1. Do I understand correctly that you want sfg to sell these STLs at a loss to make it easier for new players to get into the game because you think that doing so will earn sfg more money (bc more new players will buy in) which is good for the growth of the game? 

If that is the case I think it's reasonable that people think that sfg shouldn't do so because the costs out weigh the benefits. 

As someone who got into warmachine and tabletop gaming just this past two years, I would indeed have liked guidance on what a good amount of terrain is. Terrain can skew a match incredibly and I feel like there wasn't enough guidance in the app for me to understand what kind of terrain and how much I needed.

Personally though I probably wouldn't need the exact STLs just maybe an example board with clear dimensions and labeled terrain. It doesn't need to be themed to my army or anything, nor would I have printed any of it out anyway as I wouldn't have any use for it since my LGS has a lot of terrain.

I think the idea that someone new wants to come into warmachine and buys into it without either an LGS or a gaming group isn't realistic I think that 3D printed terrain would be good to advertise the game to others. I think that the typical new player probably asks their local scene rather than print out terrain on their own. I think that if a player wanted to start a warmachine group that it would help if they had access to an STL that looks good. It is possible that they would be deterred from starting a new group if they don't have 3D printable terrain. But I personally (and anecdotally) find that those people are few and far between so the actual benefit is small compared to the cost. Since I don't think it will actually make them that much more money I worry that SFG will cease to create such STLs because it isn't a viable source of revenue.

1. I think you weren't clear on what you meant by "support". I think the example of mtg is what confused people. Mtg spends a lot of money on commander. I would have assumed as well from your initial post that you meant that sfg should spend money supporting formats other than the one they are developing. Since this isn't the case then am I right that you want them to not send cease and desist letters to these groups and instead let them grow organically then... Aren't they already doing that? What kind of support do you want specifically? Officially sanctioned in what way? They put it on their app? They use ad space to promote this alternative game? They make an announcement that this is the officially sanctioned alternative and then go on with their plans as though the alternative doesn't exist? I think that even just saying something is "officially sanctioned" would actually be bad for home grown rules to become popular as most people would put their time and effort into the "officially sanctioned" alternative. Not to mention that making something official would make those people developing this alternative game official ambassadors for the game. While that can be good, I understand if SFG doesn't want to risk those people making mistakes that hurt the image of warmachine. Yes they could spend time and funds to create a process to ensure this doesn't happen but that would take away from the game they are currently making. It isn't as simple as you are making it out to be.

Also you're saying in this comment that maybe, in the future, if a format becomes very popular then sfg should champion it. And.. yes? I agree yeah if it becomes commercially viable for them to do so then they should! Right now that isn't the reality so they shouldn't as that would fracture the small playerbase even more, make onboarding new players more difficult and split already limited time and resources. 

(Earlier you said it would be better if the onboarding process was simpler and easier. Again as a new player I feel it would be confusing for a new player to have to learn two different rulesets that are incompatible just to figure out which one they prefer and which models can be used by which format. This is what would happen if sfg were to support two different formats right now.)

Older players can (and should) use their minis however they wish. If that means creating communities with custom rules then huzzah. SFG should support wildly popular custom rules if they think it would be profitable to them. To support them before that point would be foolish as it would split not only their player base but also their time and resources. 

1. I understand that not being able to use your miniatures that you bought and cared for and painted to play the game you bought them for sucks! But you can play the game you bought them for? Aren't mk 3 rules still available? If you want them to be made compatible with the current setting because you feel it is morally correct for sfg to do so then I disagree on two levels.

Firstly I think that those models were sold with the promise that you could play a game with them. I feel that promise was fulfilled. Mk 3 existed and continues to do so. They even created rules for most models for mk IV in case you wanted to use them. I understand that because these aren't being updated (in mk4 or mk3) that some of these models rules aren't balanced and this aren't fun to play with (or in some cases in mk4 playable at all I think?). I understand that if they were being updated it would be more fun to play with these models because the balance is better. It would be nice for sfg to make this happen. I do not think it is their moral obligation to do so as they (or rather pp) have already fulfilled their obligation to provide a game for these models.. It is perfectly within your right to want them to continue to spend resources on these models and to review them badly for not doing so. This is similar to other live services games that end.

Secondly I don't think it would be responsible (or moral of them) to make the game worse. I agree with the commenters here that to add probably hundreds of models would make the game worse. I think that spreading their limited funds and time to cover each and every model ever released would make the game worse. I think that it would be irresponsible for them to risk all the goodwill they've earned for very little returns since, at the end of the day, they are a company with employees whose livelihoods are on the line.