Making Tlon
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Poll Results for October
🕑 Added 2023-08-27 09:15:44 +0000 UTCHi everybody,
the votes for October are in. A very close result this time: 15 votes for the Labyrinth and 16 for the Ellirmilborg Ruins Expansion, which is the winner! (You can check the results in the picture above, which combines Patreon and Tribes results.)
What you can expect:
- Modular OpenLOCK Tower: I have already released a gothic-castle version and an early medieval tower, so now it is time for a Mordheim style one! As always, since these bits are OpenLOCK, with them you'll be able to build one storey buildings, large barracks, etc...
- Tower Objects and Props with Scatter Ruins.
- Death! "The remains of war" will be dead townsfolk, dead horses, maybe the crows and rats that feast on them: a versatile set that can be used to decor maps where battle happened - e.g. on a siege map or a caravan ambushed by bandits etc... I wanted to make this one for a long while - I really need it for my sessions!
These sets may change slightly during development, but those are the guidelines.
I wanted to show you a WIP of the gate for September, but the models are still processing, so that's coming tomorrow hopefully :)
That's it for now! Thanks for the support and for the patience in switching to the new tiers!
I wish you a happy hobby time!
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[Reminder of the changes to Making Tlon]
Starting from September:
- your subscriptions will be less expensive, going from 11.50$ to 7$ (6$ for early subscriptions) both on Patreon and on MMF Tribes. (These subscriptions are exactly identical, so choose the platform you prefer.)
- the release will get a bit smaller, more curated and easier to print.
In theory, this should be good news all around!
Long story short: smaller releases mean that I will have more time to experiment with stuff, come up with cooler designs and make models easier to print and more refined, especially by cutting the more time consuming (and less frequently printed) parts of a set.
New releases will be structured like this:
- There will always be at least one Objects & Props sets (e.g. this month's Throne Room).
- A second set will either be more Objects & Props (e.g. this month's Dwarven House) or a complete building/dungeon set (e.g. last month's Hunters' Hall).
- A third set will be a stand-alone terrain piece or a small set (e.g. Dwarven Statue, Cannons set, Eldritch Altar, etc...)
In other words, if we take the current month as an example, for 7$ (6$ for early subscriptions) you'll get the Dwarven Throne Room Objects & Props, the Dwarven House Objects & Props, and the incoming Dwarven Statue. With the current system (August) I am also making a Dwarven Halls OpenLOCK Tiles set, which would not be present in future releases, or which would take the place of one of the two Objects & Props sets.
These sets take approximately the same amount to make, but test printing and cleaning tiles takes a lot more than doing so for other STLs. Now that in Making Tlon’s library there are a few complete and really modular tile sets I want to experiment with new terrain! With this I am not saying that I won't be making tiles anymore, but that I will not "force" tiles in all the releases. If the release theme calls for them, I'll make them: I still want to do that Labirinth that never gets voted for! XD
Considering that the subscription cost gets reduced by a third (or almost a half if you are not currently an early subscriber) while only a quarter of the current volume of a release is cut, this should mean a better cost-value for you!
Why am I doing this?
I won't lie: this is the largest change since I started Making Tlon, and so it is quite scary. Reducing the pledge costs means a big cut on my income, but I think this is a healthy change for the page right now.
This does not mean reducing the scope of this page, only its “volume output". Doing less in volume means having more time to study, practice and improve my skills and Making Tlon's models. 3D always has new tools and techniques to try, and by testing new tools and new designs, models will get better - although it will mean a smaller number of them coming out each month. You can see how much the quality of the STLs I release has increased from the very first Boasting Cock Tavern set back in 2020. I love it, and it is the building I use for all the sudden tavern brawls that my friends start in our gaming sessions, but training and experience has improved the details and printability of later models a lot.
I often get carried away while designing these sets and end up making titanic buildings (Hunters' Hall, Viking Church, etc...) that are cool and I think inspiring, but are also very, very large projects. One of the aims of this change is to make releases that anybody can actually print and use with two or three printer plates, a luxury that 3D sculptors who make monsters and characters have!
The extra time will also enable me to go back to previous releases and update them (e.g. updating the supports, or adding a few quality of life options that you ask for, such as the extra T wall I made for the Castle set after receiving your feedback!). In general, this should make for a better page which is more user friendly and more curated.
The time I currently put in the expansions to the Welcome Pack Carts will be put towards new and cooler 3, 6 and 9 month rewards. This is another thing that I have been postponing for a while because I had absolutely no time to put into it. With these changes these projects will finally come to life.
The lower subscription cost should also attract more people, which, if that works, may enable me to get more help. Right now I'm doing this alone, but if the page gets a larger following I should be able to set up a few things that right now I simply don't have time to manage (e.g. the much requested Discord server).
Finally, this change will happen from September:
Bad news is, Patreon and MMF Tribes don't have a simple way for me to do this change, and you'll have to do it by hand. Here on Tribes, September will be the transition month: you can delete your subscription during August and subscribe to the new Early Maker tier - which is already available - on the 1st of September.
If for any reason you are unable to do so and are still subscribed at Azsir level in September, I can always issue a refund. Alternatively, I can share with you models that sum up to the Azsir tier cost.
People that join the new Early Maker tier this month will be charged only 6$, but that means they will not have access to the tiles once they are ready. I will share them only with those who pledged at the current Azsir tier. If you are a new subscriber and you want the tiles too, you can still join the Azsir tier, and change the pledge level in September.
I have thought about it for a while, and I think this is the easiest and fairest way to approach the change, although it is a process.
The First Maker tier - 6$ - is limited to the first 100 who join, while the “regular” Maker tier - 7$ - will be available for everybody. In September the current Azsir tiers will be hidden, and then deleted.
Once again, if you remain in the Azsir tier, you'll be paying more than you should, and so I'll do my best to refund you via shared models (easiest way) or the website tools. In case you want to support the page and me with more bucks, I thank you a lot, but I still have to ask you to change the pledge to the Maker tier and, in case, choose a higher amount there. I will be decommissioning the current Azsir tiers to avoid issues with file sharing and such, and having no people subscribed to them will help. There is plenty of time to do the change, so take your time, and thank you!
