I have one model which I spent a good amount of effort working on. I uploaded this a few months ago, and it started off pretty good, I think it got to like 50 downloads and 20 prints, and was steadily climbing, before I uploaded a second model.
The second model in question wasn’t something intended to be printed, it was a reference model that other people could download and use to model with. And so naturally, I uploaded it for the sake of providing what I described above. Well, I guess MakerWorld’s algorithm deemed that model a low quality model or something, because after uploading it, my other model just TANKED in performance, and stayed like that for weeks.
Its download/print count didn’t change during this period at all. So I can only assume the second model I uploaded must have lowered some sort of account quality score or something, which stopped the algorithm from recommending my model to anyone.
Now, after like a month or so has passed, it returned to normal and the model has been steadily climbing again, maybe even at faster rates than before. But, in the time all this has happened, I’ve created a few more models that I think the MakerWorld community would appreciate. Problem is, I don’t want to upload them because I’m worried they’ll stop recommending my existing model again and have another situation like the one I described above.
Not sure this is due to the ‘quality’ of the model. In my view, especially when starting out, your model needs to gain traction immediately to be show to more people. There is a lottery aspect after that.
You have two kinds of models:
One that is just fun to print, this has to gain traction otherwise nobody will see them.
Models that cater to a specific need. Random people are not interested in these when they are uploaded, but those with a specific need will find them when they need to.
I have a lot of uploads, some tanked and some not, but there is no big picture reasoning to this. Just design for yourself as a hobby and upload them if you think others might find them interesting/useful and if a models gains traction: great! If not, don’t let it get you down. There are soooooo many model uploaded every day Just keep designing and uploading for yourself, especially if you just started your portfolio.
What happened to your first model is totally normal. At the beginning, new models will be recommended to users randomly. If these users download it, the model can become trending.
After a few days, this will die down and only people actively searching for it will find it. This will be significantly less than the initial “hype” phase.