Dorkfactory Newsletter - Feb. 2022

Greetings from the deepest chambers of the Dorkfactory, It's time for some updates!
A bunch of new sculpts, a new system for getting extra rewards and a ton of awesome work from the community!

New Sculpts!

Normally the factory releases 1 new model each month and does a variation on it (alongside the vault of course). This month, THREE new sculpts are under construction! 2 new kits for the march bundle, and 1 special monopose mini that I'll explain below.

First up, we've got the Stalker Tank. 

This model is still under construction and you can expect lots more wingdings, doodads, tubes and bolts to be added. The roll cage canopy will have a couple alternative options and It will come out as a kit that yields a handful of visual variations.

Also coming up in the march bundle are the Demonic Void Commandos. 

There are several more heads, arms and legs currently under construction that aren't pictured here. This builder kit will make 5-10 demonic dudes by the time it's finished. Really enjoying making spinoffs to the void commandos. Next cycle you might see some particularly tanky and armored ones...🤔...

The third new model, The Master of Summoning, will be released as a dorklevel reward next month (keep reading and that will make sense). 

A couple months ago a patron encouraged me to get more sculptural and really dig into single poses and I've been working out those muscles a little more more recently. I love builder kits and their flexibility but sometimes you just gotta hunker down and get technical on something that's tailor made for its specific pose. Don't worry, I'll still be doing both styles.

March will be a big month for new releases, hope you like what you see! 

Introducing Dorklevels

So I've alluded to a new term a few times here... For some time I've been wanting to add loyalty rewards but wasn't sure of the best way to go about it. Given that I made games in a past life and I'm still a bit obsessive about designing game systems and mechanics, I wanted to set up something more exciting than just "subscribe for a while and get extra stuff."

The foundation of the dorklevel system will indeed be consecutive patronage but over time other ways to gain dorklevels will be unveiled. 

How does it work?

When patrons achieve certain goals, they gain a dorklevel and are given special rewards. Right now the rewards will be printable files that will get delivered via MyMiniFactory usergroups (just like the monthly bundle). 

Starting next month (March 2022), patrons can earn levels through consecutive patronage.

• (When you sign up as a dorkfactory patron, you start at level 1)
• On the 2nd month of consequtive patronage, you gain a dorklevel.
• On the 4th month of consequtive patronage, you gain a dorklevel.

(For those of you who have been around, this is retroactive! so expect a very, very wild month in march.)

The system will start with those two acheivements, but down the line more will be added. Some ideas for future ways to gain levels are: 

• post a picture of a painted dorkfactory miniature to your social media.
• post a picture of a dorkfactory mini being used as a proxy in any game. 
• back a dorkfactory crowdfunding campaign (...keep an eye out...).
• and other stuff!
  

What are the rewards?

right now patrons Start and level 1 and can gain 2 dorklevels for a max level of 3. here's what you get when you do:

• Lvl 1 [join]:
  The starter pack (same as before, I'm just making it part of the new system)
• Lvl 2:
  The Master of Summoning
• Lvl 3:
  The full Deadzone Patrolbot kit

Does it make sense?? The gist is rewards for consecutive membership and, in the future, the ability to get more rewards by doing cool stuff.
I'll have more to say about this soon. The system will officially start next month and I'll post about it when it does. Please feel free to ask questions or give suggestions about it in the discussion channel of the dorkfactory discord, I would love to hear your thoughts!

*TRIBERS*: this system WILL reach tribes as well but I'm waiting on an upcoming MMF feature update from the creator side. They'll be retroactive there as well so you will get these rewards too!

Community Makes

Ok everybody, if you've read a DF newsletter before you know this is my favorite part. Seeing what people do with dorkfactory designs is easily the best part of this work. Check out the latest projects from the community!

Seeing DF designs on your tabletops the greatest honor I can receive and your guys' creativity continues to blow my mind.

Alright, that's all for this time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has supported the dorkfactory. You guys empower me to keep making this stuff and I promise to do a little better everytime and to keep finding new ways to give cool rewards.

Good luck out there everybody. I hope you can all  get some good hobby time in very soon.

Welp, I'm gonna go play Elden Ring for 48 hours straight now😂. If you're also doing that feel free to post your character's face in the video-games channel of the dorkfactory discord. I'm aiming to create the world's dumbest face. Can you best me??

'til next time,
~Charlie