Guilds of Historica New Member Guide

[gedren_y]

Actually history uses a, not an, because it doesn't have a silent 'h'.

[mrcp6d]

1 hour ago, gedren_y said:

Actually history uses a, not an, because it doesn't have a silent 'h'.

gedren, is it you that is the Kaliphlinite language/English/grammar teacher in that obnoxious "real life" thing or is that @Gideon ?  Or am I completely misremembering...? 

@Jacob Nion As both an engineer and a Texan, I could be uniquely unqualified for this discussion; however, that won't stop me from chiming in and endorsing the knowledge bestowed by the "squiggly red/green/blue" lines that occasionally appear under the text when using modern versions of Microsoft Office products.  If you're seeing them, chances are pretty darn good that you've got something not right.  

[gedren_y]

As the discussion has turned to grammar, I chimed in. I try not to do so on the forums unless prompted. In high school, though, I had a habit of pointing out spelling and grammar mistakes on the boards of all but my English classes. I learned early on that mistakes there were usually part of the lesson, and if not, English teachers take those mistakes harder than others.

[Grover]

But you have the issue of "an historic event", where the H is pronounced.   Go figure.

 

I before E except after C?  What a weird society. :-D

Please understand that ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I shall not put.

[gedren_y]

Historic is fuzzier. If an is used when speaking the phrase, the 'h' in historic is usually softer spoken or dropped entirely.

[mrcp6d]

19 minutes ago, gedren_y said:

As the discussion has turned to grammar, I chimed in. I try not to do so on the forums unless prompted. In high school, though, I had a habit of pointing out spelling and grammar mistakes on the boards of all but my English classes. I learned early on that mistakes there were usually part of the lesson, and if not, English teachers take those mistakes harder than others.

I re-read my post, and realized my intended interpretation of "obnoxious" was unclear!  My apologies if offense was taken.

[gedren_y]

It's okay. The phrases I use, when read, can seem preachy. If you were to hear them spoken, the arrogance gets undercut somewhat. I've had plenty of practice in that arena.

[halixon]

8 hours ago, Lord Vladivus said:

As my mother is an English teacher, and as I'm somewhat of a grammar pedant myself, 

Grammar Warriors for the win!

[Kai NRG]

14 hours ago, gedren_y said:

Actually history uses a, not an, because it doesn't have a silent 'h'.

But in fact, I've seen it (in older formal writings) as an history.  Which to my modern ears (and to most others, probably) does sound funny.  But as the writer who used it wrote a whole book on Historiography, I'd imagine he wasn't making an unintentional mistake!

[Grover]

On an unrelated note, I have been unable to find the full history of Historica.  The Story thread has a lot of the old stuff, but, despite having links to Challenge I, only goes back to Challenge III.  Is there a place where the oldest history is kept?  If someone has a link, that would be awesome.

[Jacob Nion]

16 minutes ago, Grover said:

On an unrelated note, I have been unable to find the full history of Historica.  The Story thread has a lot of the old stuff, but, despite having links to Challenge I, only goes back to Challenge III.  Is there a place where the oldest history is kept?  If someone has a link, that would be awesome.

Are you referring to book I or the current book II? Because when you look at the topic Guilds of Historica Story and Challenge Index- Start here! (And I'm sure you have seen this thread) and scroll down a bit to second and third post, you will find the complete written story including pictures from the very beginning until the prelude of challenge I of book II.

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by Jacob Nion

[Grover]

I was talking about Book I, but you have answered my question.  I was not sure that the Story and Challenge Index (starting about the 2nd or 3rd post as you say) had all the history written there--it seemed like we were missing 1 or 2 from the beginning.  Thanks for your help!

[Merc4Hire]

Hey guys, I had a question about titles. Are character titles self proclaimed or given by challenges or both? 

[Garmadon]

13 minutes ago, Merc4Hire said:

Hey guys, I had a question about titles. Are character titles self proclaimed or given by challenges or both? 

Both, depending generally on the nature of the title (and, of course, if a title is a prize for a challenge, those who don't win should probably not just copy the title! )

For instance, Sir Uridius Dratiphe (my sig-fig) is the self-proclaimed lord of Weyworth Keep and a few other castles, but the titles of Tribuni of Ulandus, Hersir of Calvary, Admiral of the Marine, and some others were won through challenges (or things such as the Age of Mitgardia, for instance)  

[Merc4Hire]

@Garmadon Oh okay I understand now, both self proclaimed and challenge won titles are used. Thanks for the quick response  

[MassEditor]

On 1/4/2017 at 7:26 PM, mrcp6d said:

@Gideon

@Jacob Nion As ... a Texan, I could be uniquely unqualified for this discussion...

 

As an Arkansan here, shouldn't that disqualify you from most discussions? Also, I'm so glad 'misremembering' is an actual word now. Thanks Brian Williams! Don't rely too much on those squiggly lines, they have a way of leading folks down the wrong path. God forbid you use a semi-colon. And, according to Microsoft Word, my name is always misspelled.

@gedren_y I always enjoy your grammar lessons and even learn something from time to time! And now I can totally picture the ninth-grade gedren_y, pointing out a misplaced comma by his English teacher, who then suffers a nervous breakdown, retires - but not before assigning our gedren_y with a failing grade - and vows never to glimpse the written word again.

[gedren_y]

@MassEditor, do you not know how to add words to the dictionary?

I never said it was a comma, and I learned the English teacher thing in sixth grade. I went to a Jr./Sr. high school for half that school year before the new middle school was finished. When I went back in the ninth, they had better English teachers. The Geometry teacher picked up on the fun and left mistakes for me to find. It was in the school library that I first picked up an early version of The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore. You can thank him (mistakes and all) for my interest in fantasy realms. I can forgive the mistakes if the story is compelling enough. Good writing can surpass the well written. Let us strive to create good writing for Guilds of Historica, and accept help, when needed, to make it well written.

Shall we discuss our realm more than grammar now?

[mrcp6d]

3 hours ago, MassEditor said:

As an Arkansan here, shouldn't that disqualify you from most discussions? Also, I'm so glad 'misremembering' is an actual word now. Thanks Brian Williams! Don't rely too much on those squiggly lines, they have a way of leading folks down the wrong path. God forbid you use a semi-colon.

 lol - from an Arkansan, that's rich! 

[Jacob Nion]

@gedren_y you mentioned something I thought about recently. We give so much advise about building, I think it would be of great value for some who are interested  to have a small guide to story writing. 

Just a few basic guidelines and helpful things. 

Sometimes it seems that people struggle to come up with a proper story to their builds. And that has absolutely nothing to do with their building skills. 

[Kai NRG]

2 hours ago, Jacob Nion said:

@gedren_y you mentioned something I thought about recently. We give so much advise about building, I think it would be of great value for some who are interested  to have a small guide to story writing. 

Just a few basic guidelines and helpful things. 

Sometimes it seems that people struggle to come up with a proper story to their builds. And that has absolutely nothing to do with their building skills. 

Possibly the biggest help to storywriting for those who are not used to it is just asking yourself questions.  Who is that minifigure running wild along the rocks on my MOC?  Where did he come from?  What was he doing a minute ago?  What will he be doing a minute from now?  For brainstorming, questions are invaluable.  Even when you've had so much practice that your brain runs in a creative groove, you'll still run into brick walls in your storyline and just have to get back to the basics and ask questions.  (What possible excuse can I trump up for Matt having coincidentally arrived just in the nick of time?  Oh, that's right - he can smell a donut a mile away and that led him right to the spot.  )

Of course then comes the challenge of writing what you're thinking clearly and vigorously.  I'm not sure how much a reasonably sized guide could cover, but I imagine it might be helpful for many.  I'm wondering if it might be a little too far removed from LEGO to have a guide to writing a story on EB though.  But then, we have photography tutorials.

Anyhow I love writing (mostly fiction, especially historical fiction) and have practiced it a lot through high-school and college, though I've not been published in any significant way yet.  But I'd be glad to put together or help put together a guide.  I believe MassEditor is also a writer?  And gedren might be interested in pitching in on the grammar aspect?  Anyone else? - if this is considered something that would be a good project?

[Jacob Nion]

22 minutes ago, Kai NRG said:

 I'm wondering if it might be a little too far removed from LEGO to have a guide to writing a story on EB though.  But then, we have photography tutorials.

...and much like photograpy skills good writing supports the proper presentation of builds. 

Of course not every moc is a story build, but there can always be a strong backstory. What a shame if an impressive castle had no story to tell. 

And this is an RPG. That means there has to be a bit of story development. Also just think about other boards on eurobricks like the mafia games; no building, only story (or the endless exhausting politic discussions of you Eslandoliards in BoBS ;).

For me, story writing and character development is one major aspect that keeps me in the guilds. It is so much more fun to think of the quests and adventures your character has to face than only build stand alone mocs. It's also inspirational. Most moc ideas I had because I thought of the story first.

One can build for every task, challenge and in every location and one day feels that he is sort of done with it. But if you concentrate on your character, you will always have ne exciting ideas.

So yes, I think there must be room for it in GoH.

 

[Garmadon]

5 hours ago, Kai NRG said:

...Anyhow I love writing (mostly fiction, especially historical fiction) and have practiced it a lot through high-school and college, though I've not been published in any significant way yet.  But I'd be glad to put together or help put together a guide.  I believe MassEditor is also a writer?  And gedren might be interested in pitching in on the grammar aspect?  Anyone else? - if this is considered something that would be a good project?

Well, I'd be happy to, but then, I would probably just be thinking mostly the same things as you, so I'm not sure it would be all that much help...  Plus, if there's anything particular I may as well just ask you to include it in person 

4 hours ago, Jacob Nion said:

...and much like photograpy skills good writing supports the proper presentation of builds. 

Of course not every moc is a story build, but there can always be a strong backstory. What a shame if an impressive castle had no story to tell. 

And this is an RPG. That means there has to be a bit of story development. Also just think about other boards on eurobricks like the mafia games; no building, only story (or the endless exhausting politic discussions of you Eslandoliards in BoBS ;).

For me, story writing and character development is one major aspect that keeps me in the guilds. It is so much more fun to think of the quests and adventures your character has to face than only build stand alone mocs. It's also inspirational. Most moc ideas I had because I thought of the story first.

One can build for every task, challenge and in every location and one day feels that he is sort of done with it. But if you concentrate on your character, you will always have ne exciting ideas.

So yes, I think there must be room for it in GoH.

 

  I totally agree with you here, and really ought to start a more cohesive story-line for GoH, which has been on my to-do list for probably a couple of years 

[Grover]

I agree very much about the excitement and ideas that a storyline can provide.  I think that Tolkien's elven language would not have survived had it not been for the incredible story and world he created that uses it.  For the same reasons, I think that the storyline here helps perpetuate the builds of Historica.  I am still a member at Classic Castle, but it does not have the same traffic and number of builds as here; I think that the storyline here has a lot to do with that.  In any case, I am excited to see the story unfold and be inspired by the collective imagination of everyone.

[Grover]

So, what are the rules on posting topics in GoH?   I apparently just screwed up and didn't know.  Are the forums for only MOCs and all other discussions go in here?  I'm very confused.

[Kai NRG]

10 hours ago, Grover said:

So, what are the rules on posting topics in GoH?   I apparently just screwed up and didn't know.  Are the forums for only MOCs and all other discussions go in here?  I'm very confused.

That's the usual policy.  But it may be more the result of habit than rule.  With so many builders always posting MOC topics people just aren't used to discussion topics other than the pinned ones.  So I don't think you did anything against the rules, but if you want answers, maybe you should ask here.   Although technically this is a new member guide, so it's not exactly intuitive to use it for discussion, but that seems to be what it's become.