Competition would make this worse. If all the users who sold clothes started creating UGC content, large percentages of the catalog would be similar copies of each other.
13 Likes
Glad to see itās finally here. Youāve been on about something like this for years. I remember at BLOXcon 2013 you discussed the possibility of selling models. Presumably this will be a benefit of the new Premium membership?
9 Likes
I think you may have misinterpreted my point. I donāt propose raising the cap on the number of UGC creators. Iām saying that without competition, allowing creators to blatantly clone existing items on the catalog and take a cut of the revenue directly from the sales of those items is effectively allowing the 50-or so UGC creators to monopolize the catalog for personal gain.
Downtown Denizen is a direct clone of The Classic ROBLOX Fedora. The creator of that hat is basically reaping profits from copying one of the most iconic and widely-recognized limiteds on the platform. There is no competition since the rules prohibit other UGC creators from copying each other, meaning he is the sole benefactor from cloning that item. The system preventing creators from copying existing meshes let his design slide by.
The issue is that UGC creators are already copying existing items. They are only following the rules in theory. Theyāre creating meshes that are near-indistinguishable from existing items, but technically following the rules since they didnāt directly copy an existing mesh. Same function, same look, different procedure, same results.
33 Likes
Only for the initial wave of developers given access to upload items to the UGC catalog. The FAQ covers this.
18 Likes
Yes, I canāt agree more. There certainly are some very suspicious assets that look extremely similar to other hats.
To add on:
Roblox:
https://www.roblox.com/catalog/3210191970/Buddys-Black-Cap
UGC:
https://www.roblox.com/catalog/3663569463/Black-Baseball-Cap
21 Likes
Thereās also Ezrathās Crimson Horns, which look to be a copy of the Mischief Horns.
https://roblox.com/catalog/3663905727/Ezraths-Crimson-Horns
https://roblox.com/catalog/15967797/Mischief-Horns
13 Likes
Exactly as Sinister put it.
UGC: Downtown Denizen:
Roblox: The Classic ROBLOX Fedora:
To anyone who doesnāt think itās a blatant clone, go to the catalog, try on both and see for yourself.
58 Likes
Iām super thrilled that Roblox is allowing trusted users to submit their creations to the accessory catalogs!
Looking forward to seeing some truly fantastic stuff from the team that designs these new items, letās not waste this long-awaited feature! 
12 Likes
Hopefully Roblox will check for duplicates, as copies wonāt go through then. 
If Roblox wonāt check for copies, people will probably copy a very expensive hat and use it without paying.
11 Likes
Iād love to be accepted into the program. I can really put my 3D skills to use for official Roblox things 
.
Although, I have a huge concern for UGC being open for the masses. I think the best way to handle duplicate items is to see the filesize, meshdata, and dates of the item, and deny any clones from being uploaded, aside from the original maker. It wonāt be good against āRipoffsā but itāll definitely prevent the āClothespamā we see in the regular catalog. Plus, should users have a special copyright claiming system for hat makers?
17 Likes
I think retextures if done right could be fine (Within Reason, No Trade demand hats). It could start a Family of Hats or expand on a family of hats.
11 Likes
I 100% agree.
Iād think an application would be better suited for this than waves just so we can avoid favoritism by Roblox HQ.
(Not saying that they will but as a precaution)
Itās like if the American Government blocked everyone from doing business but allowed only their favorites to do so.
Kind of problematic.
12 Likes
While I do think there is a debate to be had regarding the recreation of already existing hats thatās going to take some time to resolve, and at the end of the day not everyone is going to be 100% happy. I strongly believe things like the revamping and reimagining certain hats is not a bad thing! Did they blatantly copy the Classic Fedora? I have no idea. Do I think itās a bad/uncalled for model? No.
Iām really excited to see what all comes from this, and I hope over time weāll adjust to the idea of existing hats being recreated!
9 Likes
Are they simply looking at the mesh or the texture?
4 Likes
This has not been publicly announced/confirmed yet, as this is all still in its very early stages. Hereās some the of moderation features that would need to be done for a near perfect public automatic anti-copying release (which is basically a white elephant):
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Mesh scanning, including small edits, unnoticeable vertex edits that could potentially bypass the automation.
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Texture scanning, not only direct reuploads, but also hue/brightness shifts.
11 Likes
Will you be able to run ads on these UGC hats?
I feel like this will be a very good usage of ads which would allow for developers to get exposure.
Thanks!
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I believe this was addressed during RDC and they said yes, however to add on to this I think it would also be neat if there were āSponsored itemsā, that work the same as sponsored games currently work.
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How can someone request to get added to the UGC catalog program?
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Q: When will new waves of developers be given access to this feature? How are the developers chosen?
A: We will be adding more developers in small waves throughout the rest of 2019 and 2020. For the initial group, we chose developers who we have worked with in the past who also have experience with 3D modeling. The criteria for future developers given access is an ongoing discussion.
Q: How will we know if we got picked to be part of the program?
A: We will have a much clearer process available in the future in regards to choosing developers to take part in the early stages of this program. Stay tuned for more information on that front.
12 Likes
As a note, I would suggest you should add some form of spam prevention so this new catalog wonāt be polluted with copies of other items unlike the develop library in case if this feature would be available to everyone.
10 Likes