CoolMiniOrNot:

[Demi_morgana]

I kinda want the issue a bit less now yet still find in temptating...

[mahon]

I've always treated it like a kind of a candy for one's vanity. My pics won't be there but in several years I will surely be happy to see works of my wife and friends in a book. For me internet content is quite transitory, and a book is a nice reminder of what we used to do...

So in fact I pay just for the fact to have it all printed on nice glossy paper, hard cover, etc.
And yes, I'll be buying the book...

[Trovarion]

I've always treated it like a kind of a candy for one's vanity. My pics won't be there but in several years I will surely be happy to see works of my wife and friends in a book.

i was about to post something like this and i think its a totally valid point.

Im pretty sure i had one or two pics in the first one they did and a friend of mine bought them and was all like "look, look, that's you" and it felt nice in a way =)

[NAVARRO]

Sentimental buggers! And Im the latin blooded around here I see your points maybe its just me that is insensible to this kind of things.

[Skrit]

I'm pretty sure I saw some of your works in the first one Trov. I like the books, style of painting changes and it's fun to see what were top works back then and how they (most of them) wouldn't stand up to todays works.

Oh, and I like to browse them every now and then on the toilet too!

[ScottRadom]

Well mine is bought and paid for, still think it's a good idea and I still look forward to seeing my pics in their eventually as well as the people I know through the various forums. Looking forward to it!

[tremanor]

Ok ok I did not mean to start slinging mud at Chern and Dave. It does take a LOT of money to print the books so a cut on the profits from the book is not really feasible. Further when they print the books they have to make a very substantial initial investment to get ti done which is not neccessarily " garanteed " to be recouped in a timely manner.

I tend to take it for granted that people understand my sense of humour even when they do nto knwo me personally or have enough experience reading my postings to " get the jib ".

CMON is a mixed bag- as is everything. Do Chern and Dave profit it from it?...... Hell Yes. Do they work very hard on it?..... hell yes. Is it a giant web store that get the best free advertising in the buisness and then sells that advertising back to the people providing it???......

I have my own reasons for looking askance at the practises of CMON but I cannot say that I fault Dave and Chern for doing what they do. They are in this to make money plain and simple, anything else is perifory. They are going to great lengths to make CMON a one stop shop for all things miniature which is good in some ways and can be bad in others. I think that the Crystal Brush awards MAY be a HUGE step up for the hooby in general, only time will tell, but I do applaud Dave and Chern for organising it.

The aspect of CMON I am most wary of is that it is very rapidly becoming the fulcrum upon which a burgeoning company can be made or broken due to the fact that it is both the largest and most popular user gallery on the internet and is now also entering the arena of manufacturing and distribution.

[NAVARRO]

Its not mud slinging Tre... its just people talking their minds

Yeah I kind of agree with you that its a form of leeching, been happening in many industries from quite some time...
I also agree with you that this convergence and mix of interests, may not be in such small community, best interests but like many things in life you only participate if you want to.

To me CMON is just a nice gallery that I put some minis when I have the patience to do that and has a nice store that I buy some rare minis or hard to get stuff... some people get tangled into the ranking crap and boost their scores or ask friends to boost their scores or just have a fanbase that likes your boobs that boost your scores... and the same people will snipe your scores if your boobs are not that nice... its just how things work there, take or leave it

I remember cmon many years ago and you could actually have a feedback about your painting, that does not happen anymore... you have stores that post their paintings there, stores that post their works there etc there is a economical interest in that "painters" gallery now and you know what happens when money is involved... CMON owners use that gallery and hobby place to capitalize their biz and this book is the ultimate expression of just that.

Its a biz for some and a hobby for others and its all gathered inside the same hot pot.

Also the CMON formula is falacious from the get go... for example your sculpts there Tre are scored low in comparison with many greens from others there and even discarding the snipe/boost thing you still have to compete for the best picture/snapshot/photoshop manipulation etc and only after that people will score the sculptwork... this is nonsense.

Your sculpts scores are 10 and 9 in my book but your photos are not that great so you get something like 7's I dont mind this because i can diferenciate whats a sculpt and whats a photograph but a business may not find it so easy to swallow that.

[Demi_morgana]

Your sculpts scores are 10 and 9 in my book but your photos are not that great so you get something like 7's I dont mind this because i can diferenciate whats a sculpt and whats a photograph but a business may not find it so easy to swallow that.

All you have to do to boost the rating is sculpting something related to space marines bullsh!t..

[ToMaZ]

some people get tangled into the ranking crap and boost their scores or ask friends to boost their scores or just have a fanbase that likes your boobs that boost your scores... and the same people will snipe your scores if your boobs are not that nice... its just how things work there, take or leave it

Don't worry Nav, I like you boobs. I like them so much I always rate your stuff 10!


Seriously though, you and Tre are 100% right, CMON has come far from the voting and commenting gallery it once was. Good or bad... it's not my place to judge.
I only like CMON for the fact that there are some amazing and inspirational works gathered together on one site. I never really visited the forums, tried to eBay some figs, start a serious gallery or bought anything from their shop. For me it's just a gallery of cool figs.
The fact that CMON now focusses on business rather than hobby is their choice, but I can't really blame them. A lot of money is to be earned on CMON. Studios and painters look at CMON as a tool to promote their painting services, so I can understand Chern and Dave's choice to make money out of it too.

I can understand Mahon in the fact that a book is cool to look back at figs that will get lost or hard to find in this digital world. It's something that you can touch and hold... and maybe cherish?
For me though, the book doesn't hold any value. I think it's pretty useless. I really don't care about a book with pictures of figurines, nor do I care who is in it. This is just a hobby and for me a different way to express some of my creativity. I enjoy it, but if I should grow tired of it, I will stop without hesitation and try to be creative in a different way. So I have no need for a CMON book.

I like reading books. I lost interest in the picture books somewhere after my toddler years