Gray Gear

Looks very nice, I like the legth increase to 9 studs. And having PF and C+ connectors at the same time was a great move! Quickcharging is also a real treat... I am sure this will work superb im many great MOCs. But the main problem is the price. I know this is a niche product, so it can't be helped, but still, 150 bucks is just a massive oof. If you have need of the increased power and the specialized controls, go for it. But for simpler tasks, like a small RC car, I think a rechargable box from china will do you better. I mean, you can get Bruno's italian supercar from Cada for about the same price, with all the electronics included

I recommend using LDCad as well. Once you get the hang of it LDD feels like a Kid's toy, so much more possibilities.

Yes, your statement is clear: MOC creators that selling their Building Instructions "are only trying to cash over the back of others". And I think that's out of line. Just because you offer your building instructions for free does not give you the right to insult others.

Yoo I was happy I read the title first and knew it was called "Big Dog six", otherwise the music might have lead me to understand something very questionable was that intentional? Anyways I really enjoy this project thread

If it is true, then I tip my hat to you. But you seem to miss the point I was trying to make. Not everyone is as financially comfortable as you seem to be. If you think that selling building instructions is "cashing over the back of others", then we seem to have a very different understanding of the matter Asking payment for honest work is normal. Do you for example not buy books because the author is not offering it for free?

Not really. I don't think it would make much of a difference, at least in my case. If you can afford to spend like 300+$ on a MOC you should also be able to pay 15-20 bucks for the Building Instructions. But for B-Models the question is more interesting, as the builders often already have the needed A-Model, and the cost of the Instructions is the only expense. In that case having free instructions instead of selling it might increase the popularity significantly

Good for you. They way you are talking I am pretty sure you have never made Building Instructions in your life. It is a lot of work, and work you do for others to enjoy your MOC. But feel free to prove me wrong, link some free building instructions you made. Exactly. C-Model Building Instructions were sold way before LEGO stopped making B-Models. They just got more popular now because now there is no alternative.

I would still make MOCs, because I enjoy doing it. But I certainly wouldn't be making instructions. It is tedious, annoying and exhausting work. It took me 100+ hours just for the building instructions for my 1:8 Nissan GT-R MOC. I had to take 2 weeks off work to find the time do it. I only make building instructions to help pay for the costs of the MOC, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford this hobby the way I do now. Of course I was also encouraged by @LvdH and others asking for building instructions, and I really appreciate people enjoying my MOCs.

@howitzer You have a valid point, right now where there is a real competition forming on the horizon it is literally the worst time ever for TLG to have quality issues. Why cheap out now? But quality issues like that don't come into existance by themselves, so TLG must have made changes of some sort. Maybe one of the managers is an undercover spy from china Not very likely, but looking at some decisions that doesn't seem that far-fetched I don't think the quality issues are intentional, but are probably happening due to management trying to decrease production cost in some way while hoping the resulting problems stay small and can be resolved reasonably quickly.

I agree with @howitzer, for example having the pinned topics in a "drop-down menu" could free up a lot of space on the first page.

Most likely profit optimization. Sell the product for even more, while cheaping out on production quality and quality control. A sad reality for many big companies that can rely on their brand name and/or market dominance to sell the product. Right now most of the Kids probably don't even care, or don't even notice it because they just take some things as they are, and don't question it.

I know this might seem a bit theorethical: Is there some way users could filter the what theý want to see? Maybe using the tags? That way the diversly intrested could see everything, SMF, Technic and Model Team, and people that only like technic for example could still only look at technic without having to see the other stuff they arn't really intrested in. It would be the best of both worlds.

For some MOCs from the scale modelling Forum I agree that they'd feel at right at home here in the technic section. But I don't feel that way about MOCs that are basically 100% system and don't contain a single gear. I wouldn't really be happy about those coming here, as they have nothing to do with technic and all the other MOCs here Model Team is mostly system too, but it has a good amount of technic, gears too, so it kinda fits. I don't want to attack the user or anything like that, just an example of what I wouldn't like to see here as it just doesn't fit imo:

@Jundis exactly. That's why I think it wouldn't be a good idea to exclude GBC's and make seperate contests. I also feel like the entry number will be quite low if GBC's are excluded.

I wouldn't narrow it down too much. I think a contest that would allow for GBC's, but also for something else stationary would be better.