Hey all, I just wanted to get in my 2c on this.
QUALITY
Most concerning is the lack of quality. This stands for all the marketplaces I bought from over the years (turbosquid is disgusting if you don’t shell out at least 200$), but moreso on this one.
If I ever see another guy writing “AAA” in their descriptions, well, I can’t actually do anything about that :), but i would punch his mug right away.
And Epic should start looking submissions for real. Or open up the marketplace and be freed from it (that I would prefer actually). So either complete enforcing or total freedom, there are no halfway solutions that works.
I actually can tolerate a vendor for vertex degenerates and uv overlaps (provided that the models are at least acceptable). I can upres maps without major hassles, fix models and whatnot (all this while swearing at the vendor :)), but I cannot tolerate Epic’s enforced moderation that doesn’t moderate errors in content. Makes me feel tricked way more than from the vendor.
PRICE
One thing is always conveniently skipped from discussions about prices here. I’m speaking about “intangible values” such as creativity.
People cannot expect to pay professionals just for their time for end user products. Why? Because we’re not getting only vertexes in the bundles. There’s concept, preproduction, planning, resource managing and only then manual labour.
The only real analogy you could make about this kind of creative assets is music.
If you buy a CD you buy it just for listening. If you wanna use the song in any kind of commercial enterprise you need to pay rights. If you wanna play a cover live on stage the concert manager needs to pay rights (at least from where i come from).
So when you think about price, you should consider “intangibles” such as creativity and planning, BECAUSE they’re a part of the product you’re buying.
And yes, customer can absolutely ask for lower prices, but should shut up on how the pricing is calculated. Because vendor has the right to decide this arbitrarly. The market will prove him right or wrong given enough time.
So complain about the price all you want, but do so on specific assets and with real arguments, because if a vendor wants to factor in his projected taxes income he can very well do it and you should not feel bad about it.
No taxes factored in price, bankrupt vendor after not so much time and ultimately no more asset. At least this way you can have something to discuss.
Of course you can ask for clarifications about the pricing, and yes, the vendor should reply explaining how much planning and creativity and work has gone in the product without feeling vilified, because in the end he’s selling stuff, not showing it.
So while vendors can arbitrarly decide, they need to understand the business side of this:
1- At least expect that everyone who drops money on something can at least ask for clarifications about pricing and is entitled to expect a polite reply.
2- In any case you should be clear about what you’re selling and what you are not, and price accordingly.
As for the particular prices on the marketplace, well, some (a lot) stuff is overpriced for me. But the reasons are lower than expected quality and lack of support. Manufactura4K is the king of the half done assets, and even if they rely on a lot of content at least half of it is broken in every pack.
So what happens? I don’t buy them and let the market take care of them. If everyone would leave bad reviews or ask for refunds these assets would not creep into the marketplace as much as they do now.
Then, I feel i need to say this hoping i’ll not sound like an arrogant fool: anyone who doesn’t know jack on the process should stop commenting on how much time it needs to do this.
If someone asks me to redo a scene giving me a clear goal i do it in no time. If i have to create, well, it’s 10x work because there’s no directions. I have to think. That takes time. And creativity is king in this kind of assets.
So please refrain to discuss about time and curriculums and whatnot. Talk about assets.
Bottom line, I think if vendors started to price creativity correctly while not counting in taxes and the likes anymore we would all see a good surge in prices, not the other way around, and for a f****g good reason I believe.
So, let’s all be happy that prices are now like this and instead start a big thread on how bad some of the assets are.
We need quality more than price dropping without good reasons.
Sorry for the long post 