LogFAQs > #971211504

Blightzkrieg posted...

GW lost their court case regarding rip off models pretty badly, so they can't do anything about it.

Yes, but:


Blightzkrieg posted...

Peer pressure, both from real peers and from the way GW portrays the game in marketing. People are obsessed with playing the game "the right way" which usually involves playing it as advertised. Most tournaments will allow you to use 3D printed miniatures and proxies, but most players don't even realize it. Even then, most players don't play in tournaments. But all it takes is one dude screaming about how bad 3D prints are and a whole community will avoid using them.

This is sort of what I was implying.

Even if GW doesn't really have legal grounds to punish people for doing it, that doesn't necessarily stop them from making the threat (which may intimidate people into not being willing to take the risk). This is similar to how companies will send cease and desist orders to creators who fall firmly into fair use - you don't have to be able to win a case if the mere threat of it causes people to stop doing what you don't want them to.

And constantly talking about how terrible third-party figures are or how they aren't acceptable for play is part of what influences the mindset of the fanbase to avoid them. The "one dude" you mentioned basically thinks that way in large part because GW have constantly encouraged him to think that way. Again, it's similar to how WotC demonizes third-party reprint cards sold on Amazon and pushes to keep them from ever being valid in tournaments, because they absolutely MUST foster the mindset that the only acceptable way to play is to keep giving them hundreds of dollars every year for official sets and cards. Both to fuel their own revenue directly, but also to appease the collectors' market (which is a huge source of income for them).

I'm not saying GW actually has the power to come to your house and kick in your door if you're 3D printing figures, but they certainly want you to THINK they will. Because if they can foster that implication (or the implication that you're a "bad fan" if you do it), then fewer people will be willing to do it.