Look at the top of the page. Hover your mouse over the word ‘marketplace’ click browse. Rating system is there. We all agree it should be in the launcher as well.
I went through and read comments on all of the different assets that were not 5 stars. I saw at least 5 comments from people who purchased assets that accidentally gave it the wrong rating. In almost every case it was 2 stars. **The user must be able to change their rating. **
Hi everybody! post is a bit overdue, and I apologize for that. However, I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes with the team to identify problems and to make the Marketplace better, and I’d like to unveil them to you to see what everyone thinks.
First, the elephant in the room: Marketplace submissions take a while. Instead of making excuses, I’ll show the most common delays in publishing content to the Marketplace:
- Seller doesn't respond to emails for days to weeks
- Submitted files are incomplete or have problems and need work before release
- Marketplace Seller's Agreements or Bank Information forms are not filled out quickly or correctly
- Unreal Engine version incompatibility issues
- The submission needs more work before being published, and I'm personally working with the seller to improve it. Examples are art that needs improving, technical problems, improving presentation materials, requesting a video, giving suggestions to help stand out, helping with ideas to differentiate from other content on the Marketplace, etc.
Not a lot of you may know about that last part, but I have worked with dozens upon dozens of sellers to push their content to be the best that it can before releasing. So far that’s been working out really well, but it can definitely be time-consuming. And there’s really no way you would know, because all of that is done one-on-one, behind the scenes. It really does make a difference in the quality of what’s being published, so now you know that’s there. 
Now, onto the improvements we’ve been working on! Everything here is going into effect month. Here’s how things are getting better:
- Marketplace Seller Support dedicated email going live. We had a false start last month that misrouted some emails, but I'm working on today and will provide prioritized, fast updates for existing sellers. These take priority over new submissions because we need to support our sellers the best we can. If your pack needs an update, if you have new screenshots or video, if something in the text needs to change, or if you have questions, we jump on that immediately. We can turn around updates and changes very quickly, and you'll be seeing more of that happening. I'm excited about one. :)
- Web Marketplace going live. is going to do a LOT for discoverability! In all forum posts and blog posts we make, we now link directly to every new item so even people without the UE4 launcher can view the content and make purchases. will make it much easier to advertise and sell your content.
- Submission speed increase! will take a few weeks to see because is hot off the presses, but I wanted to tell you guys ASAP. Long story short, we can now review and QA files BEFORE they reach the public Trello. Previously, for legal and process reasons, we didn't see the files until after voting, so we'd get nasty surprises at the last minute that would delay releases and frustrate sellers. Not ideal! The way it works now is that a) if it's on Trello, it's been tested by our team, and b) we have plenty of time to work with content creators to fix anything that's broken. will greatly increase the quality of what's on Trello, because we see it sooner and have time to fix and improve the pack.
- Faster graduation from Trello! If a submission hits the vote count threshold really quickly, instead of waiting the full four weeks, I contact the seller early and say "Hey, you're in! Let's publish NOW!" and the submission goes to the Marketplace much faster than before. The record turnaround time from submission to public Trello to being QAed then published is nine days, and I think that'll get even faster because of how many more people have been voting lately. There is a definite incentive for you to advertise when you go up on Trello. :)
- Signing legal documents and getting bank info is faster! I've been working with our team to speed up signing agreements and getting bank information, which used to be a huge blocker. I've also made it easier to know when to sign and where to see the documents when they come in. It used to take over a week, and now it only takes 2 or 3 days. Most of that is simply waiting for the sellers to read over the paperwork and return it to us. Legal documents take time to read and understand, and I don't want to rush that.
- Comments and a ratings system on the web Marketplace! is an early first pass and we have some glitches with ratings right now that we're fixing, but is an encouraging first step. Also, you can only rate a pack if we've confirmed that you have purchased it.
Note that is just what’s happening month that I can confidently comment on. There is more than behind the scenes that we can’t talk about yet. We do read and listen to everything that’s been posted here, but can’t comment on much of it yet. Just know and trust that we want the Marketplace to be successful and we generally want the same things you do.
Invitation for feedback:
- Public Trello revamp! I think the public Trello definitely needs some work. The "In Processing" column is where everything hangs out for a very long time because of all the typical reasons for delays that I mentioned above. They all get lumped into that particular category and there's nothing really explaining what's happening or why. I want to change that.
- My first idea for is to show what's going to be released next week, and the week after that. may be subject to change depending on what requests we give sellers to fix or improve their work, but I think we understand things well enough internally to be able to show publicly what our release schedule is.
- My second idea is to explain what's happening when something gets delayed out of a slot. Is the Trello card itself the best idea for that, or would that be better somewhere else?
- My third idea is asking what you guys and girls want. :) I can't promise the world, but I'd like to know what's important to you and what kind of information you'd like to see about what's in the queue and when it's coming. All I can promise is that we'll do our best.
So let me know what you’d all like to see on the public Trello board, and any other feedback you have. Now that GDC is over and is back and fully dedicated to the Marketplace, I’ll have more time to post on the forums and talk to everyone here.
Thanks everybody! Looking forward to responses.
[= ;244518]
My third idea is asking what you guys and girls want.
[/]
Give us the ‘Make MMO’ button; Everything else sounds fine 
[= ;244518]
Hi everybody! post is a bit overdue, and I apologize for that. However, I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes with the team to identify problems and to make the Marketplace better, and I’d like to unveil them to you to see what everyone thinks.
First, the elephant in the room: Marketplace submissions take a while. Instead of making excuses, I’ll show the most common delays in publishing content to the Marketplace:
- Seller doesn't respond to emails for days to weeks
- Submitted files are incomplete or have problems and need work before release
- Marketplace Seller's Agreements or Bank Information forms are not filled out quickly or correctly
- Unreal Engine version incompatibility issues
- The submission needs more work before being published, and I'm personally working with the seller to improve it. Examples are art that needs improving, technical problems, improving presentation materials, requesting a video, giving suggestions to help stand out, helping with ideas to differentiate from other content on the Marketplace, etc.
Not a lot of you may know about that last part, but I have worked with dozens upon dozens of sellers to push their content to be the best that it can before releasing. So far that’s been working out really well, but it can definitely be time-consuming. And there’s really no way you would know, because all of that is done one-on-one, behind the scenes. It really does make a difference in the quality of what’s being published, so now you know that’s there.
Now, onto the improvements we’ve been working on! Everything here is going into effect month. Here’s how things are getting better:
- Marketplace Seller Support dedicated email going live. We had a false start last month that misrouted some emails, but I'm working on today and will provide prioritized, fast updates for existing sellers. These take priority over new submissions because we need to support our sellers the best we can.
- Web Marketplace going live. is going to do a LOT for discoverability! In all forum posts and blog posts we make, we now link directly to every new item so even people without the UE4 launcher can view the content and make purchases. will make it much easier to advertise and sell your content.
- Submission speed increase! will take a few weeks to see because is hot off the presses, but I wanted to tell you guys ASAP. Long story short, we can now review and QA files BEFORE they reach the public Trello. Previously, for legal and process reasons, we didn't see the files until after voting, so we'd get nasty surprises at the last minute that would delay releases and frustrate sellers. Not ideal! The way it works now is that a) if it's on Trello, it's been tested by our team, and b) we have plenty of time to work with content creators to fix anything that's broken. will greatly increase the quality of what's on Trello, because we see it sooner and have time to fix and improve the pack.
- Faster graduation from Trello! If a submission hits the vote count threshold really quickly, instead of waiting the full four weeks, I contact the seller early and say "Hey, you're in! Let's publish NOW!" and the submission goes to the Marketplace much faster than before. The record turnaround time from submission to public Trello to being QAed then published is nine days, and I think that'll get even faster because of how many more people have been voting lately. There is a definite incentive for you to advertise when you go up on Trello. :)
- Signing legal documents and getting bank info is faster! I've been working with our team to speed up signing agreements and getting bank information, which used to be a huge blocker. I've also made it easier to know when to sign and where to see the documents when they come in. It used to take over a week, and now it only takes 2 or 3 days. Most of that is simply waiting for the sellers to read over the paperwork and return it to us.
- Comments and a ratings system on the web Marketplace! is an early first pass and we have some glitches with ratings right now that we're fixing, but is an encouraging first step. Also, you can only rate a pack if we've confirmed that you have purchased it.
Note that is just what’s happening month that I can confidently comment on. There is more than behind the scenes that we can’t talk about yet. We do read and listen to everything that’s been posted here, but can’t comment on much of it yet. Just know and trust that we want the Marketplace to be successful and we generally want the same things you do.
Invitation for feedback:
- Public Trello revamp! I think the public Trello definitely needs some work. The "In Processing" column is where everything hangs out for a very long time because of all the typical reasons for delays that I mentioned above. They all get lumped into that particular category and there's nothing really explaining what's happening or why. I want to change that.
- My first idea for is to show what's going to be released next week, and the week after that. may be subject to change depending on what requests we give sellers to fix or improve their work, but I think we understand things well enough internally to be able to show publicly what our release schedule is.
- My second idea is to explain what's happening when something gets delayed out of a slot. Is the Trello card itself the best idea for that, or would that be better somewhere else?
- My third idea is asking what you guys and girls want. :) I can't promise the world, but I'd like to know what's important to you and what kind of information you'd like to see about what's in the queue and when it's coming. All I can promise is that we'll do our best.
So let me know what you’d all like to see on the public Trello board, and any other feedback you have. Now that GDC is over and is back and fully dedicated to the Marketplace, I’ll have more time to post on the forums and talk to everyone here.
Thanks everybody! Looking forward to responses.
[/]
Your first idea , second and third ideas are great , but You read something in thread ?
Thanks for the open communication . I look forward to the future of the marketplace.
I just keep seeing constant improvement. It makes me optimistic for the future.
Hey , good to hear! A couple things:
- Will we be able to provide higher resolution thumbnails for the UE4 web marketplace? As it stands now it is a blurred version of the smaller thumbnail which isn’t really displaying content in the best of light.
-I submitted a second content pack about a week ago through the trello form, there was no mention of including the actual assets there from what I remember. Will I be contacted about that, or should I resubmit now that you are going to be reviewing before the trello voting?
-With regards to ratings, its good that we have that now and you are looking into the current issues like inability to change it. Would it be possible however to tie ratings to comments? It would be beneficial for sellers and consumers to know why someone rated the way they did, rather than just seeing a star rating and having to guess why that was the case. More information can help consumers make informed purchases, and sellers address feedback.
-Any ETA on when the sales tracking might be available to developers, and if we may see the integration of promo codes or customer emailing lists to notify them of sales, promo codes, updates, etc?
Thanks!
[= ;244537]
Give us the ‘Make MMO’ button; Everything else sounds fine
[/]
haha, well, there’s that MMO Kit guy from the other thread, so we’re not that far off! Have you seen that thing? It’s amazing!
[=;244573]
Your first idea , second and third ideas are great , but You read something in thread ?
[/]
Are you asking if I’ve read something specific in the thread, or if I’ve read the thread? I have read the thread, yes, but there’s only so much I can comment on right now. If there’s anything more specific I can address, I can do my best.
[=;244795]
Thanks for the open communication . I look forward to the future of the marketplace.
[/]
Thank you! There’s a lot of cool stuff coming up.
[=Coops;244842]
I just keep seeing constant improvement. It makes me optimistic for the future.
[/]
Thanks! We’re doing our very best, and will keep trying.
[=;244863]
Hey , good to hear! A couple things:
- Will we be able to provide higher resolution thumbnails for the UE4 web marketplace? As it stands now it is a blurred version of the smaller thumbnail which isn’t really displaying content in the best of light.
-I submitted a second content pack about a week ago through the trello form, there was no mention of including the actual assets there from what I remember. Will I be contacted about that, or should I resubmit now that you are going to be reviewing before the trello voting?
-With regards to ratings, its good that we have that now and you are looking into the current issues like inability to change it. Would it be possible however to tie ratings to comments? It would be beneficial for sellers and consumers to know why someone rated the way they did, rather than just seeing a star rating and having to guess why that was the case. More information can help consumers make informed purchases, and sellers address feedback.
-Any ETA on when the sales tracking might be available to developers, and if we may see the integration of promo codes or customer emailing lists to notify them of sales, promo codes, updates, etc?
Thanks!
[/]
Hey !
-
Thumbnail sizes. Yes, with the web Marketplace, there’s a new thumbnail size that we’re modifying our guidelines to support. Many thumbnails do look a bit rough right now, and we’re working out the best way to get them updated. More on that soon, because I really want to get that polished.
-
Files – I’ll contact you about that.
Submitting files earlier in the process is something I’ve been pushing to do for awhile and it was only week where I found the correct way to do it that everyone could agree on. The first batch of requests for files is going out week. -
Comments tied to ratings – that’s an interesting idea! I’ll talk to the web team and find out more about how ratings and comments work to see if something along those lines is possible.
-
No ETA yet, but is something I’m in constant discussion about with the team. In fact, I have a meeting in ten minutes about it to discuss how we’re moving forward. I can’t really give any details on yet unfortunately, but I will the moment I’m able to. As for sales, that is something we’re going to be exploring more in the near future. We have the infrastructure and support for it, so it’s mainly just a matter of finding the best time and way to advertise it and to work with the sellers on something that makes sense.
Thanks guys!
I agree with tying comments to ratings. A 1 star rating or a 5 star rating is not informative, unless they explain the reason for it. Also, the web Marketplace currently shows the number of ratings on each item (on the main page), but I’d love if it also showed the number of comments.
Oh, I like that idea! Having a comments count would be helpful. I have a meeting in about an hour with the web team to talk about ratings and comments and I’ll bring up these points. Thanks!
,
might be in the works, but I think the voting categories should match the Marketplace’s categories or vice versa.
e.g. Trello = Textures and Materials Marketplace = Materials and FX.
Can do! Speaking to your example, I’m actually going to split Materials and FX into separate categories on the launcher and web Marketplace soon, because each category has enough items in it to exist on their own now.
Another submission and voting process improvement!
Hi all! Quick note – we’re going through our first batch of assets that we fully QA and test before the Trello, and we’re posting them now.
Important bit: I’ve added a new bright green label called “Marketplace QA Tested” to the cards. From now on, when you see that, you’ll know that we’ve taken the files, tested them for usability and technical errors, worked with the submitter to fix them (if necessary), and feel confident to put them on the public boards for voting. Then if they get voted on very quickly, we already have the files and can publish much more quickly!
It’ll take a few weeks to run everything through cycle, but I think everyone here will really benefit from the increased quality, scrutiny, and speed.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know what we just did because I’m excited about it. Back to the submission queue!
is awesome , keep up the good work!
As a buyer of marketplace content, can I suggest a few things:
- You need WAAAY more than the 1 screenshot you currently have. For different types of content you need different things. For example for art, I want to see the the assets in a few different views. I want material and vertex/poly counts. I’d like to see how the UV sheets look and also the collisions involved. ideally would be per asset from an asset list (i.e. click an asset get a preview of it).
1a) Further to that, we need a preview mode of every asset type.
-
I want stuff standardized as much as possible. So characters should work with Epic skeleton without retargetting. Animations too. Modular assets should be scaled against the same skeleton so that you can drop an Epic guy straight in there and have it feel in scale.
-
Music files should have a preview player that plays them. The music itself can have an audio watermark applied.
-
Any image types can have a marketplace watermark as long as its not too obtrusive.
-
Weapons should work out of the box with a standardised FPS setup. Currently shootergame is a bit **** for that with the way its setup, but I think its about time we got an updated shootergame anyway. So kill two birds with one stone and update it a bit and produce a standardized setup for marketplace use (similar to how the Epic guy requirement for characters works).
-
Here’s a controversial one. Epic needs to go through the examples (shootergame et al) and update them to match the marketplace guidelines. My point here is that for to work, you have to have things just drop in, so no special get out clauses for Epic or Mixamo or whatever).
-
Modular assets should all have the pivot points setup properly (would be useful to show the pivots in the preview of the asset too).
I know its fair to expect people to have to do some work to get stuff working, but if you want to decrease the pain of working with marketplace content and make it a smoother experience, there’s my contribution. Good Luck!
Hey Phil!
[=;245599]
As a buyer of marketplace content, can I suggest a few things:
- You need WAAAY more than the 1 screenshot you currently have. For different types of content you need different things. For example for art, I want to see the the assets in a few different views. I want material and vertex/poly counts. I’d like to see how the UV sheets look and also the collisions involved. ideally would be per asset from an asset list (i.e. click an asset get a preview of it).
[/]
Which assets appear to have only one screenshot? Everything on the Marketplace has 4 - 6 screenshots for each pack, from multiple angles, including an overview shot showing all the item’s assets on a grid. I’m wondering if might be a launcher or web Marketplace glitch.
Good points on the vert/poly counts, UVs and collisions. I’d like to revamp how we use screenshots.
[]
1a) Further to that, we need a preview mode of every asset type.
[/]
Like a web player or something liek it?
[]
- I want stuff standardized as much as possible. So characters should work with Epic skeleton without retargetting. Animations too. Modular assets should be scaled against the same skeleton so that you can drop an Epic guy straight in there and have it feel in scale.
[/]
Agreed. We’re pushing out a minor update very soon to the Epic skeleton that’s going to be the new target for everything, but most of the animations on the Marketplace are already rigged to the Epic skeleton. Good call on the modular assets as well.
[]
- Music files should have a preview player that plays them. The music itself can have an audio watermark applied.
[/]
Great idea. I’m talking with the web team about what our options are for embeddable content. I don’t have an ETA on yet, but it’s one of the things I want most alongside better sales reporting tools.
[]
- Any image types can have a marketplace watermark as long as its not too obtrusive.
[/]
That hadn’t actually occurred to me. I’d rather err on the side of letting people unobtrusively watermark their own images instead of putting Epic’s brand on it, but I’m open to suggestions.
[]
- Weapons should work out of the box with a standardised FPS setup. Currently shootergame is a bit **** for that with the way its setup, but I think its about time we got an updated shootergame anyway. So kill two birds with one stone and update it a bit and produce a standardized setup for marketplace use (similar to how the Epic guy requirement for characters works).
[/]
I’ll check into and find out what our internal plans are for getting these updated. I really would like to have a more standardized method of integrating weapons.
[]
- Here’s a controversial one. Epic needs to go through the examples (shootergame et al) and update them to match the marketplace guidelines. My point here is that for to work, you have to have things just drop in, so no special get out clauses for Epic or Mixamo or whatever).
[/]
Oho! Excellent suggestion. I’ll find out what our internal plans are for updating the examples, because yes, we should be consistent.
[]
- Modular assets should all have the pivot points setup properly (would be useful to show the pivots in the preview of the asset too).
[/]
Excellent! I’ll add that as a QA checklist item when we review files. Since we request files before the public Trello now, we’ll be able to identify and fix problems days to weeks earlier than before. Since yesterday alone I’ve put out something like 35 - 40 requests for files to QA internally, and I have dozens more to go tonight and tomorrow.
[]
I know its fair to expect people to have to do some work to get stuff working, but if you want to decrease the pain of working with marketplace content and make it a smoother experience, there’s my contribution. Good Luck!
[/]
That was fantastic feedback. I really appreciate it, and I’ll do what I can to push these things forward.
Great work !
Keep up the good work
Your efford goes both ways, if you need our help just ask.
As you are here for us, we are here for you!
Thanks dude, I appreciate that! Trust me, I’ll be keeping in mind.
Also, it was a pleasure meeting you at GDC! That Epic \ CCP party was something.
,
I was wondering as far as the posting of marketplace content. I heard from several others stating that you informed them at GDC that Sweeney personally certifies the content submissions to be active on the marketplace. Honestly I did not believe he would oversee content approval to that measure but I figure asking you directly and outright on thread may cut to the chase and inform me if it actually is the case. I just never figured the head of Epic to be involved to that level. Thank you for your time and you all are doing an excellent job at Epic with the updating and community support.
best