Reply To: Open gaming mini license

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Nope … not gonna happen.

Yes, the technology is getting to the point we could do it. However I’d argue that technology has never been the problem that needed solving to begin with.

The problem is that the dinosaurs of the industry are not going down without a fight.
Just look at the record companies and the entire movie/tv industry.

And all of that can be summed up in two words  : money & control.

GW isn’t selling you a thing to use in games. They are selling you the entire hobby from start to finish.
They want/need you to buy everything and they will make it as convenient for you to do so.
3D printing only causes headaches as it lets their customers to break free of their chains, unless GW were to create a system that only printed their designs as and when they allow you to, using only their raw materials (like the inktjet printer manufacturers have done since day 1 … ). Kind of like they do with their paint system …

I kind of doubt that the artists at GW & co get paid any royalties for their designs once the manufacturing begins.

The consumer only wants one thing : convenience.
We’ve been able to cast our own minis since the dawn of time. All you needed were the molds and some lead.
It’s easier and less messy than 3D printing … and yet it remained a niche hobby within our hobby. All you really needed were the molds . And as the quality deteriorates you had a good reason to buy more.

3D printing makes it easier to get new things and it gives options to modify, but it isn’t the great equalizer even if we were to make it plug&play. It does not tie you into an eco-system, which is what a business ultimately wants to do as it makes it more difficult to jump ship to a competitor. Heck. The mini companies are doing that by not using standards for scales (28 mm vs 32 mm heroic vs whatever the heck Conquest is using). Never mind stylistic choices that make it diffiult to mix & match models (less a problem in historical games).

There’s a reason why sculptors choose to work for the likes of GW … not everyone is interested in the business side of producing and selling their own products. Financial security is a big motivator in all of this.
Part of the problems are solved with the various digital marketplaces for 3D-files,  but you still have to market/advertise your products if you want it to be your primary source of money.

Another challenge is that artists will have to find a way to get people to buy all of their products when there is nothing stopping said customer from selling a modified version of the files as their own product. In essence this means that in order to survive they need to be making new designs every day. You can’t make a hit design and watch the money roll into your piggy bank, because the industry has conspired to make it illegal to use part of your design without some sort of compensation.

Trying to fix this by adding DRM (digital restriction management) is a waste of resources as the ones who want to break that restriction have all the time and resources in the world. The only thing that helps is if the product is either crap or impopular or both.

oh … and here’s a challenge :

Suppose I use parts of 3 designs to create a single unique design and sell it as my own.
Who gets paid ?
Do the original designers deserve to be paid ?
And how big should a part be before it can be considered ?
An arm or a leg ?
Clothing ? Weapons ?
Hair ?

We’ve yet to see anyone create a service that is as disruptive to this market as things like Uber and AirBnB were for theirs.
Heroforge is the only one … and they’re not doing any damage to the GW’s of the world.

Trying to check copyright in the 3D design space is going to be a challenge (to say the least).