117320-wild-idea

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Hi,
 
I'll keep this short. This is my idea.
I think it will be great if wild star players can download a 3D file and be able to print out a figurine of their character(s) using a 3D-printer.
 
3D printers are becoming cheaper and there available in the print shop's in my city. So make some profit by selling a blue print of a players character.
 
Well that's it i can't think of any more to add because the idea is quite simple and i think it can be done easily since the data it available.
 
 
Cheers. 	
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			what would be the costs involved making something like this work? certainly intriguing idea. If the price makes sense, I'd take advantage of something like this.	
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			Cool idea. I don't have a 3D printer nor access to one, but it'd be interesting to see it happen.	
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			Interesting idea. I like having a physical copy of the my character, like in Skylanders, Disney Infinity and (soon) the amiibo. Wouldn't mind my cute aurin sitting on my desk, too. :)	
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			It should be possible to make an STL file from several screenshots of your character. As far as Carbine actually offering STL files of characters, I'm not sure how feasible or not that would be... 	
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A few of us around Carbine have 3D Printers (myself included), and some things from WildStar have been printed.  However, models that work well in the game do not work well for 3D printers, and likewise models that work well in a 3D printer do not work well in the game.  I don't know that we would ever officially release printable 3D models.  There are several reasons, including; it takes a lot of work to make a model printable, there's copyright & patents to consider so it would involve lawyers, and that usually kills most ideas like this.  No offense intended to lawyers, their job is to protect our IP's, and they do that well.
 
That being said, there are already some fan made creations.  I can't link any, because that would be like endorsement, and that's inappropriate.  And for people who do not have ready access to a 3D printer, there are plenty of web services that you can upload a 3D model to, and give them a credit card number, and they will mail you a final printed version of your model.  Obviously that's more expensive.  I've never used one of those services, but I hear the results are quite good.
 
3D printers are definitely getting into the realm of "affordable".  The first 3D printer I saw way back when cost around $250k.  The one I bought only cost me $600, and I'm quite happy with it.	
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			In some areas, public libraries are starting to buy 3D printers and make them available for use (for just materials costs). If folks are really interested in it, 2D images like screenshots can be made into 3D STL files (the kind used by 3D printers) in computer aided design software (e.g. 123D in autodesk). If people are really interested, I suggest making friends with an engineer or checking out groups who 3D print at your local universities. Often times grad students / some labs or research groups will help folks prep files and 3D print prototypes / fun things at cost or for a slight fee. 	
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