[OOC] Organising the rebuild of Mesabi Landing

[Darnok]

Due to recent events the settlement of Mesabi Landing is in a peculiar situation. This thread is meant to cover the OOC organisation of the builds associated with this, as well as all questions and discussions that come with it.

 

So what is this all about?

Quote

Earthquake Devastates 'Grand' City!

Astute observers of developments in the Brick Seas would have noticed the grandiose announcements this month by the Corrie Trade Company the WTC announcing the settlement of Mesabi Landing having achieved 'Grand City' status. Well, it would seem the Gods object to the hubris of this so-called 'Grand City', with reports being received here in Kings Port of a huge earthquake and resulting Tsunami devastating the settlement soon after the announcement.

      While information is still unclear, geologists consulted by the KPA believe a large earthquake occurred with an epicenter in the ocean somewhere between the Corlander island of Celestia and the Eslandolan Isle de Victoria. Our correspondents in Trador reported very large waves hitting the port, although damage was recorded as minimal. Not so in Mesabi Landing, where its location on the east coast of Argentia resulted in extensive destruction. Reports from the scene mentioned that it seemed poor quality workmanship and cost-cutting by the WTC seem to have made the bad situation even worse. Canny merchants will no doubt be avoiding the settlement this trading season as rumors are abundant that many consumable goods have been wiped out.

     Will Mesabi Landing recover? Only time will tell...

This IC setup has been provided, with the following OOC guidelines on how to proceed:

Quote

- Development in Mesabi Landing will be temporarily frozen (no new properties can be licensed) and the trade value of the settlement will be decreased by 20 percent until the following conditions have been met.

1. A total of 5 MOCs must be produced showing recovery efforts in the settlement. The combined total footprint of these MOCs must exceed 5000 studs (approx. 5 32x32 builds) and will not be licensable under EGS rules. Each of these MOCs must be of considerable effort in terms of quality and story and will require approval from leadership in the same way a Royal property requires leadership approval. (ie each build will be discussed in court and a majority decision on approval will be made). WIPs of these builds are strongly encouraged to be posted so that all players may have the opportunity to provide constructive feedback before court approval is sought. If a build submitted to court is not approved, feedback will be provided and there will be an opportunity for modification and re-submission. Any player may assist Mesabi Landing with this requirement, although a minimum of 2 of these scenes must be from Mesabi.

2. Three MRCA turns or four calendar months (1st May) have passed (whichever occurs first).

3. Once the above requirements have been met, the settlement will be re-built, and others can license freely at the settlement.
Mesabi must build a third MOC with a minimum of 1,000 studs of considerable quality before he is able to license freely again.

[Source]

 

Of course anybody is invited to help with this. @Mesabi has to do the majority of work, but since the requirements are minimums, there is a lot of room for everybody to contribute.

 

Later on, there will be a seperate thread for the final builds and their stories - so there is one place for a continued story to be told.

 

So in this thread:

• any questions about the technicalities can be brought up and answered
• possible contributions from other players can be discussed
• WIP builds can be shown and feedback be given
• approval on builds can be declared

 

I say: bring it on!

 

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Drunknok

[Darnok]

For the ease of future reference:

 

WIP builds:

• "For Whom The Bell Tolls" by @Roadmonkeytj (1000 studs)
• "Walking the ruins" by @Mesabi (500 studs)
• "Cobbling Together a Street" by @Mesabi (2300 studs)
• [link] by [name] (suggested stud size)

 

Approved builds:

• "The Flooded District" by @Mesabi (512 studs)
• [link] by [name] (approved stud size)

 

This matter has been resolved.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Darnok

[Ross Fisher]

I've been thinking of building you a guys a Bonfire of Vanities. Somewhere warm and snug for you to put all your heretical literature/corpses/ship timbers.

If there's anywhere in Mesabi Landing that you're not storing dynamite, it could go there...

It would be larger than my last bonfire, but would probably only represent a small build in terms of scale.

I was also thinking of doing a series of build about the funeral business. I could kickstart this in Mesabi Landing if you want.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Ross Fisher

[Roadmonkeytj]

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/169539-sr-kpa-reaction-for-whom-the-bell-tolls/

[Darnok]

A short disclaimer, hopefully avoiding any confusion: the following is my very personal opinion and nothing more. To me, any decision on what should or should not be included in the overarching storyline for this is up to @Mesabi. While I have contributed a lot to Mesabi Landing, and consider it my project as much as his, in the end it is "his baby". And like with player characters: in regards to Mesabi Landing the final word will always be his.

 

14 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

I've been thinking of building you a guys a Bonfire of Vanities. Somewhere warm and snug for you to put all your heretical literature/corpses/ship timbers.

If there's anywhere in Mesabi Landing that you're not storing dynamite, it could go there...

It would be larger than my last bonfire, but would probably only represent a small build in terms of scale.

I was also thinking of doing a series of build about the funeral business. I could kickstart this in Mesabi Landing if you want.

I like the overall idea, but in a way you might not like.

See, the Order has no presence in Mesabi Landing. In my opinion the recent desaster has proven one thing: the "Old Gods" have sent their cruel wrath down upon the citizens, for reasons unknown to mortals. If anything, they will turn to the priests that have always cared for them already, which are those of Prometheus. So "heretical literature" would be that of the Order, corpses would be those of the believers of the Old Gods.

If you want to depict that story: be our guest! But anything related to the Order would make no sense in my opinion, your priests would most likely get stoned (and possibly eaten... fat men who have never worked in their life, food shortage and all that ).

 

2 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/169539-sr-kpa-reaction-for-whom-the-bell-tolls/

A lovely build, and I absolutely love the Monthy Python reference!

I feel like if exemplifies the very things some builds for Mesabi Landing got criticised for in the past for:

• a relatively big amount of open space
• only a little bit of scenery, mostly in terms of prefab parts
• some very basic architecture in the background
• some minifigs making up a scene that could be done on a lot less space

I do like the build, no questions asked. But it has a lot of the same structural elements that got Mesabi Landing into this whole situation to begin with.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Drunknok

[Roadmonkeytj]

Well the building falling to pieces was designed to look like one of your city's many buildings... 

[Darnok]

19 minutes ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

Well the building falling to pieces was designed to look like one of your city's many buildings... 

As I said: I like the build. Since this one is not meant to be licensed, the usual rules do not apply anyway. I think as a scene on its own it works perfectly fine.

 

The approval of this build is not my decision. By my count, this is of a 32x32 size (with some minimal overlap), and @Bregir, @Capt Wolf, @Phred and others have to decide if it meets their criteria or not.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Drunknok

[Capn Frank]

7 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

Well the building falling to pieces was designed to look like one of your city's many buildings... 

A good quality MOC of a damaged building would be cool to see and make sense story-wise.  
Minifigs could be clearing some rubble.  I would recommend that buildings have enough complete to show the building type.  There is plenty of inspiration in WW2 scenery builds like this one.

[Ross Fisher]

9 hours ago, Drunknok said:

for reasons unknown to mortals

If the Old Gods were going to smite Mesabi Landing in particular, might it not be because of their worship of Prometheus? 

But if you're just going to eat the messenger, I might hold off.

[Darnok]

Just now, Ross Fisher said:

If the Old Gods were going to smite Mesabi Landing in particular, might it not be because of their worship of Prometheus? 

Well, any Promethean would see this differently.

 

[Bregir]

@Roadmonkeytj: The court will review your build - I think it looks good, but in the spirit of the disaster, we may have some feedback that we will ask you to go back and review. :)

[Bodi]

17 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

But if you're just going to eat the messenger, I might hold off.

Don't hold off, I can send some bluecoats to protect your priests.

[Mesabi]

WIP shot of my first build for ML 'repairs'

IRL Notes: I currently have moved all of my lego except for a majority of my plates and my 'regular' bricks (1x2 bricks, and 2x2 bricks) So... uh, I don't know what else I can do at the moment. 

WIP wreckage by North White, on Flickr

Build notes: So, as I'm missing a lot, I did what I could. This is currently how I see Mesabi Landing, as a washed out mess. I don't have a lot of tiles, especially not in the colours I'd like to use. As this is a minor scene, I'm not quite sure what I can do to improve this, as it's mostly landscaping. But, I am seeking ya'll's opinion on the build, and what else can be done with it. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Mesabi

[gedren_y]

I think you are getting closer to what's being asked for. One of my older GOH builds might be helpful to look at: Battle at the Ruins of Mehd.

Yes, it's a desert ruins scene, but I think a good bit of its style could work for you. Most of the build is relatively simple, even symmetrical, but I took the time to be creative in my littering of the scene with irregularly placed, and loose, parts. I filled the build with figs that were in action, and interacting with their environment. I got creative with camera angles, and cropped most of my shots to exclude as much of the background as I could. Dynamic story helps here, which is something you are pretty good at.

I hope my ideas help.

[Darnok]

7 hours ago, Mesabi said:

WIP wreckage by North White, on Flickr

The overall scene is fine, some of the detail placement is off in my opinion though. I would:

• remove the dolphin (as hilarious as the idea is, with its fixed pose it just does not work in this position)
• maybe replace it with a couple of fish here and there
• lay down the bucket, teacup and bottle (standing upright makes no sense)
• place the torso on its back (same)
• add some bigger structure in the background (maybe a ruined archway spanning over the rails?)

Other than that, the direction of the build is definitely good. The pictures should be done differently for the "final version", @gedren_y has some solid suggestions.

[Elostirion]

@Mesabi: I am happy you are going for it. I have some feedback for you. I am looking forward to the next iteration of your MOC.

Spoiler

 

[Mesabi]

Thanks @Elostirion! I've taken your suggestions, and I'll try to get the build up tomorrow. 

Here's the second build WIP I put up. 

Flooded district WIP by North White, on Flickr

The idea behind this one, is the Tsunami permanently flooded an area of Mesabi Landing, which will be called the Flooded District, and be used for future stories. 

I've tried to replicate the original, somewhat lazy style of Mesabi Landing, and show it flooded. (Eventually I'll do builds where this is the foundation to new buildings.)

I'm not sure what to put on the roof of the building on the left. I'm torn between a diving set up, where they're searching for valuables, or some sort of flood survivor's makeshift camp. 

Let me know any thoughts, and anything else I can add to this build. 

[Darnok]

8 hours ago, Mesabi said:

Here's the second build WIP I put up. 

Flooded district WIP by North White, on Flickr

The idea behind this one, is the Tsunami permanently flooded an area of Mesabi Landing, which will be called the Flooded District, and be used for future stories.

Nice start, and I like the story idea behind it! Something to build on in the future, quite literally.

 

As for suggestions of mine:

• you could redo the water with a layer of plates below the tiles (similar to what Ninjago City does with its water), indicating different depths and floating debris by different colours
• you could replace the intact wall of the building on the left with a broken one, with the rift giving a look into the inside of the flooded house
• maybe add some objects swimming around half emerged, like parts of a chair or something similar
• for the "roof scene" I would have a WTC Marine "fishing", with a pile of stuff he already got out of the water (like a hat, another bucket ... everyday objects)
• clean that boat!

[Bart]

I find all these advices and tips really good and eyeopening for me aswell.

[Ross Fisher]

27 minutes ago, Drunknok said:

I would have a WTC Marine "fishing", with a pile of stuff he already got out of the water (like a hat, another bucket ... everyday objects)

I really like this idea! This is the kind of comedy shenanigans I have come to expect from the WTC.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Ross Fisher

[Bodi]

@Mesabi I like the idea of flooded district, we could work out a number of builds on this theme, you may build a oyster reef, consolidate an embankment, restore a ridge, rebuild a marsh or a barrier island.

[LM71Blackbird]

Looking good so far @Mesabi!

Drunknok and elostrion have some solid suggestions. 

Another idea for a future build would be a levy. Like what they have around New Orleans.

27 minutes ago, Bart said:

I find all these advices and tips really good and eyeopening for me aswell.

As do I!

[Darnok]

43 minutes ago, Bart said:

I find all these advices and tips really good and eyeopening for me aswell.

Same here. Every comment brings in new ideas, an inspiring process overall. And @Elostirions comments are just golden.

[Elostirion]

15 hours ago, Mesabi said:

Flooded district WIP by North White, on Flickr

Some initial suggestions:
- clean the boat (remove dust with a brush, vacuum cleaner or water)
- try tiles instaed of bricks for the rowing banks of the boat
- the tiles on top of the house at the right side make little sense for me. If it's broken, then it's all broekn.
- the diagonal light bluish grey 1x8 tile on front of the left house is a great idea, but shouldn't it be brown (wooden)?
- the interior of the left side house needs a lot of work still. Try a wooden floor (brown tiles), or maybe some kind of tiled-floor pattern (e.g. a mix of dark grey and red tiles, or black and white).
- the interior leaves a lot of room for very cool and creative furniture of your own (e.g. like in this tutorial
- you might add a flag and some other things to the boat
- some workers might be building a wooden rack already, or an entrance from the house to the water
- turn the boat by about 5-10°, would seem more realistic
- the lower parts of the house might show some dirt due to the water, e.g. sand green or olive green. At least they should be dark grey instead of light grey.
- in the water a bird might be swimming (try to go for a brickbuilt one)
- some plantish things might be floating atop the water
- the facade of the house on the left especially could need more texture. Flat light bluish grey always looks a lot like concrete, why not add some 1x1 round plates inbetween to create more texture?
- instead of a fully rectangular house you might try some offsets for the walls: e.g. have the corners of the house stand over a bit by using 2x2 bricks
- if you increase the height of the house adding windows will do a lot I assume.
If sth. is not understandable feel free to ask.

 

I really like your idea to make sth. great of this bad event. The floating door is a fantastic detail, and the scene definitely has a lot of potential!

[Mesabi]

2 Builds, for the review of the court.