There’s been a lot of worry and concerns from current and future creators on the UGC catalog on the proposed fixed and flexible item quantities.
I understand Roblox’s reasoning and company scope of ‘trying to move/merge into our real world and daily lives’ with trying to create scarcity emulated in a real economy, but the reason that doesn’t wholly transfer to a virtual economy and with a lot of player’s goals/accessibility with avatar items is it goes against all of the benefits that comes with a virtual economy and what makes it appealing to a lot of users and creators:
Virtual economies do not have to rely on the same restrictions and bars as real-world products do, such as production costs, shipping, etc.
New/financially limited creators do not have to be barred from the aforementioned costs to get their items out into the ecosystem.
Users are given more predictability with non-limited quantities by not having to worry about price influxes and availability. Users have more reliability in being able to find an item/accessory that fits what they want to express themselves
Potential routes & concepts to reapproach/consider based on the current structure of the UGC catalog
[IDEAL] Allow for creating the flexible quantity items as proposed, but not forcing this and creating artificial scarcity
[MEET HALFWAY] Give users a set number of free quantities for each item they publish to reduce the bar of entry for creating new items. For example; if a player wants to create an item, they would not have to pay for the creation of the first 250 copies of that item. If the user wants to create more copies than that, for example, 1,000 copies, they would only have to pay for the 750 copies after the 250.
[ALTERNATIVE] Allow premium users to resell nonlimited accessories they purchased with unlimited quantities [think used clothing in a thrift store] which would allow players to get value out of items they no longer want. This could, however, run the risks of creating the same issues above, but at a less drastic scale. This could help keep the supply in the economy healthy and allows users to get more out of their items, as well as drive more resells to a creator by sharing the revenue from resells in a similar fashion to limited reselling
I fully agree with this post. I am against artificial scarcity and the introduction of flexible stock would significantly harm any new creators and create an immense barrier of entry, purely on a financial standpoint.
Additionally, many are afraid of an auto-restock or bulk restock feature not shipping with flexible stock items. If the feature does release during 2024, we need extensive surveys and 1 on 1 discussions with staff about the features that we’d want, need, or appreciate in the end product, to make the transition smooth and problem-free for many that are currently, or will create on the platform.
You. You’re goddamn right. Roblox’s announced changes as they are will totally screw over any existing UGC creators, and make it ridiculously hard for anyone non-established to even start making a somewhat decent profit. Everyone loses - aside from roblox, who lines their pockets from this of course.
While I’ve always agreed UGC should be public for all and that barriers should be removed, requiring premium and capping uploads is not the way to go about this.
Forcing creators to sell limiteds only is not the way you make more money, limiteds are extremely expensive to upload and with the current cut UGC creators receive this is unsustainable and unaffordable.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This is an embarrassing mess and a insult to every ugc creator who has built this program up over the past 4 years.
Do better, or you’ll lose UGC creators and lose money.
This was literally one of the only things announced at RDC that made me roll my eyes a bit. Everything was a step forward but this is several steps backwards.
As a Roblox creator and player, the open availability and options of a number of items that allowed me to express myself better was a huge draw-in and inspiration to become a creator. There are many items that I don’t have to worry about when I’ll have the money to buy them or if there are any resellers - infinite quantity, no artificial scarcity, no fuss. It also allows me now as a creator to make items available to my community and we love to put as many of our items into the community’s hands as possible. We love our community and want to make their spending experience as painless and as freeing as possible without exploiting FOMO to squeeze wallets out.
Roblox already have a wonderful market that works so well for creator earnings, but I don’t see the vision here with removing that and moving only to having a limited economy. A fast-paced, real world market simulation is not necessarily what all of us want. Players always in constant worry if what they want will be sold out, the existing trading community feeling their items will be devalued (and therefore skyrocketing in price as a result) and creators can’t just give to their communities.
The ability to choose how you want your items to be presented in this virtual economy is what is such a huge draw for me, and I was excited that there’d be opportunities to create limited avatar items in the future. I didn’t expect, however, that it wasn’t an option and instead a move to make everything limited. There’ll be less opportunities to express oneself with this, and everyone will constantly have to be worried about a fluctuating market and time limits to get the items they desire.
What a tone deaf idea. It could have been easily predicted that this would be wildly unpopular so I don’t understand why anyone would try to pull this.
I want people to enjoy my work and wear it across the platform with zero friction other than the initial price. I don’t want to have to restock my work. I don’t want people to be unable to purchase my work. I’m an artist and this is what I enjoy. People should get to enjoy my work and not have to fight tooth and nail to obtain it.
Let’s not bring the worst parts of the economy into the virtual space. Scarcity creates stress, toxicity, and disappointment, and artificial scarcity is plain unfair and adds bitterness to the mix. That’s not the future of UGC that Roblox should strive for.