Guilds of Historica New Member Guide

[Brick Pilgrim]

Thanks for the summary, @mccoyed.

 

4 minutes ago, TitusV said:

Sounds like a great summary to me!

One small remark: this new Queen hasn't been confirmed by the leadership, who're still debating the results of the last challenge. To be honest, I feel like the passivity of the guilds has a lot to do with this indecisiveness, people are just waiting on the end of the Book and the start of a new one, so they know what the world is up to and can build/tell their stories accordingly.

Yes, I like RPGs because they give many builders a chance to intertwine stories and even gain a few more views of their MOCs (they even help some of the less creative story tellers come up with cool stories). The down side is that the creative story tellers never know just exactly where the world story is headed which makes it very difficult to tell a good story. I've come up with one possible solution, but it's not perfect:

For any decisions that would be made by other people, we could mentally construct two different story-lines (sometimes you can even make the outcome be the same for a certain character). Say, for instance, that there is civil war within Avalonia and within a county in Avalonia. One of your characters is the Lord of that county but he is unpopular and most of his subjects are now sieging his castle. If he calls for help from the faction he has allied with in the overall civil war, that help could come or not - a decision others would have to make. So you could make the following scenarios just sketching them lightly:

• Help does not come: Eventually the siege is ended and the rebellion invade the Lord's city and execute him to set up their own government.
• Help comes: The help arrives and starts relieving the siege (at which point they may ask for there own help). However, once they have gotten rid of there common enemies, the Lord's allies and he don't get along to well (he has never helped them) and you can guess who's the first to go.

So the Lord dies either way and you can have an idea which way your story moves independent of others' decisions. It does take some work, and it only really works for the near future story events. However, you don't need to plan details until you know the decisions of the other players which relieves a bit of the work.

This was kinda hard to describe, are you guys understanding me?

[mccoyed]

8 hours ago, TitusV said:

Sounds like a great summary to me!

One small remark: this new Queen hasn't been confirmed by the leadership, who're still debating the results of the last challenge. To be honest, I feel like the passivity of the guilds has a lot to do with this indecisiveness, people are just waiting on the end of the Book and the start of a new one, so they know what the world is up to and can build/tell their stories accordingly.

That makes sense. I thought the Queen was an official thing and the "admins" (not sure about what title is used for this) of GoH were just too busy to launch Book 3. I guess they have to decide if the Queen is gonna be a thing or not (I would vote yes) but I don't believe that it's taken so long to decide that. It's been what, almost a year? More? If the folks in charge don't have time to be in charge, why haven't there been some changes made so that GoH can keep going? It's very confusing.

7 hours ago, Brick Pilgrim said:

Thanks for the summary, @mccoyed.

 

Yes, I like RPGs because they give many builders a chance to intertwine stories and even gain a few more views of their MOCs (they even help some of the less creative story tellers come up with cool stories). The down side is that the creative story tellers never know just exactly where the world story is headed which makes it very difficult to tell a good story. I've come up with one possible solution, but it's not perfect:

For any decisions that would be made by other people, we could mentally construct two different story-lines (sometimes you can even make the outcome be the same for a certain character). Say, for instance, that there is civil war within Avalonia and within a county in Avalonia. One of your characters is the Lord of that county but he is unpopular and most of his subjects are now sieging his castle. If he calls for help from the faction he has allied with in the overall civil war, that help could come or not - a decision others would have to make. So you could make the following scenarios just sketching them lightly:

• Help does not come: Eventually the siege is ended and the rebellion invade the Lord's city and execute him to set up their own government.
• Help comes: The help arrives and starts relieving the siege (at which point they may ask for there own help). However, once they have gotten rid of there common enemies, the Lord's allies and he don't get along to well (he has never helped them) and you can guess who's the first to go.

So the Lord dies either way and you can have an idea which way your story moves independent of others' decisions. It does take some work, and it only really works for the near future story events. However, you don't need to plan details until you know the decisions of the other players which relieves a bit of the work.

This was kinda hard to describe, are you guys understanding me?

The way things get decided is usually based on challenges. So a scenario will usually be the background of a given challenge, and the "best" entries are usually the ones that wind up deciding stuff like canonical events, new lands, etc. I think there's also been an invitation-based method of getting certain prolific, skilled builders to do narrative builds which are usually decided as a group. Kabel and I started a challenge called the Algus Saga where we had a big group of Mitgardian builders collectively decide on the direction of a collaborative story, so there was a rough plan in place. Eventually, I got too busy to keep up with GoH and the Saga concluded without me, but that's another way things can get done. A way that's arguably more efficient than what you're describing, which would fit the scenario you've outlined, is for builders who want to collaborate to privately message each other and make plans for collab stories/builds. We did that all the time in Andromeda's Gates and it's been done a lot in GoH as well. That said, GoH has always had many "Guild Challenges" to keep people busy between contests and larger, narrative challenges for the whole RBG. Stuff like Age of Mitgardia or the University of Petraea builds. That stuff has really died off, though.

I think what Titus means has more to do with "theme". So when Book 1 ended, people were invited to change guilds and the "board" was sort of wiped clean for a new era. That will probably happen again with Book 3, if it ever arrives. People are waiting to find out what the new "Status Quo" will be. But the people running GoH and AG used to be super active and present, and so we're all waiting on them. AG has been in a limbo for a really long time too. As the delays stretch out, interest wanes. Which is probably why there's more activity in the Pirate and War themed RBGs. Personally, I'm not interested in those so I'm a little bummed that I have time now but things are so dead in the RBGs I like best.

[Exetrius]

[Important part below!]

I refuse to say GoH is dead, I'd call it a slumber. If we all stop believing, then it's done. But there's a lot of awesome builds and loads of lore that continues to make people enthusiastic enough to join the Guilds these days. 

I find myself guilty of not posting here for months straight. I've expanded my building interests, but there comes a point that I will be itching to build GoH castle fantasy stuff. I have my personal saga and a city to develop, no sign of quitting. 

 

I have thought about how to increase activity. RPGs are all about creating a fantasy reality. Interactions between members in-universe have almost disappeared; our fantasy world has become less interconnected. It is becoming harder to picture the exciting world, the network of places and characters we built, and to see the paths that lead to the yet unexplored places. There's this feeling that you don't know where to start or to continue. That's why contests still succeed (aside from prizes): the starting point and context have been set, so then it's just a matter of choosing a path to follow.

I propose the following:

 

Guilds of Historica: Revisited

Per guild, members are assigned an existing settlement, with one simple task: build something that fits in with it. 

• Each member will be assigned to 1 existing settlement, and not one of their own.
• The existing lore and builds be your source material. How you interpret it is up to you, make sure to have fun. 
• The focus is on member participation and growing appreciation and acknowledgement for your fellow guildmates and the world of Historica.
• Size limit of 16x16, or 32x32.
• Optional revival of the Guild scores: your Guild receives 1 point per 16x16 build, 2 points for a 32x32 build.
• Can be expanded upon as a recurring event, or even with themed rounds. 

How does this sound to you?  

 

[mccoyed]

In my opinion, we just need Book 3 to start. I was gone for a long time because of school and I've come back to, basically, a ghost town. It's disappointing and while I understand the admins are busy, perhaps with other RBGs, GoH and AG should not have been allowed to languish for even near this long. Something's gotta be done.

[ZlatanXVIGustaf]

17 hours ago, Exetrius said:

How does this sound to you?  

That sounds fun! The small size limit should enable everyone to enter. 

Also, book 3 would be nice too 

[TitusV]

Looks great! Love how building in other peple's cities would force members to look things up and get in contact  

[Brandon Stark]

@Exetrius Well, I've been back for a few days, hopefully permanently this time, and I've been in the background messaging some people I haven't talked to, but since I saw your comment I decided to come on here and let you know that I'm back. I don't believe GoH is dead, since we still have some old members still around and we've gotten some new members in the past few months as well. I believe the problem with GoH right now is lack of guidance, because most of the leaders are gone and there just isn't any new material to build on, which is why I think your challenge is a great idea to revive GoH. Now of course GoH isn't as active as before, but I think it's far from being "dead". 

[Rogue Angel]

GoH is not dead. I moved last year, took over running an office, and am taking care of my 2 and 4 year olds, and am frantically working to finish my Brickworld builds for next month. I have a number of GoH builds to post from the past two years, and we will be presenting a GoH collaborative build at Brickworld.  We will also be finalizing Book 3 at Brickworld, so that will be kicked off shortly. 

[KevinyWu]

I am going to Brickworld as well, and will be bringing my GoH creations! I figured that I wouldn't have enough time to dismantle my current creations, wait for Bricklink orders, and create another large project before Brickworld, which is why I haven't posted anything. However, right after Brickworld, the building will restart.

[TitusV]

12 hours ago, Rogue Angel said:

GoH is not dead. I moved last year, took over running an office, and am taking care of my 2 and 4 year olds, and am frantically working to finish my Brickworld builds for next month. I have a number of GoH builds to post from the past two years, and we will be presenting a GoH collaborative build at Brickworld.  We will also be finalizing Book 3 at Brickworld, so that will be kicked off shortly. 

And the "Best News of the Year" trophy goes to...

Have a blast at BW, and I'll cross my fingers for Book III  

[mccoyed]

Who said GoH was dead? When I say "dead" or "ghost town", these are euphemisms for slow/low activity. It's great to hear that things are in the works, but I really hope steps are taken in the future so that there isn't more than a year between official events. I get that a lot of us are adults with careers, children, etc but then there are probably people here willing to take on some of the responsibilities so that the top organizers of GoH who are more busy (like Ecc or Zcerb or RogueAngel) don't have to shoulder everything?

[soccerkid6]

Here's a good reason to do some GoH building again!

 

The Summer Joust is back with 6 new categories, and is open through July 31st.

Last year the guilds were very well represented, especially in the teamwork category, and I'm hoping even more of you get in on the fun this year

[Grover]

I am still around, reading everything, trying to find time to post and, more importantly, build.  I have very little time to build (less than an hour a month on average now) and just finished a small house I've been working on for over a year.  I was going to take pictures and post them, and then my wife had complications and we now have a child early (having a child is awesome).  That does, however, cut into my building time even more, so hopefully sometime later this summer I'll be freed up enough to at least take pictures of my small cottage and post those.

I'm excited to see where Book 3 goes, and I think if we can get a codified storyline, we will see more builds here.  I'd love to help out the mods here pushing things along, but at this point, I think I may have less time than them.

[soccerkid6]

The Summer Joust is a little over halfway done! We've already had several stellar entries from Guild members, but I would love to see some more

And as some added incentive, a couple of the custom prizes have been revealed:

 

[dathil]

I'm working on a 48x48 castle, but am not sure if I will be in time to enter it.

[KevinyWu]

Working on a 48x48 castle for Avalonia, just waiting on a bricklink order! That micro castle should be first prize 

[soccerkid6]

2 hours ago, dathil said:

I'm working on a 48x48 castle, but am not sure if I will be in time to enter it.

Glad to hear it, hope you're able to finish in time!

43 minutes ago, KevinyWu said:

Working on a 48x48 castle for Avalonia, just waiting on a bricklink order! That micro castle should be first prize 

Sweet! Can't wait to see it
And whoever wins the category could claim the micro castle as their prize if they prefer it to the set

[TitusV]

Some sweet MOC's you've got there  

According to an ancient traditions, dating back to the very first SJ edition, some Avalonian builders will put their heads together and roll up their sleeves to show a part of our beautiful guild in the collab category!

[ZCerberus]

So what happened from the start of Book II to now that made this a slow grind?

Here's a timeline from me...

Due to fading interest of former leaders- Ecc and ZC are promoted to History Mods.  I take over Nocturnus as that was ISC's guild before and there is no leader while Avalonia has regulator Rogue Angel.

August 2013- Book II starts and the Guilds are off and running again on high octane!  I have an infant son (born in June) but some time on my hands while he naps to "play"  I also work in a job that has a season- tax season- so summers are slow and I can work on Guild stuff. 

September 13, 2013- We launch Challenge I.  Challenge deadline is January of 2014.  I am proud of the work I did for this and it launched well.

January 2014-May of 2014- Tax season.  Work, sleep, repeat.  Though I do find time to announce winners in March!

June 2014- My job is largely outsourced to another company, though I am retained, I no longer have summer's available for Guild Stuff.  We continue to push challenges on.

August 2014- Challenge II wraps.

October 2014- Challenge III starts

Late October 2014- My mom is diagnosed with terminal cancer, though the prognosis is life for several years.  We alter plans to visit her often and very few MOCs are built.

March 31, 2015- My mom loses her battle with cancer less than 6 months after diagnosis.  Interest in Historica and community fades greatly. 

Challenge III ends and Challenge IV starts, but I am fairly out of the loop on this now with real life matters close to my mind.

May 2015- Take a new job that is more stable, but no longer allows for a "busy" and "off" season.

June 2015- Attend Brickworld- I had invited my mom to come with- but in the wake of her death I built a spaceship (our theme was Sci Fi that year) in her honor.  I have several builds that were intended to be part of the Challenge V preludes already built, but not photographed.

November 2015- Challenge IV wraps.  I begin planning for the final challenge, but motivation for builds is challenging.

February 14, 2016- A Nocturnian princess is born!  I now have a two year old and an infant- a few builds to use in the final challenge announcement are photographed, but now time is precious.

June 2016- I attend Brickworld with a mix of build interests- construction trucks for my son, castle builds, a few of which will end up in the final preludes and Rogue, Ecc and I discuss the final challenge again.  I feel stressed that I have been slow to launch due to real life issues.

December 2016- all the builds for the final challenge are done and we launch Challenge V.  Building MOCs essentially solely for the purpose of kicking off the overdue challenge wears on me greatly and I find participating in the Guilds to be a challenge.

May 2017- Begin a new job, which I enjoy, but again, no slow seasons and travel now sometimes involved.  Building time limited by work and family balance.

June 2017- at Brickworld- entire year has been devoted to Neo Classic Space because I can build out of the "LEGO room" and in the living room while I have breaks from watching the kids.  Challenge V is long wrapped, but I am slow on voting and prizes (which I still have by the way).

June 2018- at Brickworld again, whole year devoted to microscale space for the challenge of it- meet the "GoH kids"- the builders who were only young pups when I was actually around who are now Guild stalwarts such as SoccerKid, LittleJohn, Kai and Garmy and some awesome "old guard" builders like Silver Smith, Gideon and Rogue.  Interest in launching Book III and reviving Historica is awesome.  It is clear I am not fit to lead a whole guild or build for challenge preludes due to the drain from Book II and life events.  We begin looking into how to freshen it up. 

That leads us to now.  What is clear more than anything is taking on two of the challenges in Book II was not wise on my part and the death of my mother had a very large impact on my interest.  I had help in getting prelude builds done from Mass Editor and Ecc, so I have no complaints about the support I received- it was and is largely on me for not powering through the issues I faced.

I am trying to do better now by stepping aside as much as possible to not be the roadblock I was before.  I still think I can be valuable, but as an organizer and an ideas guy, less so as the day to day guild leader and the major "pusher" of the deadlines like I was before.

Hopefully I will build something too!

 

 

[de Gothia]

Wow ZC, those 5 years seems pretty intense! Both with happiness and sadness! 

 

Sorry for your mom! ❤️I really hate cancer!! 

[mccoyed]

Thanks for sharing your story, ZC. I can't say my four years since joining GoH has been as intense as yours, but I appreciate an opportunity to see past the EB poster and into the real guy. We all have our own stories and it's good to remember that.

[narbilu]

34 minutes ago, mccoyed said:

Thanks for sharing your story, ZC. I can't say my four years since joining GoH has been as intense as yours, but I appreciate an opportunity to see past the EB poster and into the real guy. We all have our own stories and it's good to remember that.

Everything that McCoyed said is so true... 

[The Stad]

Thanks for all the effort you've put in and continue to put into the guilds ZC.  It's easy for us on the outside to piss and moan about, well, everything, but so much of this wouldn't happen without your hard work.  It's good for all of us to remember the things that should come before our hobbies.

[ZCerberus]

59 minutes ago, The Stad said:

Thanks for all the effort you've put in and continue to put into the guilds ZC.  It's easy for us on the outside to piss and moan about, well, everything, but so much of this wouldn't happen without your hard work.  It's good for all of us to remember the things that should come before our hobbies.

It's true that life should come first, but not handing over the reigns before everything burnt out is on me too. 

I did not conceive of the guild ideas, but I would like to think I have been an important figure and perhaps I have made myself to integral to the happenings, though other leaders have filled voids with their own fun challenges to keep everything together until we were ready to move on.

That is why it is important to strike while the iron is hot- get some new blood and see where it goes.

I am also aware it is possible there will come a day when GoH just fizzles out.  I hope today is not that day and we'll continue to find ways to keep us a float.

[TitusV]

15 hours ago, ZCerberus said:

So what happened from the start of Book II to now that made this a slow grind?

*snip*

June 2018- at Brickworld again, whole year devoted to microscale space for the challenge of it- meet the "GoH kids"- the builders who were only young pups when I was actually around who are now Guild stalwarts such as SoccerKid, LittleJohn, Kai and Garmy and some awesome "old guard" builders like Silver Smith, Gideon and Rogue.  

*snip*

Hopefully I will build something too!

 

Wow. Just, wow. I think others have already written what I'm thinking, but I still want you to know that we (or at least, I) truly appreciate this look on your life, plus that I'm sorry for your mom.

---

Wait, they were veterans when I joined, so if they're the "GoH kids", my generation would be the... "GoH embryos"?

---

That would be amazing to see, can't wait