Ya’ll have twisted motivations if you’re only here for the rewards
I’m sorry. I’m not going to change what I’m doing (I’m not saying anyone is suggesting I should, but more so just a counter point to these types of narratives) and how I’m setting things up because my existence doesn’t bank on my ability to acquire points. I get so tired of seeing these sorts of arguments, like all designers are driven by is the rewards system and with the absent of it, the whole thing collapses. I’m driven by the love of design and the community that takes the time to download and print my work. The reward system is just that, a reward. It should not be the top priority.
It seems like it’d be an insult to all those that follow my work, if I went around acting like this, or was talking about how I’m going to take my work and go home or delay releases because I feel slighted by the rewards system.
I would argue if you want money, if you want compensation, then you need to go start selling on cults3d, or etsy, or patreon, or whatever. You need to build the business and do the work. It’s foolish to come on here and act like the rewards system is a given that’ll be there always and forever, that it can be anything you can rely on. It’s not. If your only motivation here is the rewards system, you’re gonna have a bad time.
And like I said. I get impacted by all of this too. It’s not delaying anything for me though. It’s not stopping me. It’s not making me second guess my releases. It’s a bummer. I’m curious to see where it goes with their ideas on helping more complex models. Wish they were a little more engaging with us sometimes, but all in all, none of it impacts my releases or what I’m working on because I’m doing all of that because I love design, and appreciate and love those that download and print my models, and I want them to do that regardless if I get points or not.
I hope that we can finally collect a lot of new points, as we design complex projects with a lot of love and sometimes put months of effort into them. It would have been different if I had split the model into 20 individual designs and uploaded them. In the past, I have never seen my model with 20 plates get more prints than a model with fewer plates. That’s why I’m wondering what should be changed.
Just a little addendum. I say all of that not just as some opinionated designer, but also as a fan of ya’lls work. It’s upsetting as a fan to see people talking about taking their designs and going elsewhere, or whatever variation of that argument is made.
It’s like seeing your favorite celebrity act like a huge diva demanding things, and you’re kind of like… ehhhh.
Then you see
And it’s like heck yeah. I mean, I want designers to be rewarded, but this also gives me those warm fuzzies that regardless of points, this designer is in it with me.
You misunderstand my point, I’m not asking for more of anything and don’t plan to change how I upload my models. I’m also fine with the point system being nerfed, it’s free and I don’t feel entitled to free stuff. Plus I already earn points faster than I can spend them.
My concern here is the user experience browsing and looking for models on the site.
Any time you have a system with rewards you’re going to have people trying to optimize it. Not spammers or bots, just normal people trying to squeeze a bit more out of the system. You can call those people as many names as you like, it won’t change the fact that they exist.
I think the changes mentioned give people a reason to split up similar or variant designs into separate listings, and I think that will make for a worse user experience.
The spammers/scammers will do what they do regardless, but there’s been a number of legit designers that have gotten pretty upset about all of this too, to the point it feels like let’s just take a chill pill and get some perspective (self included).
For me, personally, best I can do right now is wait and see what Makerworld is cooking up for more complex models. I feel a lot of my work falls into that category, so what comes of it (or doesn’t) could have a big impact on me. Right now I’m just trying to make sure I get the filaments I’m gonna want for my near future releases.
Oh for sure. I’ve noticed in pretty much every context that few people act as entitled as someone who is getting something for free.
Sure, you can argue that MW points aren’t free since we’re giving them our designs, but the reward scheme from MW is way more generous than anyone else’s.
I just hope they don’t let business decisions about the rewards program bleed over into the end user experience. Enshittificaton is a very real trap to fall into.
I don’t think MW is nerfing the points. At least sometimes we should trust what they say, which is: " … are committed to transforming MakerWorld into a fairer, more enjoyable, and rewarding community for our designers and makers."
If they want to reduce the rewards, they don’t have to hide it. They are doing, or trying to do, what they say: to make it “fairer”. Using number of plates as a way to determine the complexity of a model wasn’t fair. A cube in 20 sizes to fill 20 plates is not a complex model :).
Let them take their time to come out with a good way to determine what a “complex model” is. I hope they take their time and think it through, and not mess it up because of the pressure to provide more detail quickly and the threat of some witholding models, or this could become another point to gain the system.
I feel the same, and I hope that this might also bring a better way to “present / organize” complex models for us designers but also for the end user. Build plates were a nice addition compared to prior slicers where even those didn’t exist, but even they can get complicated and messy if it’s too many.
Especially with very versatile models that have a lot of extra “options” for people to pick from could need some sort of sub-listings or something similar. Like where we can for example list one major base piece, and then themed based inserts / extras as a sub listing which are then linked to each other.
I’ve also printed some complex models of others where I found it confusing at some point. Which plates are necessary? Which plates are optional? Which belong together?
I guess some kind of hierarchy for larger / more complex models would be really nice in many ways.
I knew the rewards would be nerfed at some point but wasn’t ready for it and it caught me off guard. It actually comes as a relief now. I was so driven to produce models that would earn good points that I quit making things for myself and focused on what people would download. Having fun just printing again.
All that being said I have had about an 80% drop in points earnings daily. Just curious how that compares to the rest of you.
Hasn’t changed my reward points in any noticable fashion but it’s going to be different for everyone as it is highly dependent on how the model is consumed by an end user.
This means that we will introduce a new mechanism to reward more intricate models very soon, moving beyond simply point rewards. However, we don’t believe this should stop you from posting multi-plate models in the short term, as both your current and past models will still be eligible for rewards once our new rewarding system is implemented.
Then we will probably soon have more complex modeling designs in every respect, such as robots and the like. Not just something quick to print that can win first prize in a competition.
Of course, some models will be quickly created that not even the creator himself actually needs and thrown into Makerworld to win competitions or simply to improve the points collection in order to get supplies. Makerworld is flooded with models that are a flash in the pan or even disillusionment sets in after printing because you had a different idea of the model from the great renderings that were put in the shop window for the print models. We recently printed something that lacked things compared to the rendering and it is not stable in construction. My girlfriend wanted to put it in the garden by her little pond, but if it survives transport at all, it probably won’t be there for long.
Get reward points for being an active, contributing member on the forums.
Yearly Anniversary
Print Hours achieved
Gaining Likes
Buying a Bambu Labs Printer! (come on its the least we could get)
referals! (I’ve literally only told friends & family plus coworkers to buy Bambu Labs printers… then show videos…
Spending certain amounts on Bambu Labs Storefront! (it never stops!)
I could go on and on, but these make up for general rewards! I honestly think the (+4 points = maintaining a 4 or more star profile rating) isn’t the way to go about rewarding a proven, good working and dialed in print profile… to achieve making a profile that’ll work for everyone across the board is not an easy feat. Either raise the tiers to bring it down to a meaningful (+4 points) so we could start higher or simply change the whole reward to (+15 points = over 50 (5) star ratings & 10 new comments / +10 = over 30 (5) star reviews & 5 new comments / +8 = over 20 (4) star reviews / +5 = maintained over 3.5 star rating / yadayadayada
Yesterday was the worst day for points i’ve had in over a month. It’s dropped off a cliff. All my uploads have more than 5 plates (one has 25 and another has the max of 36) and this new rule is killing me. Oh well, the party had to stop sooner or later.
I am the opposite as far as models. I have 450+ models and all have 1 print profile. Yesterday was also my worst day points wise. Got 1/10th the low end average.