Said it in another topic but the saw this one too.
Can we get a word from @BambuLab about this issue? Friends have been downloading and printing my models and it’s not counting at all. Just now i downloaded a friends model and he confirmed that no download was made at all.
Ratings it’s the same, but they come slowly.
yep problems with downloads and counts… ive tested on my own models with a friend and some models that i have got 0 downloads freshly uploaded for example, even if he downloads the models 10 times it still counts 0, and ive tried it with my uncle as well and still 0 download on both the model and in the models analytics nothing has changed, I also saw lower downloads since this week so meaby something is really wrong. please let us know 
Just to add some more data on this. I observed a significant decline in registered prints starting this past Monday:
Downloads are consistantly below average, though not as extreme as the number of prints. Given that the number of views, likes, and collects appears unaffected, I share your skepticism that there might be an issue at play.
Has anyone received a response from Bambu Lab yet?
I’ll add another data point. Last 3 days are unusual for me too - downloads are similar but “prints” are much lower.
My graphs more or less mirror’s yours, Uhl.
Here is my chart. The number of prints registered has taken a severe and sudden nosedive. Based on the previous averages I am down over 1200 points this week since the problem began. I’m just glad I’m not alone. Hopefully they will address and rectify the problem. Many of us put a lot of work into our designs and profiles based on the agreed amount of points that could be accumulated. The points are great and I am thankful to be able to earn them, but Bambu certainly makes significantly more off of our designs than we do (those of who follow the analytics understand that as well).
Bambu Lab replied to my ticket:
The situation you mentioned is normal, as our system undergoes updates and imposes certain limitations on the data. We are committed to continuously optimizing and maintaining the safety and fairness of our community.
So… they are limiting the data from certain normal users and letting those big number creators that post mostly renders but have 10k followers get their rewards as usual. Nice one… Fairness indeed lol
I am guessing the big hitters are being hit hard as well. I consider myself part of Makerworld middle class with 1100 Followers and my graphs look just like everyone else’s that have posted here. They have imposed limitations such as cutting off almost all points…
Experiencing similar issues. Two of my recent models have been up for 4-5 days and not a single download, which is unusual for my account. Funny thing is, yesterday my analytics said these designs had been viewed around 200 times collectively since being uploaded. I check a minute ago and the analytics now say around 60 times. It’s not a huge deal for me, but it is concerning to see analytics recording zero user interaction and inconsistent data.
Interesting that 3d printing seems to have now entered the era of “Chasing the YouTube algorithm”…
I’ve wondered when MakerWorld would have to start scaling back the rewards program. I couldn’t see how the current model is sustainable.
I always wonder about the long term of the rewards program. I think you’re right, as it is now, it doesn’t seem sustainable. I keep wondering when they’re going to pull it back. At the least it needs some additional checks and balances.
I hope they don’t gimp it too much though. It does go a long ways in helping me bring new designs and ideas to reality. I even managed to get myself an A1 Mini so I could better work with the mini crowd. Been realizing that the Mini users are some of my favorite users.
With the recent price drop the A1 Mini is such a good value and great way to get started.
The program is very sustainable for Bambu. They give away a lot of value in points, but what they get back in direct and indirect value is much more lucrative for them. Here is an example:
My most popular model has garnered approximately 800 downloads and 3100 prints. So I have earned 7000 points from this model (3100x2 + 800). These points have been converted to 14 gifts cards valued at $560 in Bambu merchandise. Note that when I spend those $560 retails, the wholesale cost to them is probably 50%.
My model uses about 55 grams per plate to printout. So 3100 printouts used 170,500 grams of material, or 171 rolls of filament. I know not all of those rolls are purchased from Bambu, but let’s say it was half of them. 85 rolls of Bambu filament. At $20/roll that is $1700 in retail sales.
So based on my assumptions, my model probably cost Bambu $280 and made them $1700 in sales, plus the residuals (3500+ hours of machine usage/wear&tear/spare parts, traffic to the Makerworld site and contributing to it’s success.)
The program is very sustainable.
The A1 Mini is the gateway drug for young designers, haha.
There’s a ton of people too that get the A1 Mini that don’t have experience with cad, or 3d design, and they just want to print cool things. The house hold crowd, the mom and kids crowd, stuff like that. This is so awesome to me. There’s some of the older crowd that’s like “How can you 3d print if you can’t even design!” And like, you gotta change your way of thinking! We’re in a new era, and this hobby is opening up way beyond ourselves.
The old school crowd tends to be pretty grizzled at times (I still love ya’ll, and I’m grizzled just like ya), while these new wave of mini users are pretty lively and open to this new world.
I think it’s more so the sustainability in conjunction with the people that scam the system. There’s certainly been a few peeps that don’t bring in nearly as much value to makerworld and Bambu vs the rewards they would be getting.
When it comes to the intended target of the points system though, I think you’re right. It is sustainable, and a decent deal for them at times. The rewards I’ve gotten out of some of my more complex designs don’t 100% offset the time spent, and so what they’ve essentially “paid” me is a discount of what my normal hourly rate would be. The actual value of those points is distorted too by their own markups on their filament and products, as you’ve mentioned. It has allowed me to afford to focus as much time on it though.
Those are some interesting numbers and I can see how it could be viewed as profitable. The issue I see is that it doesn’t factor in losses to individuals who abuse the system. With arguably the “best” reward system it is the most attractive to people with nefarious intentions.
Ultimately if this rewards model is so profitable why haven’t other model sharing sites (cough Prusa) adopted it?
It depends on how much market share and traffic starts to slide over to Bambu/Makerworld. Bambu has aggressively disrupted the 3D market. Only time will tell how Prusa (Creality and others as well) will respond to keep up, or stop the bleeding. I’ve only uploaded a couple of models on Printables and the results were meh, so I don’t even bother. It’s all Makerworld and few Cults3D for me.
