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If you want just bricks you can buy just that. If you want sets then go for it. Both are ok. No need to gatekeep fun. People tend to overestimate how attractiv

by elteto 5y ago

If you want just bricks you can buy just that. If you want sets then go for it. Both are ok. No need to gatekeep fun. People tend to overestimate how attractive their own lawns are.

jacquesm 5y ago
It's a weird balance between variety and uniformity. The whole key to Lego is that you can connect just about every piece to every other piece, either directly or indirectly. It's a system, not just a toy. But at the same time Lego tries very hard to put something unique in their new sets so that you can't make the design unless you buy the official set (or the one unique part at some ridiculous mark-up through set breakers). The trick then lies in being able to simulate the unique pieces with assemblies of ordinary pieces or pieces that you already have (not always possible), and to use those unique pieces that you do have in new and creative ways to start treating them as ordinary Lego. Some builders have taken this to an entirely new level, for instance in this castle there are all kinds of bits that have been used in ways that they were definitely not intended to achieve a novel effect: https://twitter.com/jmattheij/status/1016382615417389057 https://twitter.com/jmattheij/status/1016382615417389057
- elteto 5y ago
  Good points. I’m not entirely bothered with the current state of affairs re: lego variety and uniformity. I think both people who enjoy building from scratch and those who enjoy sets can be satisfied with the current Lego offerings. What I intensely dislike is people putting down other people just because they enjoy a _toy_ (something meant to elicit sharing and enjoyment) in a different way than theirs.
  - richardw 5y ago
    Why do you intensely dislike words on a website? I have an opinion about a toy, I’m not intensely disliking people who use it differently. I said nothing about those people. When she’s older, we might be those people. Play the Lego blocks, not the man.
    - elteto 5y ago
      Good question. It’s because it relates to previous, real life experiences when people have tried to gatekeep things from me, or passed judgement on me for doing something “different” when the subject at hand was completely inconsequential, like whether I play with lego sets or not.
      - richardw 5y ago
        Sorry, didn’t mean to do that. I was honestly self-mocking in how it needs to be done how I did it, obviously the innovation allows so many more ways to play. Another friend’s wife buys the more complicated sets and admits they’re actually for her, not for her kids. All good, they’ll grow into it :)
        elteto 5y ago
        Hey, this was a very good conversation by Internet standards :) Thanks for trying to understand where I was coming from. I should have done the same perhaps, I totally missed the self deprecation in your original comment. Text is such a poor substitute for real life conversations... but on the other hand we never would have interacted if it wasn't for this "text". Sometimes I feel so ambivalent about the Internet...
        jacquesm 5y ago
        I wished all online interaction was this classy. Props to both of you :)
        richardw 5y ago
        Absolutely. We can’t just pick up the phone and check! I get triggered with the best of them. Sadly you can’t edit comments in meetings.
richardw 5y ago
Yeah that’s why I’m being partly tongue in cheek. As a kid I enjoyed both models and Lego. Now they’re combined. I’m very sure it’s a killer profit driver, you need tons of sets and enthusiasts want the Death Star. Go wild. It’s just less creative, more exacting, can’t as easily have the experience we all had together. Get a set of blocks and you almost can’t stop yourself from clicking stuff together. A friend got sets for her 4 year old. She builds them, kid breaks them. She builds them, kid breaks them. She is bored with building them, but it’s a jet (or whatever) and kid wants the jet, so…she builds them. She now wants the classic sets so the kid can play with the toy instead of the built model. Friend’s kid just put lights on his millennium falcon. Awesome! I’m not trying to be the Lego police. It’s just a different toy.

by elteto 5y ago

If you want just bricks you can buy just that. If you want sets then go for it. Both are ok. No need to gatekeep fun. People tend to overestimate how attractive their own lawns are.

jacquesm 5y ago

It's a weird balance between variety and uniformity. The whole key to Lego is that you can connect just about every piece to every other piece, either directly or indirectly. It's a system, not just a toy. But at the same time Lego tries very hard to put something unique in their new sets so that you can't make the design unless you buy the official set (or the one unique part at some ridiculous mark-up through set breakers). The trick then lies in being able to simulate the unique pieces with assemblies of ordinary pieces or pieces that you already have (not always possible), and to use those unique pieces that you do have in new and creative ways to start treating them as ordinary Lego. Some builders have taken this to an entirely new level, for instance in this castle there are all kinds of bits that have been used in ways that they were definitely not intended to achieve a novel effect: https://twitter.com/jmattheij/status/1016382615417389057 https://twitter.com/jmattheij/status/1016382615417389057

elteto 5y ago
Good points. I’m not entirely bothered with the current state of affairs re: lego variety and uniformity. I think both people who enjoy building from scratch and those who enjoy sets can be satisfied with the current Lego offerings. What I intensely dislike is people putting down other people just because they enjoy a _toy_ (something meant to elicit sharing and enjoyment) in a different way than theirs.
- richardw 5y ago
  Why do you intensely dislike words on a website? I have an opinion about a toy, I’m not intensely disliking people who use it differently. I said nothing about those people. When she’s older, we might be those people. Play the Lego blocks, not the man.
  - elteto 5y ago
    Good question. It’s because it relates to previous, real life experiences when people have tried to gatekeep things from me, or passed judgement on me for doing something “different” when the subject at hand was completely inconsequential, like whether I play with lego sets or not.
    - richardw 5y ago
      Sorry, didn’t mean to do that. I was honestly self-mocking in how it needs to be done how I did it, obviously the innovation allows so many more ways to play. Another friend’s wife buys the more complicated sets and admits they’re actually for her, not for her kids. All good, they’ll grow into it :)
      - elteto 5y ago
        Hey, this was a very good conversation by Internet standards :) Thanks for trying to understand where I was coming from. I should have done the same perhaps, I totally missed the self deprecation in your original comment. Text is such a poor substitute for real life conversations... but on the other hand we never would have interacted if it wasn't for this "text". Sometimes I feel so ambivalent about the Internet...
        jacquesm 5y ago
        I wished all online interaction was this classy. Props to both of you :)
        richardw 5y ago
        Absolutely. We can’t just pick up the phone and check! I get triggered with the best of them. Sadly you can’t edit comments in meetings.

richardw 5y ago

Yeah that’s why I’m being partly tongue in cheek. As a kid I enjoyed both models and Lego. Now they’re combined. I’m very sure it’s a killer profit driver, you need tons of sets and enthusiasts want the Death Star. Go wild. It’s just less creative, more exacting, can’t as easily have the experience we all had together. Get a set of blocks and you almost can’t stop yourself from clicking stuff together. A friend got sets for her 4 year old. She builds them, kid breaks them. She builds them, kid breaks them. She is bored with building them, but it’s a jet (or whatever) and kid wants the jet, so…she builds them. She now wants the classic sets so the kid can play with the toy instead of the built model. Friend’s kid just put lights on his millennium falcon. Awesome! I’m not trying to be the Lego police. It’s just a different toy.