"The recession wargaming and you" Topic

Since I do not carry much fantasy (no D&D or d20 rules)what is the 3.5 change that has been mentioned on this thread?

Rudy,

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. It is the set of rules revisions that took place after the release of D&D 3.0, but before the release of the less than eagerly anticipated D&D 4.0. 3.5 was largely done by WOTC to appease their Hasbro overlords, under the guise of cleaning up the rules, and to make more money.

Thanks for the update.

The weak dollar has a lot more impact on my buying habits than the recession. No doubt about it, it buy almost everything in the USA these days as stuff across the pond has essentially doubled in price.

mjc

Fortunately I bought a pile of lead and sent it to Sri Lanka before the news got really bad. If my wife is laid off I'd be hard put to justify a major purpose. She thinks the hobby is fine, but unemployment might affect purchases.

Hopefully she won't be let go – though there have been others laid off from her firm.

It should be mid Spring before the latest project will be based and ready to see the elephant. Hopefully by then the situation should be clearer.

And then there's always the question – where would I put a new project?

It already has affected me. Couldn't go to a con an hour away because of the gas prices.

I'll be spending less until the economy gets better.

I just took a quick look at the numbers so far in the survey I am running – and comparing them to the numbers from this summer …it actually looks like spending is up.

What exactly they are spending on though (rules, miniatures, paint, terrain) – don't know. I may toss a question related to the economy in the follow up survey.

My spending is up over last year. But I've stopped buying from overseas, as the weak dollar makes that option less palatable. I use large volume purchases through my Club contacts.

Oggie

Currently $1.96 USD to the £ – the dollar is getting stronger against the pound, I think at one point it was about $2.06?

So weak dollar stopping purchases from UK is losing ground as an idea, the dollar is stronger than it has been for a while – or perhaps it might be better to say the pound is weaker, as I believe the euro is still quite high.

Would even contemplate selling off part of your collection to finance other areas of your life.

I've been doing this for years when I was young and single I spent huge amounts on my hobby. Then I got married, had two kids and got a mortgage after that your priorites change. I love my hobby but when it gets down to paying bills or putting food on the table for your family the hobby comes second. Luckily my bachelor years built up a lot of stuff that never got used so there was plenty to sell during the rough times,in the first few years of my marriage. now I'm down to the best stuff that hopefully won't be sold but if stops my kids getting Chritmas presents or such like then noting in my hobby is to precious. Right now my spending is around £20-25 a month which isn't to bad and allows me to paint as I buy.

Cheers Jon

Truth is the dollar is still down the toilet, but the ponud's following it – Euro's never been stronger, as far as I know. As a UK seller, though, I can only welcome a weak pound – worry about what's causing it, yes, but benefit from the effects, undoubtedly….

Dom.

I've not bought anything 'cept out of the bargain bin in months. I sold all my Warmachine stuff to buy some 40K.

My miniatures/books/etc purchases will probably cease for the foreseeable future.

I will not be participating in the recession thank you.
My Job is secure and I will make the same amount of money reguardless of what the economy is doing. Now if the Dems get elected and my taxes go up I may have a problem but until then I will not be changing my spending habits one Iota. I still plan to expand my base line at gamecraftersltd.com Look for a new size hex base next month.

Quite frankly, I'll probably still spend like a drunken sailor (no offense to sailors who don't drink or spend to excess), but mercifully all the major gift-giving events are either already past, or I've already got the present for Michael wrapped up and waiting. Assuming I don't forget, or give it to him early, or anything silly like that.

Gotta be a good girl for a bit though, as I'm hoping that Historicon is in the cards this year.

For me the spending will be cut back. Not because of the economy but because I will finally graduate and have to get a job to pay off my student loans. I did get a bunch of stuff from England this past year, but since the extra cash I had is gone, it is back to painting what I have. Thank goodness for the unpainted lead pile….

I'm definitely curbing my gaming purchases and will be getting rid of a bunch of stuff I no longer have a need for. But not because of the economy, simply a personal choice.

Well I see no signs of this cut back on spending, people are still paying silly prices for old junk on ebay….

Just wish it was true that everyone (but me) was going to runaway and hibernate for the next year or two, might then find the odd bargain on ebay again lol.

(grumbling cos someone just paid GBP32 for something worth GBP12 and I wanted it!! lol lol)

I don't play recession either!

The impact of the recession on any one individual tends to be all or nothing – they're either OK and keep their job, or they're not and they lose it.

If I keep my job, life will continue as normal. If I lose it, I will only spend what I can afford under those reduced circumstances. And that applies to everything – alcohol, books, DVDs, wargames the lot. If "essentials" like food, shelter and fuel don't consume all my income, then there will only be a little to dole out amongst my hobbies, probably nothing at all.

I don't see myself downgrading my hobby spending by 5% just because the economy has taken a 5% downturn… its not scaleable like that.

But for suppliers, if 5% of their customers lose the wherewithall to buy anything then they will see their income go down by 5%.

A recession will have an effect on the wargames industry. It might be less than other sectors, and it might not be apparent unless the recession is extremely deep. Ansell has a point, people will sacrifice a lot to continue to do what they enjoy. But totally frivolous spending will inevitably reduce and people will "rationalise" their collection. Its simple – you can't spend money you don't have. At least not for very long!

The only silver lining will perhaps be from new entrants to the hobby that are downgrading from other hobbies that are even more expensive!! :D

I think that over and above the issue of recessions is the issue of personal situation.

Last year I reviewed my wargames expenditure, and where possible only brought ready painted stuff that was relavent to my core intrests. By avoiding any thing that needed time or work on it I seriousley cut back on my spending and gave my self more time to clear the backlog.

Ultimatly the main decider is wether your in or out of work and how much is comming in. If the rest of the economy is rough while your ok then carry on as normal.

So 1.96 to the pound vs. 2.06 to the pound is good? Ugh. Not 7 years ago it was more like 1.55 to the pound and the dollar was almost even to the Euro (1.10 or so). Sorry, but 1.96 doesn't entice me to start ordering big time from the UK.

"So 1.96 to the pound vs. 2.06 to the pound is good?"

It *was* a start. Further comments would definitely be CA territory, but 3/4 point off the Fed can only mean it's heading back over the $2.00 USD mark shortly…. :-(

Dom.

The recession might cause me to cut back on "impulse purchases" of minis/games that might be cool to play someday but which don't really fall into my "core genres" (fantasy and medievals for me). Plus, buying less would help me focus on getting around to painting all the unpainted lead I already have!