Historical stimulus package

[Ogre]

I agree that we can't have too many factions, because then it would get clustered and confused, but why not have factions that can encompass many actual teams

for example

Royal Faction (Lion Knights, Crusaders, Crown Knights, ect.)

Dragon Faction (Dragon Knights, Black Knighst, Dragon Masters, ect)

Outlaw Faction (Wolfpack, Forestmen, Bull Knights, ect.)

Evil Faction (Trolls, Fright Knights, Skelentons, ect.)

This is just a rough idea and the actual names and where groups go could be easily changed; but I think it could work every one could include their fav group in it with out everyone splitting up.

and it also works very similar to how alot of us collect lego, sure I have modern Lion Knights, but I have used them in Moc's with some old Crusaders, so why not put them together?

As long as the factions link together in some reasonable sense I can't see the biggest problem, still we might have people demanding that some faction be moved (bull knights to evil for example) which could make things very complicated.

For me though, if we don't have some of the older sets (Black Falcon, Forestmen), it dosen't feel like LEGO.

Just an idea

I quite agree.

For me, the 'old' castle sets are just as important as the new.

Some good ideas being thrown around about things we can do...

But I think people are thinking a bit too much 'end game' - and not the actual journey.

The end result is likely to have a massive collection of mocs and everyone parked into a 'guild' or something that they enjoy building and expanding upon (at least that seems to be the current thought)

but we forget the best part: GETTING THERE.

Who says we have to all break off into each separate guild right from the get go?

I'd rather see a year long (longer?) where the entire group effort is focused on designing and build up each guild - and then when we're done have people continue on with building in that particular 'guild' that they enjoy

I would love to see something like every 2-3 months we have a one or two 'guilds' that everyone builds towards - working together as a community to try to define and develop a new EB archetype style for each group. Then move on to another guild - that way every LEGO theme will be hit, and everyone will get a chance to help build/discuss/input on each theme.

Interesting.

Careful MOCster...you just might end up leaving spaceships for castles. *g*

To pick up where others have left off in terms of the faction split I would say the following 4 major guilds should be made, each with its own unique tag, style of building and faction associations:(These are just rough ideas, mind you)

1) Alliance of the Kingdoms of Men

Factions include: Lion Knights, Dragon Knights, Black Knights, Crusaders, Crown Knights, and Falcons

2) The Rogues' Guild:

Factions Include: Forest Men, Wolf Pack, Dragon Knights, Bulls Knights, any personally made adventurer(Coat of arms is not necessary)

3) The Arcane Kingdoms:

Factions: Dwarves, Elves (Series 3) and other archaic/ mystic races that people may wish to introduce that have origins rooted in fantasy

4) The Forces of Darkness:

Factions: Trolls, Undead, Other evil creatures, and self-designed faction of corrupted baddies.

Well, there you go; my proposal; nothing is set in stone, but this is the rough idea. If it gathers more traction, I will desing some more Lego-appropriate symbols, buildings etc, to serve as examples of possible architecture/pis/factions. I think this distribution can encompass everyone's favorite faction and give the opportunity of builders to expand into areas not previously explored in MOC'ing.

Let me Know what you think!

I like it!

A second suggestion is the possibility of joining a builder's guild. We could have four or so separate guilds with different members. Members would earn points for their guild for posting MOCs, reviews, tutorials and participating in contests. These points would go towards building their guild's reputation (possibly represented in the form of tags). This sort of competitiveness would probably help generate some more traffic on the forum as members work to help their guild stand out from the others.

Anyhow, I really look forward to seeing where this goes. So far it looks like the beginning of something big.

I like this idea.

I've noticed that 'competition' seems to draw out the best in the builders here on EB and something 'guild-based' would be really nice, because it would be ongoing, versus a 'limited-time' build like most contests are.

Edited November 6, 2011 by Ogre

[Derfel Cadarn]

That's a great idea, everyone has flags and if not, they are cheap and easy to get hold of. Plus having a personal colourscheme for each guild is a great way for adding a bit of colour into the mocs. For example, if one guild has a dark green and gold flag, they could use these colours in subtle ways on the mocs like dark green doors or window shutters etc. It will make our lands stand out.

[Ogre]

At this stage I think we will look to start out with a Castle guild set up and branch into other themes from time to time to 'flex our muscles' somewhat.

Sound good people?

Sounds good.

[Thrash]

I think that each guild should have to work together to come up with a cohesive set of MOCs that make up their Guild’s Kingdom. There would be five categories, each containing a few required structures just so that there is some continuity and then also some structures that are left up to each guild’s imagination. For example, each Guild needs a barracks, but each guild also requires some other military structures based on how the Guild likes to battle. For example, one guild might want to have a strong cavalry so they build Stables, while another might want to have a powerful group of wizards fighting for them that are trained at an Arcane Training Ground.

At the end of the build (maybe 6 months from now), each Guild will submit one of each required structure for judging by the community. If more than one person in a guild wants to build a particular structure, the guild can have a mini-competition within the guild to choose which MOC they want to submit for judging for that particular structure.

To keep the voting simple, we could just have 5 voting threads, one for each category (Military, Defense, Civilian, Resources, Nobility).

Here are the ideas I had for what structures are required:

Military

Barracks

Special Military Building 1 - (Archery Range, Stables, Siege Factory, Alchemy/Tech Lab, Dragon Roost, Arcane Training Ground, etc.)

Special Military Building 2

Army Figures – General, Infantry, Standard Bearer, Special Military 1, Special Military 2

Defense

Main Gate

Wall

Tower

Outpost

Civilian

Tavern

Religious Building – (Chapel, Temple, Shrine, Sacrifice Altar, etc.)

Entertainment – (Gladiator Pit, Jousting Arena, Chariot Racing, Public Execution, etc.)

Artisan 1 – (Bakery, Butcher, Fish Market, Mason, Painter, Pottery Maker, Torturer, etc.)

Artisan 2

Resources

Water Supply - (Well, Stream, River, Spring, etc.)

Food Supply - (Farm, Hunting Lodge, Fishing Dock, etc.)

Special Resource 1 – (Stone, Iron Ore, Magic Crystals, Oil, Wood, etc.)

Special Resource 2

Nobility

Throne Room

Feast Hall

Castle Room 1 – (Kitchen, Jester’s Quarters, War Room, Treasury, Dungeon, Torture Room, Princess’ Chamber, etc.)

Castle Room 2

I think that people should be able to sign up for guilds based on what theme they want to build in. It simply won’t work if we have a guild where half the people want it to be strictly historical and half the people want it to be filled with magic.

To prevent us from just ending up with four normal medieval towns, I’ve come up with these four categories. I think that they will make us end up with 4 really cool, distinct guilds.

Faction Ideas

West - Historic Medieval Europe (No Magic)

North – Snowy Setting, Vikings, Dwarves

South – Desert Setting, Persians, Dragons

East – Evil Fantasy, Trolls, Skeletons, etc.

To make the competition a bit more fun, I’d be happy to donate some BrickWarriors castle themed accessories as prizes for members of the winning guild.

What does everyone think?

[Lordofdragonss]

I agree that the 'old' castle sets are just as important as the new. It seems that "Kingdoms of Men-Rogues-Arcane-Darkness" option wins now, so I approve the Sirens-Of-Titans list but new Dragons fraction should be good, it nicely mix with rest of "man" list.

[Si-MOCs]

I think that each guild should have to work together to come up with a cohesive set of MOCs that make up their Guild’s Kingdom. There would be five categories, each containing a few required structures just so that there is some continuity and then also some structures that are left up to each guild’s imagination. For example, each Guild needs a barracks, but each guild also requires some other military structures based on how the Guild likes to battle. For example, one guild might want to have a strong cavalry so they build Stables, while another might want to have a powerful group of wizards fighting for them that are trained at an Arcane Training Ground.

At the end of the build (maybe 6 months from now), each Guild will submit one of each required structure for judging by the community. If more than one person in a guild wants to build a particular structure, the guild can have a mini-competition within the guild to choose which MOC they want to submit for judging for that particular structure.

To keep the voting simple, we could just have 5 voting threads, one for each category (Military, Defense, Civilian, Resources, Nobility).

<snip>

To make the competition a bit more fun, I’d be happy to donate some BrickWarriors castle themed accessories as prizes for members of the winning guild.

What does everyone think?

I think that's a great idea - and one that we can replicate and rework every cycle. Formation of guild - and set up and build up each guild - or Realm - new backstories, new idea, new flags - it'll be jolly good fun. It'd almost be like a group CCC contest.

Though this can be done generically - like current proposals - or maybe at one cycle we can do sign up* for particular LEGO themes (as there seems to be some interest there) and do the same thing!

*though this would likely result in pretty uneven guild distributions in terms of numbers - it might be an interesting experiment as the smaller and 'less popular' guilds might have the advantage of small closer nit group of motivated builders to take down the big guilds :D

That's mighty generous of you Thrash, I think this will be already tons of fun, so additional of some prizes would make it funner (yes I know it's not a real word)!

[Brickdoctor]

I agree that the 'old' castle sets are just as important as the new. It seems that "Kingdoms of Men-Rogues-Arcane-Darkness" option wins now, so I approve the Sirens-Of-Titans list but new Dragons fraction should be good, it nicely mix with rest of "man" list.

The Lions and Dragons should be kept separate, though, because otherwise their guild would have an unfair advantage in containing both of the current, easily obtained factions.

[Waterbrick Down]

I agree that the 'old' castle sets are just as important as the new. It seems that "Kingdoms of Men-Rogues-Arcane-Darkness" option wins now, so I approve the Sirens-Of-Titans list but new Dragons fraction should be good, it nicely mix with rest of "man" list.

I think Sirens-Of-Titans already scratched his original idea. It seems like we're still at the debate of whether these guilds are going to be theme based. It was my understanding that North-East-South-West were chosen because they are ambiguous and not theme specific and now everybody is trying to match certain themes/factions to them.

[blueandwhite]

The Lions and Dragons should be kept separate, though, because otherwise their guild would have an unfair advantage in containing both of the current, easily obtained factions.

I think it's been established that no guild will hold a monopoly over a single faction. This would be incredibly frustrating for newer builders who have a harder time amassing figures. It also limits battle scenes as guilds bicker over who has the use of a given faction. Heck, what if I'm simply interested in building a castle for the Wolf Pack and I'm stuck in the Crownie/Black Falcon Guild? As far as I'm concerned, guilds shouldn't own factions. Flags or a watermark are more than sufficient to separate the guilds.

[Brickdoctor]

I think it's been established that no guild will hold a monopoly over a single faction. This would be incredibly frustrating for newer builders who have a harder time amassing figures. It also limits battle scenes as guilds bicker over who has the use of a given faction. Heck, what if I'm simply interested in building a castle for the Wolf Pack and I'm stuck in the Crownie/Black Falcon Guild? As far as I'm concerned, guilds shouldn't own factions. Flags or a watermark are more than sufficient to separate the guilds.

Ah, I see. That makes sense. I agree with this flag idea, then.

[Fred Daniel Yam]

Exactly why we choose North, East, South and West as guild names in the beginning, to.make it neutral. Now, when do we start?

[Sirens-of-Titan]

It's good to hear the flag idea has traction!

I propose that we design 4 different flags each made by 2 color combos and at least start by splitting up evenly into those. (Whether they are called North, South East West is all the same to me, but if we do I would prefer tat they are called North Kingdom, South Kingdom, East Kingdom etc.. Just to keep the story-telling vibe to it, otherwise it will be a bit too generic.

[blueandwhite]

It's good to hear the flag idea has traction!

I propose that we design 4 different flags each made by 2 color combos and at least start by splitting up evenly into those. (Whether they are called North, South East West is all the same to me, but if we do I would prefer tat they are called North Kingdom, South Kingdom, East Kingdom etc.. Just to keep the story-telling vibe to it, otherwise it will be a bit too generic.

While the four guilds occupy lands in the North, East South and West, I suggest that the first order of business for each guild would be to create their own name. For example, Lion-dore of the East, Orclepuff of the West, etc. Similarly, the guilds could name the four nations to make things a bit more interesting.

Right now what we really need are four guild masters; preferably members who will oversee the actions of their guild, ensuring that guild activities are regularly updated. Perhaps ISC can get a guild master nomination thread going soon. The other suggestion I have is to setup a guilds sub forum. Each guild could then have a pinned thread for guild discussion with news and updates being posted by the guild master when appropriate.

[Waterbrick Down]

I think it's been established that no guild will hold a monopoly over a single faction. This would be incredibly frustrating for newer builders who have a harder time amassing figures. It also limits battle scenes as guilds bicker over who has the use of a given faction. Heck, what if I'm simply interested in building a castle for the Wolf Pack and I'm stuck in the Crownie/Black Falcon Guild? As far as I'm concerned, guilds shouldn't own factions. Flags or a watermark are more than sufficient to separate the guilds.

I agree the teams should be ambiguous as far as themes. But addressing your stuck problem if we did choose theme specific guilds, this would be solved if we allowed people to choose what faction/themed guild they wanted to be part of. However certain areas would definately be in the minority, additionally this choice may serve to split the community into multitudes of smaller sub groups i.e. red vs. blues.

Edited November 6, 2011 by Waterbrick Down

[I Scream Clone]

I like the idea of seasonal temperature zones, this way any characters can exist in said regions.

So with this, and adding to the North South Easy West idea of Frozen North, Hot South, Darklands East, Greenery West

This will allow all members to work in whatever characters they want. The Guilds will have a two colour standard/flag and with this out of the way I can start placing people in to the guilds.

Even if you end up in the Icy or Sandy N or S, you can still use green baseplates, just be aware of the subtle weather differences in each as well, after all all the guilds will have neighboring lands with each other so they can all have trees etc.

i am about to PM 3 potential guild leaders, and then we can move forward and start the ball rolling.

Thanks SI, Sirens and Thrash for the massive ideas base to start from, and of course to B&W, and the rest of the guys for their thoughts as well.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Im tempted to go renegade, form a forbidden 5th guild marked by a black flag, build my land, raise an army and then take over all the other guild's land! Bring it on!!!

[I Scream Clone]

Im tempted to go renegade, form a forbidden 5th guild marked by a black flag, build my land, raise an army and then take over all the other guild's land! Bring it on!!!

It would be cool to 'poach' people from other guilds time to time to build in the rogue guild Lets see if renegade bands spring up later on attempting this, like forming a quest group

[Si-MOCs]

Im tempted to go renegade, form a forbidden 5th guild marked by a black flag, build my land, raise an army and then take over all the other guild's land! Bring it on!!!

Or perhaps instead of having your own land... the Black Guild will be a fifth faction that builds little hideouts/strongholds in each of the 4 areas...

It could very well be one of the hardest guilds to be in - as you'd want to replicate what the each guild is doing- so it 'fits' into each realm their setting up - while keeping it black ;)

very exciting!

Edit - or perhaps the The Black Guild (for lack of better name at the moment) is actually made up of someone in the Guild that they are squating in.

EG if I'm in the Lion-Dor Guild - and I get slightly bored of building 'stock' Lion-Dor buildings, I hop over to the Dark side and build a little Black smuggling post in my realm.

In essence everyone can be in the 5th Guild.

Edited November 6, 2011 by SI-mocs

[jamzee]

Hi I Scream Clone

Seconds of background, my brother got the Yellow Castle 375 a Christmas in the late 70's, I've just got my first LEGO Castle in with the superb current King's Castle and am really keen to reach out to other Castle fans, finding out what what we enjoy, are looking for and am keen to start an adventure!

Apologies in advance if not appropriate to post on this one, just so keen to meet and link up with likeminded folk!

Edited November 6, 2011 by jamzee

[I Scream Clone]

Hi I Scream Clone

Seconds of background, my brother got the Yellow Castle 375 a Christmas in the late 70's, I've just got my first LEGO Castle in with the superb current King's Castle and am really keen to reach out to other Castle fans, finding out what what we enjoy, are looking for and am keen to start an adventure!

Apologies in advance if not appropriate to post on this one, just so keen to meet and link up with likeminded folk!

Welcome to the conversation, lots to read through on the entire History forum, take a look around, comment on what you like, post your own reviews MOCs etc.

Guild leaders have been chosen, head over to the first post in the sign up thread.

[Dr Rod]

The flag combo idea is great and affordable by all.

I also think the idea of the renegades or freelancers is good, spice things up with some border infringement issues... So if a dark faction builds a fort in the "good" region, the good guys could then build a fort next to it and battles could be fought and won, borders may shift. This has great potential to evolve into something original and awesome over time (years?..) There would need to be some form of overall adjudication of battles though if we went down this path...

I have been wanting to build an abandoned and derelict dragons outpost for a while, a good example of how buildings from one guild could be built and located in another guild's area.

Dr Rod

[Angeli]

Four guilds with four leaders. It would be fun if they were oriented to some point that does not define them as good and evil, but like this: one is arcane, second spiritual, third might and fourth is technological. They are all using swords, but might have these really big ones :) Arcane imbued with magic, spiritual blessed ones and technical. Well... really sharp ones? :) They all have magic, but mighty one have animal spirits and earth bending magic, like earthquakes, Arcane ones a lot of sparkly one and technical could use wand with gear ;) siege machinery? All have them, but mighty ones are REALLY BIG, technological have a lot of gear on it, and arcane are powered by crystals, for example

The point is that each member can build in direction that he likes, end then decide will he bring peace to the land, or his own ruling, if he can conquer it :) and, member can also choose if he will build wizards or warriors, just flare it up a little with its guilds properties. And, like someone sad, I am one step away for contacting lego to build me a flag from trans neon green, pair it up with red, arm to the teeth and start conquering the land - Dark elves need a lot of slaves, you know :)

Each member could have a guild sigfig, and incorporate it in his (hers:)) mocs. Each member could, if he (she) likes think up a story of his sigfig history, and post it, it could be interesting. Each member could start as a footmen (or peasant or apprentice) and work his way up with mocs (and/or points), and earn his lordmanship :) If we are all playing good, we could take care of each other, not to get carried away, and this whole game can stay a game :)

I like idea with points and competition, and each guild should have its own color, and part of the map that has been ruled by it should have (90%) opaque layer of that color - and if other guild expands, its color takes over. VERY opaque layer of color, barely visible, but visible

And at one point, if this goes to life, fifth guild should emerge, cold, icy and dark, but more about it later ;)

Each guild could organize one challenge or competition in some time interval, with its own members rules and prizes, and members of the guilds could have duels, with limited time building, or usage of the part, or something else (highest 32x32 tower or bluest soldier in the army:))

If sigfigs are generic enough we could make them and make visitations to our castles, stories and other fun stuff

[Waterbrick Down]

I think I'd like to join the Eastern Darklands. It should be lots of fun to get to be the evil guild!

Just a clarifying question now that the guild names/semi-descriptions have been made, just because we choose a certain location doesn't necessarily limit us on what faction/theme we choose to build in correct, i.e. I could join the Eastern Darklands but still build with the Crownie faction correct? The guild name only defines the geographaphical style of each team not necessarily the inhabitents of the land?

[I Scream Clone]

The guild name only defines the geographaphical style of each team not necessarily the inhabitents of the land?

Bingo, couldn't have said it better myself.

[Etzel]

Here are some suggestions on flags for the different guilds:

North: Blue and White

West: Green and White

South: Red and Gold

East: Black and Dark red

North: Dark green and White

West: Dark blue and Gold

South: Yellow and Green

East: Sand green and Red

North: Red and White

West: Yellow and Blue

South: Green and Red

East: Black and Yellow

When I look at them now I realize that the option I would like most is not there. It would be the third option but change South to Yellow and Green and East to Black and Red. Anyway, I guess everyone will have different opinions about this so maybe the Guild leaders should choose by themselves.