How much is your money worth to you?

[CaitSeith]

When it comes to games (and movies) lots of people like to know beforehand if they are worth their money (or time). But the time and effort required to get $10, $20, $40, $60 or $100 varies from person to person. Some can get any of those amounts at any moment they want; others have to wait until certain day of the week, month or even year. Some have to work and/or save beforehand; others can get credit and pay later. And the kind of jobs each person has to do (if they have to do any job at all) in order to pay for their entertainment is also diverse (from half-time in McDonald's to full-time executive, or even self-employed).

So, how about you? How much are $10, $20, $40, $60 and $100 in entertainment worth to you and why?

PS: I just realized that the title sounds like some kind of moral question ("is money worth more than life" kind of question).

 

[Aeshi]

I usually aim for a ratio of 3 hours of entertainment for every ?1 I spent. I don't know why my mind decided on that specific ratio.

EDIT: The Escapist forums apparently have no idea what a GBP symbol is.

 

[Leviathan]

Now that I'm a lowly graduate student after four years of juggling minimum wage jobs to pay for my bachelor's degree, I've found that my dollar stretches a little farther nowadays gaming-wise. The most I will pay for a single game that I know I want to play is about $20, though CK2 DLC is my one weakness. However, now that Steam allows you to refund games, I'm more willing to drop $5 on an indie title to see if it's worth keeping. Anything $20+ can wait for a Steam sale or an accidental drunken purchase.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Depends if I can make that money back or the alternative purchase I can make instead of a game.

Obviously when I was unemployed, I look for either free to play game or a game with ALOT of time into it like a rpg with alot of sidequest or endgame etc.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Well I make more than the current minimum wage but I make less than what Minimum wage will be by this time next year so I'm not doing terribly but I can't just go out and buy whatever game I want. In general, a game that I'm interested in is going to be compared to food: It's not something I like but it's something I've accepted, if I buy lunch I'm going to spend between $7 and $12 on food. If I buy a game that I know of as being bad for that range or less, I'll consider it a success on my end. Metroid Other M is a game I enjoyed as a game but I only paid $5 for it.

Depending on the thing in question, $10 has a fluctuating value: I'd spend $10 to get into a theater and watch a new movie but I would be reluctant to spend $10 on a used copy of a game that I don't think I would play to completion. Then there are monthly services which I would be very reluctant to spend any amount on...I would like Netflix and Crunchyroll but my issue isn't the price so much as it is my internet connection.

 

[springheeljack]

I'm notoriously cheap by nature and I never have just a lot of money to my name so most of the time I acquire what I want though lets say extrajudicial means. Videogames are about the only things I will spend money on well I spend money on books and t shirts that I like as well. Oh and the fact that I still only have a 360 ps3 and a shitty laptop the only games I can buy are the naturally cheaper ones

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I'm pretty cheap when it comes to something. If I really *really* want something I'll flesh out $100 for a single gaming product. I'll also do everythin in my power short of commiting theft to lower that price (though I will *think* about theft).

 

[-Dragmire-]

I don't really worry about pricing. Finding a game I want to buy is so rare nowadays that a high price doesn't really affect my decision. I don't seem to impulse buy anymore based on a cheap price either.

 

[Story]

Depends on what it is. A T shirt, should be under 5 dollars. A fast food meal would also be five. Unless I'm really forward to a game, I won't buy full price.
I will pay a lot for good food though, 15$ for a sushi dinner from my favorite restaurant? Sure.
But um, I'm a collector so I'll pay a lot for something I perseve will add to my collection. Sure, I'll pay 100$ for two dozen minatures for a tabletop game. Sure, I'll buy the last 10 resource books I need and one extra really rare book I don't need for 200$. And yeah, I'll buy what I'm kinda sure is a prototype dice bag with out of print dice from this rpg set I'm collection for 100$...

What I'm trying to say really is that money doesn't mean that much to me and I'm a compulsive spender. I'm fairly sure this is a temporary thing since this is the first time I just got a good job that pays well and my own car to go places. But even when I was broke I was kinda fast and loose.

 

[Joccaren]

Honestly, money is worth nothing to me. Which might be surprising seeing as I'm a student ATM without a big income, who is struggling to save for many things he'd like to do, but honestly money is unimportant. I know this probably won't directly address "How much is $40 worth?", but hey, that's a meaningless question to me as $40 and $100 is worth nothing to me. Its what I can buy with that money that is worth something, and what each of those is worth differs depending on my situation and what I want to do at that time.

Money itself though has no intrinsic value. I'd be happy to pay $100 for a light lunch, and I have at times, if I feel there is nothing that I want to do that that cost will lock me out of. I'm happy to buy a game I want for $300 if there's nothing else I would want to spend that money on at the time. What matters to me is in the moment, and mid term future. If, looking over the next couple of months, there isn't anything that I won't be able to afford that I want to do - I'll spend as much money as I feel like at any given time. If there is, I'll restrict that money useage to a level that I'll be able to afford doing that thing.

This may seem short sighted, and not giving adequate consideration to the future, but its a necessity of life for me. I'm presently seeing a psych because I highly likely suffer from anxiety and depression. There's obviously a lot of complications there, but one big effect for me is that I have little to no motivation or desire in my life in general, and I'm fairly prone to suicidal thoughts and attempts. For me, planning for 10 years in the future is like planning for the afterlife - I don't even know if its real, if I'll get to see it. I'm also rather unstable a lot of the time, so keeping myself happy short term drastically increases the odds that I'll have a long term, so focusing on saving for the future is kind of like selling my car to buy some fuel.

So how much is money worth to me? Nothing. $40 is worth a similar amount to $100. I'm not going to be stupid and trade $100 for $40, and if there is a way to get the same damn thing for a cheaper price, thus giving myself more ability to do other things, I'll do that, but I don't consider things in terms of prices. Merely in terms of how much I want to do something or not, and how much doing so will lock me out of doing other things I really want to do. What matters to me more than getting good value for money, is having a constant stream of either distractions, or enjoyable experiences, that keep me afloat until I get better - if I ever do. Because of that, I'll pay whatever I need to at the time, so long as it won't destroy my ability to do so in the short-mid term future.

 

[Bealzibob]

If I know I want it I will buy it no matter the price. Otherwise I'll wait years till something is lower than 20 bucks to buy it. Endless Legend was is a recent example, really really interested when I saw it was coming out, but not in the must buy so I waited till yesterday when it was on sale for 15 dollars for the full expansion etc. Just checked and that was a full 2 years haha.

 

[FalloutJack]

It's a matter of quality, obviously. I don't mind sinking a fair bit into something I know is going to be good, completely good. Persona 5? Once it's ready here, it's mine, no question. It will be worth it.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I'm self employed, so my time is much more valuable than my money. A lot of people say they have a "money to time" ratio for games, and for most people it's something like "1 dollar for 1 hour"

I guess I would say mine is "10 dollars for 1 hour" BUT with the caveat of "Every hour of my time that I don't enjoy and isn't at least unique content counts against it"

So something like Uncharted 4, which is a 6-10 hour game but never has me going "Ugh fuck, I have to do this AGAIN?" Totally worth 60 dollars.

Dragon Age Inquisition, which has about 15 hours of good, unique content spread out by 50 hours of grinding? Absolutely not worth the money I paid, and I'm so bitter with how long it took to get through that I would legitimately rather have had 60 dollars fall out of my pocket and never played it.

 

[WolfThomas]

I'm self employed, so my time is much more valuable than my money. A lot of people say they have a "money to time" ratio for games, and for most people it's something like "1 dollar for 1 hour"

I guess I would say mine is "10 dollars for 1 hour" BUT with the caveat of "Every hour of my time that I don't enjoy and isn't at least unique content counts against it"

So something like Uncharted 4, which is a 6-10 hour game but never has me going "Ugh fuck, I have to do this AGAIN?" Totally worth 60 dollars.

Dragon Age Inquisition, which has about 15 hours of good, unique content spread out by 50 hours of grinding? Absolutely not worth the money I paid, and I'm so bitter with how long it took to get through that I would legitimately rather have had 60 dollars fall out of my pocket and never played it.

As someone who is paid very well and works gruelling hours at times this. I'd pay a heap of money for a few great hours than a small amount of money for a bunch of meh-hours.

 

[Saelune]

Looking at my games and thinking about what I did pay and what I would pay and just how I game, well, I am thrifty, so I actually do find I expect alot of bang for my buck, however, I also get alot more out of many games than perhaps other people. Games that might be only 8-12 hours long, I find I tend to replay more often (if I liked it) than others might. Ive beaten Bioshock 1 many times, beat Half-Life 2 multiple times. Dishonred, a game only "6-8 hours in length" I got over 40 hours out of.

However I also find I buy alot of games that I barely or never play, but I may eventually get to them. Though such games I probably bought on sale or something.

Games I do pay $60 for, I usually play right away and know I will get my money out of.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Depends on how much I've got. See, if I have a nickel and five quarters I'd say that would be worth around $1.30, but if I had three twenties, a fiver, ten dimes and a nickel I wouldn't take any less than $66.05. It's all relative see?

Pennies aren't worth anything, though.

Okay, going by your numbers I'd say that, to me, $10 would be worth 793 yen, $20 would be worth around 14 euros, $40 would be 462 pesos, and $100 would be 5076 rupees.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Hmm this one is tough. As a general rule 2$/hour of gameplay is fine with me.

However there are tons of games that i could buy that i would like but i don't. The tricky part is finding games that i would like and WANT to play.

For example. I know i would enjoy Overwatch, but i don't want to play overwatch. I know i would enjoy Dark souls 3, but i dont want to play darksouls 3.

So i end up not buying games i can afford and woild probably like because i don't actually want to play them. So it's less a monetary issue and more of a motivational one.

Next game i am getting is World of Final Fantasy. Thats should definitely be worth the 79$.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I've found that any game over 55 euro makes me think twice about getting it. 50 euro is perfectly fine for a newly released game that I want, but going above that puts me off. This is especially true since Steam/Origin/uPlay/GoG tends to price new AAA digital releases at 59.99, whereas mortar and brick shops still price those same games at 49.99. There's some convenience to getting a download straight of Steam, but when I can order the game online and have it shipped out to me the day after (or on the release day if I pre-order) for 8-10 euros cheaper, with shipping included, I start to question if 59.99 is a reasonable price.