Home › Forums › 3D Printing for Tabletop Gaming › "This technology will DISRUPT miniature companies." says Maker's Muse › Reply To: "This technology will DISRUPT miniature companies." says Maker's Muse
An x-thousand dollar machine isn’t going to be disruptive.
Remember … we had to wait for iTunes for digital music to start influencing traditional formats.
The technology to do so was available for years, but we needed an outsider company to take a chance.
A 3d printing service like shapeways (*) and (more aimed toward this hobby) Heroforge has more potential to be exactly that, provided they can get both cost and speed of delivery to something that makes either service a realistic option for the average hobbyist. Companies like GW produce enough high quality minis and terrain to satisfy average gamers.
I’d argue that a foolproof supply of 3d model files suitable for (almost) any 3d printer would a real cause for concern for both the giants as well as the smaller miniature companies. Especially if there is an option to print (either via a service or at home) at costs near current market prices of ‘traditional’ kits.
One interesting question is wether or not we will be using physical components in our tabletop games in the future.
Books have gone digital despite availability of (cheap) laser printers for home use, although there are print-on-demand services (like lulu.com ).
Maybe this hobby is more resistant to a conversion into VR/AR and (cheap) 3D printing capability at a consumer level is the way forward ?
Not exactly ‘cheaper’ than traditional sources, but the potential is here already.
Maybe all we need is a designer to gain internet fame ?
(*) the list of things they won’t print is extensive … and probably one of the reasons these services have yet to see any form of direct competition.
