ZCerberus

The main issue is establishing order. What has happened is we get one participant from time to time who tries to insert themselves as a leader or "force" and attempts to rebuild everything in their own vision. What I don't want is an inexperienced leader to get "rolled" by such a personality, especially since only EB staff can run contests etc. This is especially true in Varlyrio since it is fresh, but the builders no longer are. We also have some fear that Varlyrio's location and the unknown may have a leader who may take it out of medieval times and into an era we aren't ready to enter yet. This means a little more hands on may be required. Leadership has changed through a few different forces. The first has been Lieutenants that step up when the leader's interest fades. This has happened several times. The second is by winning a story challenge- that gets you noticed and often leads to discussions about interest. See the final challenge of both Book I and Book II, which may give you a hint on who may be available to lead a certain guild now. The third is being an established leader or organizer- which may or may not include a lot of building. However, there is also guild specific issue here as Narb is in Avalonia which already appears to have a path to succession and Varlyrio also appears to have people in place with experience in running a guild or other "games" here on EB. The process isn't meant to be secret- yet we need to ensure people can influence their guild and the larger lore only to the extent it doesn't create a closed environment where one builder has taken the reigns and made it no fun for anyone any longer. We try to seek out leaders and staff members who understand and promote this idea. Perhaps I am wrong, but I feel the leaders have used ideas and lore created in the guilds and brought them into the main story line in fun ways. The Civil War of Book II was a direct result of the story challenge that ended Book I- Book II brought in ideas and characters that were created by people without leadership roles. The Drow, Varlyrio, the Algus, the free city structure in Kaliphlin, the Desert King- none of that existed when the stories started, yet they made it into the main story thread because of the superb work of the Guild membership. Look at how Rogue used the entries for the Avalonian Civil war to announce the results or how we tried a completely different game mechanic for Kali's war. We have a new Queen now- not because the leaders choose that, but because they left threads in the story line and asked them to be pulled. Not only did someone pull them, he also consulted the "second place" story to create a super entry into the lore. We think this is what makes Historica fun and perhaps chaos would not happen if we loosen the reigns- who knows- perhaps it would be even better- but we aren't quite to the point where we are willing to let them loose just yet. We hope the story and environments are fun here and will stay that way. What is clear right now is we need to liven up the leadership and there are certain people who have shown what we think we need in each guild, and we're willing to give it all a spin and see what happens. If it doesn't jive we'll adjust. Perhaps the adjustment is a more pure democracy for leader election and maybe that will happen at some point- but for now, there are reasons to take the approach we are trying now. Sit tight- I think everyone will enjoy hearing the exciting developments we've been working hard to make.

Thank you for the interest, but I have special concerns with opening a guild that isn't as established as the others and the leadership there would need to be someone with experience as a leader already for me to be comfortable. I actually think we're fairly settled on leaders in the background with some exciting changes.

Not yet known. Working on it now.

Right- it’s what we grapple with. What we want to avoid is a bully stomping on everything and ruining the community and making everything theirs. For this reason we’ve tried to keep a master storyline that can be influenced by the community. The important part is keeping a framework to prevent radical change outside final challenges. That hasn’t stopped the community from keeping their realms interesting and eventful. Being a guild leader isn’t all butterflies and rainbows. There’s work and time involved as well. We have actually shifted leaders fully from the start once- and now we’re looking to do more enhancements. Book I looked like this: Avalonia- DC until challenge 3ish then ZC in the bakground as DC retired to pursue other interests. Kaliphlin- Si-MOCs Mitgardia- Sirens-of-Titan- retired for career purposes, replaced by Ecc Nocturnus- IScreamClone support from Taz Then ISC retired from Mod Book II Avalonia- RogueAngel Kaliphlin- Ska Mitgardia- Ecc support from kabel Nocturnus- ZC support from Mass Editor Mods changed to Ecc and ZC. Regulator changed to kabel Book III Avalonia- Rogue... Lieutenant- HQ Kaliphlin- Ska... Lieutenant- pending Mitgardia- Soccerkid6... Lieutenant- Ecc Varlyrio- ?? Lieutenant- ?? Nocturnus- ?? Lieutenant- ?? Mods Ecc and ZC. ZC to consult and Lieutenant guild if needed.

Well we kept track of the gold and it was a sense of pride if nothing else in Book I. It also gave a fun sense of rivalry and funny and light spirited teasing. Book II used your guild allegiance as choice designation for the wars in each guild. Book III will likely have some impact as well, though how- Book I style? something else?... we’ll see. We also need to keep you guys interested- we seemed to have some good response to making Varlyrio playable, but so merging has to give in terms of managing it. Like an RTS expansion- sometimes one side isn’t included as to make it fresh. Just a thought we’re having here. Leadershipwise we are looking to give each Guild a leader and a Lieutenant with your mods as the more behind the scenes leaders. It’s all subject to change.

Agreed on all points and it is in process. We are looking to implement this structure more or less now.

If we had similar interest in all five, I would think so- but Nocty was least populous in Books I and II. It has lots of potential, but alas we have few stalwarts there. I also think the balance works best with four guilds. It is just something we are seriously floating to see what happens. We also have to consider leadership takes energy- more than we would care to admit, so having more than four guilds is challenging.

I really appreciate the teamwork and sportsmanship that was shown here. What a great way to make this happen. I also appreciate the threads that were left to be tugged. And I think it is about time to yank them...

Good thing I didn't say which year...

The reborn Lord Trian Burress has retaken his home in... Mesodraconem, AVALONIA! I also don't see a need to be too sketchy here- we are investigating closing Nocturnus as playable and opening the fifth guild in that islandy region for play. This doesn't mean Nocty won't be important or anything is going to happen to it's history or existence, it is just possibly going to take a vacation to add a little more energy.

Since it is clear you boys are struggling so much...

Must be rough being related to someone so talented.

Must be rough to be related to someone so talented.

Stood up by CM & Hinck... cause I was. No man date, no goat boat. Shameful. Really shameful.

Super Accelades to @Captain Nemofor the idea, sketches, and running the forum for this year’s collab! 18 Best Group Layout Trophies thanks in large part to your efforts! Three cheers for Nemo! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Lots of talent in the builds, but I am most proud we do it with fun, original ideas and minimal ego.

This building and several of the ships and ground vehicles were built starting in February and ending in June for BrickWorld. I did need to order a number of dark bluish gray panels to complete the landscaping.

I think it takes a mod or regulator to do that...

Super cute dude. Love it.

Mara Mining Station H17 Features: Over 100 lights Working turbolift. Rotating exhaust fans and satellite dish. Landing pads for ten ships. Garage bays for six ground vehicles. Mara Station H17 is situated on the planet L’imearn Main, a desolate planet with rich deposits of an iridescent mineral, Coredium, used in the production of several energy based technologies. Coredium is a stable mineral meaning that while iridescent, the ground upon which Mara Station is built is solid. Mining Coredium involves drilling a hole in the planet’s crust followed by exposing the Coredium to a solution (the formula for the solution is a company secret) that liquefies the Coredium causing it to expand and bubble up to the surface where it can be more readily collected. One of the greatest benefits of using Coredium is that upon liquefaction, Coredium needs no other processing in order to achieve a usable state. Furthering the uniqueness of this mining operation, the Coredium “mines” have be created by simply adding the solution to existing craters on the planet’s surface. Mara Station H17 was initially built as a research station consisting solely of the garage bays and associated landing pads on the west end of the current structure before the current mining process was perfected. The larger garage bays on the northern side of the structure housed the research laboratory while the smaller garage bays on the south side housed Moondogs used to scout the surface and bring mobile drilling rigs into the field. Upon discovering an important use for Coredium and a method to successfully mine the mineral, Mara station quickly expanded by adding a larger research facility to the old research station as well as multiple new land pads used to ship out mined Coredium. Mara Station also quickly became a popular target for Blacktron raids. The constant Blacktron raids led to the placement of three Peacemaker SAM sites as well as a permanent garrison of fighters at the station. View from the left side: There first two photos I took just last month while this MOC was on display at BrickMania ToyWorks in Minneapolis, MN. The original display, however, was built for BrickWorld, Chicago. Here is the backside of the base from the display at BW. Gives you a sense of where the cargo landing pads that lie on the backside of this base, a clear shot of which I couldn't get at Brickmania: Speaking of the 100+ lights- here are a few shots while this was on display at BrickWorld: I am pretty sure one of my personal space heroes, @Si-MOCs took this picture! Spot a ship or build you like? Here are some links to some of the various models that appear on this build: Ground Vehicles: LL928 M.C.V.P Maverick LL928 M.C.V.P U.V.P* MoonDog Ranger 4 Landing pads above the garages on west end: LL951 Blue Jacket LL214 Wasp LL1220 Dragon Hunter LL302 Hornet 1 Landing pad on top of base: LL929 Galaxy Explorer* 3 Landing pads on east side of base: LL165 Locust (x2) LL428 Monarch 2 Landing pads on back of base: LL330 Grasshopper LL330 Grasshopper-D variant* *Looks like I have a couple that haven't made it on EB yet. I will have to add those soon.

Thanks Bob! I know I am not the most active EBer, but 0 comments was getting my microscale heart down!

Thanks everyone. This was my first attempt at something in the microscale realm and my first attempt to build a SHIP.

Good work Z, I like this ship. Thanks Z, I appreciate it. No problem Z, I thought this build deserved at least one comment. Thanks Z. You're welcome man.

I also agree on cheese slopes and SNOT, but I would also recommend lots of clips and bars!!

Great work as always Bob!

Forge Class Battle Frigate Name: LL424 Aura Length: 212 meters Armament: Falconer missile pod (1) Centurion anti-cruiser main laser cannon (1) Peacekeeper long range orbital bombardment cannon (1) Ion burst cannons (1) Heavy laser turrets (3) Medium laser turret (1) Dual-link anti-fighter laser turrets (5) Quad link anti-fighter laser turrets (5) Complement: Up to 8 Warden Class Interceptors Crew: 180 Following the “Long War” era, the New Coalition settled into its new role as galactic peacekeepers. While sweeping social legislation aimed to prevent the inequality that sparked the Long War was the primary thrust of the New Coalition’s work, the Coalition also devoted a large number of resources to develop a fleet of ships that would work directly for the Center Assembly to quell disputes between member worlds and their militias as well as protect against alien invasions. The first ship to enter service in the new fleet was the LL424 “Aura”, a Forge Class (Class 9 battle-rating) Battle Frigate designed to overpower rogue hyper-planetary group cruisers and function as the primary weapons platform for the New Coalition. Forge Battle Frigates proved to be well designed for the tasks assigned as its port side “Falconer” missile pod battery and weapons turrets could easily overpower smaller pirate and planetary militant cruisers and the large port side “Centurion” primary weapon which was capable of matching and surpassing the weaponry and armor on larger class 10 cruisers or even capital ships. Despite its reputation as a workhorse, the Forge Battle Frigate was known to have a few drawbacks. The hangar bay was oft criticized as undersized, especially with the advent of the larger “Warden Class” Interceptors. Despite the relatively small confines, the Forge Battle Frigate could carry up to eight Warden Class Interceptors, (though a squadron of six Interceptors and two transport shuttles was more common). Most class 9 cruisers carried no fighter compliment at all. The Forge Battle Frigate was also criticized for the flight control and main bridge placements which rendered the heavy laser turrets incapable of firing in a complete 360 degree range. In addition, while anti-fighter gun emplacements on the cruiser meant the ship had above average protection from fighter attacks, its lack of speed meant it was not a capable “fighter hunter” and susceptible to swarming fighter attacks. In order to address this shortcoming, the cruiser was usually paired with a gunship like a Kiltrip Defender. Kiltrip Defenders, which are widely regarded as lethal fighter hunting ships, are equipped with their own faster-than-light capable engine drives, but to conserve fuel, the gunships typically docked to the docking port on the starboard side of the Forge Battle Frigate until needed. The Forge Battle Frigate also carried a single undermount Planetary “Peacekeeper” orbital bombardment cannon designed to smash fortified installations. The frigate, however, did not carry any ground assault troops, leaving such a task up to specialized assault craft. The Forge Battle Frigate was instead considered a “space superiority” ship and not an all-purpose craft, though it excelled greatly in its role. Though the frigates’s exterior was viewed as largely utilitarian, it was also built in anticipation that the crew would spend a lot of time patrolling and on peacekeeping “show of force” missions. As such, the Aura’s interior was designed with creature comforts in mind, including a unique bridge configuration featuring oversized viewports on both the main and flight bridges. These view ports, each pane of which were nearly four meters wide and nearly four meters tall, were built using Vortigan crystal, a rare and extremely strong transparent material that was stronger than the surrounding metal elements on the vessel. The Vortigan crystal is so unique that Coalition fighters and vessels are frequently salvaged solely to recover the crystal windscreens. The oversized viewports showed the beauty of space as well as offering an unprecedented view during battle. The Forge Battle Frigate also had an observation post and science station mounted on the underbelly of the craft granting a unique view as well as a place to marvel at the wonders of space. Related to Hammer Class Missile Corvette LL112 Harbinger