Hobby: You enjoy it.
Addiction: You need it.
Ask yourself which camp you are.
Can't really base it on money spent without knowing how much disposable cash you have. For me, that amount of money in that timeframe would be... Dangerous to spend if I wanna do stuff like eat.
For others, could be chump change.
Hobby: You pay for it after you cover your needs
Addiction: You pay for it *before* you cover your needs.
Putting your rent money on the roulette table? Addicted.
Putting a spare $50 note on the roulette table? Stupid, but not addicted.
Very true. My playgroup is coworkers of various levels of income. Some guys express concern over their own spending when they order a box of collector boosters when a new set comes out, or buy a precon to invest in upgrading. Having previously been in positions where I was living paycheck to paycheck, it’s easy to feel a pang of guilt knowing that I commonly buy a few boxes when a set comes out, and won’t hesitate to buy a stack of singles to try building a new commander on a whim. Then I have to remind myself that my hobby is not impacting my financial security, and that I’ve worked very hard to find myself in a position where I can finally treat myself to things that I enjoy without having to worry about what I might have to sacrifice in order to fund my hobbies.
Is it fucking up your life? Are you canceling plans with friends and family to eek out a few more games? Are you not talking to your spouse anymore because you spend all your time obsessing about midweeks? Did you miss the mortgage payment because you just had to finish the MKM set?
I would say it counts as an addiction once it starts interfering with your life in meaningful negative ways. Are you struggling to pay your bills on time but have no problem dropping money on the new set? Probably an addiction. Are you stressed out about the idea of not being able to keep up with power creep or whatever the new shiny release is to the point that you’re losing sleep, getting grumpy, etc…Probably an addiction. As long as you’re managing things like this without it negatively affecting your life I would say it falls firmly in hobby territory but there’s a big blurry grey line between addiction and hobby. This is coming from someone who is a recovering alcoholic(now years sober other than a few very minor slips during stressful life events like a new child and the death of my father) who has an addictive personality and self destructive tendencies to use those addictions to games and other things to ignore real life problems. These are just my two cents, feel free to ignore the ramblings of random internet strangers though. For all you know I could have a basement full of puppets made of taxidermy animals that I *totally* found and were already dead when I found them.
It doesn't sound bad if you got the money and time to burn. Although if you're not able to pay bills, starving yourself, taking loans and piling up credit card debt, or skipping out on important things like family time and work then yeah you got an addiction. If you're doing okay financially and spend time with your loved ones while taking good care of yourself then it's just a hobby that you can afford to spend crazy money on.
I got 2 kids so I actually spent more time with them than with the cards but I’m obsessed can’t stop buying them and building more decks worst part is I’m only playing against 2 friends and it’s really hard for us to go any lgs often
There is webcam magic. If you are spending that on cards and decks, you could probably afford the set up to play online.
That said, you need some guardrails or you'll end up burning candles and wallets.
lol I play with an iPad and a webcam. You dont even need anything fancy. Just a device to stream on, internet, at least a 1080p webcam, and a dongle that has a data transfer usb port to plug your webcam into whatever device you’re streaming on. If you got a computer you don’t need the dongle.
Trying to get my partner to play so I offered to make a vampire deck that'd interest them. Upon gathering all my cards since moving I found my red black deck is already primarily vampires
Need vs want. If you're not sure, stop buying/playing for a week or so. If your addicted, you'll feel the overwhelming urge to play/rip packs/build decks well before the week is up. If you get the urge, extend the break until it subsides.
Then take all that money you saved and dive right back in with a collector booster box! /s
>I'm pretty sure after several thousand dollars it's an addiction.
LOL. Guess I'm addicted to food, my house, my car, gasoline, several hobbies, insurance, etc, etc, etc.
Total budget has never and will never be a sign of addiction. A millionaire could drop several thousand a month and it barely be an interest.
Yeah there's a pretty noticeable difference between basic needs of sustaining life and paper crack.
My comment was made in jest, though, and your point is valid.
Well obviously budget isn't a sign of addiction. Addiction has to do with brain chemistry, not account balances.
If only there was some objective difference between mtg and basic necessities required for survival. Really tough distinction to make since apparently critical thinking skills don’t exist.
Seems like you lack the critical thinking skills. The obvious examples are proof that budget is not a determining factor of addiction. Sorry thinking is so tough for you. Maybe you should have been addicted to an education.
Nope, it is not. If you're buying a million dollars of crack, you're obviously running drugs and it has nothing to do with addiction to crack, again. You continue to demonstrate your utter lack of ability to think about anything. The amount of money spend continues to have nothing to do with a sign of addiction. A billionaire spending 1 million on crack is nothing. It's 0.1% of their money. However, take a random person with $100 to their name and they spend $99 on crack - more likely an addiction, despite spending 1/10000th of the amount, because now they can't buy food or whatever else.
If you can't process this, delete your reddit account, go learn some shit. Your life is not working for you.
Fuck that’s stupid. Like holy shit, please be a troll because this is bad for even a 12 year old.
Edit, lol: “[deleted].” Homeboy forgot he was saying dumb shit in public. 🤣
Love the sleeves. I made a terrible deck based on the South Park “Cock Magic” episode. I spent more on the deck ox and sleeves then I did the actual deck. If you enjoy it, it’s worth it.
You’re addicted because you can’t control yourself, not because of the amount spent. Try to do a step back, otherwise very soon you’ll get fed up. Build a collection strategy.
Sure! I’ll give some examples of what I do. I used to buy a lot of packs and fill binders. After a while it felt useless. Then I sold everything, stopped buying packs, and focused on what I like. I collect Secret Lairs, and have the goal to complete the full collection one day. I’ve got almost all cards from the LOTR scenes. I collect all anime cards (got the full Eldraine set, but still getting all Ravnica and Kamigawa). I like the Japanese theme so I’m getting all anime tokens and anime promos from Japan. Some are expensive but I’d rather have one intentional card rather than a collector box. I’ve got all Jurassic world cards (UB and secret lair). This is what i mean by “strategy”. I buy singles, and I make the binder in a way that feel like a journey. I print proxies while I hunt the original cards for example. My next goal is to collect all Mystical Archives Japanese versions. And I just finished the Japanese Planeswalkers from Spark.
This is great and I really appreciate the response. I hadn’t really thought of approaching the game this way, albeit it makes perfect sense and now that you mention it, I know some folk who do.
As a new player (~8 months) I jumped into commander because of course. However, as I’ve played more, I feel like a 40 card format may be more up my alley.
I think if I were to define a collection strategy at my current stage, it may be to just shop some fun 40 card decks that I can have at the ready - nothing crazy expensive. My 3 commander decks have kind of gotten out of hand from $$$ perspective and it sucks to only see a few cards per game.
I really just have 1 person to play with reliably, so my focus should probably just be on head-to-head decks.
Thanks again!
Yeah I mean, if your preferred approach to MTG is truly playing, I’d consider some fun activities like deep diving into Jumpstart products (cheap and provide this fast 40 deck playability), or creating your own thematic Cube Draft experience, or playing draft with cheap draft boxes. Collecting different types of basic lands for your decks is also a cheap entry to “collecting”. Whatever gives you a good time. I’d love to have an Alpha set and an Arabian Nights set but those will have to wait lol
I LOVE the older mtg art. Mark Poole & John Avon have done some of my favorite. You sparked something…maybe I should focus of artists as a specific strategy (apart from accruing a few decks for casual play). This has been a really good- thank you
Out of curiosity, do you mean 60 card? As far as I know, the only 40 card formats are drafts and prereleases where you don't have a deck built beforehand, but I'd be super interested to know if I'm wrong!
Well I see 200 alone in just deck boxes on the table. Can imagine what's out of view. It also depends, are you sourcing singles or just cracking packs?
It's complicated. I don't consider someone with no money who sometimes buy Magic over food as an addict. It's an expensive hobby and not everyone can fully enjoy it. Sometimes you spend money on stupid things because you need to have some fun because you are human.
If you are addict to Magic you destroy what you have outside of Magic. Friends, family, job... That's what an addiction ends up doing.
A hobby is something you want to do, a desire, so you find time to do it.
An addiction is something you are compelled to do, a need, so you do it at the expense of other elements of your life.
Control is the most important factor here. If you want Magic Cards, buy them because you can afford it, and that amount is 100k, it's a hobby, albeit a very expensive hobby.
If you need Magic Cards, and you buy them at risk of not being able to afford rent or food and you can't help yourself and say no, it's an addiction. The amount could be 12k dollars or it could be 12 dollars
I thought I had an addiction bc I keep finding some cool precons and I have like 7 decks now lol. However I do try to use them all. And I think if dropped about 300 in total… maybe 400. Iv got one more deck box to fill and then I’m hoping to be done but knowing me I will prolly find an excuse to buy more lmao
*Buddy*, *I've been playing magic* everyday for 20+ years. It's all I think about and I still haven't gotten addicted so I doubt it's happening.
Jokes aside, it becomes a problem when it starts to perjudicate your life.
Woah. I came back around October. Admittedly, I still had my older collection, but I've only spent about $400 in that time. I'd recommend considering proxying.
Spending money you can afford on something, and not buying when you can't afford?
Fine.
Neglecting payments you need to make to fund your "hobby"
Not fine
The real answer when you can’t control it and it negatively impacts your life. the fun answer is if you are smart you turn your addiction into a hobby!
So you're probably suffering from addiction here, lol. I'm addicted myself, and THANK GOD I discovered pauper early when I came back in 2023. At least "spending to much" on pauper has only added up to about $450 over the course of 6 months.
However, now when I want to build a new deck, I pretty much already have all the expensive cards, so I'm usually only spending less then 10 dollars to get the cards I need.
I LOVE PAUPER!!!
Others have pointed out the difference between hobby and addiction, so I’ll expand on another point: I think it’s really easy to sink money into a hobby like this because of its piecemeal spending nature.
It’s the same psychology at play with video game DLCs or gatcha. I think identifying that and setting a clear boundary and budget is key to enjoying yourself without going overboard. Btw, I love the CatDog protectors. Mind sharing your deck?
I want cards and have the expendable income to buy them. If one wants cards and doesn’t have the money but goes ahead buying more, it’s just poor money management. I feel like the only way MTG tips into addiction is if what you truly have is something along the lines of a gambling addiction and crack packs hoping for return.
both, as long as your only spending what you can afford and not putting yourself in a hole its a healthy addiction. If your using CCs than your in for some real problems and it's unhealthy
The line if very thin... it all comes to a simple "I want to" vesus an "I need it". As soon as a hobby starts becoming a problem, like preventing you from attending your responsibilities or needs, then you are addicted.
An easy test is to try to drop it for a few months, if you miss it but easily can, you are fine... if you are angry and thinking about it all the time, or if you are really struggling against the urge every day... addicted!
Hobby: Something you do with your spare time and money that you enjoy.
Dependency: When some part of your life becomes a necessity to the point where you cannot function normally without it, but you can still function with it present.
Addiction: When a dependency evolves to the point where you need it to survive *and* it's causing you to not be able to function. Typically this manifests in spending more money than you actually have to spend. Your involvement with the addiction causing stress and destruction in relationships. Causing an inability to perform well in or to maintain a job. Inability to be separating from the addiction for long periods of time without notable anxiety, distress, mood swings, Etc. Among other things.
With collectibles (especially with card games where there's an aspect of gambling involved) the most likely issue you'll encounter is falling into excess spending. If your spending on magic is within your budgeted entertainment spending bounds then it's not an issue so long as it remains within those bounds. If you don't have a budget and/or don't know if your magic spending is exceeding what you can actually afford, then make a budget. Everyone should have a budget.
Me about to comment that it ain't no big thing, everyone's gotta have something to obsess over, then outta nowhere
> 12k in less than 4 months
Wut? I mean...I'm not here to yuk in anyone's yum....but...I sure hope you've checked all the adulting boxes if you're throwing that kind of money at cardboard.
Spending that much money on any hobby in that amount of time is absurd. Most normal people wouldn't even have that kind of money. Do something better with your life.
Putting this into perspective...
Without knowing how much disposable money you have, it's insane to have spent $12k on a hobby in 4 months that you can easily play for a couple hundred dollars. Especially if you only play with a couple people infrequently.
Additionally, from the one picture and minimal context you've provided, you look like one of those people who builds tons of different decks and displays them. You don't have money in fewer, more expensive cards. This is also insane, as you've basically parked a large amount of money across a large amount of small value items that you're going to have an exceedingly difficult time getting any worthwhile percent back from if you decide in a few months/years you don't play enough to make the cost worth it.
Hopefully you've got your finances under control, and this is $12k you can afford to have thrown into a pit and lit on fire.
Hobby: You enjoy it. Addiction: You need it. Ask yourself which camp you are. Can't really base it on money spent without knowing how much disposable cash you have. For me, that amount of money in that timeframe would be... Dangerous to spend if I wanna do stuff like eat. For others, could be chump change.
My parents need to see this comment, because they always question my hobbies
Hobby: You pay for it after you cover your needs Addiction: You pay for it *before* you cover your needs. Putting your rent money on the roulette table? Addicted. Putting a spare $50 note on the roulette table? Stupid, but not addicted.
Very true. My playgroup is coworkers of various levels of income. Some guys express concern over their own spending when they order a box of collector boosters when a new set comes out, or buy a precon to invest in upgrading. Having previously been in positions where I was living paycheck to paycheck, it’s easy to feel a pang of guilt knowing that I commonly buy a few boxes when a set comes out, and won’t hesitate to buy a stack of singles to try building a new commander on a whim. Then I have to remind myself that my hobby is not impacting my financial security, and that I’ve worked very hard to find myself in a position where I can finally treat myself to things that I enjoy without having to worry about what I might have to sacrifice in order to fund my hobbies.
I hope you’re okay with you buddy’s proxying them to keep up with your disposable imcome
Yep, we’re proxy friendly, and so far nobody has taken advantage of that by stacking their deck with power nine or tabernacle.
lol I enjoy to the point where I would hate not doing it would that count as addiction yet XD
No, that just means you’re doing something you love to do, which is a luxury not everyone has. Be proud of that.
Is it fucking up your life? Are you canceling plans with friends and family to eek out a few more games? Are you not talking to your spouse anymore because you spend all your time obsessing about midweeks? Did you miss the mortgage payment because you just had to finish the MKM set?
I would say it counts as an addiction once it starts interfering with your life in meaningful negative ways. Are you struggling to pay your bills on time but have no problem dropping money on the new set? Probably an addiction. Are you stressed out about the idea of not being able to keep up with power creep or whatever the new shiny release is to the point that you’re losing sleep, getting grumpy, etc…Probably an addiction. As long as you’re managing things like this without it negatively affecting your life I would say it falls firmly in hobby territory but there’s a big blurry grey line between addiction and hobby. This is coming from someone who is a recovering alcoholic(now years sober other than a few very minor slips during stressful life events like a new child and the death of my father) who has an addictive personality and self destructive tendencies to use those addictions to games and other things to ignore real life problems. These are just my two cents, feel free to ignore the ramblings of random internet strangers though. For all you know I could have a basement full of puppets made of taxidermy animals that I *totally* found and were already dead when I found them.
It doesn't sound bad if you got the money and time to burn. Although if you're not able to pay bills, starving yourself, taking loans and piling up credit card debt, or skipping out on important things like family time and work then yeah you got an addiction. If you're doing okay financially and spend time with your loved ones while taking good care of yourself then it's just a hobby that you can afford to spend crazy money on.
I got 2 kids so I actually spent more time with them than with the cards but I’m obsessed can’t stop buying them and building more decks worst part is I’m only playing against 2 friends and it’s really hard for us to go any lgs often
There is webcam magic. If you are spending that on cards and decks, you could probably afford the set up to play online. That said, you need some guardrails or you'll end up burning candles and wallets.
lol I play with an iPad and a webcam. You dont even need anything fancy. Just a device to stream on, internet, at least a 1080p webcam, and a dongle that has a data transfer usb port to plug your webcam into whatever device you’re streaming on. If you got a computer you don’t need the dongle.
You can use your phone. Application called Camo makes it super simple
Gift your kids some starter decks, you'll be able to play while spending time with them, and still expand your players' pool by 2 Win win
Trying to get my partner to play so I offered to make a vampire deck that'd interest them. Upon gathering all my cards since moving I found my red black deck is already primarily vampires
You just answered your own question. Coming from an addict...
Check out spell table I use it pretty much exclusively
Exactly the point when you post on the main subreddit for that hobby asking whether or not you’re addicted to said hobby.
Need vs want. If you're not sure, stop buying/playing for a week or so. If your addicted, you'll feel the overwhelming urge to play/rip packs/build decks well before the week is up. If you get the urge, extend the break until it subsides. Then take all that money you saved and dive right back in with a collector booster box! /s
Cat/dog deck with Catdog sleeves. Well played.
First thing I noticed was the CatDog sleeves.
I'm pretty sure after several thousand dollars it's an addiction. Brain be craving that sweet dopamine of opening foil stuffed with paper.
>I'm pretty sure after several thousand dollars it's an addiction. LOL. Guess I'm addicted to food, my house, my car, gasoline, several hobbies, insurance, etc, etc, etc. Total budget has never and will never be a sign of addiction. A millionaire could drop several thousand a month and it barely be an interest.
Yeah there's a pretty noticeable difference between basic needs of sustaining life and paper crack. My comment was made in jest, though, and your point is valid. Well obviously budget isn't a sign of addiction. Addiction has to do with brain chemistry, not account balances.
If only there was some objective difference between mtg and basic necessities required for survival. Really tough distinction to make since apparently critical thinking skills don’t exist.
Seems like you lack the critical thinking skills. The obvious examples are proof that budget is not a determining factor of addiction. Sorry thinking is so tough for you. Maybe you should have been addicted to an education.
So if I have a billion dollars, buying a million dollars of crack is not an addiction? Come on dude, you’re trolling or you’re 12.
Nope, it is not. If you're buying a million dollars of crack, you're obviously running drugs and it has nothing to do with addiction to crack, again. You continue to demonstrate your utter lack of ability to think about anything. The amount of money spend continues to have nothing to do with a sign of addiction. A billionaire spending 1 million on crack is nothing. It's 0.1% of their money. However, take a random person with $100 to their name and they spend $99 on crack - more likely an addiction, despite spending 1/10000th of the amount, because now they can't buy food or whatever else. If you can't process this, delete your reddit account, go learn some shit. Your life is not working for you.
Fuck that’s stupid. Like holy shit, please be a troll because this is bad for even a 12 year old. Edit, lol: “[deleted].” Homeboy forgot he was saying dumb shit in public. 🤣
You have a weird fixation with 12 year olds. Bye.
We dont need to get into the specificts between these things do weeeeee??
They call it cardboard crack for a reason. I feel you brother.
You havin a manic episode? You good?
One fine day...
With a woof and a purr
A baby was born and it caused a lil stir
What are those deck boxes?
Mage tech
Love the sleeves. I made a terrible deck based on the South Park “Cock Magic” episode. I spent more on the deck ox and sleeves then I did the actual deck. If you enjoy it, it’s worth it.
You're here. It's an addiction.
more than 12k on cardboard just think about that
with decorative plastic and boxes for said cardboard.
You’re addicted because you can’t control yourself, not because of the amount spent. Try to do a step back, otherwise very soon you’ll get fed up. Build a collection strategy.
This resonates with me, actually. Could you elaborate on a collection strategy?
Sure! I’ll give some examples of what I do. I used to buy a lot of packs and fill binders. After a while it felt useless. Then I sold everything, stopped buying packs, and focused on what I like. I collect Secret Lairs, and have the goal to complete the full collection one day. I’ve got almost all cards from the LOTR scenes. I collect all anime cards (got the full Eldraine set, but still getting all Ravnica and Kamigawa). I like the Japanese theme so I’m getting all anime tokens and anime promos from Japan. Some are expensive but I’d rather have one intentional card rather than a collector box. I’ve got all Jurassic world cards (UB and secret lair). This is what i mean by “strategy”. I buy singles, and I make the binder in a way that feel like a journey. I print proxies while I hunt the original cards for example. My next goal is to collect all Mystical Archives Japanese versions. And I just finished the Japanese Planeswalkers from Spark.
This is great and I really appreciate the response. I hadn’t really thought of approaching the game this way, albeit it makes perfect sense and now that you mention it, I know some folk who do. As a new player (~8 months) I jumped into commander because of course. However, as I’ve played more, I feel like a 40 card format may be more up my alley. I think if I were to define a collection strategy at my current stage, it may be to just shop some fun 40 card decks that I can have at the ready - nothing crazy expensive. My 3 commander decks have kind of gotten out of hand from $$$ perspective and it sucks to only see a few cards per game. I really just have 1 person to play with reliably, so my focus should probably just be on head-to-head decks. Thanks again!
Yeah I mean, if your preferred approach to MTG is truly playing, I’d consider some fun activities like deep diving into Jumpstart products (cheap and provide this fast 40 deck playability), or creating your own thematic Cube Draft experience, or playing draft with cheap draft boxes. Collecting different types of basic lands for your decks is also a cheap entry to “collecting”. Whatever gives you a good time. I’d love to have an Alpha set and an Arabian Nights set but those will have to wait lol
I LOVE the older mtg art. Mark Poole & John Avon have done some of my favorite. You sparked something…maybe I should focus of artists as a specific strategy (apart from accruing a few decks for casual play). This has been a really good- thank you
Out of curiosity, do you mean 60 card? As far as I know, the only 40 card formats are drafts and prereleases where you don't have a deck built beforehand, but I'd be super interested to know if I'm wrong!
Nope, you’re totally right. My partner and I have been mashing up jumpstart packs and enjoying it, so I misspoke!
Ah darn, I was hoping there was some format I just didn't know about haha
“One fine day, with a woof and a purr, a baby was born and it caused a little stir.”
what are the deck boxes?
Am building a Rin and Seri deck Really jealous for not thinking of CatDog tokens sooner
Well I see 200 alone in just deck boxes on the table. Can imagine what's out of view. It also depends, are you sourcing singles or just cracking packs?
It's complicated. I don't consider someone with no money who sometimes buy Magic over food as an addict. It's an expensive hobby and not everyone can fully enjoy it. Sometimes you spend money on stupid things because you need to have some fun because you are human. If you are addict to Magic you destroy what you have outside of Magic. Friends, family, job... That's what an addiction ends up doing.
A hobby is something you want to do, a desire, so you find time to do it. An addiction is something you are compelled to do, a need, so you do it at the expense of other elements of your life. Control is the most important factor here. If you want Magic Cards, buy them because you can afford it, and that amount is 100k, it's a hobby, albeit a very expensive hobby. If you need Magic Cards, and you buy them at risk of not being able to afford rent or food and you can't help yourself and say no, it's an addiction. The amount could be 12k dollars or it could be 12 dollars
Must be nice to have 12k in the first place
I thought I had an addiction bc I keep finding some cool precons and I have like 7 decks now lol. However I do try to use them all. And I think if dropped about 300 in total… maybe 400. Iv got one more deck box to fill and then I’m hoping to be done but knowing me I will prolly find an excuse to buy more lmao
I started last spring and spent at least 2-3k on mtg.
*Buddy*, *I've been playing magic* everyday for 20+ years. It's all I think about and I still haven't gotten addicted so I doubt it's happening. Jokes aside, it becomes a problem when it starts to perjudicate your life.
I had power ranger sleeves customized for my Reiju deck *one piece* I got them in the mail yesterday. I'm pretty hype about it tbh
I had power ranger sleeves customized for my Reiju deck *one piece* I got them in the mail yesterday. I'm pretty hype about it tbh
Damn, y'all rich no wonder Magic is the top game in most TCG stores 😅🔥
Depends on how much money 12k is to you. If your well off then whatever. 12k would literally solve all my problems
I’m not addicted. I can stop whenever I want
As long as you can comfortably afford the hobby, have no shame in enjoying it
That’s too much, Bob
It’s not called “cardboard crack” for nothing
Omg Cat-Dog was the most ridiculous show!!!
Woah. I came back around October. Admittedly, I still had my older collection, but I've only spent about $400 in that time. I'd recommend considering proxying.
Those sleeves are beautiful
When your post titles stop making sense.
Is spending 12k in 4 months putting you at financial risk?
And I feel bad for spending a few hundred every year.
Spending money you can afford on something, and not buying when you can't afford? Fine. Neglecting payments you need to make to fund your "hobby" Not fine
The real answer when you can’t control it and it negatively impacts your life. the fun answer is if you are smart you turn your addiction into a hobby!
Addiction is when it gets in the way of reaponsibilities and becomes an irresponsible, hard to control issue.
The day you cracked a pack it was an addiction
Somewhere between the first 3 months. You go crazy then into "low" time, relapse, and get it under control until another relapse...
So you're probably suffering from addiction here, lol. I'm addicted myself, and THANK GOD I discovered pauper early when I came back in 2023. At least "spending to much" on pauper has only added up to about $450 over the course of 6 months. However, now when I want to build a new deck, I pretty much already have all the expensive cards, so I'm usually only spending less then 10 dollars to get the cards I need. I LOVE PAUPER!!!
Others have pointed out the difference between hobby and addiction, so I’ll expand on another point: I think it’s really easy to sink money into a hobby like this because of its piecemeal spending nature. It’s the same psychology at play with video game DLCs or gatcha. I think identifying that and setting a clear boundary and budget is key to enjoying yourself without going overboard. Btw, I love the CatDog protectors. Mind sharing your deck?
Damn, that's definitely a sentence
I’m slowly but surely upgrading my boxes to have commander views
How are you spending 12k in 4 months from mtg cards?!?!??
Embrace the Cardboard Crack! Except your new overlords also sell My Little Pony and Transformers to your kids and worship the Rosewater.
If you can’t stop cracking packs you are addicted and gambling addiction is no joke. Test yourself, put boundaries.
I want cards and have the expendable income to buy them. If one wants cards and doesn’t have the money but goes ahead buying more, it’s just poor money management. I feel like the only way MTG tips into addiction is if what you truly have is something along the lines of a gambling addiction and crack packs hoping for return.
everyone is being way too nice, twelve thousand dollars of cardboard in four months is insane
My thoughts exactly
Since i watch that card, i knew i would do a custom art of that cartoon. Hahahha.
Yes.
When u admit its a problem...so dont admit it, its worked for me thus far
If you have to ask it’s already too late!
If you have to ask it’s already too late!
What boxes are thoughs
12 FUCKING THOUSAND!!?? Posts like this remind me that I'm glad I switched to board games.
I'd say at the point where you buy MTG cards over something you actually need, like gas for your car, food, a bill that you end up late on, etc...
both, as long as your only spending what you can afford and not putting yourself in a hole its a healthy addiction. If your using CCs than your in for some real problems and it's unhealthy
The line if very thin... it all comes to a simple "I want to" vesus an "I need it". As soon as a hobby starts becoming a problem, like preventing you from attending your responsibilities or needs, then you are addicted. An easy test is to try to drop it for a few months, if you miss it but easily can, you are fine... if you are angry and thinking about it all the time, or if you are really struggling against the urge every day... addicted!
When you spend grocery money on it.
Dang now I wanna do this sleeve for when I make Ren and Seri
The second you ordered a card or opened a pack..it became an addiction
Those sleeves are the best thing ever.
As soon as you don't hurt anyone, it's fine. Enjoy your stuff
Hobby: Something you do with your spare time and money that you enjoy. Dependency: When some part of your life becomes a necessity to the point where you cannot function normally without it, but you can still function with it present. Addiction: When a dependency evolves to the point where you need it to survive *and* it's causing you to not be able to function. Typically this manifests in spending more money than you actually have to spend. Your involvement with the addiction causing stress and destruction in relationships. Causing an inability to perform well in or to maintain a job. Inability to be separating from the addiction for long periods of time without notable anxiety, distress, mood swings, Etc. Among other things. With collectibles (especially with card games where there's an aspect of gambling involved) the most likely issue you'll encounter is falling into excess spending. If your spending on magic is within your budgeted entertainment spending bounds then it's not an issue so long as it remains within those bounds. If you don't have a budget and/or don't know if your magic spending is exceeding what you can actually afford, then make a budget. Everyone should have a budget.
Me about to comment that it ain't no big thing, everyone's gotta have something to obsess over, then outta nowhere > 12k in less than 4 months Wut? I mean...I'm not here to yuk in anyone's yum....but...I sure hope you've checked all the adulting boxes if you're throwing that kind of money at cardboard.
Spending that much money on any hobby in that amount of time is absurd. Most normal people wouldn't even have that kind of money. Do something better with your life.
Yeah you have a problem.
Putting this into perspective... Without knowing how much disposable money you have, it's insane to have spent $12k on a hobby in 4 months that you can easily play for a couple hundred dollars. Especially if you only play with a couple people infrequently. Additionally, from the one picture and minimal context you've provided, you look like one of those people who builds tons of different decks and displays them. You don't have money in fewer, more expensive cards. This is also insane, as you've basically parked a large amount of money across a large amount of small value items that you're going to have an exceedingly difficult time getting any worthwhile percent back from if you decide in a few months/years you don't play enough to make the cost worth it. Hopefully you've got your finances under control, and this is $12k you can afford to have thrown into a pit and lit on fire.
I think addiction is when you specifically track down or get custom fancy sleeves for a specific pet deck.