Sorry to hear that.
I heard about it first because a friend shared a screenshot from reddit.
Then someone else shared a forum post.
If the terms and conditions are changing, I want an email and a changelog.
Indeed, this lack of informing / information is what annoys me the most about this.
Naturally, every innovation is met with some apprehension. As a relatively new creator, I decided over the past few months to deepen my knowledge in modeling and test myself on the platform. I managed to win prizes in several contests, so overall I’m satisfied with the results.
However, my latest project took a lot of time to create. I didn’t make it into the top spots, but I should still receive a consolation prize. Hopefully, the new system will improve the situation, and such complex works will be rewarded more appropriately. I’m not saying creating my project wasn’t worth it, but the difficulty and effort certainly deserved a better result. Time will tell.
As for the fight against dishonest participants – it absolutely needs to happen. The main thing is to ensure that honest creators aren’t negatively affected.
my 2 cents…personally I alternate extremely simple models that must respond to an immediate need with more “ambitious” projects that require many parts, additional hardware, mechanisms, etc…
the point that scares me the most is the criterion for judging the complexity of the project…most of the time my projects start from ultra complex models and then go through a series of steps that serve to “simplify” the project, cut useless parts, eliminate hardware by finding alternative solutions and save filament. personally I believe that this step is fundamental but absurdly if an AI analyzed the projects in their raw state and compared them with the final model it would reward the first unnecessarily complex version…how can a project composed of a single piece be extremely complex if this, for example, must adapt to existing objects or perform an extremely specific function. I don’t think it can even be calculated as the number of triangles in the project’s mesh, 3D models of some “sculpture” generated by the AI would be favored…curious to see how the issue will be handled
Bambu could have done that for years and not done it. Redistributing points will not help. Bamu could hire employees to delete spam all day long. What’s stopping them? Costs.
The fundamental issue is not being addressed: you can open a second account immediately, for example. Although I am against control, it must be mentioned: The printer is already in there cloud, and there is no real check to verify whether the creator has printed it out (except photos). The printer serial number is not verifyed, you don’t even know if the creator has a Bambu printer.
People who already have a Bambu printer are less likely to want to farm points and scam like crazy. Most of scammers are people who want a printer for free.
AI is still not banned, which I personally do not demand, but at least it should have its own tag and category.
A year ago, I bought a P1S with an AMS system, and I could really use a second printer to test the print profiles I publish exclusively on MakerWorld. I don’t use AI in my work (except for ChatGPT, since I’m not very skilled at writing native and well-crafted descriptions of my projects). I enjoy the creative process itself, but I also want my work to be appreciated for what it’s worth (if it truly deserves it, of course). Creating just for the sake of collecting points will eventually lead to a dead end.
I mean, if they could identify fake downloads and prints they could have penalize people with the old reward system as well.
The “black box” points attribution is totally unrelated to that, and I really doubt is made to pay more or has much points as before…
But even if they do it initially, it could change whenever they want with no comunication or explanation.
I didn’t like the old system, it was totally counterproductive and dumb if your intention is (really) rewaring complex and appreciated designs:
With the old system 10 models accumulating 100 downloads, pay WAY more than a single project w/ 1000, because of the diminishing return.
So, “if you just care about points”, you were just encouraged to upload small effort models rather than big ones!
As small as a query on an prompt in some cases.
And is very depressing that even with this new system, aside all the issues, they didn’t even mention AI. They talking about low effort duplicate, cheaters, exchanging boost and downloads… but I REALLY doubt all those people manually doing those things, matches a fraction of all those accounts doing nothing but pushing dozen of AI slops a day, farming thousands of points a week.
And that’s the main reason why I feel like the database is turning into a gigantic junkyard full of AI figurines and very low effort model where it’s hard to find what are you looking for.
I’m printing nothing but my own prototypes nowadays, I don’t even wanna search for something interesting to print because I already know that opening the trending page will just piss me off, honestly. 
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I think you might be over-shooting the target a little. There’s certainly some complex models that require a commitment, an investment. However, when Bambu says complex models, I don’t think they are referring solely to those sorts of models. I think they mean it in a broader sense, honestly. It’s not always about complexity of parts, but about the work and effort that was put into it. It’s about it being a complete and designed product, not just a filament shaped spline extruded 10mm.
In a general sense, I will say that it’s not a huge deal to weight rewards towards more complex models. They may not be printed as often as the filament clips of the world, but they also represent a greater investment of filament, hardware, time.
For reference. The floating chessboard I made, which is roughly 17 rolls of filament. Several people have printed that thing. Which is awesome. I honestly didn’t expect that. Let’s step back and think about that though. There’s at least 5 confirmed makes with pictures. That’s 17*5, 85 rolls of filament!
How many filament clips do you think that 85 rolls of filament can produce?
Well, a filament clip is around 2 grams (looked at a few on makerworld). So, 500 per a roll, or 42,5000 for the same 85 rolls that my floating chessboard has gobble up already.
So yeah, maybe the filament clip is printed a lot more because it’s simple, but the back end numbers don’t always equate. Fewer people may have engaged my chess table, but it still produced a lot of filament and hardware usage that presumably benefited Bambu. It’s certainly on par when you think about actual resources used, and Bambu’s potential benefit from that. Even better probably, considering it uses Maker’s Supply hardware for the assembly, whereas the filament clip uses none.
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I’m more than sure that when Bambu Lab mentioned that more “complex works” would be evaluated, they didn’t mean heavy or super complicated models. Most likely, they were referring to the overall presentation of a project: creativity, uniqueness, proper print file, photos, description, assembly instructions, and so on. If that’s the case—then I’m all for it!
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I mentioned this at the beginning of the post and it seems that it wasn’t very well received. I think that the vast majority of people haven’t been able to read between the lines to understand that the system is now controlled by AI. When the community asked for more human moderation, the response was to implement AI.
And we still aren’t addressing the root of the problem. There are people making money off other people’s work, IP, and designs that have been copied with minor changes of 1%.
But without a doubt, the worst part of this change is that the community is asking for more transparency in the rules, and the response is just the opposite. Right now, designing and publishing on Maker World is a lot like buying a lottery ticket.
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I doubt everyone at this point. Absolutely anything can currently be generated by AI: behavior patterns, downloads, damage control when announcing a change—it’s all data, and AI is an expert at analyzing enormous amounts of data. Transparency is diluted as AI makes decisions that should be made by a human team.
If we are going to talk about profits for Bambu, let’s do it the right way. Your model with five confirmed prints has generated 85kg of profit, and we can boast that it has been an important part of the investment of five people to buy a Bambu printer.
Could 45,000 filament clips be 45,000 different users? With 45,000 printers? I know it’s absurd to think that someone would buy a printer just to print a filament clip. But the reality of the Bambu Handy system is that it is so well made that customers only have to buy the Bambu printer, Bambu filament, and infinite free designs that print with one click. Let’s not underestimate simple designs because, in terms of profits, they are what attract the most customers, so they are also what generate the most profit.
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Bambu Lab has changed the game and the entire paradigm of 3D printing.
In 2020, you bought a printer, and it included:
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A 3D printer
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A lot of headaches because you would spend 90% of your time calibrating the machine
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200 grams of filament and a USB stick, with some basic tools such as Allen keys or cutting pliers.
In 2024, with Bambu Lab, you buy the printer and it includes:
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A printer that works most of the time without any knowledge required on the part of the user
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Multicolor accessory, now no one wants a printer that only prints in one color, thanks to Bambu Lab.
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An entire website with thousands and thousands of designs, FREE, and with premium quality, which can be printed in a single click with Bambu filament.
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In addition, a system that encourages you to participate and earn rewards.
What does this mean? That 50% of the value of the machine is the work of the designers who publish their work on Maker World, with profiles ready to print in one click. Let’s be aware of the value of the designers’ work. Regardless of the complexity of their work, they are the ones who attract end customers to a large extent.
Bambu Lab is so aware of this that its printers come with a small card that says: “Maker World, free premium designs.”
And the latest reviews I’ve seen of Bambu Lab printers explicitly mention, “this machine includes access to Maker World, etc., etc…”
This is why we don’t see paid sections on Maker World to access exclusive designs, or why you can’t buy boosts with points and then distribute them. They want a FREE system, because free means more customers.
And I’m not criticizing it, I think it’s a great system, and beneficial for everyone, but for the fifteenth time in a month, I repeat:
We want transparent rules, that’s all we’re asking for. If they have to be tough, so be it, but TRANSPARENT!
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I mean I guess, but it comes across like you’re just trying to twist things back to the filament clip being the hero. It’s a utility print that is achingly simple to make and something most people print without putting much thought into.
I certainly don’t go to everyone and go look at this filament clip I printed! It’s not something I want to invest in or care that much about. In fact, I designed my spool to not even need them.
It’s like if I buy hangers from Amazon. It’s a freakin-on-the-weekin’ hanger. It hangs clothes. How many hangers do you think are sold a year? Does that mean they hold more value than a Porsche?
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This I hope is true. I have a had full of files I’ve thought about sharing but haven’t because I don’t feel like uploading something I may have 100 hours in that will never be rewarded due to lower downloads due to time of print/complexity or that fact it is not a Pokémon. I feel this may actually give others like my self the incentive to share some objects that are more complicated that we just don’t share. Some I often think about not sharing as I may sell prints and don’t want them stolen. But others I don’t want to deal with the photos and listing process for no real return. Not greedy but my time is worth something to me.
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That is a very good point.
I think average bambu printer owner who does not earn points to fund the hobby will be quite wary of how much filament they “consume”.
I really appreciate the simple (often small) but well thought-through objects that solve the problem or simplify things.
Read my last comment, I think I made it quite clear that the most relevant factor is the number of downloads and impressions, because that translates into customers. I’m not saying that the clip has more value, you gave the example of the clip, I’m saying that the most downloaded designs attract more customers, regardless of whether they are simple or complex. It’s a direct 1:1 comparison.
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This is the market though. You can’t pin everything on Bambu. They can’t force people to download and print stuff just because it’s complex. anything you or I make, there is 0% guarantee anyone will like and/or download it.
Bringing a product to market is never a given. Your time is an investment that is subject to failure, and that’s part of putting yourself out there. That’s the reality of developing products, be it injection modeled or 3d printed.
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The problem with average Bambu printer owner and complex models is following: They don’t put enough attention to basics and then complain something does not work or does not print right.
few examples that come to mind:
Wet filament,
Not calibrated filament
Greasy build surface
No maintenance on the printer.
I’m tired of people giving my profile 1 star for adhesion problems where 100 others rated this model 5 stars and no one reported adhesion issues. or people who change settings or orientation and complain that overhangs don’t look good.
I have several projects in my private collection that I will probably never make public. Some have up to 50 parts but they need attention to basics and sometimes a little bit of work to clean up or smoothen the part.
Posting of complex and niche model only to get a handful of downloads and a one star review because someone hoped they can one click print it is not something i’m willing to do.
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This is not my job, but a hobby for me. I do use the printer to make funtional parts for work that I will not list. However my time is valuable and there are certain types of files I make that are very complex functional prints (I don’t use for work) to be used with specific tools, vehicles, etc. I know these types of files will be downloaded but not at a huge rate. If I get 100 downloads over a few months with the current system there is no incentive for me to spend more time to take good photos, fill out the form, upload the 3mf. The new system ‘may’ encourage me to take the time to upload the item. By getting more of these types of items on Makerworld it might actually help grow the market as a lot of blue collar guys that I know who don’t want to design say “What do I need a 3d printer for? All the items on the site are trinkets. I’m not spending “x” amount of money to print out trinkets.” If this helps grow the function parts side of the site and not just bag clips and dishwasher clean/dirty signs it will be good for everyone.