"I have a hard time getting rid of rules I will NEVER play." Topic

Just moved books upstairs to a new bookshelf. Realized I have a dozen rule sets I have not used and can't see myself ever using. Yet I just can't part with them. Others seem to be able to do so (that's how I got half of mine), but I can't. Should I be worried? Is it OCD? Will a purge do me good? Thoughts? Of course, this is properly posted as Utter Drivel.

Me too – I think a purge would be a good idea

Never occurred to me to get rid of them :)

Earlier this year I sold about 10 or 12 sets of rules that I don't use. That leaves about 20 or so, haven't counted. Probably more. Anyway, it felt good even if it didn't free up much shelf space.

Me too.

Many which I even firmly dislike, e.g. Crossfire, etc..

Time to dig them up, I suspect, and cull the heard.

Just a dozen? I wish I had that few extraneous sets.

I'm on the other side. I collect rule sets, even for periods I have ZERO interest in (ancients, renaissance, WW1, among many others).

445 rule sets at last count.

Crispy,
Maybe we could form a support group. !!!

I keep them. First, I move a lot and I never know which set will be used at my next location. I tend to play rules that other people also want to play -- I have been known to introduce rules to others, but it takes a while to do that.

Second, I guess I'm just a rules collector. Sometimes I browse through rules I've never played, and probably never will, or I just look for ideas. I find it relaxing.

Getting rid of rules? That'll happen when I start selling off my lead; probably when I'm on death's door and don't want my wife to suffer with how to get rid of all my crap.

I keep them too. You never know when one will supply just that idea you needed for something else.

Doug

I'm putting a bunch of rules I will never play in the TMP Marketplace this weekend.

"It puts the rules into the basket…"
Buffalo Bill

What do you have John. Always looking for KozCon door prizes.

If you have the room, what's driving the choice to get rid of them?

I don't consider dumping stuff unless I cannot possibly store it anymore.

I have gotten rid of many rulesets at different times in my life, and my advice is,"Keep 'em". There isn't a month goes by and I'm thinking that I misplaced my "-Fill in the Blank-" rules and then later realized that I had gotten rid of them years ago.

I have some rules I will most likely never use, but they have so much useful information in them I use them for reference. I used to collect every ruleset I could find but over the last couple of years I have parted with many, I still have a pile of them. I will keep posting them in the marketplace and eventually they will be gone. My real dilemma is that recently some really good rules have been released and if I get them it adds too instead of taking away from the pile.

No, don't need the space. Just wondering why I hold onto them. "Collector" sounds nice. Crispy, I still have the list of games you posted (I think it was you), very impressive. Don, very good; I could put together a multicolored coat made from the covers of the rule books.

I keep them all, even the ridiculous ones that I know I'll never play.

Take a deep breath and sell them. That gives you cash to buy new rules you won't play too!

Keep them.
if you're purchasing is dependant on such sales it's very. very sad.

besides the poor sucker to you sell to tell will be stuck, give the newbies a chance and keep your copy of Empire III where it belongs.

Rules aren't just for playing. I like studying rules for their own sake. Sometimes they inspire the home-brew process. Sometimes I know I'm not going to play even though I'd like to, and reading some rules inspires the imagination, helps you enjoy the idea of playing even when actual play isn't in the cards.

If you're not going to read or enjoy them, yeah, sell them. But if like having them and read them for whatever reason from time to time, that is as legitimate a way to enjoy them as breaking out the dice and losing to someone.

I've just started to clean out the "I'll never use this" pile (so far only miniatures). It's very liberating to get cash that I can then be used to buy new stuff. In most cases my purchases have gone right to the painting table bypassing other projects on the way.

I can buy anything I want at this point in my life. So it's not that I need the money, it's more like I want the guilt free money.

For the curious, here's a link to my Google doc list of rules (I don't own all these, but I do won a lot fo them):

link

EC, you're off by one thousand – there are fourteen hundred sets of rules listed. I want to be you when I grow up.

I've bought games I haven't played. Most of them were used for reference or just because I enjoyed reading them.

Even if I don't use the rules, I can still mine the games for ideas.

Someday you can be the "Crazy rule Gamer",wandering around the neighborhood in slippers and bathrobe with rule books hanging out of your pockets while you cradle a few dozen more in your arms.

Support group? Does someone have a problem? Not me. I can stop any time.

@Andrew Walters: Yeah 1400 listed. In only *own* about 850 of them…hadn't updated the count in a while….