• QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works
    29·
    5 days ago

    vrchat is a free game… that I have spent over $1,500 on… 😭

    I bought 8 + 2 slimevr trackers for ~$450 which are really good but they only track rotation and not position which means it’s annoying to get them to match my body. They are releasing a new calibration method as well as focusing on the dongle instead of connecting to WiFi, but i still want something better.

    There are alternative tracking methods, the most popular method is via lighthouse tracking which requires base stations to physically see the trackers. I bought used index controllers and 2 base stations on Facebook marketplace for $350. However they occlude very often in my setup, get confused by mirrors, and honestly I didn’t find the controllers that good 🤷‍♀️

    I then ordered fluxpose trackers for $750 which track position and rotation fully wirelessly with no occlusion. Not to mention how small they are and they have HAPTICS??? they’re so small I actually plan on just using skin safe tape instead of straps. Absolutely amazing innovation by the development team. I unfortunately missed the Kickstarter and had to order day 1 which means I’m not gonna get them till 2027. Understandable for such a small team behind it but man it sucks having to wait.

    One of the best things is all of the beta testers just going ham testing random shit like a bicycle in VR

    I also got a Quest Pro which sells for $1,000 new. But I traded my steamdeck for it… before the prices of steamdecks doubled 😭

    anyways here’s a gif of me running into my wall as Hatsune Miku

    also might as well shout out !VRChat@sh.itjust.works which I made (and haven’t posted to in forever…)

  • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world
    25·
    5 days ago

    Me: I’m gonna take horseback riding lessons! Maybe I’ll get my own horse in like five years!

    Me two years later: pays at least $350/month on the horse I was given for $0

    Also me: I’ll never financially recover. Yee haw! 🤠

  • Bluewing@lemmy.world
    23·
    5 days ago

    I got into making and designing small tabletop model steam engines because they are cool. So I needed to buy a small lathe, a mill, a metal cutting bandsaw, and all the tooling each machine needed. So much tooling…That’s the part that will break you financially.

    And then you discover you need to design and make a jig or fixture to make a special tool to make another special jig and fixture to make a tool to make that one tiny part for that engine. None of which you will probably ever use again. You end up making tools to make tools to make tools. You can spend 6 months to a year designing and building tools just to get to make that one little part.

    I’ve got thousands of dollars and thousands of hours into making engines that I just give away over the years. But I can’t stop this hobby. And I have added 3D printing to my list of hobbies as well.

    At least it got me away from collecting fine antique shotguns and importing hunting dogs.

    • RagingRobot@lemmy.world
      4·
      4 days ago

      This sounds more like skills than hobbies. You might not get paid for it but you totally could. What you are making is valuable to someone

      • Bluewing@lemmy.world
        1·
        4 days ago

        Yeah, I was a toolmaker for a while. So there is more than a little skill and knowledge. But I had issues doing that kind of work and had to find another career.

        Some people love woodworking. I love working with steel and making tools.

    • villainy@lemmy.world
      3·
      5 days ago

      NGL making tools to make tools to make tools scratches a persistent itch in my brain. That all sounds very satisfying.

      • Bluewing@lemmy.world
        1·
        4 days ago

        It is very satisfying. That’s why I was a toolmaker for a dozen years or so until I got so cranky and pissed off angry I had to find a new career before I DID skin some idiot alive and nail their hide to the wall.

        But I do enjoy the process of making a good and accurate tool. The problem is, I tend to be a perfectionist. And when I realize I’m on the third iteration of a tool that really isn’t that important, it can be hard to pick up the old thread again. But I do enjoy it.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
      3·
      5 days ago

      I’ve realized my hobby is optimizing my space to do my hobbies. If I ever get my workspace just like I want it for projects, I won’t know what to do with myself. The workshop is the project.

  • Seth Taylor@lemmy.world
    17·
    5 days ago

    I teach guitar lessons. They’re only £15 per hour. But the guitar will cost you £150. And the amp will cost you £100. And being in a band will cost you £10 per rehearsal for the rest of your life. Wanna tour? Bad news, bud. It’ll cost ya.

    EDIT: Also, the feral cats that hung out in my yard were free, but the vet bills are about to absolutely destroy me

  • Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world
    10·
    4 days ago

    Yep. I tried getting into paintball back in 2000, bought a gun of of a friend but never had the opportunity to even shoot it. Kept it through HS, college, and the first 5+ years of work before a friend said he was trying to get back into it. I told myself I wouldn’t buy any new gear until we had a few good games. We did a couple 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 and i finally decided to bite the bullet. New mask (custom paint job), new gun (azodin blitz), mechanical hopper, some other accessories, etc etc.

    Played once, he got bored with it again, started dating a new girl and disappeared.

  • OldChicoAle@lemmy.world
    23·
    5 days ago

    I never need another plant, but I’ll always get one on a bad day. Plus, I love learning how to care for different kinds of plants.

    • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
      2·
      5 days ago

      I tell myself that they will pay for themselves because I can eat them. After a few more years if I can work out what grows well that mat actually become true…

      Found some cheap beetroot seeds yesterday, pack of 4 different colours of beetroot and I have 1800 seeds for £1.50, so that will almost certainly pay for its self as long as at least like 5 of them grow to a decent size.

      Most of the wasted cost is in stuff I buy that fails. But if you measure it on a per plant basis my most successful has been rosemary. One of my oldest plants and propagated so much from a single plant. “Do not propagate” sticker on it when I bought it was taken as a challenge. I now have about 12 of them. Mostly use it with sage and dehydrate them to mix with salt, goes great on roast potatoes.

      • Kuma@lemmy.world
        1·
        5 days ago

        I know you are joking but I wanted to add that a hobby isn’t a hobby if you earn money (that is a job) because the real reason you do it, is because of brain stimulation or even meditation, I think going out with friends is also a hobby (less structured), and alcohol is never a net plus but we do not think we need to earn money when we go out it is the happiness it brings we pay for.

        • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
          3·
          5 days ago

          More justifying it because I spend less money now on seeds than I would have on the food produced from it later. Food quality is also quite an important one and makes the effective value of the produce far higher too. Its not making money directly, but saving money.

          Although the best value would then would be my foraging. Got a bag of plums in the freezer that I picked recently and plan to make a fruit mead with.

          • Kuma@lemmy.world
            2·
            5 days ago

            Yes i read your comment as such so it wasn’t aimed at you, it was aimed in general at any one who feel ashamed for spending money on a hobby.

            I think everyone needs one and it is great when you really found that one hobby that makes you happy. Sounds like you found yours and i am happy for you!

            Gardening is really nice especially the feeling you get when you eat your own grown food. I tried growing mushrooms for the first time, it was the tastiest mushrooms I have eaten, and it was definitely mostly because I had cared for them for a month haha

            I can recommended it if you like mushrooms, grey oyster mushroom is really easy, forgiving and grows fast.

  • Jubei Kibagami@lemmy.world
    14·
    5 days ago

    I’m just gonna trade in these old guitars, clean up the place a bit, put the money away for something else later. I’m a sensible adult today.

    Comes back with a Charvel Pro-Mod DK 24 🤡 I’d’ve been a sucker not to buy it!

    • cojo5@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      4·
      5 days ago

      well yeah, a guitar like that could do the job of two of your other guitars.

      not that you’re going to sell those two other guitars, it’s just you told yourself you would, to justify the new one