How do I justify RPGs as a hobby? I do enjoy them as a source of escapism...

How do I justify RPGs as a hobby? I do enjoy them as a source of escapism, but I'm not sure devoting one to two evenings a week to that level of escapism is healthy.

I could spend that time being actually productive and increasing my income, and all I'd be giving up is luxury entertainment. How do I justify choosing idleness over productiveness?

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Roll a save against hedonism
To be serious, everyone needs entertainment. If you don't feel tired that week, work, if you want to relax - rpg

...

You're an adult and can make your own decisions. That's all the justification you need.

Is it, though?

Isn't that kind of a childish view of adulthood? Total freedom and zero sense of responsibility?

Well, each person can justify it for themselves. Some people enjoy the fruits of productivity more than others, and some people are a bit more "lazy" than others, but if they pull their personal weight, they are entitled to a degree of luxury they feel comfortable with. I think that sums it up to some degree.

Now that I've summed that up, I'll explain my own personal reasoning.

I don't own a television. I don't spend hours playing video games or clicking through social media sites. But I do spend my lazy afternoons reading fantasy novels and RPG guidebooks. I play once every couple of weeks and it's enjoyable!

Time spent doing something that you truly enjoy is never time wasted. (But it should be added that you have to have your other priorities in order, such as a job and paying your bills.)

How are RPGs different from other hobbies? Hobby is a thing you do because you like it and to get a break from work/family/education/whatever. It doesn't have to be productive.

I don't think RPGs are the most escapistic hobby either. You have to communicate with other people. Reading or watching movies is more escapism.

Yes it is. Because if, instead of playing RPGs you went to the movies, hung out with friends or played vidya, it would still not be productive.

And worse, you could be doing drugs or getting an addiction to alcohol or some other shit.

But it comes down to what you want to do with your life: if working makes you happy, be my guest. But don't expect me to work in my free time, dumbass.

>(But it should be added that you have to have your other priorities in order, such as a job and paying your bills.)
If you're of a particularly insecure nature, you may be looking for a degree of security that you'll never achieve (jobs can be lost, etc.), leading to a constant sense of pressure, and a sense of shame when relaxing.

Creative, problem solving, impro acting group hobby.
What is there to justify? It's 10x better than watching tv or something

>I could spend that time being actually productive and increasing my income,
I'm not sure how increasing your income is actually productive if you're sacrificing the thing that you spend your disposable income on in order to get more income.

I don't get it, what would be the point in getting more money in that scenario? So you can die with a larger number on your bank account?

Look at it this way:

My grandfather is 70 years old. He retired a long time ago from his job with the state, and he lived a very productive life. He had 5 kids, worked a farm in his downtime, and was considered a pillar to his community, years ago.

He loves to fish. He's spent thousands of dollars on fishing since he retired. He sold his house and bought a little cottage on his favorite lake. He bought a tiny fishing boat and has a basement full of equipment. He visits the other residents that live around the lake and goes fishing with them all the time. When you go to visit him, he asks if you want to go for a ride on his boat. Despite his age, his dedication to his interests have kept him spry.

His most treasured belongings? All the stories that he's gathered over the years. He can sit and tell you hours upon hours of stories that are genuinely entertaining about the crazy shit that he's seen and done while fishing. Even people from outside his hobby can understand how hilarious and grand his stories are, they're nothing "adventurous" or "extreme", but they are still interesting tales.

When I get his age, I hope to build a little room on my house where I can pour over all the books I've accumulated over the years. I'll sit on Veeky Forums and argue with young whippersnappers about which edition of D&D is the worst/best, and share greentexts of all the crazy shit that I've experienced at the gaming table.

>I don't get it, what would be the point in getting more money in that scenario? So you can die with a larger number on your bank account?
Slightly larger pool of emergency resources, so my kid will have food and a roof over her head if I ever have a bad stretch with little to no income.

Do what enriches your soul the most. Everything you could ever possess will vanish in time, while memories and experiences stay with us, shape us for the rest of our lives, wether we want it or not. Every day you have an opportunity to discover and shape your identity. If that means playing RPG then do that. If it means getting married, having kids, doing your job and generally live what is considered a normal life, then do that. Embrace who you are and what you could be. There is so much out there to see, to learn, to experience, both in the physical and conceptual sense that it'd be a shame to live and die within the confines of your comfort zone.

>I could spend that time being actually productive and increasing my income.

Yes, you could.

On the other hand, I can't spreadsheet my way into liking something. I'm sure that learning home repair, learning how to program, and going to the gym and even lifting are all things that would make me a better person.

...but if I am not having fun by doing those, than they fail as a means to enjoy myself. No justification of how great a person it's going to make you into makes up for when you have a mental breakdown because you haven't done anything you actually enjoy doing in six months.

If you actually thought this was important you'd be doing it already.

>you may be looking for a degree of security that you'll never achieve
You have to decide for yourself where the cutoff point lies. You have to say, "What are the necessities I require before I am comfortable enough to relax?" You can make money from a hobby, but even in doing so, you have to ask when that hobby has stopped being a thing of leisure and enjoyment.

And if you can't seem to relax after that, then I suggest you make goal posts for the things you want. A new car. A new job. As long as you are legitimately putting forth an effort every day, even if it's just a little, this will do wonders in helping you realistically achieve your personal goals. Then you can relax knowing, "I did something to work towards my personal goals. Now I'm going to enjoy myself in doing something wholesome and fun".

Keep in mind that there are FAR WORSE things you can do with your free time than play D&D.

>Keep in mind that there are FAR WORSE things you can do with your free time than play D&D.
Like 40K?

>Justifying your leisure activities

To whom?

Literally everyone close to you?

We don't exist in a vacuum.

Pffft. Sure. Like 40k.

No, I mean...

If you look around you, there are people staring at their phones. There are people doing shit that gets them killed. There are people going out to clubs every night to perpetuate the kind of braindead lifestyles that govern "normalcy".

When you devote time to tabletop gaming, at least that's a hobby. At least that's actually doing something that uses brain cells and imagination.

Plus, just about everyone I know in traditional gaming has other hobbies that they're devoted to. They're legitimately dedicated to a wide range of interests.

I can't speak for other people, but one of the main reasons I play tabletop RPGs is because it's a chance to actually build and command features in a world that aren't completely strip-mined by "society" or whatever. I can't just get on an airplane and fly to some unclaimed land in Africa and build a castle, then defend it against raiders. I don't have the resources and that shit would get me killed. But I CAN do that in an RPG. The fantasy worlds at the gaming table aren't already owned by big corporations, and there's still a world to discover that actually has challenges to overcome.

You're missing the point. You don't have to justify your leisure activities to anyone. If people in your life think you have to justify your leisure activities to them they are incorrect.

Unless you have a dire need to be doing something specific your free time belongs to you and you can do whatever you want with it.

his point is you can make your own decisions on how to balance your time and 10-20 hours a week doing something you like isn't going to turn you into a pumpkin.

This is some low-level bait.

Remember to sage, friends.

This is the worst place on the internet to ask.
We're the biggest collection of useless assholes imaginable. This isn't a hobby to us; this is a containment area to keep us from making the rest of the world an even worse place.
From one look around Veeky Forums? I'd say, give up on gaming and do literally anything else with your life.

I don't need to justify dick.

I wouldn't say that we're ALL useless assholes. Just the majority of us are useless assholes leeching off of the dozen guys that actually make and share content.

This. God or karma isn't going to slap you for enjoying your life, just make sure first that you have your needs met.

Tell your mother that if she's going to be judgmental about your hobbies, then you're moving out of the basement.

Some people get drunk every single night.
Some people have an endless series of meaningless sexual encounters.
Some people line dance.
Some people watch sports or reality television.

There's nothing wrong with having a hobby that stimulates your imagination and creativity. At least you're enjoying yourself.

LOOK OP, IT COMES DOWN TO THIS:

There are two types of people in the world;

People that are genuinely interested in specific hobbies, who devote all of their days to playing board games, or building boats, or fapping to THICC ANIMU girls, or electric slide guitars, or whatever the weird thing that they like is...

OR

People that watch SPORTSBALL every sunday, update their twitterbook status every hour, keep up with the most recent capeshit movie, and only like things that are currently designated as the correct thing to like.

MAKE YOUR DECISION.

Yeah, fuck those jocks!

NERD PRIDE

>two evenings a week
>escapism
faggot

...

>fuck those jocks!
It's not even the "jocks" that bother me. It's the people that mindlessly follow "MUH LOCALLY AFFILIATED SPORTSBALL TEAM" for no fuckin' reason.

I think it's great that people can watch a boxing match and analyze an entire match. I can tell that football is a highly tactical sport, even though I have never been interested enough in it to learn anything about it.

But people worship atheletes and put them on a pedastal for no fucking reason.

Aside from all that, have you ever poked fun at someone for liking football?

They all react like a bunch of fucking apes if you do.

>You don't have to justify your leisure activities to anyone.
I don't think that's true. Sure, the idea of personal freedom is kind of appealing, but there's a whole family/clan/tribe of people around you. They have a justified opinion on whether you'd be better off spending your free time sitting down around a table talking about fictional characters, or spending it on doing something productive. Getting in shape or doing odd jobs around the house are just two examples that come to mind.

I think that every person must have a hobby, something to help deal with the modern life.
It doesn´t matter if the hobby is doing something with your community, Tabletop games or sports.
Just work and no play makes jack a dull boy after all.

>I don't particularly like talking about this subject
>BAIT BAIT LOW-LEVEL BATE SAGE AND HIDE
Curb your autism, fa/tg/entlemen.

Are you perhaps a woman? I never saw a bunch of guys wasting time with gossip like that. Of course, making fun is normal but nothing like this.

This speaks to me about the lack of agency I think people feel they do not possess in everyday life. We are presented daily with a million pointless choices over what brand of soda to have , what fast food place to eat from, what car to drive , what reality tv show to watch, what furniture out of the catalogue to buy , what smartphone will say the moat about my identity , but none of it means anything it's all just variations of the same shit.

We are powerless in gilded prisons to affect any real change in the world around us so we turn to the world of escapism and fantasy where we really do have the agency to change things just in a fantasy world.

Of course that very escapism is just another gilded cage and part of the same system, spawned itself by corporations. Perhaps tabletop games are a more imaginative form of escapism than say the watching another super hero blockbuster but really it's all a simulacrum.

Are you perhaps a woman? I never saw a bunch of guys wasting time with gossip like that. Of course, making fun is normal but nothing like this.
If not.. STOP BEING A PUSSY

>Aside from all that, have you ever poked fun at someone for liking football?

Because as we all know, D&D players are all perfectly reasonable and well-adjusted individuals, and never react badly to being made fun of.

No, I'm not.

How is it surprising that you've never seen 'a bunch of guys' talking about this? This sort of informal social control is more or less specific to your family, or an otherwise fairly narrow set of people close to you. If this group is comprised solely of guys, there's something very wonky about your family's structure.

Even so, it doesn't sound all that unlikely for a father, uncle or even a brother to go "Geez, is this what you're doing with your life?"

Sure, you can go "Yes it is, fuck you, you can't tell me how to live my life", but that's incredibly juvenile.

Like I said, we don't exist in a vacuum. Every one of us is the result of thousands of generations' time and effort. Do you really want to be the headstrong kid that cuts all of that off because you adhered religiously to a desire for absolute individual freedom?

This assumes that you're neglecting some other aspect of your life and that your hobby is an alternative activity to taking care of that thing.

Which is dumb because if you're a fatass and don't give a shit about being in shape you're not going to start going to the gym if you stop playing games. If you're not doing some kind of thing because you don't think its important or worth doing, not doing one thing you like doing isn't going to make you start caring about the other thing.

Not that most peoples complaints about people playing games are likely to even be related to that, much more likely is that it's a complaint that they're not dong something more "normal" like watching 6-8 hours of television a day instead.

>Getting in shape or doing odd jobs around the house
I see where you're coming from, but I personally set time aside for things like that.

The more we discuss this, the more I get a feeling that it's not so much a question of "What you do in your free time", but "Who around you concerns themselves to such a degree with the things you do in your free time". And that could be said of literally ANYTHING you do in your free time.

I'm a married man with children. My wife understands that I play D&D with the guys on the weekends, and I enjoy pulling my kids away from the PS4 to run an old adventure for them every now and then.

But it wasn't always like this. When I was growing up, my parents ridiculed me for "wasting my time". I dated a girl who made fun of me for playing board games "when I could be out doing something real". Never mind that my parents are both drunks who literally lay around watching FOX news and playing Candy Crush all day. Just ignore the fact that that girl I dated got knocked up shortly after we dated, and spends the rest of her life getting in arguments with people on facebook.

Provided that you are a responsibly adult who gets things done in their day to day life, then maybe you're the one that should be asking them, "Why are you so concerned with what I do with my free time?"

>but that's incredibly juvenile.
Err, no it isn't. Passing judgement on someone and criticizing someone based on their choice hobby is incredibly juvenile.

Westerner detected.

Like I said, it´s not just about freedom.
What you are describing is the ation that someone can have when your hobbies are turning into a obsession. In this case of couse people that care about you will be worried.

When you get older, you will realize that most people(man) will have a couple of hobbies and still live a meaningfull live.

Unhealthy behavior is something that seens like scapism material, not a hobby. You dont need to be a weaboo or neckbeard to like TG related activities.

Why are you wasting time posting on Veeky Forums instead of doing something productive with your time, then?

So you'll chase this shining standard you have of the productive, successful person. You'll work your ass off to reach it. You'll never feel like you do. So you work harder and harder, until you burn out and crash. Then depression and pills before you buy a gun to kiss goodbye.

you are to concerned with where you are going to ever enjoy getting there.

You're completely right.

I think I made a loaded statement in a way. People who play tabletop RPGs are USED to being the subjects of harasment from people who have more "Mainstream" interests. (At the risk of sounding like a hipster faggot.)

It's just an interesting point that when the shoe is on the other foot, people who like the more "socially acceptable" interests are put in a situation they've not had to deal with before.

For instance, I used to work with this guy who was a real asshole. We worked in a warehouse together, and once every day, he would sneak off to the breakroom and watch ESPN for an hour or so. I called him out on it and poked fun at the fact that "He followed a college team, and he didn't even go to that school". He just had this really confused look on his face, and he got really red. "W-well, this is comin' from some geek that plays videogames all day in his mom's basement!" (I don't play video games. I don't and didn't live in my mom's basement.)

>Geez, is this what you're doing with your life?

There's such a thing as devoting too much time to a hobby. You CAN spend time in tabletop gaming without spending ALL OF YOUR TIME, you know.

Once again, Veeky Forums thinks only in absolutes for the sake of arguing.

>"Geez, is this what you're doing with your life?"
The correct response is to just say "yeah". No excuses, no justification. Then they have to push it, which most of them won't. They can't, not if you're succeeding in life, you have a job and money coming in. What are they going to criticize you on? Your poor taste in clothes is caused by TTRPG? If they say it's making you anti-social you can call them out on it, after all playing a TTRPG requires you to be social and also plan a co-ordinate with ~3+ other people regularly.

Don't make a mountain out of a molehill because you got a case of the feelbads.

>"Geez, is this what you're doing with your life?"
The people in my family wouldn't tolerate someone in my family talking to another family member like that. Being that rude and judgemental towards someone you're supposed to care about is entirely unacceptable.

>Hey there Timmy. Still shooting up every goddamn day? Okay, I'm just gonna let you do you because I *care* about you.
What a fantastically loving family.

>drug use is equivalent to a hobby

^This.

Assume that you are a functioning adult.
Assume that you have your faculties in order.
Assume that you set aside time for housework/exercise/general maintenance.
Assume that you have a job.
Assume that you have multiple hobbies and interests.

Now someone asks you, "Are you really going to spend all night playing a board game with your friends?"
That doesn't really make sense. You are an adult. You surround yourself with the people that share your interests, or at least understand them.

The only logical progression for this discussion would then be "How does tabletop gaming weigh against other hobbies that you could pursue instead?"

OP, I don't believe rpgs are just a way to escape your life.
To be fair, it all depends on how you view it. It IS your life your life you know, there is no true escape other than suicide. As long as you do your duties towards yourself, your love, and your job, well, why not do what you want in your spare life? As other anons stated, there are far worse things to reach for when you want entertainment, I don't think you chosen a wrong hobby, as long as you play it for the pleasure of playing it, and not to complain about it, or really, heavily close yourself into a little bubble with it like teenagers tend to do.
Decide for yourself. No one else can do that for you.

Implying that gaming isn't full of mainstream, normie,hipster faggots now.

>having to explain to a girl on the pokemon go bandwagon that yes I know a pokemon tabletop roleplaying game exists, that no our boardgame group would not be the best place to run it , that yes it would take a lot of effort to learn.
>bunch of hipster faggots literally running a comedy show about geeks boasting about how they can answer any nerd related questions , have no idea what my Demon's Soul's t-shirt is. They then joke that I'm that guy. Fuck them.
>can't play any games not cards against humanity or clone at local boardgame group because it's too complicated for the normies. Can't even play munchkin let alone something sweet like Twilight Imperium.
>have like 10 people want to play in my D&D group. At least half don't turn up or bother making characters or learninf the rules. I stop inviting them. Half my group are still normies who have to ask what to roll to hit after playing for 6 months.
>turn on the internet to find some actual nerds. Most popular RPG channel are a bunch of 'beautiful' hipster actors pretending to play D&D while actually just improv acting in an effort to advance their broken careers.

This needs to die. I used to risk getting the shit beaten out of me to play magic the gathering/warhammer/pokemon/chess at school now I'm some kind of fucking loser for not wanting to play pokemon go and thinking the game of thrones tv show has gone to crap compared to the books.

>They then joke that I'm that guy
Probably because you are, reread your post and feel embarassed for being so attached to your "nerd" identity
just play some damn games gayboy

>I used to risk getting the shit beaten out of me to play magic the gathering/warhammer/pokemon/chess at school now
Nice meme

1: Taking some time off work for hobbies is beneficial to your working life - it allows your brain to relax, helps you socialise. Working 24/7 and pursuing social networking and contacts is possible but puts you under a lot of strain that not everyone can handle.

2: if you wanted to stop people doing things that were a waste of time, tell them to get off Veeky Forums instead.

3: get off Veeky Forums and do something productive while you still can, OP! It's not too late for you! Run while you can!

Pump the brakes there friendo. I know how you feel.

I felt like this for a long time, but there's one thing that you have to keep in mind!

We were the people that liked this shit before it was "cool". And we are the people that will still like this shit after it isn't "cool" anymore.

I'll share a story with you that I'll try to keep brief.
>Last year, moved to a new town.
>Man, I need a group all over again.
>Put up ads at the library and comic book store. Eventually get answers.
>"Hey, you play D&D? I watch [Some youtube faggots] play all the time!"
>Get tons of emails like this.
>Decide that beggars can't be choosers, so I invite them to play at my place.
>They all let on like they know what they're doing but have to have everything explained to them
>The game doesn't hold their interest. They are sad that it doesn't reflect how it's portrayed on youtube/The Big Bang Theory
>One player gets mad that he can't do whatever he wants. "This isn't how the game should be. It should feel more like Skyrim!"
>He runs a game for them at the local shop for two weeks. I don't ever hear how it goes.
>They message me months later, asking if I'd run another game.
>I suggest that they play WoW instead. "It's probably more your speed."

>I could spend that time being actually productive and increasing my income
That's not an argument against tabletop, that's an argument against all hobbies.

>implying this didn't happen

protip, for the longest time this was the status quo, I remember it

Between getting your glasses broken and homework stolen and the principal, guidance counsellor and pastor telling everyone it was satanic, so you had to hide your books, it was a shit time.

i remember a kids' parents burning his PHB in front of him that he had saved up for, he got a hell of.a whipping too with his dad's belt

Yeah, and it's dumb one.

All that matters in life is finding happiness. Making money doesn't matter, except insofar as it opens up new opportunities for happiness.

If the only thing in life that you value is money, you will always feel poor.

>not disagreeing with you, just elaborating on your point

I went through middle school in the 90s and high school in the 00s and this never happened to s single human being in my town. But I also live in New England which is apparently hobbyshop mecca if every story about people beating up nerds, satanic panic, parental shaming, and other bible belt nonsense is to be believed.

Incorrect. You can angle to do hobbies that are optimised to increase your social network and promotion benefits, or those that will demonstrate hard work and commitment to others. For example, golfing with clients and running a charity are both hobby activities and can boost your standing.

It's a load of hard work but assuming you've got the burning ambition to become president of the company or something, you woudn't waste hobby time on something that didn't help you up the corporate ladder.

Or just settle for less like most normal people.

>protip, for the longest time this was the status quo, I remember it
Nice meme. I went to school around the same time you did and never heard or saw anything like what you are saying.

Even if it was true, you aren't a persecuted minority in a 3rd-world-shithole. You probably were an annoying little faggot and got your shit kicked in for that.

But then thats less of an actual hobby, and more of a genuine job, isn't it? After all, a hobby is done for pleasure.

Here's the thing, none of you grew up in that era and so it's all "shit that didn't happen" to you.

Fact was it was exactly that bad. You would go to church meets, because you did what your parents asked, and the pastor would be spreading warnings about satanism and how computer games caused you to become a killer. Rock music was also obviously banned, too, because they did the drugs.

I had my records smashed.and my transistor radio confiscated for listening to "nigger music"

We had a cool TA who ran an OD&D game for the bullied kids in the "detentions" the principal would put them in for daring to snitch on the quarterbacks who were beating them up, but one day after someone talked about it at the video arcade and the truancy officer heard he "just happened" to have kiddy porn and communist propaganda found in his trunk after being pulled over.

>Do you really want to be the headstrong kid that cuts all of that off because you adhered religiously to a desire for absolute individual freedom?
Yes. I don't give a fuck what my community expects of me, it has absolutely no bearing on my life.
2/10 for getting me to respond.

It qualifies for a hobby, as it's not an income generating activity.

t. Careers minmaxer

/pfg/ please go

if you worked at/ran a hobbyshop how would playing RPGs not improve your social network?

I...

I was about to say, "No user, I was alive during that era", but listen... I think you had a very special situation on your hands.

You had the kind of upbringing that inspires a whole genre of highschool dramas. Damn, I feel for you son.

He's pretending.

Maine is a real shithole

If Veeky Forums wants I have storytime

>The Prom Prank that Went Wrong
>Fucking dogs, man
>The Day I Found a Body

>How do I justify having fun?
You don't.

>I could spend that time being actually productive and increasing my income
But why? If you remove your main hobby, what would you be spending it on? A wife who doesn't love you? Kids who will forget about you once your bones start aching? A gigantic house that's much too big for you? I hate using movie quotes as if they're an argument, but I think Fight Club had it right this time: we work long hours in jobs we don't like so we can afford shit we don't need.

It also reminds me of something I read on the internet once (yeah yeah, I know... the internet and popular movies, I'm such a well-read scholar), a parable about a fisherman and a businessman.

thefederalist.com/2013/12/20/men-irrational-opting-education-careers-families/

The article starts out with said parable. The rest of the article is interesting too.

Unless you feel like there's something you need to achieve, being only as productive as neccessary is perfectly fine. Remember this, my friend: you work to live, you don't live to work. If you've reached a level of work where you can live comfortable and want for nothing, why work harder?

This kind of attitude of yours is what creates workaholics who have hauled ass like mules until their 50s and then get a mid-life crisis because they have no idea what the hell they're doing with their lives. They've lived for the company, and now that retirement is within hand's reach they start panicking.

As an aside, how do the kids enjoy D&D vs PS4?

Lad, when you busy your ass at work 40h a week and aren't a sperg otherwise nobody's gonna criticize your hobby choices.

You gotta remember that most people usually spend their evenings watching tv.

>>The Day I Found a Body

youtu.be/FUVnfaA-kpI

Honestly?

They really seem to enjoy it, but I think they like it more when they play with kids their age. I can hold their attention for a couple of hours and have some pretty great bonding time with them, but whenever their friends come over I sit in the other room and listen in on their campaigns when they don't know I'm listening. It's pretty fuckin' awesome.

It's weird because, as I was growing up, I never understood why adults wanted me to "unplug" and "go outside". But I see it in them a little. They get frustrated when I tell them to turn it off for a little while. My oldest is playing through "Bloodborn" which looks pretty cool. But he gets really frustrated with it. Whenever he starts to get mad, I ask him if he wants to turn it off for a while and play some D&D. I'm sometimes caught off guard because he'll say yes.

It creeps me out to watch kids watching "lets plays". It's really surreal, but I try not to get in the way of them doing things they enjoy. I ask them "Why don't you just play the game?" I think it's a lot like you're playing a video game with a friend or something.

Sorry, now I'm rambling.

First, if you worked in a hobbyshop, there'd be no point in trying to boost your social network there, because the max you'll ever realistically become is the hobbyshop manager.
You might manage a buyout at the age of 50 when the owner wants to retire, but that's frankly not likely to happen.

If you're the OWNER of the hobbyshop, your growth options are to either franchise, or to start buying out other shops and expanding into a chain to grow your business.

You won't have any time to play games - you'll be hunting down investors, banks, you'll be going over what you have in stock and what's selling well and what's not, you'll be behind on rent and struggling to deal with suppliers that were trying to send you substandard goods. You'll be up late at night struggling to reconcile your bank account because your accountant promised you 20% off his fee if you do that for him. You'll be biting back swearwords at the guy you asked to man the desk as he hides his phone from where he was browsing Veeky Forums.

You'll struggle like hell trying to keep your business afloat.

And you might manage to buy a second store, while up to your eyes in debt to do so.

You'll then have to work twice as hard, running over two places because the guy who thought would be an ok manager is treating the place like a hangout instead of a business - it's not his money being burnt on interest payments. You'll be doing management work more than sales, you'll be struggling to make your mortgage payments on your house. You'll be short tempered. Get an ulcer on your stomach.

And you'll pay it off, if you haven't already crashed and burned. You might try for a third store.

I either think I'm friends with you, or given the fact that I know 5 people from Maine, believe every Mainer has experienced those things you listed.

When you've got your third store under your belt, and you've just fired one guy for not selling enough pathfinder things, filing a petition against the remodelling of a store down the road into an FLGS, you might glance across some of the players pushing models back and forth on the terrain that you built, 14 years ago, back when you had fire in your eyes and warmth in your heart. You might feel a flicker of emotion.

Then you go and tell the sales staff to flog them three more boxes of space marines or get the fuck out. You're paying them £4.20 an hour, goddammit.

The pigs blood thing was fuckin' wild that god botherer freako chick fucking FLIPPED HER SHIT

>all that projecting

damn dude, I was just trying to dispute the fact that is arguing by asking us to justify goldfish as an animal when the things it's being evaluated for are "flying, breathing air, making nests, and singing"

This is exactly how Virt posted, you're not Virt are you?

what is even up with the north?

buddy I'm going to let you in on something

the world doesn't owe you shit

conversely, you don't owe the world shit either

if you can afford everything you have you're doing better than most people who have ever lived and probably will live, so live it up because you have, for the moment, won

>It creeps me out to watch kids watching "lets plays". It's really surreal, but I try not to get in the way of them doing things they enjoy. I ask them "Why don't you just play the game?" I think it's a lot like you're playing a video game with a friend or something.

Good Let's Plays are like good radio shows. It's less about the game, and more about the experience of listening in on a conversation between friends, and feeling like you're part of that experience.

At least, that's my perspective.

Improving your social network isn't all about the money.
My father has been playing PnP since the '80s. Working on a fantasy convention in our hometown in Belgium, my father met a family who came from Britanny. He became friends with them, and the next year we where going to Britanny during the summer holidays, with no need to pay for a hotel. All we had to pay for was a trunk full of beer we then shared with our friends. While we were there, we met other people from their friends, who lived in other places. I think you can guess what happened the next years.
All of that because my father is a PnP player.

If you're pursuing a hobby for the sake of your career, and not because you enjoy it, then it's not a fucking hobby.

It's work.

>This is exactly how Virt posted,
pls no
I'm just saying you probably don't need to work that hard in the first place.

If you work in a hobby shop, you don't have good promotion prospects, but if you're having fun and making bank (and making a bit extra for the future) then that's 100% fine. If you own a hobby shop, and can pay the rent and have a bit extra left over, that's fine too.

If you want to earn megabucks, hobby shops are not the way to go unless you are willing to be a cold bastard who will put his business over other people's livelihoods. Me, I'm fine with my accounting job and playing RPGs. But I've seen people turn into cold-eyed folk because they really, REALLY don't want to see the business they've invested so much of themselves into go under. Some of them have been really successful, too - one of them is worth 2 million+.

But that's not because they've been playing RPGs.

It's amusing in the same post you said you enjoyed eavesdropping on another group playing so you could watch and then said you didn't understand why kids enjoy watching lets plays.

Some other reasons.

>personality , a lot of people watch them because they think the guy is funny rather than for the game itself.
>little brother syndrome. Even when I was a child I remember I'd game with some kids and they didn't want to actually play they wanted to watch me play. I never understood but whatever I got to game. These are kids who like lets plays because they are anxious about actually playing.
>time, money, complexity. Popular games theae days are increasingly complex, time consuming and cost a lot of money. Most 7 year olds can't afford to buy some hot new shit like the new bethesda open world extravagance, espeically when these games are released all of the time, aren't able to game for 300 hours and often couldn't understand what the fuck was going on in the game in the first place. Most complex shit I had to wrap my head around at that age was sonic. But they can if they watch a lets play.

Sure, but OP's putting up the the question of maximising income and career prospects, not holidays.

OP's suggesting that the best way to get the most optimal career you should nothing but work, work, work. I'm challenging that by saying other activities can dramatically increase career prospects.

Anyone rational would be pretty damn happy about free stays overseas and backpacking and so on for cheap, but for someone dedicated into becoming a millionaire investment banker by 30, you'd want to push for the social stuff that gets you a good standing with people who can influence that.

Yes and no. Try telling your boss you're working if he catches you on the golf range and you'll probably be in trouble. But it's an activity that's intended to boost your work life.

Just want to point to OP working all the time without ANY non-"work" activities will leave you with no friends, no wife, family not bothering to invite you to activities because you've consistently turned down offers because of work, and wondering why you've been passed over for promotion while looking in the mirror with baggy dead eyes at 4 am in the morning.

Again; I think that both lifestyles aren't really fantastic and would advocate just playing RPGs or doing hobbies that don't necessarily have to increase your economic worth, because a big bank balance when you're dead isn't going to get you a high score in heaven.

we're descendants of Puritans but we're too busy being cold and miserable to give a shit about things like people being nerds or transgendered or religion.