<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DarthBish @ Feb 7 2007, 10:56 PM) [snapback]1413671[/snapback]</div>
I'm looking forward to seeing the final results, should be VERRRY cool.
I hope I'm not out of line here but I find the "not sharing any measurments" thing a bit odd.
I mean you say...."If you have any questions, reference materials you want to share" please do so, and yet you don't seem to want to reciprocate.
If you don't mind me saying, it seems a teeny bit unfair.
I would've thought that the very backbone of the forum was a sharing of ideas and reference info, to enable other members to try and build something they've always wanted
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DB, I'll do my best to address your questions and concerns the best I can. AND, I will add your thoughts to my FAQ.
First off, I want to say without sounding snarky at all that you are totally entitled to your opinion, and have a right to express it. No need to pre-apoligize with your worries about being out of line.
I'd like to start by pointing to the numerous and frequent "cautionary tales" that play out on this very forum every single day. Someone starts a "research" thread to solve a problem. Lots of people come forward, giving their valuable time and input to make the project the best it can be. The idea is that the person who started the project will get a run of them together, and offer them at a decent price. In the mean time, lurkers of the forum are soaking up every single detail that is being posted, and proceed to offer a replica on ebay before the original instigator of the thread has a chance to finish his. I've seen this happen time and time again. Happened to Hydin in his superman crystal project. Happened on a recent Blade Runner ID project. It's happened to me a couple of times.
So I'm very protective about what I post on this forum. You are correct that it is indeed a bit unfiar, but it is the way this hobby has evolved. To be smart, you have to understand the forces at work both in front of and behind the scenes in this hobby.
Another angle to my decision is that I know as a fact that others are currently developing the same piece for sale. I don't feel an obligation to them to help further their business efforts by my hard work. you may disagree with that, and as mentioned earlier, you're totaly entitled to that. However, my decision is to not assist those that are developing similar projects in parallell.
But perhaps the most important reason I'm not sharing all information is because I promised people I would not. I hear Phil Steinschneider going through this argument with people on line all the time. I have certain sources that want to remain private. They tell me information that is in confidence, and they ask me not to reveal it. If I was to reveal that information, i would never hear from them again. Or perhaps, they would choose not to share information with me again. To me, that's a pretty solid trump card.
As far as reciproction for information goes, you've made an assumption there that is just not correct. If someone does me a favor, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will consider myself in their debt, and will be happy to pay them back. Heck, most of the friends and contacts I've made on this forum were born from the sharing of information. Emphasis on "sharing", as opposed to simply giving away.
So while I do agree that sharing information is very important to this hobby, I do not agree that giving information away for free is beneficial to the hobby, especially when a ground breaking project is on the table.
Frankly, if someone wanted to make their own korben dallas gun, I'd be happy to point them in the direction of information that would be useful to them. At this very moment, almost all of the information I have available to me is available on the web. Sure, it took me years of searching and waiting to collect it all, but it's out there. It is only the minute details of the construction of the gun and some of the materials used that I plan on keeping as "IP". Castings are available, photos are out there, Vektors can be found and purchased.
In closing, I'd like to say that the only thing I'm really not up for "sharing" for free is my hard work. I don't feel that this is that hard of a pill to swallow, considering both the reasons given above, and the fact that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
I hope that helps to answer your questions, and I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to think about this 'grey area' of the hobby.
In other news...
Hidden agendas? Junkyard threads? Oh my.
You guys know how this game works, right??? I do indeed plan to offer a VERY small number of these pieces to friends and RPF folks. However, the website is something that could be stumbled on to by any number of people, and the last thing I need is a steady stream of emails from every tom, d.ck and harry saying "hey, your project looks great. I've got fifty bucks in my paypal account. Is that enough"?? that's one hobby I do NOT want to be in.
And thanks for beating me to the punch with the interest thread link. i was going to post that, but forgot to do it. I love this place.
