Help Do I need Gx's

[Otaku]

If the new player is a school child then sure 20 is a lot

Anyone with an actual income can afford that though

When you're an adult, living on your own, paying all your own bills, saving appropriately, etc. you'd be surprised how fast an "actual income" evaporates. You'll also remember we were talking about spending about $20 on four cards, and when just trying the Pokémon TCG. You're right that some folks can blow $20 USD and a night off on Pokémon without a problem. Some can't. The kooky thing is that sometimes? The ones who can't have plenty of money, they just can't justify taking the time away from family or work or other responsibilities. $20 might be the entire family's entertainment budget for the week or even the month, and I'm not talking about a "poor" family. The money for something extraneous like the Pokémon TCG just might not be there.

Now... if you're already a top player, then a $20 investment is pretty minor. Same if you not only make good money but have enough free time to enjoy it, the whole family wants to try Pokémon, etc.

 

[CrownAxe]

When you're an adult, living on your own, paying all your own bills, saving appropriately, etc. you'd be surprised how fast an "actual income" evaporates. You'll also remember we were talking about spending about $20 on four cards, and when just trying the Pokémon TCG. You're right that some folks can blow $20 USD and a night off on Pokémon without a problem. Some can't. The kooky thing is that sometimes? The ones who can't have plenty of money, they just can't justify taking the time away from family or work or other responsibilities. $20 might be the entire family's entertainment budget for the week or even the month, and I'm not talking about a "poor" family. The money for something extraneous like the Pokémon TCG just might not be there.

Now... if you're already a top player, then a $20 investment is pretty minor. Same if you not only make good money but have enough free time to enjoy it, the whole family wants to try Pokémon, etc.

I am all that. I am an adult living on my own, paying my own bills, working a barely above minimum wage job.

I didn't have trouble putting together 60 bucks to buy a volcanion deck when i got into pokemon a year ago

 

[Otaku]

I am all that. I am an adult living on my own, paying my own bills, working a barely above minimum wage job.

I didn't have trouble putting together 60 bucks to buy a volcanion deck when i got into pokemon a year ago

I didn't say that no one could do it, I just pointed out that some folks might not. Well, I am now noticing some typos, so I can't complain if my post wasn't clear. XP Serves me right for getting on my high horse. >.>

I know it is probably weird to say, but I'm also torn about how much I should pry into your own affairs. You presented yourself as a counterexample, but if you're willing to share the information... how is your savings doing? You know, both for emergencies and for retirement? When you saved up for the deck, were you already totally (or at least mostly) committed to playing for a while? How about someone who isn't at the point yet? How long did you give yourself to save up? Got anyone (or anything) dependent on you? How about personal debt?

Like I said, it isn't just about income. You can have massive amounts of income, but if you spend more than you make, you're in trouble. Some aspects of life get really expensive really fast... so an adult who makes better money than you do might still have less of it he or she can afford to drop on a TCG they are thinking about playing. You know, the person who can spend $20 per week on entertainment... but that includes fuel money/bus fare/etc. to travel back and forth to League. This person can still save up "no problem" for a $60 deck, so long as three or four weeks of not having a deck or doing anything else with the "fun" money is acceptable.

 

[crystal_pidgeot]

This is why league is important for new player. many players will go out of their way to get new players started by giving them a lot of cheap staples. I know I give away a lot of cards to new players if I have them. Things like N are harder to give away since not many players have tons of them lying around but things like Sycamore are a dime and plentiful. This does lower the cost of entry and if theme decks like the Garchomp/Lucario deck are around, you can make a competitive deck for the cost of two starter decks. Keeping this in mind, the cost of entry is around 50-60 bucks if you don't count Tapu Lele-GX. Most card shops will be willing to help a new player out by giving discounts to help you out, which they may do to keep you around as a player.

It's not that bad to start Pokemon for a person with some kind of income.