Do only bigshots make the front page?

[Gregorovich]

Aside from breaking news and reviews of new sets, I've noticed that it is mostly just popular EB members and their MOC's that make the frontpage. Now, I'm not going to name names here, but I've seen some supremely good work by some of the less famous members, and it hasn't made the frontpage, yet some of the work by the well known members, which is still great, but not as great as some of the other members' makes it to the frontpage.

So are the moderators selective about users when it comes to frontpage news?

(I'm not trying to offend or irritate anyone, just trying to stand up for the smaller members with great ability, and I'm just curious. Also, please correct me if I'm wrong about anything. )

[vexorian]

Never noticed such thing. It may as well be that big shots tend to be the ones that make the most amazing things.

If you ask me though, I think that there is some "bias" towards historic and town MoCs. Star wars in third place, Action themes in fourth but I don't remember the last time a space MoC was featured...

[KimT]

I do believe the general idea is to frontpage news and good MOCs.

There's is no favoring of anyone when it comes to that.

If it strikes you as such - then you are mistaken or we're not doing our job well enough

It's all about how often and how much time the different moderators spend here.

We all have our ups and downs when it comes to on-line time and thus we don't frontpage an equal amount of topics.

The Town (and Train) moderators are doing a great job frontpaging stuff - I'll agree to that.

As for Star Wars (as an example) we've started our own blog like Classic-Pirates where we "frontpage" as much Star Wars LEGO stuff we can.

I'll keep in mind to remember the "unknown" members in the future - eventhough I don't think I forget them at all.

Here's the 2010 Frontpage topic that has the frontpages I did in 2010.

[Gregorovich]

Well you both have valid points, but I just think I've seen hundreds of amazing MOC's that haven't made the frontpage, and some that aren't quite as good do.

And KimT, the moderators are doing a brilliant job running EB!

Edited January 10, 2011 by Gregorovich

[Ralph_S]

Well you both have valid points, but I just think I've seen hundreds of amazing MOC's that haven't made the frontpage, and some that aren't quite as good do.

And KimT, the moderators are doing a brilliant job running EB!

I didn't realise I was a bigshot -certainly not on EB

Anyway, I think that no matter how hard the moderators may try to be give a nice and balanced view of MOCs on the front-page, there will always be a degree of subjectivity involved, both in their choices and in your own. You may feel that some great MOCs are overlooked, but to other people they might not look all that brilliant.

Different people see different things. For instance, I've had MOCs blogged on The Brothers Brick that were hardly noticed on EB -let alone on the frontpage. Similarly, I have a had a few MOCs frontpaged on EB that weren't picked up by the Brothers brick.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Mrlegoninja]

I think its also with reviews. There may be a good review on a new set, but there might be a review by a Moderator, Admin, or fellow. I would think the Mod, Admin, or Fellow review is more likely to be frontpaged. Just like someone review the rise of the Sphinx, though it wasn't frontpaged, while an older 2010 creator was frontpaged. Is it fair? No, and I do think some reviews should be frontpaged.

[Gregorovich]

@Ralph_S-

Yes, you do have a very good point, there. I suppose I was quite wrong about most of this. Sorry! Also, about the bigshot thing. I just mean Moderators, Dukes etc., most of which have been here a long time, and most people know about them.

@Mrlegoninja-

You too have a good point. I read that review, and I thought it was very good. Just as good, in fact, as all the other PQ reviews, yet it wasn't front-paged. So I think you are also right, they do sometimes seem to choose the reviews by bigger members.

Edited January 10, 2011 by Gregorovich

[Big Cam]

Well you both have valid points, but I just think I've seen hundreds of amazing MOC's that haven't made the frontpage, and some that aren't quite as good do.

And KimT, the moderators are doing a brilliant job running EB!

I hope this doesn't come off as rude, but you might have lower standards than the staff. Good is a point of view.

Its probably true that the majority of the time front page articles are fig's tom more popular members or better known members, but the reason they are better known is usually because they moc a lot and are good at it, hence all the front pages.

I've seen plenty of frontage articles on moc's from new members.

This is just my thoughts on this and what I've observed over the last roughly 2 years.

[The Eye]

I agree that some of the names on the front page are used fairly often when it comes to MOCing. However on Eurobricks, you become well known, or as you put it a bigshot usually by building something. Many of the frontpage creators are constant builders, and have been here a while. Therefore, mods may have an unconscious bias towards using their MOC's for frontpage.

Still, what does it matter whether you're on the front page or not? Each LEGO creation has its own audience. If you make a Doctor Who creation on the Space Forums, some people are going to think "Hey, cool!" and some are going to think "I don't like Dr. Who, I'm going to ignore that one". Same with original creations from your own imagination. People who like your MOC usually REALLY like it anyway. I'd rather get one happy response than a hundred lukewarms- although I would pay attention to the criticisms I'd get in order to improve my building ability.

[Tazmaniac]

I think this question has been pretty much answered, but just for example I'm a new member and although I've not made the front page of EB the good lads have blogged my MOCs on Classic-Pirates front page several times ( cheers again guys it's an honor).

remember to keep in mind that the staff here have alot of stuff to check out and blogging something takes time.

[prateek]

I think now that Pirates and SW have their own blogs, the focus of frontpaging here on EB should focus on non-Pirate/SW and reviews (regardless of theme of course).

[def]

I think now that Pirates and SW have their own blogs, the focus of frontpaging here on EB should focus on non-Pirate/SW and reviews (regardless of theme of course).

I disagree. The blogs are for in depth coverage. For example, Kim T is blogging everything going on in the Star Wars forum, and if you want to skim the forum, that's a great way to dive in, since you can see the pics to pull you in. But, he and Stash weren't huge with the front page to begin with, mainly when new sets came up. So, for me, the front page is all the things that are catching people's eye, while the blogs are to go in depth to those particular forums.

To answer the OP's question, I don't think so. I joined the forum two years ago and was nobody here. I put a lot of my own time towards contributing here, and have since been frontpaged a number of times. I don't consider myself a bigshot, but I think he got it backwards; front pages make people look like bigshots, not the other way around.

As for frontpaging reviews, as someone who spends a lot of time doing reviews, I would hope that people can see quality over timeliness. Someone mentioned a Creator review from last year being frontpaged, Rufus' I'm guessing. Look at that review! It's professional, and the image the site would promote for itself. Especially at this time of year, loads of people are dying to have the first review (firsties!) and they often have poor pictures and say nothing about the sets. I can see solid pics on Lego.com if I need to. I want a review to actually show us something about the set. So, I don't think 'new' should mean automatically frontpaged.

[WhiteFang]

I think its also with reviews. There may be a good review on a new set, but there might be a review by a Moderator, Admin, or fellow. I would think the Mod, Admin, or Fellow review is more likely to be frontpaged. Just like someone review the rise of the Sphinx, though it wasn't frontpaged, while an older 2010 creator was frontpaged. Is it fair? No, and I do think some reviews should be frontpaged.

Eurobricks Reviews which are selected for frontpaging are solely not based on classification of ranks and prestige. They are purely selected and evaluated to be suitable for frontpage candidate based on "quality", "effort", "depth" and "relevance" which are some of the key attributes for frontpaging reviews based on my benchmark. It does not matter if you are a Reviewers Academy Student, Teacher or a regular Eurobricks members. EB Staff opnions may differ from one another in details but generally our vision are very much the same. Let me explain the key attributes below.

Quality - Quality in terms of photography, photo editing, studio setup, coverage techniques are to be ensure by providing an excellent dedicated job to showcase that the review quality is not compromised by any form.

Effort - Effort refers to how much time and energy is placed into the review. A few photographs and a short write up doesn't tell me that you have placed a lot of effort into this review. Whereas review which are shown to be extremely detailed and taken their time, also to ensure the photo quality is taken care to a certain above average standard.

Depth - Similar to effort. But it is more related to your review content. Do you write motherhood statement for the sake of writing something in the review or do you attempt to analysis and provide comparision and further in-depth evaluation in the set itself. Similar to an essay, I am looking at the depth of the review.

Relevance - Relevance is a matter whether you are trying to showcase a review or just trying to showcase a string of photographs with related context. Reviews are not just about pictures. It is about an individual presentation and how one pride him or herself to relate this review to our audience in the best possible presentation based on their ability. It does not matter if the review is a new or old set. It is the matter of how you do it.

Lastly, "REWARDING WITH RECOGNITION". Eurobricks Reviewers are not paid to do review. Speaking from a Reviewer like myself, writing a LEGO review is an extremely time consuming process. We do our best to share reviews from all different angles in the best possible presentation to share our thoughts, pictures and views with our community. And, from our EB Staff viewpoint, we can't possibly pay them for sharing their reviews and the only way we can show our appreciation to them is to frontpage their reviews and share their work with the rest of the Eurobricks Community and even other visitors who visit our site.

[WesternOutlaw]

Well, I can assure you that being what you call a "bigshot" does not constitute or serve as criteria for getting a review or a MOC front-paged.

I for one, as someone who front-paged a number of MOCs and reviews in 2010, have front-paged creations from numerous "new members" as well as members that are not Fellows, or have little experience on EB (not well-known). In fact, I love to see an outstanding creation from a new member because after front-paging, the member feels welcome to our EB community.

What do I look for?

I look for nice creations that generally have good quality photographs, and are sometimes unique or different. I mostly front-page Town and Train creations, as these are the forums I personally frequent, but sometimes will blog Historic creations, Action, and even Sci-Fi just to see it get a little more exposure.

You have to understand that their is no fair way to manage something like a front-page, because many of us do not see all the outstanding creations here on EB, and front-paging is mostly subjective (based on what a staff member finds unique). I've certainly front-paged creations that another staff member might find "run-of-the-mill", but I reserve the right to do so, because I'm taking the time to bring the MOC to the front-page.

I'm not sure if this topic was generated due to not ever having seen ones' MOC or review front-paged, but chances are if not, it's because no one has noticed it for any given reason(s). My recommendation is to keep building and have fun doing so. One shouldn't build something to see it front-paged, but rather have fun and enjoy the hobby.

EDIT:

Gregorovich: I just noticed that you've been a member of EB for about a week. Is this something that you've just noticed, or have you been visiting EB for a long time?

I think that there is some "bias" towards historic and town MoCs. Star wars in third place...

Vexorian: can you say that again for KimT's benefit. In fact, I think a 4.5V train might have taken out his Death Star.

[Big Cam]

I think now that Pirates and SW have their own blogs, the focus of frontpaging here on EB should focus on non-Pirate/SW and reviews (regardless of theme of course).

Although I'm only directly involved in the classic-pirates blog, I disagree. Not everyone who visits EB visits classic-pirates.com, and sometimes a MOC is soo good, or news are soo good, that everyone at EB deserves to know. IMO.

[Mrlegoninja]

I guess its just the way you see it. Even though you don't make the frontpage, you'll still get lots of responses. Remember: This isn't youtube or Flickr. How many responses or views doesn't matter.

Staff may think that Brickter's Ninja hideout is great while I think Andybear's temple is great. They are both amazing MOCs. It doesn't matter if it gets frontpaged.

[Hinckley]

So are the moderators selective about users when it comes to frontpage news?

No.

(I'm not trying to offend or irritate anyone,

If you're not trying to offend, why are you calling people whose work gets frontpaged "big shots?" Or insinutaing that their work is not as good as their relationship with the staff. If you want to challenge us, that's fine, but don't pretend it's not what it is.

As far as our frontpaging habits go, WhiteFang has already put it best. We don't have a thread in our staff forum where we say "Whose a popular member right now? Let's frontpage whatever they built."

Frontpaging of MOCs is a tertiary priority. Primary is News, secondary is contests and reviews and everything else falls behind that. We started frontpaging MOCs as something to fill the void between news updates or contests. We would like to keep the frontpage active. So, occassionally, you may see a great MOC not make the front page because there is a lot of new LEGO product news out there. We like to keep our main focus, news, on the frontpage longer, so we hold off on our secondary and tertiary priorities until our members have more of a chance to see the LEGO news. Furthermore, our member base is so talented and we see so many amazing MOCs, it'd be impossible to frontpage them all.

Thanks for you concern. I hope our answers are sufficient for you.

[Gregorovich]

I'm sorry. I didn't really think before I posted this topic, and after reading all your replies, I feel very foolish about it. There are many great MOC's I've seen that didn't make the frontpage, but I just suppose you haven't seen them because you're busy running the site.

Also, to answer TheBricksters question, I have been visiting EB for quite a long time, but only recently joined. And Hinckley, all the answers are very sufficient, as they have all taught me a lesson. And I'm sorry for calling people "bigshots", I didn't realise it was such on offensive term.

[Front]

I'm sorry. I didn't really think before I posted this topic, and after reading all your replies, I feel very foolish about it.

You should not be sorry in any way. I think that this thread is great, as it gives "admins" a chance to explain how they select front-page stuff. So in that way you have done a brave thing by starting the discussion. And you have a point I guess, because if this is how you felt about the selection of front-page stuff, there are probably a lot more users with the same feeling.

I am sure that with your help here, "admins" will put even more effort in the selection of front-page stuff.

cheers

[The Eye]

That's a good point Front, there is quite a bit to be had from this thread. This will not only dispel people thinking that only "bigshots" make the front page, but encourage them to continue MOCing as well.

Updating my opinion, I believe that it's not the "bigshots" who make the front page, it's anyone who MOC's well- those who consistently show promise aren't chosen over others, but rather they are known to be watched for their MOCs. It's like being a teacher and having a good student(s), not a favourite one.

[badboytje88]

^I don't think so. Read the eyes comment.

[Toastie]

What do I look for?

I look for nice creations that generally have good quality photographs, and are sometimes unique or different. I mostly front-page Town and Train creations, as these are the forums I personally frequent, but sometimes will blog Historic creations, Action, and even Sci-Fi just to see it get a little more exposure.

Dear All,

this discussion is worth a lot. It illustrates very nicely the "width and depth" of EB, the tolerance, the work so many people are devoting to make this actually work. Just imagine: A web at hand - who wants to join may join and post ... and then there needs to be some sort of organization. I have been around here only for a couple of months. And yes, to be honest, I was wondering (when starting to explore things here on EB) who is getting "etiquettes" for what, what contribution appears when I open EB, and how in the world can you ever post 1000+ messages?

Easy: Do what you want.

All I want is: Sharing ideas, get information, furnish information. Front page? Well as far as I am concerned TheBrickster has really made the point: It is nice to be on the front page but it is not the pivotal point here. And that makes EB so strong.

Finally, I sort of "felt" it before, but this discussion really underlined it: The folks running, moderating, making this site really DO CARE. Wonderful.

Congrats to you all, for having this discussion going and for making EB what it is!

All the best,

Thorsten

[SilentMode]

Surprisingly I made the front page once, for my review of the Historic and Fairytale minifigure set. I've found that waving the gun around helps too.

When I came out of the dark age and started looking at Lego-related sites, it seemed like anything Star Wars or army related, or modular buildings and BFO [medieval] vignettes meant an automatic feature. Not saying that they shouldn't have been featured, because they were impressive, but I definitely get how it can be seen as nepotism or whatever.

The real downside is that there's a fine line between inspiration and intimidation: it's really easy to get caught up in what's popular and gets featured, and to chase fame instead of doing things as a hobby, and eventually become disenchanted. I fell into that trap in the beginning, and one thing that helped to get out of it was to find out how these featured people built their creations: often by studying photos, or more fortunately through disclosure and LDD files. That, and - as Toastie suggested - choosing to do my own thing.

You have some balls for starting this thread: if I'd said anything like that they'd be all over me like yellowing on white.

And you're welcome.

[Brickdoctor]

I don't really think it's that much of a deal and I don't really pay attention to it. I usually just go straight to the forums upon launching my Internet browser, so I don't really look at the portal, and I think there are probably a lot just like me. I've been frontpaged once (Stone Well) with one indirect mention (LDD Community Build), and I don't even consider either even close to my top works. Because it doesn't really matter, I don't strive for it, and because I don't strive for it, it doesn't matter to me. I basically just look at the latest update line for the Frontpage forum from the index, and if there's something important, then I go check.

For me, it's mostly Star Wars stuff that interests me, and with the new blog (that needs something to look Star Warsy *cough*banner, KimT*cough*) I suspect I'll be checking the portal even less. I do enjoy seeing MOCs on the frontpage, and I think that frontpaging of MOCs should happen more often for the sake of those who aren't EB members, but I understand the purpose of it and the criteria for frontpaging makes a lot of sense. I honestly don't think it can be done any better without risk of clogging up the frontpage.

And yes, you have some guts for starting a thread like this, and calling everyone who's ever been frontpaged a 'bigshot' in the title.

[WesternOutlaw]

It is nice to be on the front page but it is not the pivotal point here. And that makes EB so strong.

Toastie: thank you for reiterating that point, and that's a nice spirit/attitude to have. If one can focus on their building, reviewing, collecting, or whatever they enjoy the most from LEGO, everything else comes in time.

To All: Please don't get caught up in who or what is being front-paged. While WhiteFang explained the 4 or 5 "diamond" qualities of a front-page creation nicely, there is no perfect formula. When I first came to EB in 2005, you should have seen some of my MOCs. They were pretty bad, as well as my ability to photograph the creations. While I still don't use the fancy techniques that our expert builders utilize, I recognize that I've come a long way - as well as my photo-editing ability that really helps when your creations aren't spectacular.

I for one focus on the build and build what I want (for my enjoyment). If someone takes time to recognize my efforts, I feel flattered, esp. when I know that there are so many better creations around EB as well as the community. Not everyone is on the same level, and it's great to be exposed to those that can build "master-pieces". If my creation, review, or whatever else does not make the front-page or only gets a few responses in a topic, I appreciate those that took the time to provide their feedback, never trying to expect more. Learn from better builders but know the only thing that separates you from them is their motivation to build and build again (while large piece collections certainly help).

Enjoy the hobby and keep it fun. Everything else is secondary.