thetang22

Yes. I've used custom pieces from Brickforge and Brick Warriors.

Yeah, BBT is my favorite comedy. However, you did bring up the big point - GoT is on HBO, with a vastly lower pool of potential viewers than BBT, which is on network television. And GoT generates a lot more buzz with a drastically smaller audience than BBT does with the larger audience. So..."popular" is sort of a hard term to define in this exact case...more viewers, or more buzz? Doesn't entirely matter, due to the general point.

I've been working on a board game that will utilize Legos to create a medieval micro city, as well as minifigs to represent player characters and NPCs. I've been brainstorming lots of ideas about how it will all come together, and I've decided I want to include lots of the factions from the 80's/90's Castle era, with some modernization. I've started with 2 of the factions to test the waters, and here are the examples that I've come up with so far. House of Lions - they represent one of the old "Houses" in the city, a rich organization that is the epitome of nobility and honor. While they do represent this on the whole, there are a few instances of bad seeds within the House...a few members that are really corrupt. They live in the "Upper City", the part of the city where all the nobility reside, and they exercise a lifestyle that only the wealthiest could afford. They do have many workers that attend to their lavish lifestyle, such as chefs, sculptors, jewelers, gardeners, and even servents (the orc dressed in fancy clothes). Yes...the wizard is straight from the CMF series, but I felt he fits the style as is. Wolfpack - they reside primarily in the Port District of the Lower City. They are commoners who are down on their luck and desperate for opportunity, found mainly in the form of being thieves, thugs, and bandits. They do have their own society, however, with more "respectable" professions, like alchemists, dock workers, and bards. There will be other factions as well, but there's a chance they are still a ways off, while I focus on other aspects of the boardgame (as well as work just about to start getting BUSY for months and months)

It's an interesting question. I believe there will be a market for this sort of content, so long as books, film, and games continue to support it as well. Consider some of the examples that have come out in the last 10-20 years, despite the world getting more and more technological in that same period. Lord of the Rings/Hobbit - they were all big successes in the movie scene. Sure, they were based on proven books, but at the same time...the books are how many years old, and that many years later there is still an interest by old and young alike in the big epic'ness of the story and setting. Harry Potter - Probably the most popular books that have been released in the last how many years, now? (the films being massively popular too) Sure, they've got a modern setting, but it's the inclusion of the old-world magic and feeling that really made it something special. Game of Thrones - the most popular show on television for the last 3-4 years, basically. Everything about it celebrates a medieval setting. The books are REALLY becoming popular too, thanks to the tv show. World of Warcraft - this is the biggest video game, probably ever. Not only that, but there are LOTS of successful video games that still have fantastical medieval settings. Those are 4 of the biggest entertainment franchises in the last 10-20 years, despite the world getting VERY technological during that same period. I'd say medieval fantasy isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

I'm sure I'm sounding like a broken record, but this statement even further proves my point. Interpretation has a big part to do with, as well as expectation. Lego "Castle" means a lot of things to different people. You are saying that Castle to you isn't really "Castle" unless it is Classic Castle. Kingdoms being an ideal style in your mind. Fair enough. Regarding what "naturally" goes with it, it depends on what sort of medieval setting we are looking at. Are we going for a strict historical medieval setting? More of a fantasy medieval setting? While Tolkien is obviously one of the biggest inspirations today for medieval fantasy, he's certainly not the only authority. Dungeons and Dragons, while inspired largely from Tolkien, has become a MASSIVE authority on medieval fantasy, and has introduced many more concepts that are now accepted as "natural" in the genre. It's not odd to see archaic steam airships or dwarven engineers in medieval fantasy, for instance. While I do like the style of the late 80s/early 90's stuff, as well as Kingdoms...I prefer more fantasy in my medieval settings...more of that Dungeons and Dragons style fantasy. I don't personally like lots of sci-fi in my medieval fantasy (stuff like robots and lasers)...but I'm definitely ok with knights, wizards, archaic airships, castles, steam engineers and the like being in the same setting, and still thinking of it as "Castle". I draw the line when horses are dropped for motor-cycle like vehicles that are supposed to look like they were visually inspired by horses. Unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past Lego to do something like that...

For what it's worth: Emphasis added. I'm not going to pretend I'm excited about a "Blade Cruiser" or a "Robo-Horse"...but for all we know, the bad guy side could be made of lava monsters or demons of darkness...and those things would be "like" the Fantasy Era, as far as I'm concerned. Too many people are ready to crucify Brickjagger because they took the rumor too literally, and frankly we don't have enough information yet to know one way or the other.

I apologize if my original point wasn't clear. However, your response pretty much proves the point I was trying to make: The point being...you shouldn't dismiss his rumor as a bust, as the details are open to a certain degree of interpretation. At this point, people still aren't even sure what to make of the details... Is it Castle? Is it Sci-fi? Is it Steam-punk? Is it "Action"? Is it some mix of them? Imagine trying to describe that 6+ months ago when there was even less information to go off of. We'll have to wait and see for confirmation one way or the other, but my opinion is that his original source has yet to be debunked, but it's rather just a circumstance of interpreting things differently.

That's what people are referring to CCBS....which it seems to be a pretty popular thought. Due to the excess of those style sets recently, I'd tend to believe this is the plan too.

I wouldn't be so quick to discredit brickjagger. I would accuse him of being overly enthusiastic about trying to claim validation before it's due...but not flat out being wrong. His original source said a new Castle theme in late 2015/early 2016....kinda like the Fantasy Era. Now, those are supposedly the words of his original source. He's spoken to a few sources in the 6 months since then, and there has been a bit of conflicting info here and there, but for the most part, his original source was "correct enough". Saying he was a bust because he called it a slightly different type of set than what you would today, or because he didn't have an exact release month...its really just an argument in semantics, which is kinda useless for release rumors of products not coming out for a year+. For instance, you say it's more of an action theme than a Castle theme. Ok...that's one interpretation. Is it a Castle theme with heavy "action" elements, or an Action theme with heavy "castle" elements? The answer - it really doesn't matter, in terms of trying to validate rumors from a year+ out. Those 2 distinctions are basically the same thing, for arguments sake. And when you are going off of what a guy told another guy a year+ out...it's close enough. Releasing late 2015/early 2016 - close enough.

Looking at the names and price points of the set names, a few guesses: Knighton Disc Launchers (70310) – 9.99 Chaos Catapult (70311) – 9.99 Lance’s Robo Horse (70312) – 19.99 Moltor’s Lava Launcher (70313) – 19.99 Clay’s Blade Cruiser (70315) – 39.99 Jestro’s Companions of Darkness (70316) – 49.99 The first 2 sets almost make me think they could be the Battle/Tribe packs. They are a similar price point to Chima Tribe packs, and those had a few figures with some sort of catapult/launcher devices. If that is the case, could Wave 1 set up 2 initial factions: "Knighton" (knights) vs. "Chaos"? Chaos is a pretty popular bad guy theme in many gaming/entertainment hobbies, but it's never really been done in Castle Lego before. Jestro and Moltor look to be likely related to that faction...bringing in the elements of Lava and Darkness...2 things that could easily associated with Chaos. The Knighton faction sets look to be hero character vehicles of some sort (sigh...).

While it's impossible to say anything with certainty just yet, the names do sound like this will have sci-fi incorporated in one way or another, and that does not interest me much. As has already been mentioned, Star Wars already covers sci-fi mixed with fantasy elements. If a horse is mechanical, I could live with the concept if it was designed to look like a horse. But if we get "horses" that are really just motorcycles, mini cars, or jets that have some cosmetic features meant to look like it was inspired by a horse, i'll not invest in the theme. If the "horses" are anything like what we saw in 8779 the Grand Tournament, Lego should be ashamed of themselves. When I buy into Castle Lego themes, I don't purchase them based on how they exist as a lone theme or product...I buy them with the intention of incorporating with my existing collection....creating a unified Castle theme from across the generations. If this product leans too much into sci-if elements, it will have no place with my existing collection...resulting in a no-buy. Wait and see.....but right now I'm almost thinking another rendition of lions vs dragons would be better than what I'm worried Nexo Knights may be.

I guess it was years ahead of its time.

I hate to say it, but everything I'm hearing from this recent news sounds more like Knights Kingdom II than anything else, and that has me worried. I hope the actual designs won't be so cheesy as that.

It's not a question of how close the themes are to each other...it's a question of whatever the rumored new direction is, do you think it will be better received than Castle 2013 (which was not very well received by lots of AFOL's)

If this ends up being true, do you think the new theme will be received better or worse by AFOL's than Castle 2013?

I agree with Deathleech...if they find success doing things that don't interest me, that success is only going to influence them to do more of that stuff. As much as I'd like Lego to succeed as a company, I ultimately care about how it affects me. I'd rather they be a less successful company making things I enjoy, rather than a more successful company producing things I'm not interested in (assuming either way would be profitable for them as a company to some degree).

I guess I should have clarified that the packaging itself was kinda of irrelevant...just that we've been seeing lots of examples of the content of battle packs in recent years.

That's a lot of left-handers :)

We really aren't at any sort of shortage when it comes to recent examples of what Castle Battle Packs will look like. I suppose future examples will resemble history: 2007-2009's Fantasy Era: Crown Knights Battle Pack Skeletons Battle Pack Dwarves Battle Pack Trolls Battle Pack 2010's Kingdoms: Red Knights Battle Pack Green Knights Battle Pack 2013 Castle: Lion Knights Battle Pack Dragon Knights Battle Pack

I agree, $200 sets are definitely barriers for little kids. Honestly, $100+ sets are in many cases too. I came from a very middle class family, and I remember the Black Knight's Castle was around $80'ish when I was young and wanted it, and that was an exercise in begging trying to have my parents buy a Lego set that was so expensive as a Christmas present. I realize money and circumstances aren't what they were back then, but that doesn't change the fact that $100+ is STILL a LOT of money to many people.

There must be another thread where all the rumors are generating. Because this is not what the theme is rumored to be, according to this thread...

LOTS of themes could be argued as being historical by some stretch of the imagination. But yeah, I do kinda agree with your assessment of Ninjago.

Ugh....that is HIDEOUS as a Castle/Fantasy theme with light influence of steampunk. It's just a big mish-mash with poor design focus. This is proper castle/fantasy with a light influence of steampunk done correctly, in my opinion:

I've seen this sort of comment a few times now...but it seems people are misinterpreting the rumor. It is not a Steampunk theme, according to the rumors of this thread. It is a Castle/Fantasy theme, with "light" Steampunk influences. I'm not sure what is hard to understand about that.

I have to agree with Robert8 at this point. This feels like it's been drawn out for too long, considering the information is allegedly "confirmed".