Aventador2004

Decreasing number of MOCs: affected by criticism?

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For me personally, what I would like to read when someone comments on my creations are:

- What do you like: Let's be honest: off course I like to receive some confirmation that I have had a good idea or have come up to with a novel solution. Aren't we all in search for a little recognition of members of this club? So, yes a little praise is welcome.

- Where is room for improvement: no MOC or set will never be perfect for many reasons. But I like to learn and grow as a builder, so suggestions for improvements are welcome as well.

- At least as important as the second point is this: How can I realise those improvements: what tools can I use, which MOCs or sets might have solutions which can be useful for a certain problem, what tips or tricks have I missed, which part might hold do a certain trick, etc. Simply spouting negative comments is too easy, everybody can burn anything down to the ground, suggesting solutions is much more difficult, but so much more constructive and helpful. And exactly this is the biggest value of this international forum with builders of all experience levels.

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Interesting topic.

I've not read the whole discussion but there are some things that I think why are they doing so difficult? Like my Dutch 'colleage' said, a lot of the members are not speaking Englisch natively. I've noticed regulary 'bad english' and sometimes I've to read something twice to know what he/she means, but who cares. I don't think it's a problem at all.  

And the critism: I think everybody like to read positve reactions on their creation. Personally I don't like that 'new technic' style and that's why I don't react on creations build in that style. I must say there are incredible creations, I won't disagree that it contains some great technics and stuff .... only it's not my style. I think it's also difficult to critism some creations because you don't know how long the person 'played' with Lego and / or their age. And some people are more handy than the other. Me self are from the 'stone age'. the Latest years I've seen more and more different use of parts and connections. That's what I like about this forum. I've seen a lot of cool creations and it's inspired me to make / mod my own creation. Every time I see something and think ... that's cool. And sometimes I think ... damn, I've to mod my truck :hmpf_bad: (new/better ideas). the Only 'bad' thing of this forum is that I've seen too much great things. I can't put them all in my truck.

The last thing ... I've seen creations of trucks and stuff, the tiniest detail are 'copied'. It's not really my style (I'm not that handy, and maybe I've got too much fantasy?) but it's great to see, it's just amazing. I've also a lot of fantasy stuff and I like that too. I just like the creativity of the creations and fantasy or not ... I always get some idea's of it.

I just think that you don't must me critism anybody's creation. Everybody has his own idea of it and like their creation. However, some ideas/suggestions, I think are welcome ofcourse. You can say 'that's a good idea' or ... I leave it that way.

 

 

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It is evident, at least for me, that there has been a significant decrease in the number of MOCs that are made and I would like to know your opinion about that... Almost everything is already built?, new pieces are needed?, do it happens with all the Lego themes?, or maybe is just me?. 

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I noticed the same thing both on forums and Youtube. It seems that sets, reviews and mods of them are now far more popular than any kind of a MOC. The most popular MOCs seem to be replicas of the real, existing machines. From my own experience it seems building anything original is no longer as popular than copying existing things or beating the dead horse of the offical lego releases.

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Well one thing is need for new parts, but question is if it has something to do with generations; the older you become less time you have; and perhaps less percent of younger generations are interest in MOCing...

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I feel like there has been a noticable decrease in MOC output, and overall activity in this forum as well compared to last winter. I thought this might be because people like to do things outside when its nice and warm, but I have not felt an activity increase again since the summer.

I have only been that active in the online LEGO communtity for 1.5 years, so my experience is quite limited. Maybe its just my mind remembering the past as a better time than like it actually was. I dont know.

Edited by Gray Gear

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I agree with JunkstyleGio! The only trend I see is that many people who build mocs now treat it as a money making business on rebrickable. They only post on Eurobricks here to get free advertisement. I really hate it when they end their posts with click bait statements like "you can find the instructions on rebrickable and build it too" without ever mentioning that they are payed instructions.

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17 minutes ago, Zerobricks said:

I noticed the same thing both on forums and Youtube. It seems that sets, reviews and mods of them are now far more popular than any kind of a MOC. The most popular MOCs seem to be replicas of the real, existing machines. From my own experience it seems building anything original is no longer as popular than copying existing things or beating the dead horse of the offical lego releases.

You are right, it is difficult to explain but I will say this, I can draw quite well, and I always preffer my copies of another drawnings than my invented ones... maybe for me is important to have a reference.

20 minutes ago, I_Igor said:

Well one thing is need for new parts, but question is if it has something to do with generations; the older you become less time you have; and perhaps less percent of younger generations are interest in MOCing...

Maybe Lego Technic is getting obsolete...

 

7 minutes ago, JunkstyleGio said:

All the MOC's are being sold on Rebrickable...(or exported to china..):pir-laugh:

 

 

Not too much Technic MOCs after all I think.

 

3 minutes ago, Gumalca said:

I agree with JunkstyleGio! The only trend I see is that many people who build mocs now treat it as a money making business on rebrickable. They only post on Eurobricks here to get free advertisement. I really hate it when they end their posts with click bait statements like "you can find the instructions on rebrickable and build it too" without ever mentioning that they are payed instructions.

I also do not like too much but as I said not many MOCs.

 

8 minutes ago, Gray Gear said:

I feel like there has been a noticable decrease in MOC output, and overall activity in this forum as well compared to last winter. I thought this might be because people like to do things outside when its nice and warm, but I have not felt an activity increase again since the summer.

I have only been that active in the online LEGO communtity for 1.5 years, so my experience is quite limited. Maybe its just my mind remembering the past as a better than like it actually was. I dont know.

Well I think there are much less MOCs since 2 years ago... more or less...

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Times have changed, I myself also started with making scale models of existing trucks. I find the challenge to create something real with LEGO bricks very intriguing. But I have to say I miss the times when there were a lot of mocs that focused on the building experience and functions like instead of all looks. Also noticed that the paid Mocs and instructions are what people are going for these days, the creativity has been lost a bit in my opinion, lots of copy’s of existing models. Hard to say what the cause is...

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I don't know about changes in trends, but at least concerning this forum, my feeling is that majority of MOCs are models of real-life machinery whether cars or construction equipment or whatever. Only significant exceptions seem to be GBC-related stuff, which still pops up now and then, anything else is quite rare. Maybe the times really are changing, as in the past Technic was all about function over form and the first licensed set was released less than ten years ago, but today multiple licensed sets are released every year and they seem to be outnumbering non-licensed ones.

I'm personally a very slow builder and I often get ideas and then abandon them before completion so I don't have much worth of posting. I also don't use much other media such as Youtube so can't say what's happening there (although Brick Experiment Channel has had some pretty neat stuff). Whatever it is, more activity and more original designs would be awesome, but I'm not really in a position to complain, considering how little I get built myself.

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I feel there is too much emphasis on the Technic forum lately for super cars with complicated gearboxes and bodywork with lots of gaps/holes.
Very few are MOCS - most are mods on existing designs.

Technic for me is about engineering solutions to building MOCS which at the moment is mainly for GBC Train System modules, at least these do MOCs don't get pirated.
Previosly mainly built cranes and construction equipment MOCs.
The train forum always has a lot of MOCs.

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This is why I don’t really make “scale replicas” of existing cars. I haven’t posted one in a while because I don’t feel like it’s good enough to present. I have just finished one that I think is good enough and might post soon (and possibly make instructions). 
 

I have noticed the lack of MOCs as well, I hope that others make their own designs and put their special spin on them.

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I also noticed that the MOCs have changed from own designed Models to ,,licensed"/ ,,scale replicas" Models (I know, that I am not as long here as many other users, so my experience is limited, but I am also watched this forum some years before I entered ... ). In my opinion this change is not a big problem, because it is also very challenging to create a ,,real" car (like a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes etc.), but I agree with the point, that it is a problem when many models don´t have good functions and that the look of a model is more important than the functions. I personally think that it is important to compromise between functions and the look of a model, so for the best it should have both. Whatever I guess that more own designed models (with own functions) would be cool, but personally I am always very interested in these ,,real" cars too.

Edited by Lukes_Brick_Studio

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Maybe another competition might lift things up a bit?

also, have all the pointy Italian cars and porsches been built now? Maybe there’s now enough of them floating around as many people just copy them for themselves?

90% of the things I build are out of either engineering curiosity or because I can’t own the real thing so I divert my attention into a Lego version which tends to help me get over wanting to own something prohibitively expensive/impossible to buy and it answers the question “I wonder how that works?” For me. 
I love seeing other people’s Mocs and engineering solutions, especially when you can really see the tinkering and ingenuity in it. I have no interest whatsoever in official sets etc, or buying moc instructions so I love to see people’s inventions on here. I thought tc18 really pulled some great engineering solutions out of people so maybe another competition would pick things up a little.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Gumalca said:

I agree with JunkstyleGio! The only trend I see is that many people who build mocs now treat it as a money making business on rebrickable. They only post on Eurobricks here to get free advertisement. I really hate it when they end their posts with click bait statements like "you can find the instructions on rebrickable and build it too" without ever mentioning that they are payed instructions.

I may relate to that, since i am at the "dark side" of this problem, i build a few just random RC mocs, 4x4, snowmobil, rc mobile rocket luncher, and almost nobody care just a handfull of views on YT, then i tryied instructions thing, since me as a student with .. more time and less money on my side, i can make instructions, which i have a bit time for, but i dont have money to make all the mocs, but i noticed on facebook fun pages, if there is nice MOC, a lot less people will interact, than somebody who will post chiron for 1000th time, but i am pretty "young" on this train, so i cant tell how it was in the past. 

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I wouldn't be surprised if the corona pandemic has something to do with it. People having their state-of-mind less devoted to the relaxing deviation that is Lego building, because more important things take up space in our heads?

Speaking for myself, I also have the idea that I build less than I normally do. It may be my declining interest in new sets (I don't care for cars and for control+, so that makes most sets an easy pass...), which results in fewer new parts or ideas. Also not wanting to make too many part orders, and also having my attention elsewhere. In a way, building with Lego doesn't "feel right" when you hear the news about intensive care units overloading, even though I can't really do much about it, so instead I work on programming my game because that at least can be considered "work".

 

For some reason I have 4 or so unfinished MOCs standing around that I don't finish.  Which is a waste because I think they can be nice builds. I have a nice pneumatic model in the works that I really should finish... Same for my 42083mod instructions...

3 hours ago, jorgeopesi said:

Almost everything is already built?

I sometimes feel this too, yes. Not only that, but almost everything is built better than I could do it. I know, that shouldn't be a reason, but it still can be, somehow.

In any case, this is an interesting discussion with many interesting viewpoints :) And yes, definitely do a competition please, someone :)

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I never build Technic or Creator Expert/Model Team-style MOCs anyway, so my comment isn't as relevant to this specific topic, but for what it's worth: I haven't been building as much in the past year, year and a half, partly because I moved to another state for school and took a 50% pay cut, so I don't have as much money for Lego; partly because the city I moved to is much poorer than the city I moved from, so I'm less comfortable buying Lego at the store anyway; partly because of pandemic and election anxiety; and partly because I've come to the point where building MOCs in Studio without ordering physical parts for them just seems vain, yet I can't bring myself to order the parts because of the previously mentioned reasons.

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I started doing MOCs since last May, and I try to make models that do not exist at all or that do not exist in a particular scale. By doing this I am stepping out of the lot of similar MOCs. The only thing is that I don't have a big track inventory so I have to design from Stud.io before going to reality

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Is this right place mention Lego sets being built and put on shelves for display? 

For me this is same issue as the lack of mocks. Lego is meant to come to pieces and be used by your imagination.. not a sterile display item. Now i love building tractors, that replicate a real machine, its still days and weeks of tinkering with complex mechanisms and trial and error.. i find the 'bodywork' elements boring and using bail on it before its finished - hence rarely posting anything - and its also why a gearbox in a pretty shell (supercar trend) leaves me cold.

Totally original designs are awesome, but complex builds based on actual machines are also awesome. 2000 pieces of bodywork for me isn't technic. And sitting it on a shelf isn't Lego... take it to bits and buckle up for an exciting adventure to who knows where!!

Maybe i should post the 80% finished builds (100% mechanically finished, 20% bodywork..)... i think i will. Maybe they'll tickle someones fancy!

Edited by TeamThrifty

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4 hours ago, Gumalca said:

I agree with JunkstyleGio! The only trend I see is that many people who build mocs now treat it as a money making business on rebrickable. They only post on Eurobricks here to get free advertisement. I really hate it when they end their posts with click bait statements like "you can find the instructions on rebrickable and build it too" without ever mentioning that they are payed instructions.

I dont think that is fair. I mean come on, did you really expect instructions for technic models to be for free? These models often exeed 3000 pieces and it takes a truckload of time and motivation to make these instructions. None of the average MOC creator here is making big money selling building instructions. I for myself would be happy if the instructions sold would cover even half of what I paid for the actual model.

3 hours ago, Doug72 said:

I feel there is too much emphasis on the Technic forum lately for super cars with complicated gearboxes and bodywork with lots of gaps/holes.

A good technic Supercar MOC should NOT have bodywork with lots of gaps/holes *huh*

1 hour ago, TeamThrifty said:

Is this right place mention Lego sets being built and put on shelves for display? 

For me this is same issue as the lack of mocks. Lego is meant to come to pieces and be used by your imagination.. not a sterile display item. Now i love building tractors, that replicate a real machine, its still days and weeks of tinkering with complex mechanisms and trial and error.. i find the 'bodywork' elements boring and using bail on it before its finished - hence rarely posting anything - and its also why a gearbox in a pretty shell (supercar trend) leaves me cold.

Totally original designs are awesome, but complex builds based on actual machines are also awesome. 2000 pieces of bodywork for me isn't technic. And sitting it on a shelf isn't Lego... take it to bits and buckle up for an exciting adventure to who knows where!!

Maybe i should post the 80% finished builds (100% mechanically finished, 20% bodywork..)... i think i will. Maybe they'll tickle someones fancy!

I build 1:8 Scale Technic Supercar MOCs, and it is true for me as well that designing the technic fuctions are the most fun. I love building manual transmissions, steering, suspension. Trying to create the most rigid chassis possible is a lot of fun too.

Luckily that is not the only thing that drives me building my MOCs. I only build cars I really love, and I really enjoy figuring out how to accurately recreate the body with bricks. While recreating the car's body you really learn a lot about the car and notice small details about the car's design that would otherwhise stayed unnoticed. Its like getting to know the car better :blush:

Edited by Gray Gear

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I get the impression TLG's offering this year (and to lesser degree last year) wasn't received very well. I can imagine people build more, and hence produce more good mocs, if there's a good TLG offering to get them excited for lego.

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4 hours ago, JunkstyleGio said:

All the MOC's are being sold on Rebrickable...(or exported to china..):pir-laugh:

 

 

so true. you can see many MOCs posted there, but not here. paid MOCs at rebrickable or chinese pirated stuff seems the future, unfortunately.

12 minutes ago, Gray Gear said:

I dont think that is fair. I mean come on, did you really expect instructions for technic models to be for free? These models often exeed 3000 pieces and it takes a truckload of time and motivation to make these instructions. None of the average MOC creator here is making big money selling building instructions. I for myself would be happy if the instructions sold would cover even half of what I paid for the actual model.

A good technic Supercar MOC should NOT have bodywork with lots of gaps/holes *huh*

I build 1:8 Scale Technic Supercar MOCs, and it is true for me as well that designing the technic fuctions are the most fun. I love building manual transmissions, steering, suspension. Trying to create the most rigid chassis possible is a lot of fun too.

Luckily that is not the only thing that drives me building my MOCs. I only build cars I really love, and I really enjoy figuring out how to accurately recreate the body with bricks. While recreating the car's body you really learn a lot about the car and notice small details about the car's design that would otherwhise stayed unnoticed. Its like getting to know the car better :blush:

if you see your instructions for that model exceeding 3000 piece which you spent hours to build, sold elsewhere you might think otherwise. I also had three WIP MOCs but when I saw my MOCs sold elsewhere I gave up Lego for now. it is my personal demotivation, maybe others might have other issues like pandemic, loss of jobs and change of life.

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I love to build the occasional 3000-piece supercar, and I love the choice out there on that front. But let's not forget there's amazing small stuff too, like little gimmicks that showcase one creative mechanism. For example the work of Yoshihito Isogawa. That sort of stuff can be found in Rebrickable too, although typically not on the Hot page. Perhaps this forum can help by offering not only a Hall of Fame of "pretty" builds, but also a pinned topic gathering "small, creative, wacky" builds? Or more competitions with that as topic?

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Interestingly I experienced the opposite in the last few years, though I don't follow Lego MOCs lately during the pandemic (I'm watching the death statistics more).

For me personally (apart from having very small free time) seeing the flood of good quality looking MOCs was demoralizing (everything worthy is done and better that I could ever do) and also when I started this and got some success, Lego was not cool. Since then Lego Marketing became so aggressive (also for MOCing) that it became cool but also irritating at the same time. Maybe similar happened to the others of the older MOCer generations. I consider myself one of the last of the generation before Lego was cool. The greatest of that generation now has families, so we will see MOCs from them less often. Nevertheless, probably Eurobricks is now simply NOT a market leading forum (if it ever was) and we old farts don't know where to look.

30 minutes ago, Gray Gear said:

I dont think that is fair. I mean come on, did you really expect instructions for technic models to be for free? These models often exeed 3000 pieces and it takes a truckload of time and motivation to make these instructions. None of the average MOC creator here is making big money selling building instructions. I for myself would be happy if the instructions sold would cover even half of what I paid for the actual model.

The problem is that many really bad quality MOC instructions are sold for money. I agree that most MOCs focus on looks and functions and don't care about quality.

Edited by Lipko

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