Ideas Ending Soon
Posted by glenbricker,
There are 3 things I really like about the deadlines that LEGO Ideas has implemented for its submitted projects.
- It is a way to retire projects from the system that is applied equally to all projects*
- Deadlines help to motivate both the project creators and supporters
- The retiring of impressive projects showcases how much effort you need to put into reaching 10,000
It takes more than an impressive, cool looking project to get to 10,000. You need to reach an audience and convince that audience to support!
This was fantastically evidenced by the Nautilus from a few weeks ago. It was about to retire with 2500 support and now it has almost 8000 support and over 150 days to reach 10,000 because it found its audience and got the message to that audience.
So what I have here for you is a selection of "impressive" projects that are going to retire in the next two weeks. Maybe this will inspire you to support and give the projects some extra breathing space and perhaps it will just showcase the level of effort required to reach 10,000.
ML - Explorer is a very novel project and even has supporting videos. I have found that any project based on dynamic elements has a hard time on Ideas. I assume this is because "muggles" don't really think of LEGO as something that can be dynamic and these aspects are not universally appreciated by the LEGO community.
Ninjago Dragon Arena is gorgeous and a pretty fun idea. I would love to see this MOC at a con. I do personally question if hands attempting to "spinjitzu" their figs wound not demolish the builds. Regardless a beautiful, interesting MOC.
Brownout, a spiritual successor to Firefly. As many of you likely know, Firefly reached 10,000 and is one of the banned subjects on Ideas. Nick Royer with Brownout has attempted to capture the feel of Firefly without the "baggage" that would get it rejected. There are plenty of passionate Browncoats still out there and Brownout's best chance of reaching 10,000 is to get that message across: Brownout, the Firefly universe in LEGO.
Regarding my comment "It is a way to retire projects from the system that is applied equally to all projects."
I am already certain I am going to get some comments that it is easier for popular IPs to get support than novel ideas. I am not arguing the ease with which support is gathered, only that the milestones are equally applied in all cases.
Some would also argue that novel ideas need more time than IP based ones. To those people I would present the argument that any worthy idea, properly promoted, should be able to get 10,000 support over the course of two years. Great ideas, well presented and promoted, with powerful IPs behind them need only weeks to months to reach 10,000 support.
Regarding my use of the word "muggle."
Muggle of course was coined by J.K.Rowling in the Harry Potter Series of books to reference people who do not know about the existence of magic. I have absconded with the word to reference people who are unaccustomed to the "magic" of LEGO. It is a useful turn of phrase when referencing LEGO Ideas or LEGO events in which the public is involved.
FOLs love LEGO but they tend to become inoculated to it as well. When we (FOLs) see an amazing build we often process it for its technique, consuming the little details, and decide what, if any of it we might integrate into our own lexicon or perhaps decide to make or even augment our own version. The "magic" as it were, is common place to us.
"Muggles" however tend to have this very bland concept of LEGO in their head. They think of LEGO as 2 x 4 bricks, a prefabricated toy rather than a medium of creativity. You can spot them easily at conventions because they are the ones whose faces are melting off. They are the main force that support and spread the word on LEGO Ideas projects because they are the ones who are shocked, astound, and amazed by the what they see.
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31 comments on this article
I read that as 'The Ideas program is about to be shut down.'
D'oh!
^ me too. I was like "ah no I love the Ideas idea"
That's how I read it too and the odd things was I was kind of happy about it.
^ Well that makes four of us.
Yep, that really freaked me out for a second as well!
Make it five. And what are "muggles" and "the LEGO"?
The article's title is indeed "tabloid" misleading :D
But also on the verge of ending is this project of mine
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/81988
Sorry for borrowing the comment section but I really like it :D
Beg pardon @deephorse but, how can someone from the UK not know what "muggles" are?
*blink blink*
My heart skipped a beat when I read the headline.
Thankfully I was missled for a moment.
Great projects I supported a few just now.
^aren't all UK recidents muggles? ;-)
Wow, the title misled me too! The Ninjago arena is nice...
Glenbricker, time to edit the title maybe, before you give too many more people mini-heart-attacks!!
I see I'm the eleventh to be misled by the title....
More importantly, why is Firefly a banned subject? Licencing issues or something more sinister at work?
@Maxximus
Having'Googled' it I can now see why I had no idea what they were. Having an interest in Harry Potter is thankfully not yet compulsory in these islands.
Yeah, I misunderstood that title too!
@BooTheMightyHamster - The better title would have been "Ideas Ideas Ending Soon." I would've loved to see all the double-takes that would've caused. It's probably better to refer to the platform as Ideas and the individual entries as "projects" or something like that.
Anyway, thanks for the interesting selection, Glen. Ideas is blocked at work, so I'll take a closer look at these at home. Seriously, what kind of objectionable content does Ideas have that it would run afoul of a work filter?
That first proposal the "Explorer" is really sleek and neat, but I can't imagine how ANY proposal that isn't an existing IP is going to pass anymore. The Research Institute was a PR move and Birds was an attempt at a "classy" set that doesn't appear to have done very well. I'm curious to see if any unconnected sets pass from here on.
Also for "Brownout" - what am I even looking at? It looks like someone handed a pile of random bricks to a child and told them to make a space pistol or something. For as much branding work as that creator put into it, they should have tightened up the actual model to look like SOMETHING first.
^ Yeah, the Brownout thing has lots of neat details and a lot of work was put into it, but the ship is just too scattershot in terms of form and color. It doesn't have the simplicity or elegance to be catchy. The ML Exlporer is a nice design, but hard to categorize, kind of half-space, half-retro steamship.
For me, that Metroid set is probably one of the two or three Ideas submissions that I like the most and would be most likely to buy if it were released as a set. It's simple, dynamic and attractive. I also think that it would do better on shelves than its Ideas support suggests. Sigh.
And another one for "Ideas is shutting down" - stupid me. :P
The Brownout project is another great one, and one that would be a nice collector's item, even to non-FOLs. The look is captured correctly, and it feels like a sci-fi project, rather than one that is just another ordinary spaceship.
Metroid is a wonderful dragon model, and I don't understand why it hasn't got many supporters. If TLG kept the official model true to the submitted model, fans would have a purple parts pack. It makes no sense at all. And as ModularRoger said, it would look great on display, but the fan community doesn't seem to realize that.
The Ninjago Dragon arena is an amazing model, but far too big for Ideas. It would have to have 1,500+ parts, and Ideas can't cut that. Plus it's based on a theme. That wouldn't pass - it's either non-licensed or licensed. Not one of TLG's existing themes.
Vardo is a very good project, Glen. It is a real shame to see this one die. I am a fan of Western sets, despite not owning any. It's a wonderful project, but it can only go downhill for the next few days now, which is a very sad thought.
The ML - Explorer is another interesting project - well built, and a design that is hard to get your head around. It is amazing that this hasn't reached 10k. If what the builder says about the 20,000 views is true, it should have been at the 10k stage ages ago. Another great model leaves the room, sadly.
And it's great that the Nautilius is still on her voyage. It could take a few months, but I can see this reaching the milestone. Nice to see the model is still eligible for the Review.
Seems I am not alone in believing the title is misleading.
it's abject. to write an article to warn about the next ending to support some projects, and by the way, showing your own, just to get some other supports, it's a pity.
@yuffie
Just goes to show how wrong some people can be!
"... coined by J.K.Rowling in the Hairy Potter Series..."
Get a shave, Hairy! :D
Am I the only person to not think Ideas was ending? I also had no idea what "Muggles" meant.
The Dragon Arena looks epic.
@Lordmoral: you are not alone, you are in fact in the majority
Got the wrong impression form the headline as well.
Ha, 'Muggle' is a fantastic word in this situation. Thanks @glenbricker as I will be using this to explain my hobby to my co-workers (they can't understand the magic)
I'm yet another patsy who read the article title and thought the LEGO Ideas site was going to shut down...
As for using "Muggle" to designate regular Joes and Janes, that's an already-established trope: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Muggles
Also quite surprised to see self-promotion on brickset (TLG is very promoted ...)
I like your posts for ideas projects Glen . But this time there is a problem with your deontology !
I saw the title and was like NOOOOOO, LOL!
I like your use of the word Muggle. Does everyone know this word has actually been added to the dictionary?
Get newsletter sent to email. LEGO Ideas Ending Soon. Holy crap, this is big news! rush over to the site to find out why lego would shut down a system they worked so hard on supporting.
Realize that the article title should have been "LEGO Ideas that are ending soon"
a couple hundred other titles would have worked too "Great LEGO Ideas that need support" or basically anything except the title you picked. If you read through the comments, I am not the only one to make this mistake.