I’ll start. I have recently gotten into 3D printing, and, while incredibly frustrating sometimes, there’s nothing more rewarding than getting a perfect print.

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    1 year ago

    Lockpicking is nice. You won’t believe how many friends ask for help after they know your hobby. Most of the time it’s just “my keys are still inside, so it’s not locked”. It’s the easiest, but you don’t need to pick the lock to open those.

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    1 year ago

    Role-playing games. It might hit close to mainstream now - those tv series and movies where they appear directly or indirectly, certainly made the hobby more famous - but as an actual hobby, it’s still a niche thing.

    I think they should be part of educational program, globally.

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        1 year ago

        Tabletop role-playing games in general. D&D and Pathfinder are now the most widely recognized and played ones, but there’s whole library of alternatives. Thousands of games out there, catering to different needs, offering different experience, set in different worlds and offering different choices.

        For example, there’s BLUE PLANET in production - a SF/cyberpunk/environmentalist game in production, taking place on a distant planet covered mostly by water. In terms of the setting, it’s antithesis to DUNE, or very old, but stil amazing DARKSUN but the undertones are similar - people fighting against greed that ruins their world.

        Whatever idea you have, zombie apocalypse, kids saving the world, people investigating Lovecraftian horror, spaceships, weird west world, clash of fantasy kingdoms - there’s a game for that.

        • Wen Astar@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          I second with Vampire: The Masquerade, The Dark Eye, Shadowrun and StarWars RPG in my family. Teach your kids to play and they will never have time or money to waste on drugs. ;)

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    1 year ago

    Not sure if it’s niche: Bouldering. It’s such a great sport and comes really natural to us, like running or swimming. It provides a full body workout without feeling like a workout. It makes you quite strong without feeling like repetitive or dull. The community is very nice and positive.

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      1 year ago

      It’s pretty popular among my fellow students here, but I’d agree that it may be pretty niche overall.

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      1 year ago

      I want to start working out again without going to a Gym. There is a climbing Gym close to where I live and I need to check it out. How did you start do you recommend taking classes? Any gear I need to buy?

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        1 year ago

        For bouldering all you need is a pair of shoes and a chalk-bucket! :) if there is an intro class, I would definitely recommend that, otherwise just bring some friends and have fun!

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        The main equipment you’ll need are shoes and a harness. But most gyms will let you rent those for you to try out the sport.

        You don’t really need to take classes to start. The gym staff will tell you the initial info you need to go, then just get started by climbing some easy top rope routes or basic boulders to get a feel for it!

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    I like buying LEGO minifigures and then designing/building biomes for them to inhabit. I use BrickLink Studio to design the builds and then upload my parts list to BrickLink to get used bricks to build them. I also post them on Rebrickable for free, but I’ve fallen behind and need to post more on there.

    Here are a few that I’ve built.

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      1 year ago

      I was never really into calligraphy that much but for some reason Arabic calligraphy just kinda hits different for me so I’ve been thinking of looking more into that as I learn the language

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    1 year ago

    I’ve never really enjoyed playing online games. (I don’t like being harassed by strangers. I have enough problems with my self-esteem, thank you.) But now I’ve gotten into several niche games I’d prefer to play with people and I have no skills or energy to make that happen. The most niche one is the Armada 3 mod for Sins of a Solar Empire. I love that game and I’d love to play with my friends, but my friends have very little trek fandom/rts enthusiast crossover.

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    I do nearly all my clothes shopping at second hand stores. I love finding just the right items to make up great outfits to go out in. It can sometimes take months to piece together an outfit, though I do also mix and match things. It doesn’t matter to me how long it takes; I enjoy shopping around, I enjoy a bargain, and I enjoy the challenge and reward of making my own great outfits at a tiny cost.

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    1 year ago

    Blacksmithing. Something so primal and simple about it. And you get to play with fire. But what I find most satisfying is the ability, once you have a few simple tools, to make any other tools you need. It’s like the og 3d printing.

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    1 year ago

    I shop Goodwill like it’s a job.

    DVDs are always welcome. We have like 900 discs right now. $1.50-$3 a piece over several years.

    Then it’s all kitchen gadgets. All kinds of single purpose appliances for <$10. If they work out, keep them or upgrade them to a higher quality brand. If they don’t, donate them back.

    It’s a lot of fun, and a real shopping experience that forces you to consider different options because if limitations where Amazon might funnel you into a single solution.

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        1 year ago

        Goodwills are general worse in my opinion.

        They set up an auction site and now all the good stuff is up for auction instead of sitting on shelves

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        1 year ago

        We only really shop Goodwill and are familiar with the layout and trends. It has gotten worse lately, but we did get a working, clean minifridge for $50 ($250 new), and we got our stand mixer from the auction site mentioned by someone else. $90 for the mixer and a ton of attachments. Just needed a $10 gear replaced.

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    1 year ago

    I’m a big fan of amateur radio, specifically portable operation, and Parks on the Air.

    I’ll take my radio out to a remote location, throw an antenna up into some trees, and talk to people all over the US.

    Currently I need mains power, but I’m looking to buy a battery soon, and I already have some solar panels gifted from a club member.

    I live in Michigan, and last time I was out, my most distant contacts were in Dallas, Texas, around 1100 miles away, while I was sitting at a picnic table at my local state park campground.

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    The ability to identify practically any bird or reptile in North America. I get friends asking me what things are all the time… then trying to extend my knowledge to fungi and plants (which I’m getting better with, but not at the same level). It doesn’t feel too niche until I interact with my friends outside of biology.

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    1 year ago

    I play mandolin, which I think is niche? This summer I’ve been learning ableton live with the goal of combining edm influences and small, odd instruments.

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    1 year ago

    Home server take an old pc setup with a load of old harddrives noodle about with all the self hosting apps.

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    1 year ago

    I play the flute in the marching/concert band of my small town (we are all amateurs).