Horation

Looks excellent. Any chance of instructions at some point in the future?

Honestly, next time I'd do a public poll for creative critique, it seems to me that having to write a sentence is considered too much work for most people. As for the voting incentives, I'll check if we have more votes than at this point last year, but I think we're behind (we had over 60 last year vs 26 here at the half-way point), but I think people are simply busy and haven't yet voted, but that they'll do so soon. And speaking from my eBay experiences, most of the time, even when I have a lot of watchers, there's no bid until the last few days, because they want to see how it'll go. Hopefully that's what is happening here.

Yes, there is. Picture this hypothetical : I sell 100 sets and 100 dollars profit from each vs I sell 200 sets at 50 dollars profit from each (by profit I mean the amount I sell it above my cost of production) Now for 100 sets, I'll have to have my employees work for half as much time preparing half as many orders, that saves me money. For 100 sets, I can offer things like free shipping at a smaller loss (say, shipping a 40-dollar-set might cost me 8 dollars, or 20%, but shipping a 200-dollar-set might cost me 30 dollars, so 15%), that saves me money. For 100 sets, I need to spend money marketing one item vs way more to market several smaller items. For 100 sets, I need to spend less on shipping material, that also saves me money. I mean, sure I would maybe sell a few extra copies, but in the end I'd hardly make any more money, and I'd have created many new problems I don't want to deal with, like a much larger workforce, and keep in mind that there are many customers (ex : parents buying a birthday gift) who'd have at most bought a single product, so now they'd be giving me half as much money than if they had instead purchased the bigger set. In short, yes, it's that much of a difference if people just buy one big set.

@Fraunces hasn't voted in the small category yet, so I'm not yet counting his votes, but chances are he'll update it soon enough so I'm looking regularly at his post to be sure.

To date, there are twenty-five (25) valid ballots. Large entries Steves challenge by Christophh : 6 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 7 Steves youth at the imperial manor by thebrickshipyard86 : 0 Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : 8 Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 4 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 4 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : 0 Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 2 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : 1 Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 8 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 14 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez :3 The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 10 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 14 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 2 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 7 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : 2 The Final task by Math Wizard : 3 The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : 4 Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : 0 Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : 2 Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 6 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 9 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 1 The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 12 Enchanted Island by Horation : 3 Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : 2 Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 8 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : 3 End of the pier by Elephant knight : 9 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : 6 Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 4 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 11 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : 1 Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : 2 Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 9 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 6 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 10 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : 0 Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 7 Also, the critic vote total : Horation : 5 Math Wizard : 4 Autumn : 2 YellowFrog : 1

@SevenDeadlyStreamers, good luck in that regard, but we'll both need a couple extra votes if we want to win a prize latest standings : To date, there are nineteen (19) valid ballots. Large entries Steves challenge by Christophh : 5 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 5 Steves youth at the imperial manor by thebrickshipyard86 : 0 Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : 6 Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 4 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 2 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : 0 Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 2 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : 1 Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 4 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 11 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez :3 The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 7 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 10 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 2 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 5 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : 2 The Final task by Math Wizard : 2 The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : 2 Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : 0 Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : 2 Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 4 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 8 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 1 The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 9 Enchanted Island by Horation : 2 Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : 1 Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 7 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : 2 End of the pier by Elephant knight : 4 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : 6 Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 3 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 6 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : 1 Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : 2 Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 6 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 5 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 6 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : 0 Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 5 Also, the critic vote total : Horation : 5 Math Wizard : 3 YellowFrog : 1 Autumn : 1

Nice MOD, glad to see you aren't completely disappearing after the contest is done!

Large The crimson raider by @Andy-Roo Tapu Island by @Marooned Marin The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by @Elephant Knight Steve's Treasure hunt by @KolonialbeamterdeMartinez The rime of the ancient mariner by @Samarth Small Sneaking Steve by @YellowFrog The King's Merchant by Marooned Marin Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by @Juhlhaus Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by @Oky Mini Imperial trading post by @SevenDeadlyStreamers The reasons behind my choices :

@YellowFrog, for straight-to-the-point feedback, and for participating in every thread, something which few other critics achieved. This is the wrong voting thread, sir. This isn't the place where you vote for the MOC of the user, but rather for creative critique, if you want to vote for A_Goodman's excellent MOC, you need to go to the building entries voting thread and select at between 3 and 5 small entries and 3 to 5 large entries, and give both the name of the entry and entrant, otherwise we won't be able to count your vote.

@Mister Phes, I don't where else to post this, but I think you miscounted, since you gave MyFirstMOC bonus points, but he mostly voted for his own entries...

To date, there are thirteen (13) valid ballots. Large entries Steves challenge by Christophh : 2 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 2 Steves youth at the imperial manor by thebrickshipyard86 : 0 Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : 5 Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 3 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 2 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : 0 Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 1 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : 0 Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 4 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 5 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez : 1 The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 4 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 7 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 2 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 3 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : 2 The Final task by Math Wizard : 2 The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : 1 Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : 0 Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : 2 Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 3 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 5 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 0 The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 6 Enchanted Island by Horation : 2 Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : 0 Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 5 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : 1 End of the pier by Elephant knight : 4 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : 4 Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 3 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 3 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : 0 Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : 2 Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 3 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 5 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 1 from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 3 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : 0 Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2

@Mister Phes, I'm not saying I disagree or that I don't want new cloth sails, just that we shouldn't set ourselves up for disappointment, since the winning entry doesn't use them. But it wouldn't be the first time Lego upgrades an ideas submission by a lot...

So that`s why there are no port facilities around these parts, this oupost is on Loch Lomond, now that makes more sense...

I was hoping so too, @SevenDeadlyStreamers, unfortunately I think I fell just 1 comment short. @Mister Phes, you are correct, this is because I'm assuming that in the end, every rational agent will end up voting in both categories, I'll add the bonus points at the end, so that way I don't have to double-check every time. Since, as I'm sure you are aware, this is a time-consuming process.

Also, here's the unofficial vote-counting tool I'll be using to keep the tally To date, there are five (5) valid ballots. Large entries Steves challenge by Christophh : 1 The crimson raider by Andy-Roo : 1 Steves youth at the imperial manor by thebrickshipyard86 : Captain Steve of the revenant by Sebeus and Legostone : Rusty Rudder Pub by Chris Boyd : 1 Fort de Soleil by -DoNe- : 2 Lighthouse Keeper Steve by Johnnyopies : Escape from Cave Island by Brendan McGnarley : 1 Caught by the Armada Coast Guard by Quotenotto : Steve's Hand Emporium by bingowaldorf : 1 Tapu Island by Marooned Marin : 1 Steve's Treasure Hunt by KolonialbeamterdeMartinez : The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton by Elephant Knight : 2 Escape from the Imperial Trading Post by A_Goodman : 3 Steve's Upgraded Cutter (The Untold Story) by Andy-Roo : 1 Steve's Double-crossing by YellowFrog : 2 Steve's Doom by MyFirstMOC-Hun : The Final task by Math Wizard : The rime of the ancient mariner by Samarth : Steve's First Voyage by SpacePolice89 : Steve's Hideout by MyFirstMOC : Found Forbidden Fortune by thewatchman : 2 Origin of Steve the Merchant by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 2 Small entries Sneaking Steve by YellowFrog : 3 Skull eye's Schooner by SevenDeadlyStreamers : The King's merchant by Marooned Marin : 3 Enchanted Island by Horation : Infant Steve recruited as royal spy by lotr : Steve's Childhood by MyFirstMOC : 2 Steve's Island Holiday by YellowFrog : End of the pier by Elephant knight : 2 Steve's boat by MyfirstMOC : Steve's origins in the desert by Horation : 1 Infamous Steve and the Fountain of Fortune by Juhlhaus : 1 Quadruplets? by YellowFrog : Steve's Arrival in port royal by Captain Braunsfeld : Steve's origins : Meeting redbeard by Oky : 1 International society of steve by BrynnOfCastlegate : 3 Steve meets cap'n tongs by SevenDeadlyStreamers : from merchant to pirate by Yatkuu : 2 Shipwrecked Merchant Steve by LeChuck-MD : Mini Imperial Trading Post by SevenDeadlyStreamers : 1

A really cool build, and I'm glad it will be included, as it'll give me something more to think about before voting. I will suggest that in future MOCs, you should use a blank background (easily achieved with a few sheets of paper and cardboard).

Well @Mister Phes SevvenDeadlyStreamers wanted to claim a prize in this thread earlier : But I think I got there earlier with my entry, I'll let you decide...

@Mister Phes, I think my entry ``steve's origins in the desert`` got to 25 two-sentence non-consecutive comments first, so I`d like to claim the prize (except if SevenDeadlyStreamers already picked his prize, in which case no problem, I understand I was late).

Lovely entry, good work, I guess there's no need for feedback as the deadline is fone for, but I wanted to praise the clour scheme and all the greebling, as well as the full crew compliment, But I must suggest lowering the gun emplacements, since they look a little high relative to the hull (or at least making the bottom of the side panel grey so that said panel stands out less).

I really like this build, especially the shot-by-shot storytelling, but I'd like it if Steve had some sort of a bush or rocky outcropping to hide behind, since he'd easily be seen from where he's trying to hide. Other than that, this is a really good build, especially since it was put together so quickly.

@Quotenotto I quite like the new background, it looks much nicer and is nearly at the level of Lego's box designs, great job!

@Franco Clarke I don't think they'll use brown mast pieces, I think they'll do like the fan model and just use some 2x2 round bricks for the mast. Also, I don't know why people are expecting cloth sails so much, it is meant to be a wreck, you are really setting yourselves up for disappointment if you think they'll add cloth items along with the main part of the build.

Or, alternatively we could give everyone the opportunity to vote F1 style, say {25,18,15,12,10}, I actually prefer curly brackets, and since you've used those, I'll take it as an excuse to use them, too.

Here's the pic, it somehow didn't upload the first time around, @Mister Phes I guess I'm better with pirates than electronics.

Well, as the devil's advocate, I have to ask if you'd rather pay 500 bucks for 1 small retired set or the same amount for 1 large still produced set... I'd love it if they still made some cheaper ones, too (especially some battlepacks).