Hinckley

In regards to my new title, Z, I'm much more than just a buttress man.

There are Technic pieces in Friends sets. Haven't you read my reviews?

As the gothic period progressed they made their flying buttresses crazier and crazier as if to say "look how much this not-wall, can be a not-wall and how much light we can get through it in interesting patterns!" For example, Chartres: As for making everything exactly to the rules, obviously that's not necessary when you're the creator of something. I certainly encourage creativity. For example, gothic architects didn't always stick to the rules. Gothic Flamboyant is one example. But, if you're going to create a gothic cathedral (and Martin, I feel you understand this, I'm just pre-arguing against anyone who thinks I'm giving too specific advice), you should know why everything in a gothic cathedral exists (which Martin, you seem to). Why are there westwerck towers, why are the arches pointed, why is the ambulatory round? Actually, that reminds me, will you have a cloister? But, make whatever shape you want. Break the rules, but you should know the rules first before you break them. Having flying buttresses come off the front of the building would be fine, but if they're buttressing a wall that isn't full of windows, it doesn't make much sense. Learning why architecture that exists is the way it is can really lead to a clearer path for your creativity. Oh, and the gothic architects in Germany were obsessed with the flying buttress, so relative to the Italy, France and the UK, the buttresses will be significantly different. Colognes buttresses are likely a bit nutty just because the German architects loved their buttresses.

If they were windows it would be wildly inappropriate. As they are now, they look to me like windows. That portion of the facade should have some lancet windows in it. Flying buttresses would transverse the nave. The entrance to the church is the narthex. You can use flying buttresses on the narthex, but that's not common in Gothic architecture. They generally had compound buttressing. If you use flying buttresses on the narthex, they should be outside the buttresses that are transversing the nave. The purpose of the buttressing is to support the wall in order for it to support the stone roof, yet let as much light in through the stain glass windows as possible. Look up Gothic Lux Nova. The facade outside the narthex should rise (for about three registers of large open lancet windows –with full pointed arches– and there should be a false gallery on top) before two ornate and hollow westwerck towers rise above that. The flying buttresses would go over the aisles (which run along the nave) and not touch the facade of the narthex. Right now it looks like the buttressing is part of the facade and that is not how they built Gothic cathedrals.

My only suggestion is that you look up a bit about gothic churches. Right now, it looks like you plan to go from the facade to the apse. Gothic churches have a nave and transept that form a cross. There are normally Westwerck towers and rose and oculus windows and false levels with sculpture programs. Right now your center roof is taller than the sides. For it to be gothic, those outside towers need to be there. The big concept of gothic churches was letting as much light in as possible so they were really tall and severely buttressed to support the stone roofs, yet keep the walls mostly stained glass. Will you have an ambulatory around the apse? Will you incorporate a reliquary? Flying buttresses? May I ask why you chose the half arch windows? Lancet window with the pointed arch are one of the most identifiable aspects of gothic architecture. It was the big innovation for distributing weight across distances. The compound piers at the portal are great, but keep in mind that those often also contained a sculpture program. The portals are usually recessed and become increasingly so as the era continues. The Romanesque tympanum is replace with rose windows and the sculpture program that use to sit in the tympanum ends up in the pinnacle of the recessed portal. But there's still a focus on the jamb, the trumeau and the lintel. The voussoirs are difficult in gothic architecture because they taper into the pointed roof of the portal. The pointed arches you currently have in there are awesome. I would go less conical and more square with the pinnacles. Also, the point of the centered gable roof is usually the point of a pointed barrel vault, so keep that in mind. Another aspect of gothic churches is a ribbing effect inside that made the depth of the building from the narthex to the apse seem more expansive. I hope this helps and does not come off as just pretentious, because we all know how pretentious I sound right now.

This can't be an official list. They seem rather obsessed with Tinkerbell. Don't they try to market a bunch of stuff around her? I wouldn't be surprised to see a Tinkerbell set if the rest of these do well. And who is Tiana? Oh, duh, right. The Frog Princess...

You purchase it as a seminar for your company. I know someone who used to run the seminars.

You should use this new thing, it's called Google... LEGO Serious Play

Athos brings us his take on a LEGO McDonald's happy meal, complete with a toy of their creepy mascot himself, Ronald McDonald. Athos is a prolific builder, spanning many years and many themes. This creation is particularly spell-binding in its complex building techniques, yet simple and nostalgic composition. Check it out in our Special Themes Forum.

Well, I personally consider that an ethical gray area consider Eclipse Graphics makes custom LEGO torsos, decals, stickers, etc. Perhaps you should consider a name change to not seem like you're trying to confuse people. Just a suggestion. One more suggestion: the three of you should have three separate accounts. I see no reason why all three of you need to post from one account. Thank you.

Why would you have that name if that's not your company? =/

This can't be any more brilliant. I have been trying to get this exact same feel in a creation with limited success and this is so inspiring to me. Are the walls of the second floor actually at angles to the first floor? I of course mean outward angles. They're obviously angled vertically. So I guess I mean I can tell they are slanted on the X and Y axis, do they angle out on the Z axis as well?

Head on over to the History Forum to check out this amazing new LEGO creation from Legonardo.

No, they didn't.

I know you! Welcome. We met at BrickWorld and recently again at the LEGO store with Adam. I was picking stuff up for a project and you were passing through on your way back from BrickCon. Thanks for joining!

Words like "<insert that tiresome argument>" or "disappointing" usually indicate bad or poorly constructed. Either way, they're not positive. And I'm simply stating my opinion. They're Disney Friends. There's going to be cross-interest from people who like both lines. The Friends sets look great. These look...OK...I wish they looked better, like the Friends sets. I still hope they will since these seem like very early preliminaries. Now I'm just repeating myself. Considering the picture of Ariel on the box, I think we'll get a new dress and hairpiece. It's really hard to judge a set by a prelim pic, since...it's not the final set.

You do realize, though, that those are Friends elements. Why are they not using the normal minifig then? They are appealing to girls the same way the Friends line does. Yes, they can appeal to younger builders, yes, there's nothing wrong with that, but they don't need to look bad or poorly constructed to appeal to younger builders, in my opinion. Why do people get so worked up over other people's opinions? Don't take it personally that I'm not crazy about them.

Considering one has a Flounder mold and another has Sebastian as just the standard red crab mold, I think these are in the early stages of development. I hope the Castle and the building in Ariel's Kiss get better. Right now they're a little...<insert that tiresome argument>?...which is disappointing since the rest of the Friends line has some very nice construction.

I thought Donald would've been a good one to keep around because he was so focused on Eva and the rest of the Town seemed suspicious that he didn't believe the investigator.

This was one reason that while I took away some of the Steampunk roles, I left the Scum pretty basic with just a kill and a blocker. In Harriet Slutter, the Town couldn't find one Scum. I thought the anonymity was an advantage to the Scum there, so I counted that as one of their tools here. Maybe my setup wasn't minimal enough or maybe this Town just did all the right things.

Tammo, your guesses as to identity aren't all correct...

Maybe if there were more vanillas, it would've been harder to verify. How did John verify Joe? The Scum was killing off the vanillas though, narrowing the field for roles. I used the same basic setup as Steampunk minus the inventors and the conversion. Oh, and of course, the vengeful spirit was switched for the one-shot vig and I removed the passive role cop. I did love the host metagaming that went on in the group PM.

I'm wondering if I set up an unbalanced game or if the Town was just able to come together really early. Regardless, the Town really kicked megablocks and took names.

They were one-shot PGOs that had to arm themselves to be effective. They weren't very likely to be effective.

Carl Andre splits in half and out crawls Pablo Picasso. “Ha!” Pablo cries, “I bet you had no idea I was inside the Carl Andre suit!” Everyone shrugs and continues eating their baked apples and wieners. “And you couldn’t kill my friends with your lousy hammer! We’re invincible!” Pablo laughs maniacally. “Alfred Jarry?” Anne Truitt guffaws, “But I stabbed you in your spleen!” “Good thing you’re not a doctor, Anne,” Jarry laughs, “That wasn’t my spleen, it was my liver. And that part of me died ages ago.” “You’re all dead already.” The host points out. “True,” Pablo admits, “But the horrors of the Minimalist movement resurrected us to exact our revenge!” “You besmirched the name of abstract art,” Jarry begins, “And you flouted the work of the Futurists! When we wrote our manifesto, we swore we would back off of the Art World when we were 40 years old, ancient and decrepit. We would no longer be able to add our ideas and influence to the art world. We told you that if we tried, we should be dragged out to the streets and burned alive!” “Were those the exact words?” Pablo asks. “Do I know?” Jarry retorts, “I didn’t write it and I barely skimmed it between drinks." “OK, carry on,” Pablo answers. “Thanks,” Jarry continues, “But your ideas suck! Why did we pave the way for crap like Jo Baer’s tiny arcs of color?” “I think my tiny arcs are classy!” Jo Baer cries. John McCracken tries to comfort her. “Don’t touch me, John.” Jo pulls away. “So, why is Genghis Khan here?” Brice Marden asks. “He’s a painter, isn’t he?” Jarry asks. “He told us he was.” Pablo answers, defensively. “He told us he was a contemporary of Jackson Pollock!” Jarry adds. “Um…” Genghis mumbles, “I just liked the idea of being resurrected and killing people.” “I wondered what kind of art you could make with a sword,” Pablo scolds. “Metzger used the acid and nylon” Khan defends himself. “Well, du guys can be the angry and all, but we won. You’re all dead again.” Eva Hesse explains. “That’s true,” says the host, “Back to hell with the three of you.” “Can’t we please stay?” Pablo asks, “We promise to be nice and not to kill anyone. We’ll just stay and paint and all be friends.” “Oh, all right,” the host concedes. “Genghis Khan, did you just behead Alfred Jarry?” The host asks. “I am not thinking so…” Genghis answers. Congratulations Town: Anne Truitt, Brice Marden, Ellsworth Kelly, Eva Hesse, Jo Baer, John McCracken, and of course the dead Town: Sol LeWitt, Tony Smith, Frank Stella and Donald Judd. Good game, everyone! Thanks to everyone for playing and to TrumpetKing for co-hosting. Winners! (6) Anne Truitt, Female, one-shot Vigilante Brice Marden, Male, one-shot Paranoid Gun Owner, Prankster Ellsworth Kelly, Male, Investigator Eva Hesse, Female Jo Baer, Female, Protector John McCracken, Male The Dead Sol Lewitt, Male, murdered Night One, Town Tony Smith, Male, lynched Day Two, Town, one-shot Paranoid Gun Owner Frank Stella, Male, murdered Night Two, Town, two-shot Watcher Dan Flavin, Male, lynched Day Three, Scum Killer Donald Judd, Male, murdered Night Three, Town, two-shot Blocker Robert Mangold, Male, murdered Night Three, Scum Killer Carl Andre, Male, lynched Day Four, Scum Blocker Non-playing Characters Host, Male, played by Hinckley Co-Host, Male, played by TrumpetKing Objective: The Scum win when they have outnumbered the Town. The Town wins when all of the Scum are dead. The Rules: You may not reveal or pretend to reveal your true identity throughout the course of the game. Doing so will result in the immediate death of your character. Likewise, be extra certain you do not post in the game as your real Eurobricks identity. If this gives away which character you are playing, this rule will be applied to that action. Each player will be given a character to play, who will be aligned with either the Town or the Scum. To win the game, the Town must kill off all of the Town, while the Scum must outnumber the Town. Each day you will be able to vote to lynch a player. Voting should be done in the following format only; Vote: Character. Similarly, unvoting is to be done in this format only; Unvote: Character. No other format will be accepted. You may also proxy your vote to another player, using this format; proxy: Character. Naturally, unproxying a vote is also possible. The player with the most votes is lynched. In the case of a tie, there will be no lynch. A game day will last a maximum of 72 hours. You may not vote in the first 24 hours. The day will not end when a majority vote has been reached. If there is time left, a majority vote can be over-turned. After the day has concluded, a night stage will commence, which will last a maximum of 24 hours, unless otherwise noted. Night actions must be sent to the host in the first 20 hours of the night stage, or they will not be accepted, no exceptions. The alignment of lynched players, as well as those that died during the night, will be revealed at the beginning of the next day. You may not quote or pretend to quote anything sent to or from you in PM with the game host. This includes all the details and pictures of your character and role, as well as any night action results. Role claims and reporting of night action results are acceptable, but in your own words only. Do not attempt to use the structure of your role PM to your advantage. You may not quote PMs from or to other players. Paraphrasing is allowed but no direct quoting. Please refrain from quoting PMs in the game threads and in private. Do not play the game outside the thread. Similarly, do not post out of character inside the thread. Game tactics and roles may only be discussed in the game thread or via PM with other players. Private discussion is done at your own risk and should be treated as part of the game. If you are dead, you may not post in thread or discuss the game with any of the players. Any information you had becomes void, and may not be passed on. Violation of this rule will result in a multiple game suspension. You may not edit your posts. You must post in every day thread. You must vote in every day thread. If you have a Night Action, you are required to use it every night, unless otherwise noted. If you have a Night Action, you may not target the same player on three consecutive nights. If you encounter a problem or have a question, please contact the host or co-host via PM. Please please please use only the confirmation PM sent to you to communicate with the hosts if you can. Violation of the above rules will result in a penalty of one vote per every four living players (1/4 of the active players list) on the first violation and replacement by another player on the second. If you verbally abuse another player (definition of abuse will be left up to the game hosts and games moderator), you will be removed from the game and never asked to play one of my games again. Don't be a dick. Some additional guidelines, although they are not rules that will incur penalties if you don't follow them: The pictures may or may not contain clues. They most likely do not, but look all you want. Wildly speculate. It's fun. Using acronyms, especially tl;dr, or any 7334 speak will cause major trouble for your character, perhaps even instant death. Roleplaying is a good thing and it is encouraged in this game. You are all playing real people so google your name and have some fun. You have all been sent a role PM in this format: Role PMs: Scum Town A word of advice for the future of playing anonymous games: Don't talk about people behind their backs in a group PM. You never know when you might be talking to the person you're talking about. So, why do you think the contributing factors were to the Town victory in just four game days? I think perhaps the balance favored the Town. When I saw Ellsworth Kelly say that there were only two players that hadn't been confirmed, I thought perhaps I had given the Town too many tools to confirm with. I'm wondering how the entire Town was "confirmed" at that point. However, I also think the Scum made some questionable choices. I'm at least curious to hear why the targets were chosen for block and kill the first couple of days. To me, the kills almost seemed like the strategy of a Serial Killer. And blocking Donald Judd twice was also an interesting choice. Reveal your true identity if you'd like! I'm interested to hear what everyone thought of this game. I don't plan on hosting again until I have my hands on real bricks. Also, trying to juggle this with full time work and full time school was an interesting experiment in and of itself. I don't think I did horribly, but was late twice in four game days and that's not much like me as a host.