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How 3D Printing is Upending the Miniature Industry
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7683281" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Important article. </p><p></p><p>My cousin runs on the side a small business printing sewing and embroidery designs. He hires artists from Latin America to draw pictures, and converts them using software into cross stitch templates. He comes out with lots of new designs each month. He even has a subscription service. These designs are of course easily stolen, so after a few months he basically expects them to become public domain.</p><p></p><p>It's actually phenomenally successful. And I believe it provides a template for where miniatures gaming will ultimately have to move once manufacturing capacity becomes distributed. The market is eventually going to become a lot like the pdf market, and similarly reliant on customer good will and a relationship with your customers to get them to be honest and pay you for your work because they value it and you. But I think kickstarter, and particularly the Order of the Stick kickstarter, as well as older things like the fan support that kept Sluggy Freelance being published is proof that this good will exists. Whether GW can cultivate that mutual respect with its fan base is another matter perhaps, but in general I think 'I make the designs and you buy them at small cost' is a working model. </p><p></p><p>The biggest barrier to entrance into miniature gaming has always been the phenomenal cost of the hobby and the time investment in painting and construction necessary before you could even play. It's arguable that if the cost of miniature's could come down considerably, the games would become vastly more popular. Indeed, if it comes down far enough, then one of the other barriers to entry into the hobby might fall as well - it might be possible to afford to own enough pieces to allow both yourself and a friend without pieces to play, this increasing adoption of the hobby.</p><p></p><p>All that being said, it's probably still 10-15 years off before the technology becomes ubiquitous enough and producing goods of high enough quality that the content only model is going to endanger traditional miniatures. This gives plenty of time for miniatures publishers to adapt and leverage their understanding of design.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7683281, member: 4937"] Important article. My cousin runs on the side a small business printing sewing and embroidery designs. He hires artists from Latin America to draw pictures, and converts them using software into cross stitch templates. He comes out with lots of new designs each month. He even has a subscription service. These designs are of course easily stolen, so after a few months he basically expects them to become public domain. It's actually phenomenally successful. And I believe it provides a template for where miniatures gaming will ultimately have to move once manufacturing capacity becomes distributed. The market is eventually going to become a lot like the pdf market, and similarly reliant on customer good will and a relationship with your customers to get them to be honest and pay you for your work because they value it and you. But I think kickstarter, and particularly the Order of the Stick kickstarter, as well as older things like the fan support that kept Sluggy Freelance being published is proof that this good will exists. Whether GW can cultivate that mutual respect with its fan base is another matter perhaps, but in general I think 'I make the designs and you buy them at small cost' is a working model. The biggest barrier to entrance into miniature gaming has always been the phenomenal cost of the hobby and the time investment in painting and construction necessary before you could even play. It's arguable that if the cost of miniature's could come down considerably, the games would become vastly more popular. Indeed, if it comes down far enough, then one of the other barriers to entry into the hobby might fall as well - it might be possible to afford to own enough pieces to allow both yourself and a friend without pieces to play, this increasing adoption of the hobby. All that being said, it's probably still 10-15 years off before the technology becomes ubiquitous enough and producing goods of high enough quality that the content only model is going to endanger traditional miniatures. This gives plenty of time for miniatures publishers to adapt and leverage their understanding of design. [/QUOTE]
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