minchellabrick

Future of LDD: Next Lego Digital Designer Update?

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I w

Fingers crossed for between the 29th and the 1st. :hmpf:

If we don't get an update next month,then i have no reason to build on LDD anymore,because there are no new bricks in the LDD library. :hmpf_bad:

Edited by Ordinareo

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Just heard back from a customer service rep at The LEGO Group. Names have been removed:

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I bet you love creating your own designs! Unfortunately, at this time we don't plan on releasing any new versions of LEGO® Digital Designer (LDD). Also, there are no planned updates in the future for LDD. I hope that you still enjoy creating with LDD, it really opens up a lot of possibilities!

We want to make sure we're doing a good job for you, so you’ll always find the link to a four-question survey in our emails. Please tell us how we did today:

LEGO Survey link

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Kind regards,

LEGO® Service

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If this means TLG is done with LDD, it would be nice to have the developers release everything there is to know to the public so we can add the features and pieces we've been craving for so long.

Just my opinion.

If this is true. :sad::angry::wall::cry_sad::cry2::cry3:

I'll post a screenshot of the email as soon as I get access to my laptop.

Edited by kangmingjie

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Nope don't believe it. They wouldn't hold out telling us that for this long

I'm honestly hoping the customer service rep that emailed me is new and doesn't know what they're talking about.

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LDD is to big to AFOL and in general if they were done with it and abandoning it I'm sure they would have made an official announcement or attached a message to the last update saying that it would be the last update until farther notice.

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LDD is to big to AFOL and in general if they were done with it and abandoning it I'm sure they would have made an official announcement or attached a message to the last update saying that it would be the last update until farther notice.

...and in such case (that is if they woud ever abandon LDD) I still hope they would potentionaly release their src code of LDD for AFOL enthusiasts and programmers so we could continue developing it ourselves

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This is the email I received yesterday:

emailLEGO_1.jpg

I don't know if two conflicting emails should be taken as a good or a bad sign. I can understand why LEGO would let go of LDD. It doesn't make them any money and it takes some of their team away from other projects since everything they do with the program is on a volunteer basis. LEGO may have (or still be) discussing whether or not they should drop the project and probably have no definitive answer as of yet, which could be delaying the news of what the future of the program will be.

Still, I agree 100% with Bublible regarding the release of the source code to the community of developers here at Eurobricks. If LEGO were to let allow us to develop the software, the many more features that we have discussed can be added along with pieces and decorations (some of them could even be from Brickforge or Brickwarriors). However, I think that if LEGO does stop LDD, then it will be tucked away into an archive rather than released to the public.

Either way, I'd hate to see LDD fall by the wayside when it is such a great program. I suppose all we can do for now is hope that I am wrong.

Edited by kangmingjie

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Got an email back.

<snip>

This is the email I received yesterday:

<snip>

I don't know if two conflicting emails should be taken as a good or a bad sign. I can understand why LEGO would let go of LDD. It doesn't make them any money and it takes some of their team away from other projects since everything they do with the program is on a volunteer basis. LEGO may have (or still be) discussing whether or not they should drop the project and probably have no definitive answer as of yet, which could be delaying the news of what the future of the program will be.

Still, I agree 100% with Bublible regarding the release of the source code to the community of developers here at Eurobricks. If LEGO were to let allow us to develop the software, the many more features that we have discussed can be added along with pieces and decorations (some of them could even be from Brickforge or Brickwarriors). However, I think that if LEGO does stop LDD, then it will be tucked away into an archive rather than released to the public.

Either way, I'd hate to see LDD fall by the wayside when it is such a great program. I suppose all we can do for now is hope that I am wrong.

Looks like another case of CS getting their signals crossed.

Source code would be nice but i doubt it would happen.

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As far as business case it feels LDD ought to be a fantastic one for TLG. Sure, the program is given out for free, but the cost for maintaining it is probably small in comparison to the many more bricks (i.e. sets) they selling because LDD builders want to re-create their MOCs in real bricks. And just look how many of the proposals in LEGO Ideas are made in LDD? I don't think TLG would get nearly as many cool ideas if people couldn't jolt them together digitally.

If anyone else gets a reply from Customer Services, it'd be interesting to hear what they say.

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A lot of people (myself included) are calling and emailing them truly worried that they're abandoning LDD so I'm sure they see how much we love it and still want it to be kept up to date and hopefully they'll keep it going....personally my idea to help LDD pay for itself is downloadable content....the original program itself stays free but then you can buy specific themes that are retired to add to the program like for example the Aquaraiders theme, you purchase that theme to download for say a dollar or two and it'll install all the proper pieces in all the proper colors with all the proper decals as a theme tab on the home page that you can select to build the Aquaraiders sets with and customize with using those specific pieces...take it a step farther even...make it a dollar for a specific sub theme (Adventurers:Orient Expedition for example) but five dollars for all the Adventurers Sub themes...including Pharaoh's Quest...keep the cost of the themes down since you're not purchasing actual bricks and the money made from the purchase of themes goes back into developing more features, themes, and bricks for LDD with a little leftover so Lego can make a profit....personally...I would buy ALL the themes...instead of having just three tabs LDD/Mindstorms/LLD Extended you have lotsa tabs with smaller tabs for subthemes then if you want an Adventurers piece in our Ultra Agents set you just change theme like you can already do

Edited by ThorsHammer9999

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As far as business case it feels LDD ought to be a fantastic one for TLG. Sure, the program is given out for free, but the cost for maintaining it is probably small in comparison to the many more bricks (i.e. sets) they selling because LDD builders want to re-create their MOCs in real bricks. And just look how many of the proposals in LEGO Ideas are made in LDD? I don't think TLG would get nearly as many cool ideas if people couldn't jolt them together digitally.

Not only that, but Lego also uses LDD internally for a variety of purposes (including special versions for designers and model builders). If they have to develop those anyway, I don't see why they'd cancel the consumer version, which is mostly just a downgraded version of that internal software.

These mixed messages from Customer Service are weird, though, and I'm definitely going to ask about LDD at the Lego Group Q&A at BrickFair just to be sure.

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Just got off the phone with Shawn/Sean with the US customer service for LEGO. He says they don't have any information regarding an upcoming update. He did say they usually try to maintain the free software and that updates happen sporadically, which we already knew. Other than that, he had no additional information to offer me.

All that aside, he was very courteous and professional. I honestly wish we could get some sort of answer directly from the LDD team.

Edited by kangmingjie

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Not only that, but Lego also uses LDD internally for a variety of purposes (including special versions for designers and model builders). If they have to develop those anyway, I don't see why they'd cancel the consumer version, which is mostly just a downgraded version of that internal software.

These mixed messages from Customer Service are weird, though, and I'm definitely going to ask about LDD at the Lego Group Q&A at BrickFair just to be sure.

:thumbup: on both accounts.

In general, I'm a bit worried that LDD has been manhandled the past years. I'm going to rant a bit now, but I get the feeling that while TLG has been experimenting with DbM, Universe (and now Worlds) pushing in million after million, LDD is chugging along quietly in the background (perhaps too quietly?), supporting what LEGO is (still at least) all about - building with bricks.

I'm sure the LDD Team is on "our side" here and want nothing more then to give us a good software and frequent updates. I mean, the fact that we at all have LDD still, is due to the commitment of a few people in and around the LDD Team, and not least due to this forum and all that we do here (which I know is very well seen at TLG in general). The culprit probably lies at some higher managerial level at TLG and my greatest worry is that they don't realise what a gem they have in LDD, and that they don't see how important it is that TLG offer a real brick building tool to complement all the play experiences of their video games, LEGO Worlds, LEGO Movie etc.

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Has anybody tried contacting them over Twitter? Companies tend to respond a mite bit more quickly (and more importantly here, accurately) to customer queries while under public scrutiny. No offence to TLG, but the customer service response so far has clearly been pretty misinformed one way or the other.

I'd do it myself but abandoned Twitter months ago as I never had time for it!

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More irritating to me is that the Power Functions M-motor STILL is nowhere to be found in LDD. It's been about seven (?) years since the Power Functions system (and M-motor) was released.

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Even though its been a while since the last update, its best not to think about it because then it will seem to take even longer.

Yes the fact that the M motor is still not in LDD sucks.

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My CS reply:

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I think it's SO awesome and impressive that you have been creating custom designs in LDD for 6 years now! That is great! Have you been submitting anything to our LEGO® IDEAS website?

In terms of support for LDD, you are not incorrect in noticing that the level of support is not at the same level it previously was. The LEGO® Group has decided to focus mostly on other projects.

However, at this time, there are no plans to completely end LDD. You may still see some smaller updates in the future.

Have you checked out things like LEGO® Dimensions or LEGO® Worlds? These may interest you as well.

We know we are lucky to have fans as dedicated as you.

Please continue building and designing!

Have a wonderful day!

We want to make sure we're doing a good job for you, so you’ll always find the link to a four-question survey in our emails. Please tell us how we did today:

LEGO Survey link

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Kind regards,

Nicholas

LEGO® Service

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