— A journal of my hobby life…

(an editorial / rant / brain dump)

Last year I wrote a bit about FOMO, and a few months after that I started thinking about similar things within the same FOMO kinda thought space. This is me trying to get those thoughts out … as a rant or just an option piece, however you want to see it. Agree or disagree — this is my opinion of course, feel free to discuss if you end up reading this. I hope to have some hobby content in the blog post sometime soon.

Something I think I think … I feel that the Marvel movie universe fatigue is real. I know this is nerd heresy … but this is only my opinion. I feel the same way about the Star Wars universe. Both movies and tv shows in both of the universes seem to be underwhelming – short sighted or just random bloat. It can be entertained … I mean I like to be entertained – but it just seems tired or done.

The argument I see online is that its the writing, acting, producers or whatever – but to me it is just … yeah I am sated … I am full … whatever they are doing just isn’t interesting or unique at this point. It is more story – but if anything I agree with is that they do seem to lack some quality. Maybe they aren’t written or directed as well – or maybe it’s just that it isn’t unique anymore.

Whether or not it’s just corporate / shareholder greed or actual genuine creative needs which is generating this material isn’t really the point…it’s derivative. Not to be ugly or rude … but maybe the fandom is the problem. As in the fandom is the whale that the corporations keep feeding in an endless downward spiral of media – as long as the desperate / loyal fandom is paying for substandard material – they will keep producing it until the end. Until they burn the fandom out on garbage – this cycle continues. Then they make more of something else … which is seeming to be the hot new geek fandom that they can exploit.

It is the nature of things I know – it is what it is – like the story about the frog and the scorpion. I have been enjoying things mostly as they are – I am not an innocent to this train of thought. I just felt like putting voice to the thoughts I have been noodling for a while. Now they are on the record – maybe I can think about other things with those braincells free from that loop.

All that gets me to my next point of this post. I am really tired of the subscription economy … like everything is a subscription these days. It seems hard to just OWN a thing without paying for the privilege each month for the access to the thing.

FOMO dumps into this … not knowing if the new thing will last – or will it sell out before I get to experience it… artificial scarcity. All this irritates me – I am fatigued and apathetic over the whole FOMO / Subscription economy.

I like Patreon … I like to support creators that I enjoy – and supporting that work. I try to reevaluate those creatives work – and adjust my support when needed. If they artist moves into a realm I’m not into… I typically start drawing down my support.
I pay for what I want and like – and I guess if that artist makes something in the future that fills a need – I will gladly pay for it. But supporting a creative out of a possibility of gaining something (even emotionally / inspiration type – non physical outcomes) are worthwhile. I support my local classical radio station with a sustained donation each month. Because I feel it enriches my days. And I support other things – streamers or creatives for the same reason. When I feel things aren’t worth supporting – (for my own needs and options) I stop supporting them.

So in this day and age of streaming and subscriptions – We just don’t try and keep up anymore. FOMO isn’t driving our streaming. My wife and I cancelled all our streaming which doesn’t immediately support what our lives are enjoying at the moment. It isn’t a question of having choices – it is a question of what choice is worthwhile right now? What can wait till the subscription makes sense? These artificially limited “seasons” the creation of FOMO of discussing the latest episode of something just isn’t worth anything (never was).

That is another irritation … what is up with 8 or 10 episode seasons? Artificial FOMO subscription limitations … streaming for streaming sake – a tool to keep the subscription perpetuating I suppose.

Anyhow, back on topic, we currently have PRIME (because it is “free” with Amazon Prime). We have ESPN+ – because it is hockey season and I am a Vancouver Canucks fan – when the season is over I cancel ESPN+. We have dropped all the other paid subscriptions (Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV, and Paramount). We are currently subscribing to Criterion to watch movies instead of episodic shows on the other streamers.

The plan is to do that for a while until any other particular streamer has a fist full of shows to watch all ready to binge on. With the short seasons – it is pretty easy to watch everything you have missed in the last 10-12 months in a one month subscription. There are always shows that seem interesting – but I don’t feel that is enough of a justification to just sit and watch streamers endlessly. And some things I will never see… and I don’t feel bad about that either.

Subscriptions for mini gaming – GW’s app is nice – I would pay a reasonable fee to use the app – if it was its own á-la-carte thing. But GW bundles it with Warhammer TV – which isn’t that great of thing to subscribe to for me. I don’t watch it – I tried to watch a few things – but really it just isn’t my thing. Demo’s and painting tutorials are a dime a dozen on YouTube – you don’t need to pay GW with the privilege to see a game demo or a painting tutorial. I had the GW app subscription for a few months… and it is now cancelled.

This had me go back to using BattleScribe which is fine – not as fancy as the GW app – but it isn’t bundled with stuff you don’t need or doesn’t increase a perceived “Value added” reason for paying. Paying a subscription so you can play an already expensive game? Or make it a bit easier to play Seems like corporate/ shareholder greed or just creative bloodsucking. The constant churn of this basic idea of a subscription to do anything just seems irritating to me.

Another GW example of a subscription to play is the 3 year turnover on rules and codexes in 40k. If you need to go play at a local game store – you will need to typically stay current on rules and things. If you want to play at a tournament you have to stay current. It is a hidden subscription of sorts. It bothers me – so I have been spending more and more time with “dead games” because I can find figures on eBay or 3d print proxies … the rules can generally be found on eBay or as a PDF online for a nominal “ONE TIME FEE” and boom – your good for life on playing those games lol.

In the end – this is all personal choice. As a mini gamer, hobbyist or a media consumer – you have that choice about how you are entertained… what you pay and how much you pay… and how often. The subscription model makes me feel like I don’t actually own anything. It is like it is a constant loan that I will never pay off – a constant drip that keeps me sated.

I have come to the realization that I don’t really need much of anything … not really. I live in a yurt – I have my wife, my kids, grandkids, friends and family. Besides what is actually necessary to live – this extra stuff like media streaming is optional… so pick and choose – only pay what brings you something in return.

I feel like I said everything on this topic that needed to be out of my head. Either that or I just ran out of steam lol. Whatever the case I hope there were some elements for you to argue with or agree with. Or maybe to give you stuff to think about. I could discuss the various permeations of FOMO or the subscription economy – but it would probably be a rehash of what I have done here already. And this was without mentioning how this idea has entered into the maker space … which can get crazy or the other hobbies where you buy a thing – and NEVER really have to buy another thing to enjoy that hobby lol (like slot cars, a role playing game or a board game).

-d