[unofficial weekender] Growing old is bad m’kay?

[blinky465 17208xp 1]

@pagan8th – maybe put in for a company electric scooter?
Could be fun!

On a different note – has anyone else noticed that a lot of Patreon creators seem to be shutting down? I thought it was mostly them moving over to MyMiniFactory (I’m guessing Patreon has upped their percentage take or something?) but either I’m subscribed to too many creators, or quite a few are “burning out” and calling it a day.

The most high-profile one being Anvil Digital Forge (who made awesome minis btw – and Ben really didn’t do them justice when he reviewed them on this site a while back!). It’s just something I noticed over the last few months, I’ve had quite a few emails from people just saying “that’s it, I’m done, thanks for your support”. (I hope it’s not just me getting these emails! That would be a bit rude)
Yes, a few “we’re moving away from Patreon, come with us” but also quite a few “I’m done” type emails.

I’ve not really been following “the hobby” for the last 6-8 months – has there been a change in the wind?

[zoidpinhead 12761xp 1]

has anyone else noticed that a lot of Patreon creators seem to be shutting down?

@blinky465 Haven’t we talked about this sort of thing here before?  I think it is a natural part of the Patreon model.  To secure a regular income creatives commit to making loads of stuff every month.  Most of this output never gets printed and as subscribers drift away and fees go up the incentives drop.  That, coupled with the natural burnout that creatives get, will see many either leave the platform or just pack it in.  I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to produce both the ideas and the digital output required, month after month.  That sort of effort treadmill isn’t conducive to creative thought so I would imagine that quite a few can’t keep it up in the longer term.

[sundancer 44060xp 0]

I think that was part of a Weekender or XLBS. And if you think about it it makes sense for 3D STL producing artists. MMF is a “one stop shop” for them as Patreon is “another thing to take care of”.

I have not received any mails like you talk about @blinky465  but I don’t follow any 3D file producing patreons.

[blinky465 17208xp 1]

I’m starting to think I follow (and support) too many!

@zoidpinhead what you’ve said makes sense. I obviously missed the discussion when it happened! It just feels like when I get an email from a creator I support or follow these days it’s either “I’m taking a break” or “I’m packing it in”.
I guess it’s a bit like the way Kickstarter got turned into something it wasn’t supposed to be (becoming a pre-order outlet instead of an investment to help start-ups) Patreon was supposed to be “give a few quid to help maintain someone who likes making cool stuff” and has become a monthly subscription service for goods.

For example, I’ve been a supporter of The State of Play since the beginning and kept supporting even during his hiatus (as I do any Patreon creators I support) but I do appreciate that most people see it as some kind of “transaction” where they expect something in return for their hard-earned. Which doesn’t really allow time for creators to take a break or recharge, so what Zoid says is understandable.

It just feels like there’s been a lot (that I’ve noticed) recently.
Or maybe I’ve just started taking more interest, as my participation in the hobby has rekindled…?

[limburger 22153xp 0]

I’d say it’s similar to how youtube creators are burning out in part due to the way these things work.

Seeing the prices these 3d printing crowdfunding projects ask for stuff I really wonder how anyone could build a viable business out of that.

And as with Youtube … only the lucky few get to have any real success/profit. The vast majority will never ever make more than a few pennies, which with the pressure to release stuff periodically just ads up to an unprofitable job with an insane schedule.

Maybe the bubble for 3D printing is about to burst for real?

With physical products there’s the actual manufacturing process that kind of creates a natural delay between releases, which helps keep the pace to a managable level for most. (one could argue that same thing happend with Guitar Hero where the insane release speed effectively killed the entire genre within a few years as corporations put short term greed before long term sustainable tactics)

Digital content has no restrictions like that. .
Add in ‘AI’ tools … and those without morals or ethics can create content faster than most sane people could consume.
Plus people are getting used to having ‘new stuff’ every week, so they switch the moment a content creator can’t hold the pace any more as well.

(related note : I’ve noticed a growing amount of what feels like (‘AI’) generated websites that have no real content. Dead Internet theory is no longer a theory … )

OTOH … I’ve been getting more reliable results from talking to ‘AI’ as oppposed to simply googling it myself.
(it also helps that you don’t have to search throuh ‘promoted’ links before getting to the good stuff as well)

//–

 

[blinky465 17208xp 1]

At the risk of breaking the “no politics” rule, it really does feel like this late-stage capitalism is starting to eat even itself.
AI is preferable over straight searching for stuff – not because it’s “better” but because the need to thrust yet more crap for us to buy in front of as many eyeballs as possible has made Google search not even fit for purpose. So to avoid the need to wade through the mountains of adverts for things that nobody wants, we have to ask AI, which is a load of “content” that nobody ever created.
I’m starting to agree with those who say that humanity peaked at the end of the 90s!

On a brighter note – I painted some Blood Bowl orcs.
I can’t decide whether or not to invest the time in shading and edge highlighting; I really like the effect of an additional shade over the speed paint, and in real life, these models really do look much better for it.

but I do love the immediacy of just spraying a zenithal base coat and whacking on some speed paints

I prefer the look of the additional highlights (top – and, honestly, the photos above don’t do them justice!) but prefer the process of just speed painting (bottom photo) and calling it done. I’m determined to batch paint these as an entire team (so no painting one or two minis to completion and never finishing the team – if I’m painting flesh, I’m doing all the flesh on the entire team. If I’m doing buckles and straps, then I’m doing them for the entire team). So far I’ve done flesh, shirts and straps on all and have started painting the armour silver (silver armour with red speed paint looks awesome for blood bowl armour!) I just can’t decide whether I want to add in the delay of painting the hands and faces of the entire team with the additional shade/highlight (and whether to do this before or after painting all the silver)…

[horati0nosebl0wer 19948xp 0]

Yeesh, peak humanity in the age of Babylon 5 and The X-Files? I’m sure @avernos would agree. Heh heh heh

As far as removing the notion of doom and gloom I’m not sure that my continued hobby helps. I just got my set of The Unmade from Warcry finished. I think the body horror element were great to push GW creativity. I might take up Kings of War and use the Anatomists set from Bestarium as a Twilight Kin army. I’m not keen on this square base thing. I don’t think it’ll ever catch on. 🤣

[sundancer 44060xp 0]

Maybe the bubble for 3D printing is about to burst for real?

There is no 3D bubble as such I think. It’s just saturated. Too much free and cheap stuff out there so actually well done stuff that needs to be paid for so that the artists can make a living is getting buried.

I’m starting to agree with those who say that humanity peaked at the end of the 90s!

FUL ACK! The Matrix was right.  Nice looking Orcs.

I’m not keen on this square base thing. I don’t think it’ll ever catch on.

Oh oh. Oh no! WE’RE LOOSING HIM! Send help!11!1

It’s Friday. My last day of time of work. Where have the last three weeks gone? *sigh* Back to the mines on Monday.

[blinky465 17208xp 0]

Does anyone have a specific “hobby day” to get stuff done?
I’m thinking of “rota-ing” (is that a word?) my hobbies, to fit them all in.
I’ve really enjoyed getting back into painting minis, but it’s competing with my time for “tufting” (for which I started a weekly class a few months ago, every Friday evening) and all the other nonsense I get up to.

I finished my first rug a few weeks back (and just started a new one last week, combining all the kids drawings from my nieces and nephews). I’m quite pleased with the finished thing… (it’s not perfect, but it was my first go!)

So Fridays are for tufting.
Thursdays are open mic/jam nights.
Wednesday is the pub quiz (where my wife and I play as a duo and rarely trouble the top three places for prize money, but it gets us out of the house).
Tuesday is Nerd Club where I go and mess about with electronics and have started to write video games again (Unity is still awesome, despite their commercial “missteps” in recent times).
The weekends are very much “family time” (though mostly my wife and I cycling around and eating out and visiting artisan markets, tbh).

That’s not much time left for tabletop games and painting miniatures!
I can’t decide whether to just do it sporadically, as the odd few hours come up, or to dedicate a specific time for painting little tiny men and nothing else. How does everyone else manage their time when there are more hobbies than hours in a day?

[zoidpinhead 12761xp 1]

How does everyone else manage their time when there are more hobbies than hours in a day?

I only really have the one hobby although that breaks down into two main parts: gaming, and painting and project development.  I try to get at least some hobby in every day, preferably painting, even if it is just a few minutes.  Sunday is the main day that I allow myself a proper amount of time and generally manage a few hours.  I have to schedule the gaming as others are involved and generally get an in-person wargame or online RPG session in at least once a week.  I’m on my own (well, me and the dog) so I don’t have to answer to many other demands or schedules as family live a fair distance away.  I’m planning on moving closer at some point soon but that might improve my hobby time as both of my sons are gamers so there should be more opportunities to play.

[sundancer 44060xp 0]

Does anyone have a specific “hobby day” to get stuff done?

Yes, no, maybe. I planned to but it never really happened.

Technically 1st Monday of the month is Hobby Hangout on a German discord with paint and chat.

Tuesday is The Hobby Hangout (does that count as hobby on my part?)

Wednesday is Hobby Hump Hangout on OTT Discord.

Thursdays is my weekly game of Battletech/Frostgrave with my friend.

Friday – Sunday is “catch a breath and do family stuff”.

So painting is “every now and again when I feel like it and can be arsed to get out the paints.

Nice work on the world domination tentacle.

[danlee 22643xp 1]

I haven’t played games with others since Covid, but I do solo board gaming. I try to do a few hours first thing on a Saturday or Sunday (when most of the family are still asleep). For my painting, I have a daily news show 6pm to 7pm every day. I tend to paint while I sit and listen to that. Saturday I do the same with the Weekender and Sunday with the XLBS.

 

I was Patreon to a couple of 3D modellers, but I found I couldn’t print off and use all the models from just one subscription – let alone a few. I realised it made mode sense to just buy a print file when I wanted it for a project, even if that one-off cost was more than if I’d got it under subscription. One month I tried to print every model sent to me, and my 3D printer running 24-7 couldn’t print out every model before the next month’s release dropped. Admittedly my new printer runs faster, but I’m sure you guys get my point.

 

@blinky465 Day of the Tentacle was a great game.

[limburger 22153xp 0]

planning hobby ?
nah, that’s too much like actual work and it would remind me of how little hobby I actually can do in between all the real life stuff.

OTOH … maybe I should plan actual hobby time and ‘force’ myself to do just the one thing. It might stop me from constantly shifting focus whenever *squirrel*

(Red Dwarf is brilliant … 😀 )

@blinky465 I’ll leave these for you:

Watching other people do hobby … is that hobby too ?

[sundancer 44060xp 0]

New thread

 

[unofficial weekender] Back to the mines

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