Author Topic: Anybody Else Ever Fall in and out of Love with Collecting?  (Read 5134 times)

Re: Anybody Else Ever Fall in and out of Love with Collecting?
« Reply #30 on: July 14, 2017, 10:25:16 pm »
Late to the party on this subject but I went through something like this earlier this year. In fact, it got to the point that I even for a couple months decided to delete my original account as I wanted nothing to do with the list of stuff I had archived on my old account. During said time, I went on a splurge of selling games that I just bought because of deals and such but never got around to them. It was even worst as I went and bought alot during the holidays. It was getting to a point where I was in a phase where I thought I was falling out of gaming but only when I realized that perhaps I should downsize what I have is when I realized that was what I need to alleviate this overwhelming feeling. Needless to say after selling off a good chunk of my games, I fell much less cluttered and more in control. Since then the games I have bought have been stuff I want to play instead of games I may get to at some point so impulse purchases have gone down significantly. Also I bought myself some Everdrive carts which has allowed me to have a cool alternative to emulation by using original hardware and I am not compelled as much to seek out certain carts.

At the end of the day, collecting is something that will always be there however its not going to be what it once was over the last couple of years and quite frankly, I am okay with that.

Warmsignal

Re: Anybody Else Ever Fall in and out of Love with Collecting?
« Reply #31 on: July 14, 2017, 11:37:32 pm »
I think I've said this a bunch of times on here... game collecting is probably a sign of psychological or life issues that aren't being addressed. I mean, if you're just amassing things all of the time and it's all you think about and you spend a ton of money on it, it's almost a sure sign. I know it is for myself, and I've known for years. Would probably be of great benefit to myself if could just put it away and reorient a lot priorities in my own life.

I'm currently on the home-stretch of "finishing" my game collection, with interest slowly waning for the past several years. It was always driven by the sense of discovery and the thrill of the hunt, but those things have reached a plateau. I truly miss the era of my life prior to game collecting - what I thought would be a fun distraction only turned in a lot stress within itself, and as it turns out owning a ton of stuff is more claustrophobic and unsettling than satisfying.

But, despite my knowing better I'm pressing on for the time being. Mostly just hitting conventions and paying out for the ones that have always alluded me. If I've wanted them for years and years, I might as well go for them. That's essentially my strategy for what I'm deeming to be the final years. It seems that a lot of people are reaching a similar conclusion as of late.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2017, 11:39:16 pm by Warmsignal »

pzeke

Re: Anybody Else Ever Fall in and out of Love with Collecting?
« Reply #32 on: July 15, 2017, 01:19:21 am »
I think I've said this a bunch of times on here... game collecting is probably a sign of psychological or life issues that aren't being addressed. I mean, if you're just amassing things all of the time and it's all you think about and you spend a ton of money on it, it's almost a sure sign. I know it is for myself, and I've known for years. Would probably be of great benefit to myself if could just put it away and reorient a lot priorities in my own life.

That's a respectable notion. Could be said about any other hobby, as well.

A hobby is something that's meant to help you feel relaxed; they're meant to lift you up and alleviate whatever ails you for whatever time you spend doing whatever it is you're doing. Video games are a hobby, and collecting them, too. When a hobby becomes the center of your life and it's stressing you out, literally the opposite of what it is intended to do, then something is wrong. Stuff needs to be addressed, and as soon as possible.

Take me for example. I used to buy comicbooks, they were one of my first and most cherished hobbies growing up. I used to read them for the longest time, and then I used to buy them for the artwork because I wanted to study art and draw for a living, merrily hoping to make a career out of comicbooks. Then that dream dwindled away partly because of my mother (because that's not a "career", as she used to say). Then my focus turned entirely into collecting them only, not even reading them or at least taking a peak at the artwork. My routine used to be going to the store, get my pull-list (all already bagged and boarded), talk and rant for a while about the newest and upcoming stuff, go to the arcades and play for at least an hour, eat something, then get home. At home I would just pull the comics out of the bag and store them in a big container I had for them, all organized by company and title. It was a bit of an ODD thing, too, because I needed them mint or at the very least near mint. In fact, my pull-list was handled by one of the owner's of the store, every month. Not to brag or anything with what I'm about to say, but I was one of four customers that spent the most in this store, so I would actually get a bit of a preferential treatment. That's how knee-deep into that hobby I was; I was still a kid with no job and spend money like some kind of Bruce Wayne wannabe. In my defense, though, I actually used to sell comics at school, and I had a sizeable clientele, so this helped me afford more books. But overall, this collection pretty much turned into an addiction, and it kept like that for a few more years until college where I needed money. Long story short, I had a big Deadpool collection spanning the comics, cards, action figures, posters...you name it, it was big. A friend of a friend was also a Deadpool fan and was interested, we settled on a number, and my Deadpool collection was no more. After that, I lost my mojo and started to slowly feel disdainful towards comicbooks, so I ended up signing up on eBay to sell them; and what did I do instead? Bought more. A whole lot more. It was at that moment that I finally acknowledged I had a serious problem. It took me years, but I finally said, "fuck this, I'm done". So, I contacted the guy that bought my Deadpool collection and he helped me sell nearly 20,000 books of what I have around 1,000 or so left.

What I'm trying to say in that block of text is that that hobby literally consumed me for the better part of my life. Even though I picked up other hobbies as I grew up, comicbooks were first, and trust me when I say they were. I remember one time I didn't have enough money, and ended up selling my SNES with all of the games I had at the time for $200 simply to satisfy my need for the comics for that month. It was terrible. And I remember regretting it almost instantly. Comicbooks usurped my life in the worst possible way, and all because I allowed it.

All in all, I think we're all vulnerable to this kind of situation, and for a multitude of reasons, it's just a matter of time until we hit against the wall and come to the realization that something has to be done about it, and do it. Time and some space is all aliensstudios needs. It's essentially what we all need when crap hits us face-first. There's nothing better than just forgetting about whatever is bothering you for a day and defrag the mind, then come back fresh to tackle your problem.

It's like that saying goes, as corny as it may be: life's a blessing, stop stressing.

PS: I know I say "comicbooks" instead of "comic books". It's a thing I do since I was a kid, and can't help it even if I try. Not that big of a deal, really.

I'm currently on the home-stretch of "finishing" my game collection, with interest slowly waning for the past several years. It was always driven by the sense of discovery and the thrill of the hunt, but those things have reached a plateau.

I'm in that boat as well. While my wantlist is still a tad long, I am getting near to what to me will be a complete collection of games I want. Only a few games interest me for the PS4 and Switch, so I don't see myself getting either for a long time. Things could change, of course, but it'll have to be due to something very special. One of my goals in life is to play all the games that I own, at least once, and getting more definitely won't help towards that cause.

Anyway, I've rambled for way too long. Time to bounce.

*boing*
« Last Edit: July 15, 2017, 01:25:33 am by pzeke »

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Re: Anybody Else Ever Fall in and out of Love with Collecting?
« Reply #33 on: July 15, 2017, 04:47:58 am »
I never had that feeling tbh. I don't consider myself a video game collector but more a gamer, I don't care if a game is rare or whatever, I just buy games that I like and that I will play. I'm also a big toy/doll collector with about 1500 dolls/toys however I never felt like it was controlling me. It is a big part of my life however since i've been a collector since the age of 5 I learnt how to separate my passions from my everyday life.
I think the reason why I've never had this issue is my passions are a part of my life, but not my life. You shouldn't allow one of your passion to keep you from meeting people or even just going out.

Re: Anybody Else Ever Fall in and out of Love with Collecting?
« Reply #34 on: July 15, 2017, 08:31:48 am »
The laws are specifically against illegally sharing the material.  This is why sites get shut down.

The few individuals who have been sued or what have you, the charges were actually about the distribution, not downloading of the materials.  This specifically refers to public demonstration, distribution (regardless of sale or gift), or other methods that potentially damage a copyright holders business or profitability.

A lot of the ROM sites like to say you can only download it if you own the game physically (This is technically still illegal) and that if you do not, you should only be downloading the game for trial like purposes to decide if you want to buy the game and thus delete the download within 24 hours (Also, still illegal).

The fact of the matter is that REALLY, Nintendo is the only company that tries to pursue these matters.  Usually a simple cease and desist.  Sony usually only does it for distribution of the BIOS for the hardware, but I don't know if they still do that.  I know for a while GBA games were really hard to find because Nintendo was constantly having sites shutdown or threatened to be shut down.

yes vary true I forgot to mention  in place here in the United States Of America otherwise I heard you could go to Federal prison for copyright infringement. and My federal prison is the worst in the entire country here in Michigan.


« Last Edit: July 15, 2017, 08:35:39 am by oldgamerz »
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Re: Anybody Else Ever Fall in and out of Love with Collecting?
« Reply #35 on: July 15, 2017, 06:45:43 pm »
I do take long breaks from collecting periodically and it makes it fresh and new again when i come back to it :). Brings the passion and fun back.  i think it's good to take it slow and have breaks in between.  It's good for your wallet and your mind.  I haven't bought a game in maybe 3 weeks i'd say.  I do tend to fall out of love with collecting but not for very long, it's almost like an addiction.  I can stop in spurts but never completely.  I always need more.  It's a rush.   I never ever fall out of love with playing or gaming.  I'll always play them very much :)