for 'a portion'.

[sworddude]

I never get a burnout from playing games. There are just so many different games one can play furthermore I only collect games that I want to play so selling them is kinda hard. Furthermore money is never an issue so there is no reason at all to sell it off unless I would dislike playing them games. If I collected everything selling stuff would be a piece of cake since I see allot of games as trash anyways.

Sure one can sell a collection to get 10k etc but to be honest there are so many other ways to get such an amount of money because it ain't that much. it's not a life chancer.

It's pretty hard to find awesome deals and years of hard work, and to trade it in for a vacation etc? I find it Insanity my other family members would do this in a heart beat but those people do not understand the fun of the older games even though they did play them in the past.

One advantage of such people around you is that they have zero interest in the hobby, they won't steal, they never come near it and they won't bother me during play because they find it boring.

The hunt is a part of the hobby, I've to many memories with them games, I won't see myself selling my collection anytime soon.

Especially the bigger insane deals have the better memorable stories behind them at least for me.






@necrosexual

To be fair 100K is a bit much especially if you would go the good games road only.

One needs to have a really huge and nice collection for 100K

To be fair I would also sell my collection for 100K because I could easily buy everything back for full ebay price and make allot of profit. But just imagine having a collection that is actually worth 100K.

If you have such value in a collection you pretty much have all the good games for all the main consoles probably all cib.

You collection would be pretty much complete you'll have store signs etc, people with such collection see things in a different way.

If I had such collection I would be pretty deep in it, I'm pretty sure that there is pretty much nothing left to collect for unless i went the neo geo road or go for proto types, and other autograph collectables and development units.

100K is pretty big especially if you only collect the better games and not in filler titles since those usually not count in value.

100K is not a collection that one will easily aquire. It is a step in the right way for getting an elite collection and it is definitly not a feet that every collector will accomplish. I'm pretty curious what my collection will look like in the future though :p

My point is that one cannot  say that they want to sell their collection for 100K in a heart beat while their collection is actually worth for example 3k to 10K

Everyone wants to do that but there are not many people who have such a collection. Do not underestimate it since 100K is pretty much having everthing good except for truly rare and expensive stuff

Selling a collection wich is worth for example 10K at most for a 100K That's just cheating

[azure]

I don't believe I would ever sell my collection. A lot of the older stuff is from me being the original owner, it's a bit sentimental. I also have tons of fond memories on hunts finding awesome stuff for dirt cheap, don't think I'll be getting rid of it anytime soon. As for burnout, I try to balance gaming with my other hobbies. Don't feel like gaming? I'll read, watch some form of media, do something productive, or just hang out with one of my buds. Everybody has their off days where we don't feel like doing much sometimes, but overall burnout is never really an issue with me. If a game starts to become more of a "chore" I step away from it and do/play something else. All in all what I always tell my friends and fellow collectors; Gaming is a hobby, it is supposed to be fun, don't make it a chore.

[necrosexual]

@necrosexual

To be fair 100K is a bit much especially if you would go the good games road only.

One needs to have a really huge and nice collection for 100K

To be fair I would also sell my collection for 100K because I could easily buy everything back for full ebay price and make allot of profit. But just imagine having a collection that is actually worth 100K.

If you have such value in a collection you pretty much have all the good games for all the main consoles probably all cib.

You collection would be pretty much complete you'll have store signs etc, people with such collection see things in a different way.

If I had such collection I would be pretty deep in it, I'm pretty sure that there is pretty much nothing left to collect for unless i went the neo geo road or go for proto types, and other autograph collectables and development units.

100K is pretty big especially if you only collect the better games and not in filler titles since those usually not count in value.

100K is not a collection that one will easily aquire. It is a step in the right way for getting an elite collection and it is definitly not a feet that every collector will accomplish. I'm pretty curious what my collection will look like in the future though :p

My point is that one cannot  say that they want to sell their collection for 100K in a heart beat while their collection is actually worth for example 3k to 10K

Everyone wants to do that but there are not many people who have such a collection. Do not underestimate it since 100K is pretty much having everthing good except for truly rare and expensive stuff

Selling a collection wich is worth for example 10K at most for a 100K That's just cheating

i think most people wouldn't want to sell their $100k collection 'in a heartbeat' and if it wasn't for surgeries, i highly doubt i'd ever ever say the same. but the quality of life i would have with those surgeries vs the quality of life with a fuckload of vidya (mind you, $100k would mean i wouldn't have to find another country, i could even stay in the states, tho atm i'm looking at other countries... the USA is simply too expensive to get surgery in) would be enough for me to seriously consider selling $50-60k of stock... tbh, i only would need $60k to ensure all my bills during recovery are covered, and to get the surgeries in other countries (and would of course pay for the flight/boarding).

in my particular life circumstance, my life would be much better if i had those surgeries, than a bunch of vidya. it affects my life in a lot of nuanced ways, from social to occupational to mental and physical.

as far as coming into $10k being 'easy' or whatever, i can't say the same for my age bracket and general other health/mental issues. so $10k is quite a fucking chunk of change for me. one can say it is if they're healthily out of poverty, but one doesn't fall into poverty by choice, usually, lmao. and once you're there, climbing back out is easier said than done.
i'm working on it, mind you, but ye. probably easy for many here to say $10k is an easy grab, but yeah.

(and fwiw, the only reason i chalk my collection to being higher than $3-5k is because i am the owner of one of those hyperdimension neptunia re;birth 1 LEs that came 1/1000.
that fucker is worth a lot and HDN fans are insane.
mine is used, but it's all like new.))

[ffxik]

I'm actually going through a bit of burnout right now.  Mine though probably works differently.  It's not that I get burnt out or depressed, it's just that my focus shifts.  I go through bursts of video game goodness, hunting, buying, playing, etc. I get that overall feeling of, meh, then I get on to another thing.  Since my other hobby is collecting trading card games.  I have bought quite a bit of Yu-Gi-Oh, Redakai, and Kaijudo recently.

I'm not sure I would sell off either collection unless the situation were dire.  I tried last year to get rid of my video game collection locally and that didn't go so well.  People would come and discuss it but would either offer me an absurd low ball for the whole thing, or conversely want me to piecemeal it for stupid low amounts.  I had a few that were genuinely interested, just lacked the capitol to buy.  Oh well,  I think I'd rather hock a kidney at this point.  It would at least sell quickly 

As far as people selling their collections go, you have to do what you have to do.  Some people lose their love for it, others need money, and some. Well some just wait for that other bandwagon to roll through.

[stealthrush]

Can't say I have ever had a burnout over gaming. At time sure, I may spend less time playing then usual or may go though phases of hunting for a specific title more than sitting down and playing all the way though the desired game.

I could easily see myself selling my collection, if alternative means were available to playing them that were more convenient. For example if something similar to Psudo-Saturn were possible to play a large sum of games on one memory card then sure I'll rip my current Saturn games and sell my actual copies. I try not to hold any sentimental attachment to my games/collection. Although a select few I wouldn't sell, either being my first game for the system or one that holds a special meaning. Not insanity to me at all. If I invested more time hunting for specific games THEN thinking about selling them, perhaps then.

But I came to realize myself, I am more drawn to arcade-oriented video games rather then the popular current generation AAA titles and such. If a game is worthwhile, i'll buy it. If it has a high replay factor, i'll keep it.

[dreama1]

Can't say I have ever had a burnout over gaming. At time sure, I may spend less time playing then usual or may go though phases of hunting for a specific title more than sitting down and playing all the way though the desired game.

I could easily see myself selling my collection, if alternative means were available to playing them that were more convenient. For example if something similar to Psudo-Saturn were possible to play a large sum of games on one memory card then sure I'll rip my current Saturn games and sell my actual copies. I try not to hold any sentimental attachment to my games/collection. Although a select few I wouldn't sell, either being my first game for the system or one that holds a special meaning. Not insanity to me at all. If I invested more time hunting for specific games THEN thinking about selling them, perhaps then.

But I came to realize myself, I am more drawn to arcade-oriented video games rather then the popular current generation AAA titles and such. If a game is worthwhile, i'll buy it. If it has a high replay factor, i'll keep it.

It's probably because arcade games are shorter, well it's the conclusion I drew from it.

[sworddude]

@necrosexual

To be fair 100K is a bit much especially if you would go the good games road only.

One needs to have a really huge and nice collection for 100K

To be fair I would also sell my collection for 100K because I could easily buy everything back for full ebay price and make allot of profit. But just imagine having a collection that is actually worth 100K.

If you have such value in a collection you pretty much have all the good games for all the main consoles probably all cib.

You collection would be pretty much complete you'll have store signs etc, people with such collection see things in a different way.

If I had such collection I would be pretty deep in it, I'm pretty sure that there is pretty much nothing left to collect for unless i went the neo geo road or go for proto types, and other autograph collectables and development units.

100K is pretty big especially if you only collect the better games and not in filler titles since those usually not count in value.

100K is not a collection that one will easily aquire. It is a step in the right way for getting an elite collection and it is definitly not a feet that every collector will accomplish. I'm pretty curious what my collection will look like in the future though :p

My point is that one cannot  say that they want to sell their collection for 100K in a heart beat while their collection is actually worth for example 3k to 10K

Everyone wants to do that but there are not many people who have such a collection. Do not underestimate it since 100K is pretty much having everthing good except for truly rare and expensive stuff

Selling a collection wich is worth for example 10K at most for a 100K That's just cheating

i think most people wouldn't want to sell their $100k collection 'in a heartbeat' and if it wasn't for surgeries, i highly doubt i'd ever ever say the same. but the quality of life i would have with those surgeries vs the quality of life with a fuckload of vidya (mind you, $100k would mean i wouldn't have to find another country, i could even stay in the states, tho atm i'm looking at other countries... the USA is simply too expensive to get surgery in) would be enough for me to seriously consider selling $50-60k of stock... tbh, i only would need $60k to ensure all my bills during recovery are covered, and to get the surgeries in other countries (and would of course pay for the flight/boarding).

in my particular life circumstance, my life would be much better if i had those surgeries, than a bunch of vidya. it affects my life in a lot of nuanced ways, from social to occupational to mental and physical.

as far as coming into $10k being 'easy' or whatever, i can't say the same for my age bracket and general other health/mental issues. so $10k is quite a fucking chunk of change for me. one can say it is if they're healthily out of poverty, but one doesn't fall into poverty by choice, usually, lmao. and once you're there, climbing back out is easier said than done.
i'm working on it, mind you, but ye. probably easy for many here to say $10k is an easy grab, but yeah.

(and fwiw, the only reason i chalk my collection to being higher than $3-5k is because i am the owner of one of those hyperdimension neptunia re;birth 1 LEs that came 1/1000.
that fucker is worth a lot and HDN fans are insane.
mine is used, but it's all like new.))

I do see your point 10K is not easily aquired by everyone and medical bills are important if one has some handicap or ilness It's priority number one.

I just see allot of people selling their collection for around 10K and go on a vacation for a month or 2 that's a waste in my eyes.

My collection is worth allot more than 10K but I won't sell it, money ain't an issue aside that it won't be a life chancer for me.

Well to be fair it definitly would be a life chancer but the only thing that would chance big time is that I would quit collecting for good since I sold it all and I guess I would play way less games. There is no reason to go back it will take way to long to get nice stuff for cheap especially in excellent shape cib,

I do wonder what I would do in my spare time though 

[necrosexual]

@necrosexual

To be fair 100K is a bit much especially if you would go the good games road only.

One needs to have a really huge and nice collection for 100K

To be fair I would also sell my collection for 100K because I could easily buy everything back for full ebay price and make allot of profit. But just imagine having a collection that is actually worth 100K.

If you have such value in a collection you pretty much have all the good games for all the main consoles probably all cib.

You collection would be pretty much complete you'll have store signs etc, people with such collection see things in a different way.

If I had such collection I would be pretty deep in it, I'm pretty sure that there is pretty much nothing left to collect for unless i went the neo geo road or go for proto types, and other autograph collectables and development units.

100K is pretty big especially if you only collect the better games and not in filler titles since those usually not count in value.

100K is not a collection that one will easily aquire. It is a step in the right way for getting an elite collection and it is definitly not a feet that every collector will accomplish. I'm pretty curious what my collection will look like in the future though :p

My point is that one cannot  say that they want to sell their collection for 100K in a heart beat while their collection is actually worth for example 3k to 10K

Everyone wants to do that but there are not many people who have such a collection. Do not underestimate it since 100K is pretty much having everthing good except for truly rare and expensive stuff

Selling a collection wich is worth for example 10K at most for a 100K That's just cheating

i think most people wouldn't want to sell their $100k collection 'in a heartbeat' and if it wasn't for surgeries, i highly doubt i'd ever ever say the same. but the quality of life i would have with those surgeries vs the quality of life with a fuckload of vidya (mind you, $100k would mean i wouldn't have to find another country, i could even stay in the states, tho atm i'm looking at other countries... the USA is simply too expensive to get surgery in) would be enough for me to seriously consider selling $50-60k of stock... tbh, i only would need $60k to ensure all my bills during recovery are covered, and to get the surgeries in other countries (and would of course pay for the flight/boarding).

in my particular life circumstance, my life would be much better if i had those surgeries, than a bunch of vidya. it affects my life in a lot of nuanced ways, from social to occupational to mental and physical.

as far as coming into $10k being 'easy' or whatever, i can't say the same for my age bracket and general other health/mental issues. so $10k is quite a fucking chunk of change for me. one can say it is if they're healthily out of poverty, but one doesn't fall into poverty by choice, usually, lmao. and once you're there, climbing back out is easier said than done.
i'm working on it, mind you, but ye. probably easy for many here to say $10k is an easy grab, but yeah.

(and fwiw, the only reason i chalk my collection to being higher than $3-5k is because i am the owner of one of those hyperdimension neptunia re;birth 1 LEs that came 1/1000.
that fucker is worth a lot and HDN fans are insane.
mine is used, but it's all like new.))

I do see your point 10K is not easily aquired by everyone and medical bills are important if one has some handicap or ilness It's priority number one.

I just see allot of people selling their collection for around 10K and go on a vacation for a month or 2 that's a waste in my eyes.

My collection is worth allot more than 10K but I won't sell it, money ain't an issue aside that it won't be a life chancer for me.

Well to be fair it definitly would be a life chancer but the only thing that would chance big time is that I would quit collecting for good since I sold it all and I guess I would play way less games. There is no reason to go back it will take way to long to get nice stuff for cheap especially in excellent shape cib,

I do wonder what I would do in my spare time though 

i'd probably go back to collecting after haha.
but probably much more limited than now. ie, only games i truly -want-. some of the super rares i want, for instance. i'd prolly never amass a video game armystore worth ever again fo' sho'.
i'd basically say, ay, i have like $30k left over.

time to spend it on the ones i want back and the rest can stay gone
LOL

i like having a bunch of dust collectors what can i say.

but yeah, selling $10k worth for a vacation is a bit silly imo. like as kickass as it would be to idk, go to the UK for a few weeks, i'll, ehm, pass.

[bikingjahuty]

As a kid I was really into video games, however around the time I was 15 or so I had a lot of shit going on in my life and lost all interest in gaming. Depression did have something to do with this, but is was mostly I just didn't see the point in it all. About 6-years later around 2009 I began to feel massive nostalgia for the games I had as a kid and decided to start collecting. Since then I can't say that I've ever once felt totally burnt out on gaming. I think one thing that helps out a lot is having other interests and hobbies; one one starts to get a little stale, you take a small break to focus on another hobby of yours for a while. It has really helped keep my interest in collecting and gaming, despite dealing with shitty people in this hobby, rising costs of retro games, and not being able to find good deals like I used it.

In regards to selling your collection, I actually know many collectors that have recently or are currently in the process of doing this. With the exception of one of them, all of them are doing it because of burnout. And these are not small collections either, we're talking 2000+ game collections. A lot of them were hardcore collectors at one time, spending most of their free time in the pursuit of games. Despite finding good deals often, I can see how this might get old; as they say too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. I also feel like the collecting crash has began and this is a symptom of it.

In regards to my collection, I have downsized it over the past year, but nothing super significant. I sold off a bunch of NES, SNES and Genesis titles that I wasn't particularly attached to and nothing that I couldn't emulate flawlessly on my computer. I wanted the money the games were worth more than the games themselves so that is why I let them go. As far as selling off my entire collection, I would never do this unless it was an absolute emergency. I will fully admit I am very attached to my collection and at this point I like it so much there is almost nothing in it that I would sell, even some of the more common titles. I find it a lot easier to slow down with collecting as a means of saving money than to sell things off to make money if that makes sense.

[ignition365]

I generally only feel the burnout from collecting in 2 situations.  When I hear about other folks fantastic finds, I get super jelly and demoralized... especially when it's someone local.  And when I go out and see thrift stores, pawn shops, and yard sales asking retail or way way way over retail.  One thrift store was selling Lost Odyssey loose, as in all of the discs loose, for $10 a disc.  Individually.  Each disc was $10.  They were missing disc 1.

I suppose there is a third.  Any time I meet a local collector.  If I meet a local collector, my mindset immediately goes to, "Well, can't hunt over here any more, they live over here, they will ALWAYS beat me to the deals over here".  9 times out of 10, local collectors are assholes.  Very mine mine mine, me me me, money money money, asshats.  I got tons of local collector stories.  There are only 2 local collectors that I know that I wouldn't classify as assholes, but one of them has displayed asshole-ish behavior in the past.

I think just my Nintendo games (NES, SNES, N64, GCN, VB, GB, GBC, GBA) are worth over $10k.  This doesn't include NDS, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, or systems/accessories.