Flipz

"I think we went through this line of thought, and that's how we got the Fire Bombs we set up in the forest."

Is this out now in the US?!? I must have this... Well, there goes my plan of only buying a few new LEGO sets this year...

Can someone remind me which three sets are "exclusive"?

Arthur suddenly remembers that there is a barrel of apples down in the kitchens. "Hey, better idea, if someone grabs an empty barrel from the kitchens, we can fill it up with spare nails from the stables and bring it up here as spread shot. Simpler than my multi-sling idea, for sure!" OOC: How will the catapult up here work, game wise? Will one of us have to give up our attacks to use it (i.e. as if we had "equipped" it), or will one of the Lion Knights use it automatically, or will it act like an extra member of the party, and K-nut will designate its position in the order and its target?

-==IC: Arthur==- Seeing that the others hadn't understood him the first time, Arthur takes a few deep breaths and focuses on calming his breathing. "You should make the end of the catapult split off into three directions at the end. I know we only have one sling, but we might be able to loot defeated elves' cloaks to get more. That way, we could launch three stones in a spread pattern for additional damage."

*resists urge to link to Wookieepedia. * I take it you've never played the Star Wars Rolplaying Game? The entire experience of that game is about taking the Star Wars realm and making it your world, even if sometimes that means changing the way things "actually" happened. It's the same with licensed Lego themes; if you don't have the imagination to make something new from a licensed set, then most likely you don't have the imagination to make something new from a "generic" set. Even if the world of the license were "limiting" (which it isn't), this is Lego; if we get bored with something, we can always tear it apart and build it into something else. There are licensed sets that I want just for parts, just as much as there are generic sets that I would buy just to build the model shown (if I had the spare cash, that is ). A perfect example is the sets Sandy and other Quest Masters build for the Heroica RPG: the sets themselves use licensed parts and minifigs in highly creative ways (parts and minifigs that, it should be pointed out, might never have been made were it not for the licensed sets), while the RPG illustrates a highly creative use of an existing theme. (Granted, Heroica is a Lego-created theme, but the RPG expands on it in several ways far beyond the original scope of the theme; something similar can be done to any pre-existing theme--licensed or otherwise.)

I imagine that, since this is based off the movies, it'd be: Pippin, Gimli, Boromir, and either Sam or Frodo. Maybe Aragorn if Lego decides to turn him into LotR's Jack Sparrow. With 4-5 minifigs, I could see it as a $30 set, and if they cut Pippin and/or Boromir (neither character is particularly well-known or popular among the average person who isn't a Tolkien nut), then it could easily be a $20 set, which wouldn't require too much background scenery (aside from the troll itself, which I would want to be brick-built rather than a prefab figure). Personally, I think that's just about right--if I want to build a giant, massive cave system and mine, I'll go to bricklink or ebay or something and buy used gray bricks and rock pieces in bulk, I wouldn't want to pay full price plus licensing fees for a set that I'd likely want to take apart later on. If I build something huge, I'd want to keep it together long-term, and for a set like the tomb, there'd be far too many useful pieces to keep it built. TL;DR, it's not LEGO's job to "do it right" for movie scenes, the set should suggest the theme but not recreate it exactly (UCS sets notwithstanding). If you want a scene "done right", that's YOUR job as the fan and LEGO builder. I think the licensed themes are alright, aside from two things: 1.) licensing fees (when I'm rich and famous and owner of a thousand franchises, I'm going to cut LEGO a better deal so the licensing fees don't hit customers so hard--as long as they give me free LEGO of course ), and 2.) repeat 'figs of unique characters. It started with the identical Indiana Jones 'figs in the first IJ wave (they fixed it later in the theme), then got worse with Dastan in PoP and most recently with Jack Sparrow in PotC. Listen: there is only ONE of each of these characters in the theme world, so we don't need them in EVERY set! Follow the example of Luke Skywalker and the characters in the LEGO Star Wars (etc.) games: If the theme is centered around a given character(s), give them several different "forms" to liven up the monotony! I realize Lego is limited by the constraints of the theme, but come on: every character has SOME costume changes, make the most of them! Please?

I'm more surprised that they're up, and the CMFs aren't. Considering that the Ninjago site isn't really updated yet, yet the CMF one is... Also, as response to your earlier request for a purple ninja: gravity ninja FTW![/bioniclereference]

Arthur follows the other up to the top of the tower. He opens his mouth to give instructions, but he's still tired from pounding in the stakes. In retrospect, perhaps he should have used magic to secure the stakes instead of whacking them with his snake staff. Still, he geives what advice he can in between gasps and wheezes. "You should...*cough*...three blocks...*gasp*...Etho...*wheeze*...lapis...*gasp*...split beam at the top...*cough*...extra slings...*wheeze*...later, from cloaks...*gasp* fallen elves." OOC: Arthur is most definitely a wizard of the "squishy" variety.

OOC: I thought they were bringing the wood to the top of the tower and assembling it there?

OOC: Can we still talk to each other IC when we're "exhausted"?

How long will someone have to have been a member of EB to participate in the contest? Or to put it another way: will I be able to enter?

LOVE the face for "Mrs. Claus!" Man, I wish I had it, it's so underused!!

"Hey guys, I'd really like some help..." OOC: I'll go ahead and set them up anyway, and if anyone else wants to finish the job, they can.

OOC: We NEED to reinforce the West wall. It has the lowest Health, remember? Also, if we take out the footbridge, the Elves will be stuck attacking the West and North sides of the fort. ;) Can we go with that plan? (The hole is fine, tho I think we should line the bottom with spikes, but I feel the West wall and the footbridge are more important.) -==IC: Arthur==- Arthur takes some stakes and begins to set them up along the West wall. "Hey, guys, can we please take out the footbridge now? Also, I may need some help setting these up along the West wall. Oh, and if someone really wants to set up a fire bomb to a trip wire, I'd be happy to hand them mine if needed."

"Say, you think I could try using that?"

OOC: Sorry for the OOC-only post. I'm at Disney World, and my access will be a lot more limited than I thought. I'll drop in as often as I can, but I'll probably be gone 'til Christmas. See you then!

Same here. I have relatives who actively pretend I don't exist because I'm not a car freak, and I like the arts. If they'd paid attention enough to find out I still play with Lego... Also, let's not forget that according to cultural "standards", boys are not supposed to show any kind of emotion besides lust, anger, or both. If you feel sad and/or cry, you're called a "wuss" and teased mercilessly. You know what, now I want to walk into Toys'R'Us and pick up a big stack of these sets. Who wants to bet I'd be called a pervert at least once by the time I made it to the car, or at least thrown a dirty look?

OOC: No problem. I'm going to be travelling all day tomorrow, so until I reappear same proxy deal as last time: Kadabra, K-nut if Kadabra's not online, Volcanicpanic if none of the above are online.

"Agreed." Arthur follows the other heroes to the forest. OOC: Let's all make more bold choices, shall we?

Heroica has a lot of LotR vibes. People probably came to the site for LotR and decided to look at us because of that and because we're a forum game. Best of both worlds.

Let's not forget the whole Lego Universe closing fiasco. *shuts up about that topic before I end up in an off-topic flame rage* Honestly, I have nothing against Friends, heck, I'll probably pick up some of the sets for the awesome parts (purple tools, anyone?). Making a "girly" toy is not a bad thing, the problem I see is that there's no balance. City needs more "girly" colors and more female minifigs (though Lego has been making progress in that regard compared to a few years ago), and Friends needs some men, and some sets that aren't quite so over-the-top pink and purple. Balance is the key. The world is not completely feminine (like the Friends sets' world seems to be), but it's not completely masculine either. And, if this line is really intended to draw more girls into Lego in general, why not blur the lines a bit? Just my two cents.

Welcome to Eurobricks! I'm pretty new here, too, but Once you get acclimated this place is LOADS of fun. My first step of advice is for you to post an introduction topic in the Hello! My name is... forum. You'll increase your post count towards the magic number 10, and you'll meet lots of friendly members (like Bricksandparts and me) just waiting to welcome you to Eurobricks! I'd also advise taking a look at some of the general discussion topics. Right now, the big ones seem to be the discussion of Lego Lord of the Rings (yay!) and Ninjago 2012 (double yay! ). If you like commenting on amazing models by other builders, there are two custom-built "advent calendars" by two of our very own Heroica players: Brickdoctor's LDD Star Wars Advent Calendar Remix and Bricksandparts' Heroica Advent Calendar. Overall, look around, have fun, and don't be afraid to speak your opinion, and you'll be on your way to joining Heroica.

"We need that wood, and I don't think there's anywhere else in the fort to explore. Unless you want to finish the catapult first?"

So why host Quests set in sunny, temperate regions and deserts? Why not host Quests set in dark, icy caves far to the North?