Cardstock counters for your favorite game - Your opinion! Help shape the market!

[Cherno]

Here's a hypothetical situation:

Imagine you could have nice 1-inch counters for your favorite tabletop game, whatever it is. Those counters would be really useful and have a nice design that enhances the artstyle of your game. The counters might be used on the tabletop itself as status markers etc, or as things like inventory items, equipment tokens, skills etc. that you have lying around your side of the table next to your unit cards/list.

You could have two options.

First option:

The counters are available for free as a downloadable pdf file. You would have to print the sheet out and mount it on, say, 1.5mm thick heavy cardstock/mounting board and then cut each one out with a metal ruler and hobby knife, which is quite a PITA to say the least. So as I said, they are free and you can make as many as you wish, but you do have to make them yourself.

Second option:

The counters are available from a professional manufacturer, mounted on magnetic sheet or something similar, pre-cut and at a fair price. However, depending on where you live, those might be only available overseas so you would have to pay for postage to your country (large letter size or something like that). You might find out later that you need more counters than originally planned and you'd have to order another few sheets, or you plan ahead and buy some spares which you might end up never using.

Which one would you prefer?

[SBRPearce]

Unhesitatingly, Option 1. With a simple free program, I can re-size to taste, and cutting out counters isn't that much of a PITA. Also, given the choice, I'm compelled to spend time in place of spending money on my hobbies.

[YPU]

Why not the best of both worlds, really? I think having both available would be perfectly possible. In fact using home made versions might even provoke gamers to buy the pre-made ones if they are higher quality.

[Cherno]

If a certain counter design is submitted for sale at a manufacturer, they would probably not be too keen seeing the same counter designs they are trying to sell availalbe as a free download.

[YPU]

If a certain counter design is submitted for sale at a manufacturer, they would probably not be too keen seeing the same counter designs they are trying to sell available as a free download.

You would think that, but I have found that a lot of people find the home printed versions useful but a little to light, to bendable etz. and end up buying a set in the end.
Believe it or not some studies have actually shown that people in cases prefer buying improved versions of something they already have for free rather then buying something completely new.

[Galland]

Unhesitatingly, Option 1. With a simple free program, I can re-size to taste, and cutting out counters isn't that much of a PITA. Also, given the choice, I'm compelled to spend time in place of spending money on my hobbies.

Funny, I find my oppinions and situation quite the opposite. Anything I can spend money on instead of time is most welcome.

[FramFramson]

Why not offer both? It's a bit more work, but you'll broaden the customer base and give people what they want.

[SBRPearce]

Galland: In truth, it's a question of which expenditure irks My Lovely Bride more - and it's a toss-up, but "money" usually wins.

She prefers I spend neither, of course. Except on her.

[magokiron]

IŽll second the idea of making BOTH SETS available.

But I think that for a "manufactured" printed version, you must consider there are several "laser cut colored acrilic/mdf" versions out there, that may be prefered for its sturdiness and (sometimes) 3D nature.

Of course, a printed version has the advantage of SEVERAL COLOURS AND WORDS on the same counter.

Hope that helps.

[Cherno]

The counters in questions wouldn't be universal wound or status tokens, but specific ones for a certain game, possibly with some text on it.

[Onimusha]

You could use something like this for cutting them http://www.1stopsquare.com/hole.html

Good luck with them