Been around a week since my initial post, and since then I’ve been gathering my thoughts, double checking a few things and getting new information. Do feel I need to add some more to this thread, so here I go.
Firstly comes the topic of the methods possible to actually get on the track to being able to upload UGC. For us, our chances would be boiled down to two things. Roblox checks the #RobloxUGC hashtag on Twitter, and listens to nominations from users currently in the UGC program. This has been confirmed by multiple people who are within the UGC program on Twitter. It feels odd that we have to wait for the chance of being accepted to come to us, rather than directly showing our potential via an official application…
That is as far as it goes for many anyways, but if you’ve been keeping an eye open you’ll notice there has been a different method for getting in. Roblox has had official contests to expand the UGC program to different languages. I’ve managed to find posts regarding this in Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.
https://twitter.com/robloxdevreles/status/1219381884167380992
https://twitter.com/robloxdevrelfr/status/1219717394865762304
https://twitter.com/robloxdevrelde/status/1219351666664841217
https://twitter.com/robloxdevrelptb/status/1218965214189645825
These January contests aren’t the only ones though. There was also one in China back in April.
设计师招募
https://forum.robloxdev.cn/t/topic/95
From here, we’d see that although it isn’t a constant application process, putting the page through Google Translate does show that this is a much clearer process than what we’re going through. Create your 3D model, provide some clear images along with an attachment of your model, and make sure that what you’ve made fits within the format Roblox has set for UGC hats (256x256 TX, no transparancy, etc.)
While I don’t like to focus on the money aspect of creating UGC items, since I started my own work because I wanted to create some cool looking accessories, I feel the point @buildthomas has mentioned is highlighted by the contest in China. While Google Translate isn’t a decent translation, only giving us a subpar idea of what’s here, we’re able to see that the UGC China contest mentions the potentially large amount of earnings four different times.
It’s fair to say there’d be some differences between earnings from most UGC creators, and those who are restricted to China’s regulations, but it still feels ridiculous that we’re over here concerned about the fact that there’s currently a monopoly going on due to the limited selection of who can upload UGC when there was a contest which used the vast amount of money earned from that monopoly as a reason for why 3D modelers in China should become UGC creators.
Lastly, I want to mention how the limited access of who can upload UGC can, and has, been abused. This comes in the matter of people who do have UGC access shortchanging the people they work with, who agree to their unfair terms in the hopes that it’ll work out for them in the long run by being given access to UGC themselves. This has happened multiple times with items pubished by Video Stars, who have access to upload one item monthly but usually hire those who are skiled in modeling to make their items. I’ve heard of cases where users are underpaid, not paid at all, and in some cases not even credited.
There have also been a handful of items by Joylessly, ArchiRBLX, and Impwick which were all modeled and textured by them, but published by those who have access to the catalog. While I’d imagine the UGC creators who published their work were involved in the design and came to a fair agreement with those aspiring modelers, I do worry that eventually this too could be taken advantage of, where a UGC creator could act as a publisher and profit off the fact that they happened to be chosen by Roblox to upload accessories instead of whoever they work with.
In conclusion, we need a process for letting eager creators in, rather than having us all put our faith in a system which provides absolutely no feedback on what we need to do. Until that happens, the setup that’s currently in places leaves room for many modelers to be taken advantage of in a desperate attempt to get Roblox’s attention.
