Humble Suggestion Relating to Avatars

[kryvnus]

Something that I would love to see, and I hope others would too:

Could Paizo work out a deal with an existing 3d printing company or buy a 3d printer themselves so that I could order a mini of my Pathfinder Online characters?

The opportunity to create a custom miniature with virtually any configuration of race gear and appearance based on the 3d model used in the game would be stupendous. I would be willing to maintain an active subscription for that ability alone even if I did not enjoy the game (though I undoubtedly will enjoy the game) as well as paying an exorbitant price for the custom piece, even as unpainted plastic.

What do you guys think?

[Coldman]

Goodluck with that!

[A Man In Black]

I'm not official or anything, but I can guess:

Answer unclear, ask again later. PFO is at least three years away and 3D prototyping is advancing (and getting cheaper!) very quickly. That said, Paizo also has their exclusive relationship with...whoever's doing their minis now, I forget, so licensing could be tricky. Who knows what cheap 3D printers will do to the industry in a few years?

[Provos]

I was under the impression that PFO should be out much sooner then that.

[Coldman]

Provos wrote:

I was under the impression that PFO should be out much sooner then that.

It is cool to openly state that you expect a product at an exaggerated or later date. It shows you have intelligent expectation and offers a mature route to differentiating yourself from the otherwise excited fanbase.

Otherwise, yes, it may well be out much sooner than atleast 3 years. My bet was 2 with a 6 month margin for error. Given the whole development and launch schedule was designed to push the game out extremely quickly, but who knows. We're all guessing.

Just play it safe and assume atleast 5 years Provos, then you can post it on forums and look like you know what your talking about.

[Provos]

I don't feel like regurgitating what has been said on the board. Also there is a picture with Ryan Dancey at PaizoCon 2011 with several people from Paizo. This could mean that the project has been in the works for at least six months. My guess from reading bits here and there that PaizoCon 2012 may be the launch of PFO. It would be a fitting 10yr project.

[kryvnus]

Time lines really don't have that much to do with my suggestion/idea. They haven't even selected an engine for the game yet. It is just an idea I had and the earlier an idea is suggested the easier it is to integrate it into a project if it is viewed as a good idea.

Yes, Paizo has a contract with WizKids, but that doesn't preclude them from arranging a deal with them. Perhaps ask them to institute the capability or agree to profit sharing.

But the purpose of my post was really to gauge interest in the idea of being able to order a mini of your in-game character model. With emerging 3d print technology the idea does not seem cost-ineffective to me at all.

And as I said: for the ability to print out character models alone, I would maintain a subscription of $10-15 a month in addition to paying for the model with a markup.

[A Man In Black]

kryvnus wrote:

Yes, Paizo has a contract with WizKids, but that doesn't preclude them from arranging a deal with them. Perhaps ask them to institute the capability or agree to profit sharing.

But the purpose of my post was really to gauge interest in the idea of being able to order a mini of your in-game character model. With emerging 3d print technology the idea does not seem cost-ineffective to me at all.

And as I said: for the ability to print out character models alone, I would maintain a subscription of $10-15 a month in addition to paying for the model with a markup.

This assumes that the contract with WK allows that sort of arrangement, that WK would be interested, that WK would still be affiliated with Paizo when PFO hits, etc.

Like I said. Answer unclear, ask again later.

[Klaus van der Kroft]

kryvnus wrote:

Something that I would love to see, and I hope others would too:

Could Paizo work out a deal with an existing 3d printing company or buy a 3d printer themselves so that I could order a mini of my Pathfinder Online characters?

The opportunity to create a custom miniature with virtually any configuration of race gear and appearance based on the 3d model used in the game would be stupendous. I would be willing to maintain an active subscription for that ability alone even if I did not enjoy the game (though I undoubtedly will enjoy the game) as well as paying an exorbitant price for the custom piece, even as unpainted plastic.

What do you guys think?

Wasn't there a company that did the exact same thing for WoW? Sure, they made action figures of your character rather than minis, but if you can do the former, certainly you can do the latter. Never used it myself, but a good friend got 5 of those figures, one for each of his regular characters.

Not a collector of minis myself, but I can really see some potential market for such a thing, particularly with an MMO aimed at tabletop roleplayers who have a practical reason for getting those minis. And since it is an outsourced service, it wouldn't involve any major development on Goblinworks' part (unless the system involved is far more complex than what I think it is, of course).

[Scott Betts]

A Man In Black wrote:

I'm not official or anything, but I can guess:

Answer unclear, ask again later. PFO is at least three years away and 3D prototyping is advancing (and getting cheaper!) very quickly. That said, Paizo also has their exclusive relationship with...whoever's doing their minis now, I forget, so licensing could be tricky.

It could be, but Goblinworks is a separate company from Paizo, so I don't know that it's bound by the same exclusivity clauses that Paizo is.

[DreamAtelier]

Scott Betts wrote:

A Man In Black wrote:

I'm not official or anything, but I can guess:

Answer unclear, ask again later. PFO is at least three years away and 3D prototyping is advancing (and getting cheaper!) very quickly. That said, Paizo also has their exclusive relationship with...whoever's doing their minis now, I forget, so licensing could be tricky.

It could be, but Goblinworks is a separate company from Paizo, so I don't know that it's bound by the same exclusivity clauses that Paizo is.

While I could be wrong, I'd bet that Scott is right here, and that such a situation was intentionally part of the decision to start a new company.

[Provos]

It would be very cool to have a mini custom made for my favorite characters.