I think for me it's retro games, specifically. I used to have been in the used video games market for 5 years from 2008 to 2012. My goal was to construct a personal video game collection, physical copies of games I personally enjoyed growing up.
I was registered on a game trading site which served as the base of my business, I've made rounds of thrift store hopping and any used games market I could find locally. I've struck amazingly good deals and I might've had luck on my side a few times (for example, a guy on that game trading site gave me a free copy of Super Metroid that I got to choose for a minor mistake he felt he needed to honor.)
And I felt like I was incredibly close to completing my personal collection until 2012, I ran into some dumb drama with my sister and ex girlfriend back then. They racked up the cable bill in my name that I was trying to cancel and they wouldn't let me cancel it until I turned in all equipment. And I was jobless at the time too, having lost my job. So I needed to sell some things and sure enough, had to sacrifice my entire collection at the time that I spent 5 long years building.
I never recovered since and this was during the golden period where it was still fairly fun to collect and everybody wasn't pretending to be a pawn shop.
I would try continuing what collection of games I've tried to build, through Steam but it wasn't the same. Nowadays, the used video games market has turned into just a platform full of resellers, pawn brokers and stingy greedy collectors.
I find it very cheapening that people treat games like they're just tools of trade. They mean nothing and they're treated like nothing except to make a quick buck, however possible.
It's only worsened thanks to Goodwill and similar thrift stores, getting in on it where everyone pays too much attention as to what the prices go for on EBay and VGPC.
And we have WATA involved that hasn't made things better. Thanks for shitting on an honest hobby, assholes.
No, not because of cheapening. I've left hobbies because of the crowds associated with it (anime) or because I couldn't afford pay to win (magic the gathering). My current hobbies are one that benefit from community but don't need it: homebrewing, baking, 3d printing, food preservation, etc.
I don't even watch Doctor Who anymore because of the fucking fans. I grew up with the old series and thoroughly enjoyed the new stuff up until the fan base got so worked up about some stupid shit or other. After that I just couldn't get any joy from watching.
I should have just tuned them out, but it's too late. I got a bad taste in my mouth and it won't go away.
The Doctor can't be a woman! Canonically the Doctor is a white male!
Well actually, the Doctor is a fictional character who's race, gender, religion was never a defining characteristic. Also the whole fact that Doctor regenerates into a new doctor.*
*= This is the only time well actually is socially acceptable is when putting shit heads in their place.
I resonate the same way with Anime fans. I used to have seen many people identify themselves back in the 2000s as 'Otakus' and some even wearing the shirts to say so. It got off-putting for a good long while. There are even fans who uncomfortably reveal their favorite characters that all look suggestively underaged or too dolled up which makes associating with them in casual conversation a problem because of the mental gymnastics they'll go through defending them.
The anime fandom has a poor track record of just keeping these weirdos out which doesn't make it good to indulge on the hobby.
Why do people need to perform mental gymnastics for liking a character from an anime, whatever age it is?
If anything, the sphere of anime fans has become more normal but i guess you are on a "everything is becoming shit"-trip. I guess that happens with some people while becoming old.
I'm at the point where I no longer actively engage with hobby communities, I might join one and lurk (search for my answers without engaging the community). Unfortunately, they always seem to be cliquish, judgemental, and overly toxic, with moderation/admin who's are either complicit or actively adding to the bad barrel.
Once in a while I find a gem worth engaging with, and it can turn a passing glance of an interest into something worth lifting up.
Agreed. Been in some like that. I try to be the change I want to see, but I'm can't spend massive amounts of energy on it.
This has happened a lot to me. Or I just be a fan in silence.
There's a great line from the band Sloan about this that comes up whenever I hear this.
"It's not the band I hate, it's their fans"