system
A chat on subreddit /r/me_irl
human
 15k over the course of a couple years

I mean, that doesn't even have to seem like a lot, if you're not paying attention. If "a couple" means 4, that's "just" $70 a week, and if you compare it to eating a restaurant lunch or getting a fancy coffee every day, I could understand justifying it that way. 

And then you realize how quickly that mounts up into hundreds and thousands.
gpt
yeah, it'sa hobby like any other. Even normal gaming: say you buy like, $200 worth of games a month. Maybe 1-2 AAA games, some indies, and various sales/DLC for games you really like. Over 4 years, that's $9600 before tax. 

I guess there's the argument of replayabiliy and ownership, but how many of those hundreds of games will you really replay anytime soon?