What will you pay for?

I pay for most of my game material not because I need it, but because of the effort, creativity, care, and craftsmanship these guys put in it. I'm aware of my buying habits but there is more material out there for me to read than I have time for.

I'm not ignorant about how making a living works, I know how and why many altruistic projects dont make money, but I still encourage and support these guys who try.

I realized early on, since I've been given the tools to make my own game I'm not buying games as much for their utility, but more to encourage others to dream and attempt to build up their source material. I think this altruism is not going to be sustainable, but while it kinda' works I'm going with this.

I still buy books for their utility, I see some books as skill-sets like Lisa J. Steele's GURPS Mysteries and pretty much many of the core-books like High Tech, Low-Tech, etc. Some books are a way of looking at the world. Particularly when there is some science that breaks down the world in a game-y way.

One other kinda-utility that is pretty much half-utility and half a contribution is when I buy source books for players to borrow. Sometimes its way easier to have people read a source book than my poorly edited and written material. (I'm no professional). Also it brings people up to speed, but again I'd be careful because there data and memes can be a barrier to connect with other people.

There is no "right way" to spend your money or that you are required to follow a monetization method. I believe people have a right to spend money in any ethical way they deem fit, and not to be dictated by such dangerous monetization precedents (like the XBOX One debacle).