consider the cost?

hey everyone!

i've been checking out the site (very nice by the way), and getting involved looks like it could be fun.
it does, however, look like it could get fairly expensive (what with gas, food, event costs, big time latex weaponry, and righteous armor).

i guess what i want to know is, what would be the damage ($) on average for approximately one year of half-hearted involvement?

thanks

Registration (prepaid, plus one extra build): $50
Costume: $20 - $100
Armor: $20 - $300 (and up, for fancy "righteous" armor)
Weapon(s): $20 - $200

Food: Saturday evening feast is provided, other meals, say $20
Gas: varies as to where you're from and the world petro-situation.  We have many folks who car-pool.

Leaving the real world behind, fighting monsters, using magic, being chased through the woods, living for 45 hours in a whole other realm with the coolest folk around.....

.....priceless

Let me start off by saying welcome to the site, and I'm glad you're interested in Knight Realms.  I'm nobody official or important, but I'll try to help you as best I can for early in the morning.

It all depends on a lot of things.  Ignoring, for a moment, the gas question, which depends on how far away you live and if you can car pool with anyone (saves money and the environment, keen!), let's take a look at what you absolutely need to play.

Do you need a super-fancy professional outfit?  Nah.  I mean, looking nice helps, don't get me wrong, but you can totally look good without spending a lot of money, especially if you talk to some of the people here who are willing to make costumes for others.  A good outfit set may set you back $40-80, depending on materials and complexity.  Heck, if you've got access to a sewing machine at home and someone who knows how to use it (an understanding mother, for example), you can cut things down even further.  Remember to have some place to put things, storage for cards and items is a must.

Weapons don't have to be latex, boffer ones still work fine and some even look really cool.  Offhand, I'd say $50 should get you pretty much any combination of weapons and/or shields you're looking for, and it's most likely less if you make it yourself.

Footwear, well, that's up to you.  I recommend good hiking boots, you can get some very good ones for about $100, if you don't have a set already.

Armor, well, that gets tricky, but if you know where to look you can usually get decent deals on several sites.  This is usually in the $100-300 range though, and really should be something you wait to get until you know you're going to be playing for a while.

Events are going to be your biggest yearly expenditure, simply because you don't generally need to buy new clothing every year, that's more of a one-time cost.  Event Fees are listed on the site, there's generally 1 event per month, sometimes 2, sometimes it's a festival instead of a full event, once a year we have a Masquerade Ball and after that an OOG Awards Banquet.  You should be able to figure out the basic costs from there for a yearly "subscription" to the game.  If you NPC, of course, that cost is much reduced, as costuming and weapons will be made available to you through logistics.

Now, you'll also want to have some blankets/sleeping bags/other living essentials for night time, and be aware that it can get rather cold.  Base Layers and Thermals are highly recommended for the winter months.  I know I went my first winter without and I learned my lesson darn quick.

As far as food, I know that saturday mornings there is almost always someone making something along the lines of pancakes or french toast with sausage for the tune of $2 a plate.  Sunday mornings there's almost always [strike]me[/strike] some crazy guy making omelets, also for $2 a plate.  During market faire, there are usually people selling food for in and out of game money, and the prices are usually pretty reasonable.  Saturday Night is the feast, so food is taken care of there, so really you're just left with Friday Night to fend for yourself.

Less money per year than a single trip to Disney World, unless I miss my guess, and a lot more fun.  I mean, they don't even let you beat up Mickey Mouse.  Lame.

I started out with a $30 shirt, $25 pants, a $30 staff (which I still use almost 3 years later) sandals I already owned plus the entrance fee.  As time progressed, I bought lots more (primarily in decorations), but the point is, I could still be playing for about that much.

The costume I'm wearing now is made entirely from materials and clothes from around the home, that I slowly added to with "found" items. The only thing I bought outright was a leather pouch (a splurge at $35) and the cloth to make my shirt (cloth = $10). I think the entire cost of my base costume was $50.

Admittedly, I was a little luckier than most, as I'm an expert at getting my hands on things I want without paying for them (or breaking any laws). My cloak came to me at a discount in an exchange from a friend who was selling them, and my sword is a $200 high quality job but I received it as a gift when I did some work for the company that makes them.

If you went for a cheap boffer ($30?), I see no reason you couldn't do a good weapon and costume for under $75. $50 if you're really slick. Armor of course is a different story.

My roomate and I set up her brother and all his friends for their first event.  She tailored a pair of pants, tunic/shirts, and I made weapons for each one, all in all running about $100 each.  Boots and camping gear they already had, but you can manage a decent costume and weapon for $100 or less.