Ethics of 3D printing

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

And the thing is, I'm not even boycotting GW's products. I still intend to buy kits from them (once I have the money to do so.) I just have a bunch of spare bits laying around that I'm not going to use (and honestly, does the Ordo bits bin REALLY need a bag of a dozen bolters?) and I could use a few more tactical marines. I'm not going to try to pass them off as anything more than that, or even that they're the legit thing. I just want to be able to make use of those melta guns or bolters or chainswords or whatever that are sitting there gathering dust. I'm not printing units wholesale, and I'm not going to stop spending money at the LGS. I just want to reinforce the troops a bit and make use of some waste plastic.

But you are saying you'd buy them if you had the money, but do have the money to 3d print them, so you'll do 3d printing that because it's cheaper?
 

That would be denying them sales. That's just like a fake Rolex.

[Sgt. Rock]

I suppose? I already have the filament, and the filament and printer itself were gifts, so my broke ass hasn't put out any money for it. Denying them sales, yes, I'll agree. But boycotting? No, I don't agree with that, because that would imply that I'm never going to buy a GW product again. Which isn't true. I'll probably snag a box or two next month when my student loans come in (because if I'm going to be paying off that debt for the rest of my life, I might as well enjoy a little bit of it.)

[Guest]

Additionally, your justification of having "wasted extra bits" will likely be responded to with GW including less spare bits, as you're boycotting their product on the basis of having too many bits.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

I suppose? I already have the filament, and the filament and printer itself were gifts, so my broke ass hasn't put out any money for it. Denying them sales, yes, I'll agree. But boycotting? No, I don't agree with that, because that would imply that I'm never going to buy a GW product again. Which isn't true. I'll probably snag a box or two next month when my student loans come in (because if I'm going to be paying off that debt for the rest of my life, I might as well enjoy a little bit of it.)

Maybe boycotting is too strong a phrase. I mean that you are refusing to buy their product be it in this one instance or in many.

[Guest]

Anyway, you were asking about ethics. I'm not meaning this as an attack of any sort. That's just how I see the ethics of it.

[Sgt. Rock]

That's fair, I suppose. Not refusing, per se, but close to it. Call it a temporary hiring freeze, if you will. As I said in the OP, I'm not going to be printing models wholesale, I just want to bolster the ranks a little bit here and there. And again, I'm not going to show up with whole squads of guys at a store. I might sneak one or two into a squad here and there, but I'm not going to show up to the LGS with half my army coming out of the printer. But you're right. I'm taking money out of the pockets of GW and the LGS. 

Just now, paxmiles said:

Anyway, you were asking about ethics. I'm not meaning this as an attack of any sort. That's just how I see the ethics of it.

And that's absolutely what I was looking for, was the community's opinion on the matter. No attack or slight perceived. I'm still not even sure how I feel about doing it, so for now, it's off the table. Besides, I have more pressing projects with the printer. But I might sneak the odd marine out here and there when I haven't got time to print a larger project.

[Guest]

As an aside, you could definitely us the 3d printer to supplement existing kits. Like 3d printing emblems for shoulder pads (but not the shoulder pads themselves). Could also make tools to aid in modeling, like stencils for spray painting.

[scottshoemaker]

I don't have any issue with it.  Just print bribes to keep in your bag to give to your opponent if they notice.

Here, have a game tracker! Or posable knight legs!

[InfestedKerrigan]

2 minutes ago, scottshoemaker said:

I don't have any issue with it.  Just print bribes to keep in your bag to give to your opponent if they notice.

Here, have a game tracker! Or posable knight legs!

 

"Good eye!  You win a Reaver Power Fist!"

[InfestedKerrigan]

So, my biggest joy when it comes to fan sculpts is the ability to use it in terrain, rather than in my army. 

[Ish]

25 minutes ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

"Good eye!  You win a Reaver Power Fist!"

You get a Land Speeder! You get a Land Speeder! Everybody gets a Land Speeder! 
 

[Ish]

As a grognard, I feel it’s also my duty to  proselytize one of the major benefits of historical wargaming is that the vast majority of historical games rules publishers don’t care what models you use and no historical miniatures manufacturers can claim exclusivity over a concept. You can copyright a specific sculpt for a “Anglo-Saxon with Spear and Shield” but you can’t claim IP control over the idea of an Anglo-Saxon with a spear and shield.

So... How about some Saga, eh?

[Sgt. Rock]

3 hours ago, Ish said:

You get a Land Speeder! You get a Land Speeder! Everybody gets a Land Speeder! 
 

Nobody wants Land Speeders anymore. They kinda suck in 8th.

I still use them. Because they're neat.

[InfestedKerrigan]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Rock said:

Nobody wants Land Speeders anymore.

But everyone wants a Chaos Reaver Power Claw!

[Guest]

I think the main thing with the 3d printer is to not spoil the buying of models for the other local gamers. If you want to 3d print, do so, but don't try too hard to "convert" others into becoming 3d printers, as too many of you will likely ruin the games we all play. Especially don't brag about how much cheaper it was.

I think if you played up how much 3d printed costs, socially, I think that would actually be better for the LGS owners.

[scottshoemaker]

In totally unrelated news my next 5 opponents and new best friends will receive this:

[Guest]

I will say, with regard to FW titans and such, I feel that their broken rules were mainly tolerable because of how rare FW used to be. Times change. Definitely more common now.

But if your group doesn't mind playing with them, apoc level games seems like a perfect use for 3d printing. Apoc is definitely the most casual variant of 40k (at least it used to be, haven't looked at the new rules)

I'd just convert up an action figure, but if you'd rather 3d print it, go for it. I still think the mr potato head stompa is awesome, but if you'd rather 3d print something...

[InfestedKerrigan]

One of our locals is working on a Warlord on his e10.  I'm excited to have someone to play Mechwarrior with.  

 

 

I think, much like faux watches and handbags, quality is a big give away, and a reason for causing disruption.  If someone showed up with the classic representation of 3d printed blood angel dread, for the entire army, to a tourney I'd be upset.  Especially when I know how long it takes to print at .2.  If someone showed up with an army printed .2 or better, I'd have less complaint.  Time is money, and it is going to take a good amount of time to print 50-100 models.

[Skkipper]

Printing models and bits is the same as buying forged world from China. Or casting it yourself. If the model is printed and you can’t tell the difference. Keep your silence and print. Some of my forge world is  fake the rest is from Nottingham. Nobody can tell. Am I am evil dude? kind of but I am ok with it. I spent several grand at Nottingham on forge world so the smaller amount of fakes I am ok with.