In the 05 March 2025 Bambu Lab Community Forum email I received, there were a total of 5 topics highlighted. One was “No fuss ABS/ASA tips and tricks to minimize warping”, and the other 4 were all concerning boost tokens. That right there speaks volumes about the state of MakerWorld.
I admittedly do not spend much time in these forums - between medical issues, family matters & business, I don’t have as much time for my hobbies (of which 3D scanning and printing are to me) as I would like. But I do carve out some time every few weeks to check in and scroll through the topics. And of late, I see an abundance of discussion on the boost tokens system.
For me, I don’t give a damn how complex or how simple a model is - what matters to me is: Is it useful to me or not? For example: just because someone takes weeks to develop a complex model toy that has zero usefulness & interest to me doesn’t mean I should use my boost token on that model. I prefer to give my boost token to, for example, someone who developed a simple desiccant holder for my AMS - THAT is useful to me. Those who are interested in complex toy models should use their boost tokens for those models.
I have very mixed feelings about this whole boost token thing. To me, it should be reflective of popularity - as in people want the model, whether it is for its usefulness or for its entertainment value. Putting a monetary value on boost tokens has, in some ways, bastardized the system. Maybe a more timely question should be, “Should there continue to be a monetary value to boost tokens?” rather than “How do we prevent gaming the system?”, “How do I increase my model’s popularity?” etc.
I used to really favor MakerWorld, but its utility and interest for me has been steadily declining. Seems there is a prevalence of toys/collectables of which I have less than no interest, and functional items (e.g., ___hangers, tools, various parts, housewares, etc.) that I have no need. This is NOT to say that those models are junk or anything less than the most wonderful models every conceived by man or alien; it is to say why I haven’t downloaded/printed/boosted any of them. I also do not like to have to sift through ten thousand variants of Thingamabobbs, to find something of interest to me, and that is what MakerWorld has become to me.
When you share your creation online, you ought to figure out why you’re doing it. If you spend countless hours designing something, why did you do it? Did you do it because it gave you pleasure? Or because you find the entertainment value for your &/or family members? Or are you doing it to make money? Those are all very different reasons. If you are doing it because you enjoyed making it & simply want to share it with whomever might also enjoy it, then popularity should be of little or no concern. If you are doing it to make money, you should do your market research BEFORE creating your model and tailor it to what will sell, and have a marketing plan before you post it online.
The same questions should be asked of the MakerWorld powers-that-be: What is your goal? Are you trying to be a public platform where anyone can upload their design, no matter how simple or complex, to share it with the world? Or do you want MakerWorld to be a platform for designers to cash in on their creations? I posit that you can’t be both, and that time will bear this out.
Who is really surprised at the nature of things on MakerWorld? You add a monetary value component & of course this is how things go. People game the system. People complain about fairness. People demand to know who is making the decisions that affect their wallet. That drowns out the discussions about the art itself - all the discussions about the monetary aspects, front & center.
And all this for what really amounts to small amounts of money. A shame.