I am seeing a lot of low-effort/very slight re-colorings of the same exact models (e.g., “fidget spinners”) that are being cast as Makerworld exclusives. For example:
I think these are detrimental to the site as a whole and clearly abusive of the Makerworld Exclusive program. I would ask that the kind folks at MakeWorld explicitly create a rule to prevent this kind of slop from entering the program and jumping up the algorithm. It would (1) improve the quality of your site and (2) prevent people from abusing your system. There is no specific rule I can reference to report these as violations, but I do think they are intentionally abusive of the system.
In the images and the 3D view, I can’t spot any differences, so I thought I’d just print a few of them to better assess it! I’m excited to see the results ^^
I really can’t imagine that such a dedicated member like Malc would do something so ridiculous!
None of the designs in your screenshot are low effort, in fact there’s more than enough differences between those models to warrant separate listings so I don’t see it as abusing the system at all.
I would however question if posting dozens of similar designs is the best way to drive traffic as opposed to 3-4 designs with several variations. If I saw that screenshot as a search result I might click one or two of them but if the model doesn’t fit what I’m looking for I would skip all the others assuming they’re more of the same. A more structured set of listings with clearly differentiated features (e.g. listing for gyro, full-gyro, spinner, etc.) and then several options for each would result in more overall traffic and converting more views to prints in my opinion. Additionally you’d avoid competing with yourself in the algorithm and the models would rank overall higher when they have more downloads and prints for each. Just my two cents nobody asked for
I printed and compared these two models from Malc, and surprisingly, even though you can’t notice any difference at first glance, the two models behave differently!
They may look almost identical, but as soon as you play with them, you notice the difference. One can spin like a fidget spinner, while the other cannot; it can only twist like a gyro but not spin. ^^
Both prints turned out perfectly and came out clean. Thanks for your work, Malc—my kids are going to have so much fun with these!
I would like to thank you for the time you took to read the descriptions and review the models and explore the tens of thousand rating and reviews.
As I say, I would like to thank you, but, given you clearly did none of those things you have no idea of the differences clearly written, the love each one is given by those who keep asking and suggesting new varieties.
Firstly there are different mechanics in the spin type, I prefer the Spinner variant, but, others prefer the gyro and others still the full gyro.
Should I tell those people that you have decided only one set of mechanics is allowed and they should not be afforded their preference?
Should I tell the teachers and the parents of those who give these to students to help with their ADHD, ADD and sensory issues that are helped by different textures for each person they are only allowed one and those who need a different texture that they have your ignorance of the benefits of these tools to blame for removing the benefits they have gained? Should the teachers of special needs children go without because your self-imposed views without logics or understanding is now the rule to live by?
What would you have had me tell the teacher who write and asked me to make a version of an existing model with softer edges as his special needs students are also self harming? Should I tell him you only let him have the ones that might help their ADHD & ADD but, self harming concerns should be ignored?
Should I tell the parent that asks for a smaller model of their favourite model so their child can share in the joy he does?
Should I tell the mum her child can’t benefit from a spinner on a keyring or the one they can adorn their Christmas tree?
It might be worth you reading this response I gave to others who have such levels of self-imposed ignorance by refusing to read, from choosing to pretend they have a clue. I suspect your “I must be right because I spoke without thinking” view will mean you do not read the above or the this link, and that will prove my points of course.
High praise, I do enjoy it when someone is so ignorant of things that they use abusive language and phrasing to cause offence to others who spend their time bringing joy to others and calm to more.
My toys and mental health tools are loved by tens of thousands. When you gain the time/ability to read, take a moment to read all the comments that explain how this slop has helped them.
Ask yourself why people collect every single one if they are all identical. Are you saying they are all dumb people who should have their printers taken away?
Just because you are not able to understand something doesn’t mean those of average intelligence can’t.
Shame on you for this ignorant diatribe, your points are full of self-imposed misunderstandings
Defend this theory, once you have done the research you chose to ignore before you used your keyboard as a Vomitorium your ill conceived rhetoric.
@Tarik77@Chris1974@michelem@TommysCraft@benjaminkott you all decided this ill thought out, uneducated and ill researched set of lies that all these models are identical and as Highlander says “there can be only one” was on the money.
Did you decide this based on your own research? Do you stand by your like and thumbs up to the idea that those who have benefited by my efforts, by the change in focus the parents and teachers see in students, by the shared enjoyment parent and child get from the work they so appreciate?
I wonder if you would persist in this view if you actually read some of the ratings and reviews, if you printed the different mechanics, if you explored the different textures and manipulated the different sizes of your knee jerk misunderstanding would change.
Shame on all of you that decided that you know everything and tens of thousands of people must be utter morons.
Shame on you for failing to perform any understanding of the work that goes into these, to the time it takes to make these work at the outer edges of printer capabilities, to the extreme tolerances p, to the millions of triangles that make up the significant variety of each one.
This slop as has been ignorantly described are incredibly complex shapes that are often commented as “it just works right off the build-plate” by those who love them.
How dare you imply I am gaming the system, those who enjoy them are dumb and MW should ban something so popular that one of them is in the top 70 of every single model added to MW this year and the top 120 of all models ever added to MW.
Finally I will take time to review the efforts of @TheKingOfSpain to see how my collection of 650+ models of all different types from the lowly coasters and keyrings, to articulated models, to headphones stands, to doorstops, to McDonald’s condiment containers, to games, puzzles, magnet fidget toys, pass through vortexes, to tools to calibration models to aid users to make their printer work and tuning their filaments - but I can’t.
Why, because the one who has chosen to judge my extensive catalogue of models without thought and with malice hasn’t shared a single model.
Rather than trying to fraudulently tear down those that do maybe you think of what you wrote.
Why do t you improve the quality of MW and share your designs that are all unique, remember you can only design ONE model as any variant is considered low effort.
Why not? I don’t know, are you unable to design? There is nothing wrong with that. Are you unwilling to share? There is nothing wrong with that?
The simplistic and shameful willingness to insult the work of those who do put considerable effort in to the work, to malign those who spend time responding to requests and making models based on those requests is utterly shameful and you should be ashamed of yourself.
Shame on you and those who joined in without thinking for yourselves. I expect a few of those likes and thumbs up might now be retracted should the small pest amount of thought be put in.
The differences are written in the title, the description and in the second image of every model which details all the properties of the models.
I have taken to printing the model types in consistent colours of late so people know.
Green = Gyro
Red = Slinner
Blue = Full Gyro
The number is how many sections as some like 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10+ even!
I can’t believe I have to defend such loved work to someone who appears to have actively ignored the research part of saying something is wrong. If you say “they are all the same” as your central thesis, you would hope you they actually confirmed that point.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Most are by request and often by teachers and parents that require something to suit the child’s specific needs. I detailed the full break down in the answer above.
My most popular model is on the top 70 of all the hundreds of thousands added in the last year and in the top 120 of all models of all time here.
I think I’m good.
More importantly I don’t do this for the points. Most here know I am in my literal death bed as I am writing this on my iPad.
I am currently donating 3D printers to local schools, my own mini print farm will be donated to schools when I die, I donate the printers, the spares, MakerSupply gear so the students can explore ad filament packs so they don’t have any outlay of funds.
I don’t need money earned here to have an income, I have but months to live.
The reason I got into 3D printing again was to try and elevate the boredom of being required to be bed bound for at east 23 hours a day, every day of of year for nearly 5 years. There is only so much YouTube and tv you can live with.
Since you adressed me directly, I’m going to let you know why I “liked” the OP.
I hate fidgets with a grudge. Others like them. So be it. I think they are useless pieces of junk. Others say they help them a great deal. Both opinions are equally valid.
I don’t mind you making spinners. I don’t mind people like them.
I do think they look A LOT alike and maybe they could have been sliced and diced differently to group more similar fidgets in one Makerworld Item. I agree with the OP that it is all minor variations on a single theme. That some people like one more than the other is not relevant for that statement to be tue.
I don’t mind you posting every single fidget as a completely new item because Makerworld is not my site and you are not bothering me. I do think if I would make the same models I would have grouped them into A LOT less Makerworld items.
Do with this as you please, I don’t really care too much for fidgets anyway.
Example of minor variations: The difference between these 2 models is changing a 5 to a 6 for the “circular patern” function in fusion360.
after reading a few of your posts I have a question or two.
When were you deemed the all knowing and arbitrator of all things on MakerWorld? You state your opinion in another thread as if you are an authority. You’re not only free to have an opinion, but free to state is as well. Perhaps though, you should practice some humility.
If you feel that way, maybe try and either speak to Malc before calling him out, or trying to report it, which has already been attempted.
Using the word slop immediately invalidates your opinion. Absolutely no reason to attack another user who’s models have been up for quite awhile. IF the authority that is MakerWorld can allow AI then these are far more acceptable.
Now you may think they’re low effort, and you’re wrong, but Malc has enough hurdles to go through just to reply to your insults. I’m certain that half of you wouldn’t be able to get out of bed with his issues let along hurl stupid insults tied to an uneducated opinion.
On a side note: Even threads calling out obvious AI-generated slop were less harsh and didn’t jump straight to accusations without first asking, “Is this slop?”
I get wanting some quality control, but at least check if what you’re saying is accurate before starting unnecessary drama.
Honestly, I don’t quite understand why I should feel ashamed. Just because I can understand the point of the user above when they say, “I don’t see a difference”? I felt the same at first. That’s exactly why it intrigued me, and I wanted to find out for myself what the differences actually are.
In a forum like this, anyone could claim that there are differences, even if they aren’t immediately apparent. Still, especially with similar concepts, like a spinner or a gyro, which can both spin, it’s hard for an outsider to truly grasp what sets them apart.
For this reason, I decided to print the models myself to better understand and evaluate them. My goal was to contribute to the discussion with well-founded information. Honestly, I thought I was helping you by taking an objective look at your work and highlighting the differences.
However, your response shows that you perceived my helping hand differently. That’s unfortunate, because my intention was to support you by verifying your efforts, not to attack you. So, I don’t think I should feel ashamed for my approach, I was simply trying to help and bring clarity to the matter.
One should be cautious about placing someone too hastily in the “shame corner”
The user got a thumbs-up from me because I can understand that, at first glance, the models look identical, and without having them in hand, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the difference lies. ^^
I can still understand the user’s perspective. When you visit your page, the initial thought might be, “Wow, why are there so many similar models?” Without the background knowledge of what the gyro, the spinner, or the combination of both actually does, it’s difficult for an outsider to grasp what sets them apart just from text and images.
That’s exactly why I decided to print the models myself, to show the user that, before pulling the trigger, they should make sure they are aiming at the right target ^^
In itself the concept that someone is abusing the exclusive program is there. Maybe a resized version, colored or imperceptible changes, but I think Malc is the most wrong example to bring to light this problem.
Hey @MalcTheOracle, i still agree even the models in the screenshot are agreeable not 100% accurate to the issue. There is a valid point here, but i let the others judge.
EDIT:
I just want to mention here that Malc also has models that provide better solutions to this like this one.
Are you suggesting that hero fidget spinners are not allowed?
It is unclear if you are casting me as scum or not?
Two days ago someone here posted a large graphic that looked forward to my impending death.
What did I do to generate all this hate from some of you?
MakerWorld have no issue with my models, but, for some reason some people wish to tear my work down and try and shame me for reasons I can’t comprehend.
First things first, there is no hate involved, at least from my side - and i think you are missing the point here.
The spinners brought up were used to describe a situation and should suit as an example, as it was mentioned in the first sentence of this thread. No one called you out directly on this, except @Uhl who tagged you.
You, @MalcTheOracle, started bringing sarcasm, guilt and blame to a discussion that started and tried to be respectful, but also pointing out the issue. You started disrespecting everyone else, please read your response again and just think about your words.
I leave aside the personal attack against me and others you mentioned directly, if this is how you treat all people who disagree with your opinion - i have an idea where the “hate” you mentioned is coming from. Still, no hate from my side.
Back to the topic:
“Disallow minor variations on derivative models from Exclusive program” or how i would like to call it avoid Model spam.
All versions are fine, even from my perspective, but can simply be provided as a variant of a model, as a profile or build plate, choose your liking. We already discussed that we would like to see explicit model variants, that are not
listed separately but are part of the Main-Model in the past. And the best practice is until further implementations are happening to list it as a profile. (Did not change to my knowledge).
Providing an Alphabet with each letter as a dedicated model, is considered spam.
Providing a Keyring-Set with each Hanger as a custom model, is considered spam.
Providing a Box set, with each size as a dedicated model, is considered spam.
Providing a Planter with different sizes as a dedicated model, is considered spam.
The same goes for your “Hero” spinners in the format they are provided, this is considered spam. This is what was been marked as problematic. Not the base model itself.
I did point out your tealights, because you can and did already better.
Why did I point out your models? Because you made the discussion about you.
So please step back from being personal offended, and let´s talk about the issue, here. I still fully agree, as i did in the past, where it was not about the exclusive program.
