Raw, Barely Edited Interview Transcript

I can see you’ve put a lot of time into all the things you’ve contributed. Do you have any personal favorites?
Sparkwire: probably the primson sniper rifle i made a for a facepunch modder contest. won second place.
Gerre: I like my hillbilly engineer set which I made back for the polycount contest
GetGrenade: Well I really liked my Wicked Warlock set thing, It was my first really big project and I put a lot of effort in it.
Vlad the Implyer: Wine bottle for Brewmaster, i guess. it turned out really awesome i think

What got you started with modeling?
SW: Probably first person animations. I’m actually an animator by nature and I just got into modeling as a byproduct of that.
GR: I learned it at my school. I had no modeling experience before.
GG: Well first was TF2 trading thing, when it just came out I spend a lot of time with trading stuff. And also Valve started to put alot of community-made items in game, so I thought - I should try to do something myself! I lurked for tutorials and started to make things. And I also got a lot of inspiration from Facepunch's TF2 Emporiums.  At first I really wanted to get my items in game and not even for all revenue, but just for self-made version D: And now I’m like - self-made? Uh, ok. Another one in the pile D:. I also thought that when I will join to any server with my self-made on, everyone will be like “Oh my gosh, SELF-MADE!” But actually people dont really care about it :> Or even don’t notice it. Yeah, so every time I play I try to kill as much people as possible, so they all will see my stuff on kill cams
Vlad: Well, it's really fun for me. I never get bored while modelling, and you can see the result of your work immediately. Very satisfying. i started modelling for dota because i really dig the artstyle and effort dota team put into shaping the visual representation of this game.

You’ve contributed a good number of things. What’s your motivation?
GR: Because I love the game and its artstyle. I wanted to create things that fit the TF universe.
GG: Revenue from sales is really good motivation.
Vlad: it's a great chance to influence the game you love and create stuff you'd like to wear yourself. Dota heroes got much more potential over TF2 characters for expansion, so i'm trying to give heroes some new details with my items.
I knew some people who do this for money and most of the guys who friend me and asks for advice on compiling and stuff also ask about revenue. I got some stuff ingame, but i've yet to see some revenue from that and i don't really care. I also wish for people to create items not for the purpose of profiting, but from love for the game.

Do you work with modeling outside of the Workshop?
SW: Occasionally for mods. Not recently, though.
GR: In my spare time yeah, but not professionally. although I hope I can become a professional modeler someday.
GG: Not really, Im learning how to use Zbrush right now, but it is for Dota 2 items anyway :>
Vlad: For fun, sometimes, yeah. Nothing to show off though

So, you’ve contributed models for both TF2 and DOTA 2. How was it different?
SW: Well, the art style is a lot different, but with DOTA, I was actually contacted by Valve months before the economy update to make items for it. So that’s why I have such a large amount already ingame.
GG: For TF2 you just create semi-low-poly model and import it as it. For Dota 2 you create high-poly model first, then create low-poly model and bake stuff for it from high-poly. So you need to know how to make good high poly model (and thats where you need such programs like Zbrush). Same thing with textures, Dota 2 textures have some more layers then a TF2 textures.

So, how different is it going through Steam Workshop? Does the crowdsourcing process changed presentation or anything else?
SW: It did. Before, you didn’t have to care as much about presentation because only Valve saw it. But now, everyone sees it, so the presentation becomes more important. Also, the process itself is different. Now it’s ingame, and it used to be on a website.
GR: It's a nice representation of what the community wants compared to before, where people wouldn't know what is submitted. But in the end Valve has the final vote of what gets accepted.
GG: Well Im just publish it in workshop, post links on some forums and then let it go. If item is neat, then it will get attention. Anyway Valve doesnt really cares about workshop ratings, if they like something, it will get in game anyway.
Vlad: Hm, well yeah, sometimes community supports most ridiculous stuff, but at least valve teams keeps the quality on one level (except that tidehunter eyeaxe and icebow though). Looking at TF though, everything is pretty style-consistent, so I trust that DOTA2 will keep unique style

What kind of impact do you think it's had on a larger scale?
SW: Valve’s already said it pretty well. Where it’s blurring the line between consumer and contributor, or something along those lines. A lot of people get motivated to leard 3D stuff because of the workshop, and I think that’s a good thing.
One fantastic element for contributors is, of course, the revenue from the item sales. What do you think of people contributing primarily for profit?
Vlad:  It allowed for modding community to grow expand on a larger scale, making community life easier with keeping everything in one place and freeing us from all the mod installation hassle. It even grew into Greenlight, uniting gaming community and allowing them to choose even the games they want, not only mods.

Do you think it's feasable for someone to treat the Steam Workshop as a job?
SW:  Heh, I do. It certainly pays very well. Well, you’d have to have a bunch of stuff ingame already. I have no idea how much DOTA pays, but TF2 pays pretty well.
GR: I don't know, but you'd still have to love the game to make items that fit the universe if you want a chance of an item to be accepted.
GG: Well I guess its like some kind of free-lance job. But theres a problem - even if you create good model, it can never make it in game. So how you can call it a job if you not sure will you get your payment or not D: But if you lucky enough to get your items in game and your items going to be really popular, so alot of players will buy them, then it will worth it. A good example - The Fast Learner.
Vlad: I think they will be disappointed. I don't really have any numbers to back this claim, but nevertheless, the competiton is too high to have some serious revenue out of this (unless you create bunch of super-cool couriers!). But i guess it's all fine if their works are good.

Do you have any general comments about Steam Workshop, modelling, or anything else that I may have forgotten to ask?
SW: Not particularly. I guess don’t be a shithead artist like the ones you find on Deviantart.
GR: I guess modeling can seem to be a hard thing to learn at first, but you have to keep practicing and learn from others by looking how they make their stuff.
GG: Well alot of people recently started to model thiings for TF2 and DOTA2. And alot of them think like than - "oh, thats my first\second\third model ever, Im now going to put it in workshop and Ill bet it will get in game!" - or something like that. Thats not how it works. You should spend some time with modeling before publishing your things off. At first just make stuff for yourself, not for workshop. Theres no reason to spam it with sucky items.