gedren_y

Don Quixote?

If we're thinking early renaissance, then a bit of Shakespeare (Othello, Romeo & Juliet) with versions of a lot of the historical figures (Nostradamus, Da Vinci, Michelangelo). Lots of architectural details, dueling with blades, costume ball, thieves guild, astrology/astronomy, etc. This could then lead into an Explorers theme for the Pirates fans (think Marco Polo).

I get where @Nabii is coming from about his intent and restrictions. The Nexo Knights sets, for what they are, are well designed. For the target consumer, they are good. I fully understand that I am not the target consumer. The issue some have is that the percentage of pieces that can be repurposed for more traditional Castle and fantasy builds is quite low across the theme. The villains sets have greater utility, and I'm sure a number of us have bought them. The set sited was, I believe, from Fright Knights. While it was whacky, and not in any way historic, the parts were easily repurposed. Even that dragon mold was something usable. I know plenty of AFOLs who still use the Fright Knights heraldry and fig parts. I am glad that actual Lego designers are willing to come here, address our concerns, and share some of their internal development processes. Thank you, @Nabii.

I thought it was largely understood that Fantasy Era was discontinued, and its future development was repurposed, when TLG gained the LOTR license. If Lego actually restarts a more traditional Castle theme after Nexo Knights ends its run, then I think a new set of heraldries are warranted. Nods to the old themes would certainly help maintain existing interest, but they need not retread that same ground. There are other heraldries and symbolism that can be used, given Lego's current capacity. The old shields, prints, and helmets could be incorporated into the history of a new group, as background parts. Relics to be preserved, and learned from, but not limiting the potential of change. Some that got less time, or poor development before, could be reprised, with necessary improvements. Attendant media to help set a narrative, but more like a choose your own adventure game. The capacity to choose a side, and build from there. That kind of thing would take a concerted effort, but is doable if TLG sets the needed resources behind it.

Part of the problem is that despite the growing AFOL community, Lego is still considered a children's toy, not an art medium. As such there is an assumption that children will age out of their interest in Lego, and that the company needs to consistently attract the interest more young children to maintain their success. Part of that is true, most of us have a 'dark age', but that could be somewhat mitigated if themes that are popular could grow with their fan base instead of trying to attract a new, younger fan base. This is what I believe has lead to the whacky themes that get the Big Bang treatment. Major media campaigns that reinforce the idea that Lego just is for children. Lego likes to promote the idea of creative building play, but their major media money goes toward themes that use specific builds for their characters to use. When the set is built, that is what the character uses, and there is little to no showing the set being rebuilt as something else. That is why I keep pushing for the idea of alternate builds, because when you show children other possibilities that helps spark their own ideas, which in turn helps develop independent thinking skills. Some of The Lego Movie sets were developed in this vein, but because the theme was attached to a movie it was inherently limited in its existence. Dimensions offers little builds that have alternate builds, but you have to actually play the game to get the instructions. This is largely aimed at older consumers who are interested in video game play, not constructive building. It misses the point. All this proves that TLG as a company has little interest in the adult market's interests. People will point to Ideas, Expert, and Creator sets, but look at how little we really get from those things. The internal development seems quite low, especially when you consider that there is little to no new parts development attached to those themes. Ideas is actually outsourcing the initial creative design process. Yes, it allows us to have input, but it is also a way for the company to avoid some expenditure on market research. Also the amount of promotion is so low that many adults do not even know that they exist. We AFOLs like to think of ourselves as a large community, but think about how many people in our daily working lives who's only thought of Lego is as a children's toy. This attitude is changing, largely due to licensed themes, but the process is slow. I hope TLG gets better at addressing the wants of its existing adult fan base, but understand that the company needs to be successful. Especially when you consider that they now have actual competitors in today's market, which didn't really exist to such an extent in the 80's and 90's.

There was some discussion in the Eslandola PM when the numbers came out for Chal. D, and some math was done. For Mardier to make it close with an averaging spread, they would have had to win Chal. E by more than four points. Without an average spread, Mardier would have needed six points or more. As it stands, Mardier got a less than one point victory in Chal. E. It wasn't an overwhelming win, but enough to be decisive. Everyone who entered did their chosen side justice. To the winners, enjoy the prizes.

When I use the term modular referring to Castle, I mean mid-level sets that can be added together in various ways to create large castles. Towers, wall sections, gatehouses, and great hall. The wall sections could include barracks, stables, kitchen/smokehouse, blacksmith, and/or training area. Towers could have a treasury, jail cells, living quarters, wizard/astronomer's laboratory, and/or simply defensible watch positions. A gatehouses are simple enough, but can be done in a few different ways. A great hall as the big set, that opens up for a grand feasting hall, and upstairs living quarters, ladies' solar, library, and balcony. Some sets could include siege weapons, but wouldn't always need them. Or the siege weapons could be stand alone sets. The various faction leaders should be lords, not just knights. The common soldiers could have livery bodywear over more generic armor, mail, or jerkin printing to denote faction. There are also plenty of ways to make a more realistic Castle theme appealing. Internal kingdom drama, quests, creature hunts, mercantile competition, outlaws, and my major tournament idea from before. Supporting media would be advisable.

Finally got around to seeing Rogue One. It was okay, but like 1-3 you knew where it was going. Missing Carrie Fisher.

For fantasy creatures, and some fantastic elements, Nexo Knights works (Elves, too, BTW). For builders of castles, and historic realism, it is supremely lacking. If Nexo Knights would have been closer to He-Man than to Power Rangers in concept, I believe more people would think of it in Castle terms.

That Crownie castle was an Escher and BURP nightmare. Worse was that the BURPs were mixed Dark Bley and Dark Green. Lego should never go there again. Given the popularity of Elves (it's true), I doubt Castle will go into high fantasy any time soon.

The idea for the Faire was intended to be on par with the City park set. Maybe less actual figures, and more parts for small builds, but essentially the same price point. There is also the possibility of various civilian carts, with different kinds of wares. I don't know if Lego would do a depiction of a gypsy caravan, as it relates to stereotyping nomadic peoples, but they could at least reprise the CMF Fortune Teller. This is where a mild level of fantasy elements would fit into the line I describe. The way I think about my ideas is to have builds that meet a certain level of realism while also filling out the price points for larger sets. The large castles at the top of most lines fall too short for any kind of realism for me. That is why I like the idea of modular, mid-range sets that could be purchased in varying combinations to create more realistic structures. Add to that faction sets that include enough flags, shields, and small slope parts to decide to whom the structure belongs, I think would open up more creative play options. That is why I mentioned brick built tents, which could potentially be repurposed as roofing materials. Lego has often used the faction colors in the rooftops of their castle sets, and being provided alternate colors for this is a want for me.

For the first three set ideas, I was thinking more like scenes from the movie A Knight's Tale. They would fall within the standard Castle wave price points. (The Kingdoms Joust set did not.) The Royal Carriage would be more like a parade event, which would pair with the Faire set idea. The faction packs sets idea is so that they can be added to the larger sets to fill out the competition, and over time new factions could be added. Maybe a paddock/stable set would be needed to fill out for extra horses, but TLG probably wouldn't do that.

My ideal way to develop a good number of factions is to start with a Royal Tournament. The large set would be the Grand Joust: 1) A royal gallery with the King, Queen, and royal guards. 2) A jousting field. 3) Stands with civilians/faction soldiers. 4) Two jousting faction lords each with a brick built tent, horse with barding, guard/squire, and various weapons and shields. The next set down would be the Archery Competition. 1) Three freestanding targets that have multiple points for arrow landing, with the likelihood of a new arrow part. 2) Spectators' stand with a few civilians/royal soldiers. 3) Competitors; two lords' factions (different from joust) and a forestmen leader (Robin Hood type). Each would have tent, horse, weapons, and shields. The lords would each have barding for their horses and a guard/squire, while forestmen's leader would have two regular forestmen. Next down would be the Light Arms Competition. 1) Combat arena with one royal guard. 2) Competitors; Two lords, one each from the two larger sets, with just weapons, shields and a different guard/squire. One 'evil' lord faction with tent, horse and barding, weapons, shields, and a guard/squire. Other sets: Blacksmith's Cottage: Hinged opening structure with forge on one side. Blacksmith with various armor types and weapons. Wife with paintbrush, pallet, and shields of varying sizes and heraldry. Tournament Awards Ceremony: Raised dais with throne, King and royal guard. All faction leaders in fancy dress, though forestmen's leader may just have a fancy hat, and the 'evil' lord could have 'leather' armor printing. Three different small (chromed) 'statues' as the awards. Faire: Various booths/stands; food/drink, jester stage, puppeteer, capes/hats, and jewelry and other finery. Royal Carriage: Fancy, but open style carriage, drawn by four white horses. King, Queen, and two fancy coachmen. Faction packs: All factions except Royal. Brick built tent, lord/leader as appears in the larger sets, and three faction guards, two of which are different from the sets. Various weapons and shields. (No horse.) Later waves could be dedicated to structures (modular?), and conflict between various factions and/or royals. Possibly a Forestmen's Hideaway, and other civilian oriented sets interspersed throughout. There could be all kinds of attendant media to go with this, but most likely an online game that could be played across platforms (Windows/Android/IOS). Yes, my ideas are fig heavy, so there would be some trade-off with the structures. Given the want to get away from the 'sameness' between Castle lines, I thought this would go over better.

This debate has strayed quite a bit from topic. I buy sets mainly for parts, so the lack of a Castle line affects my building less, but I do feel the lack of the factions. That is why I'd prefer the faction choice idea over the adventure story with a set of characters. The only way I see my favored idea working from a marketing standpoint is if it is paired with a choose your own adventure type game. I don't play any of the Lego video games, so that would be wasted on me, but then again I wouldn't be the target market either.

With just a quick look through recent sets, these have good inventories for castle building. Yoda's Jedi Starfighter Battle on Scarif Duel on Naboo Droid Escape Pod Carbon-Freezing Chamber Battle on Takodana Resistance  Troop Transport

If you are looking to build straight historical Castle, some Star Wars sets are better in parts than Elves. Some Minecraft sets are also good to fill out medieval builds. Elves sets offer a lot of detail parts, but the bulk of the bricks are more colorful than most castle builders use.

Good, quick work, @Legostone.

I had to reread it a couple of times before I understood it. To determine the amount of sisterships that can be held by an one entity (player, nation, or TC), the levels of said ships, when added together, cannot exceed 20. The example given is four sisterships. 7+5+5+3=20 That means that the size of the ships determines how many sisterships can be held at any given time. One issue; would the purchase of a ship that was sistershipped count towards the buyer's sistership count? It shouldn't, correct? On another matter; is there any kind of timetable as to when the new ship licenses will be ready?

This was part of what I was getting at. There are also things that were done in ages past that could improve the versatility of sets. The possibility of alternate builds. While Lego didn't give instructions for these alternate builds in the old sets, they showed the possibility. The online instructions system now could potentially cater to that. Modularity, which I discussed before, could also increase the multiple purchase of sets. Sets that can be added together in varying combination increase play possibilities. Add that to the idea that the structure and/or vehicle could belong to any number of factions, just by adding enough faction detail parts that can be assigned by the builder wherever they chose. Castle lines can be improved by the simple inclusion of civilians, to be protected or attacked, into the bigger sets, and small singular civilian sets to populate the all the factions. One that could be done would be a merchant's carriage, less ornate than Royal/faction ones, and carrying goods, not treasure. Include troops from at least two factions, and the builder can decide to which the merchant belongs (or neither). Builds like that could be done so that the base parts give options to the builds, which increase the likelihood of multiple purchases.

I believe what @Itaria No Shintaku meant was that the content of your previous post, and those to whom you were responding, should have been posted in the Future Series Rumors Thread. That is all.

Now if only Lego could see to creating a modular Castle series where you could choose which faction owned the fortification. This could easily be done by simply swapping out decorative elements, which was the best thing about Morcia. They tried the modular thing with the most recent Castle line, and I think some NK sets. I have a number of ideas in this vein. The main issue seems to be maintaining interest over time. Another way to go could be to make an ever expanding fantasy world, with different building types. Make it a quest story where the factions (four?) are simply competing for the glory and honor of their people. This could give Lego the possibility of another in-house media property, with games and animation (TV or web series). Lots of civilian possibilities, faction army building, and various outfits for the main characters that could be spread throughout multiple waves. There could be all manner of fantasy creatures (good and bad), and new factions could join in the competition over time. That idea may have to wait until Elves finishes its run. In any event, Castle has plenty to offer on its own. It is just a matter of doing it the right way.

Pou zwit fa. Thwamm chipi nhoh vaklehahk. In other words: Whatever. Kiss the bricks for me.

Thanks. I'll be doing more physical builds for a while, though I do have a massive LDD build coming. I've used the clear round plates like this before, but that was on top of other Lego used as water. On the bit of cardboard they are more visible, and 'float' so that they look more random. Loose parts can be a bit of a problem when you need rotate a build for photography, but sometimes that is the best way to give a sense of life to a build.

A Marvel series won't happen for the same reason a Star Wars series won't happen: Hasbro. I may have actually seen Marvel blind bags being sold, but I would have to check again to be sure. K'Nex has done Mario Kart, and Kre-O (Hasbro) has done Transformers. I have even seen a Doc McStuffins(sp?) blind bags. It saddens me that the Walmart stores in my area refuse to stock Lego Minifigures blind bags, but gladly stock nearly all the competitors' knock-offs. <rant over> Anything related to Fantastic Beasts seems like it will be limited to Lego Dimensions. There may be certain licensing limitations that we have not been made aware of.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed my little yarn. Writing the stories that I post does take a lot of effort, and it is pleasing to have that appreciated. The smuggler's hold is something I came up with in the moment because I realized that I needed to separate Tolan from the rest of the captured crew. I couldn't even do the Captain's cabin scene because I didn't have the parts for the established window, nor a good fig to be the Captain. I couldn't do the scene digitally because LDD doesn't have much in the way prints with Asian character script, nor does it have the Brickforge frill in Tolan's old brown hat and the Brickarms rapier. Can someone confirm that I am the first to address regular shaving in BOBS?