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Selling Cash shop cosmetics/models as 3d printable .stl files = profit.
Uncommon Sense
Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
3d printers are becoming a cheaper more prevalent hobby. I just got 1 and am having a blast, then i had the eureka moment.
DnD, Wargaming, Model painting, kit bashing etc.
Intrepid themselves I am sure are fully aware of this hobby industry...No Other video game seems to do this...
I believe they already have other IP in development using the Lore of Ashes of Creation.
This could have massive revenue potential. As some people might be more inclined to purchase cash shop items if they are also real world assets.
you can take the idea to the bank intrepid, I can't see there being much of resource overlap. You could be the first game to offer such a service.
DnD, Wargaming, Model painting, kit bashing etc.
Intrepid themselves I am sure are fully aware of this hobby industry...No Other video game seems to do this...
I believe they already have other IP in development using the Lore of Ashes of Creation.
This could have massive revenue potential. As some people might be more inclined to purchase cash shop items if they are also real world assets.
you can take the idea to the bank intrepid, I can't see there being much of resource overlap. You could be the first game to offer such a service.
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As someone who doesn't have much practice in designing models for print, it'd be great to be able to buy or download the models. It definitely wouldn't have any effect upon the in-game economy, and could be a creative revenue source for Intrepid.
Anything that helps them keep the *required* player cost at only the monthly subscription and still isn't P2W is certainly a bonus in my book!
I am currently creating my own custom mini army after discovering OnepageRules
https://onepagerules.com/
I was always interesting in taking up the tabletop wargaming path as a kid seeing whitedwarf publications in my local small town news agency. Since then though GamesWorkshop (other games/IP are available its just the majority will associate 40k with table top wargames) is not that consumer friendly IMO.
As much as i like thier lore/IP and aesthetic, the corporate profiteering has turned me off and always prevented me from developing what is coined as a "plastic crack" addiction.
But I digress, After finding the onepagerules' more open source and community driven approach and the cost of 3d Resin printers dropping while the quality of prints improving, the hobby for me is approachable.
To get an idea how much the hobby has expanded just take a look at.
https://www.myminifactory.com/
and for people who don't wont to buy a printer and materials their are 3rd parties doing the service as well as distributors.
https://www.thingiverse.com
https://www.etsy.com for example.
It not just war games though, some people just like to paint models and make dioramas. Intrepid could get on board and have monthly model painting contests and things like that...All community builders and involvement.
There is a possible untapped market that no other MMO or 'video game developer' for that matter has tapped into.
Being the first to offer such a product could be a massive PR, IP advertisement point.
No affiliations with the website links, however I am a OnePageRules patreon supporter for disclosure.
True
But I don't see intrepid getting into the miniatures business
The Problem for GW now is 3D resin printers are now cost effective and the software is easy enough to use.
For the cost a GW 1000pt army you could buy a printer a bottle of resin+sundries and still have spare change.
GW has gone down the corporate propriety route which has basically pushed out new blood entering the hobby and cashing in on dedicated whales.
The quality of stl files out there are comparable perhaps even better, A personal subjective matter course.
I am not denying the quality or aesthetic of GW though...but their refusal to adapt to a changing market [probably wont pan out long term.
There are even 3d printable castable resins so not even the metal cast miniatures are an anchor point.
I think I saw someone compare the cost a 40k Titan and the cost of a printer+resin and print out a Titan* the later option was cheaper...
Why don't you think so? You can buy official collectables from Blizzard.
I just look at blizzards models an 18" premium statue of a known character is $400. some chibbi thing was $60...
That's a bit different to a $5 .stl and 20c worth of resin to make a 28mm figure.
Same issue as GW...proprietary clamp on IP, the irony is Blizzard was licensed by GW to make a warhammer game during development the contract fell through and Blizzard rebranded the project into warcraft.
The thing is 1 way builds a community, the other just milks profit from an already existing fan base.
The idea is offering in game models/cash shop cosmetics as purchased downloadable .stl files...that's all the premise is.
I mean, I like the premise. Hell, I wish Games Workshop, Blizzard, etc... all sold official stl files of their ip. That would be amazing. I could probably get most of them for free if they did, because someone will usually end up uploading them somewhere. I'm just saying that it might be a tad unrealistic, because every other company knows that it's way more profitable to sell the physical models themselves, or licenses to make physical models, than to sell stl files.
There is already an extensive 'black market' for GW stl files.
This is why GW has cracked down on any 3d printed content used in their 'gamespace' the have drawn a line.
Anything that is not approved by GW gets yeeted. Like I said I like the lore and aesthetic but don't support GW propitiatory gate keeping in what was once a community driven hobby space. They are not same entity that existed 30years ago.
3D printing is here to stay and is improving exponentially. Refusing to accept and adapt to a changing market won't bode well.
intrepid could outsource an approved 3D printing firm and make official* models for people who don't want to invest in personal 3d printing equipment. but that's more overheads.
The MMO is the primary product where the majority of IP will be kept safe* what happens outside of this space should not be of major concern for Intrepid...if their content gets shared around even in a 'blackmarket' way it's still free advertising.
Selling a cosmetic/model with an .stl attachment is just a better marketable product. That might draw in more players who are not interested in 1 or the other product to play and stay committed to the game.
Take the 1990s. The music records industry now makes a tiny, tiny fraction compared to what it was making before. No company realistically wants to voluntarily put themselves in this position prematurely, before they are forced to by the market.
I think that 3d printers are becoming more popular, but not everyone has one. Also, 3d printers are still kind of niche, whereas almost everyone had a way to play music. Going from downloading music to playing it is braindead easy, whereas 3d printing a physical model is probably still a little intimidating for most people, and a little more technical if you want to get the best results because there's a bunch of ways to support voids in the model, nozzle size, etc... So it's not really a completely 1:1 comparison now, but I do think it will eventually get very close.
3d printing is still such a niche thing that I just don't think that any company would seriously sell stl files to use it as a marketing draw. I agree that it would be nice though if they actually did it.
I agree not everyone has or wants a 3d printer, but i think general adoption isn't that far off.
there are currently over 4000 patreon members on Onepagerules with the primary rewards being stl files. and the wargamming hobbyists are adopting the technology rapidly..gaining average of 500 new members per month...
When 4k mono panels became available at a reasonable price I finally invested ...
I don't think its as niche as you believe it is. I think the opportunity to be the first video game publisher/studio to offer such a product would be a huge talking point and make the cash shop far more appealing, especially to the older MMO crowd who are not fond of cash shops in video games.
Printers are getting into the sub $200 range.
Intrepid doesn't have to, but I think its a massive profit potential with added benefits.
I highly doubt that it is more profitable, or else one of these companies that sells models would have done it already. It seems obvious that it is currently way more profitable to either directly sell official models, or license out rights for official models.
I would totally buy a snail boi .STL for my nurgle army.
If I had more time, I would write a shorter post.
GW/Blizzard Activision are a locked in corporate entities who want 100% control have shareholders and dividends to maintain they are proprietary focused and anti opensource. They probably do have a bunch of lawyers and number crunchers and i bet those lawyers and number crunches want to keep their employment positions...well maybe not in Blizzards case.
GW/Blizzard are set in old ways and they will fall aside. the hobby and technology is making moves with or without them.
When Ashes launches in what 2-3 years? 3d printers will be likely sub $100 and maybe you wont have 1 but you'll likely know someone who does. There a dedicated 3d printing YT channels with over 200k subscribers...
Its only going to get bigger and more mainstream.
Ashes has an opportunity to be the first to offer such a product that is associated to an already established IP and MMORPG.
Im just sharing the idea. I think they could make a profit with additional benefits.
They have a cash shop and technically .stl files are "just cosmetics"
I'd be nice if Intrepid did it out of the goodness of their hearts, but it's just wishful thinking tbh. Do I wish that they would not have a cash shop in Ashes? Yes, but I'm not going to argue that some other model is actually more profitable in the current market, and that they should be doing that instead. I'm still a realist, and operate in realm of reality. They're a company, and they will do what is obviously more profitable in the current market. If you honestly believe that selling stl files will be more profitable than licensing or selling official models in the current market, then you're simply not a realist.
Minis and terrain objects that are linked to already established cash shop cosmetic offerings is what I am more implying towards.
If you are into models to the point that you are going to buy and paint your figures. You are really doing yourself a disservice by not owning at least a cheap resin printer.
Heroforge is just a middle man service up charging people for something that is cheap to do at home. There was a time when resin printing was new and expensive when Heroforge made sense, but these days there is no reason not to print your stuff.
That said, my main reason for preferring my own prints to official kits or a service like Heroforge is that I can load a build plate up with a bunch of the same mini and have no fear of making mistakes. If I want to experiment with paint styles and kitbashes without fear of messing up an expensive mini.
A related rabbit hole is Anime garage kit figures. The existence of cast resin copies of figures that hobbyists can paint has not brought down the popularity or value of official figures. Some people really like assembling, customizing, and painting their figures over just buying them.
If I had more time, I would write a shorter post.
3d resin printers are getting cheap and are global.
Intrepid studios has the modeling talent and enough digital world product to offer 3mf/stl files direct to the consumer without any counterparty risks.
The premise is making the current cash shop digital asset offerings more palatable to a wider consumer base.
Being the first Video game MMORPG to offer such a product would be a massive PR boost.