josdu
Outlaws
Marooned on the Island of Lost Souls
Posts: 1,176
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Post by josdu on Apr 11, 2015 11:54:20 GMT -8
W. Navarre V.S. The Donald: Challenge: Favorite entry to the GC W. Navarre's entry: The Donald's entry:
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Post by thedonald13 on May 2, 2015 17:36:26 GMT -8
Unrestricted GCX - Stowburn Port: Preparation Unrestricted GCX - Stowburn Port: Preparation by THEDONALD13, on Flickr Even before the Lenfald Congress and before the attacks on Loreesi merchants, the East Stowburn Ports were teaming with activity. Merchants and mercenaries alike flowed off its docks like the Aines through the forest. The port had always been a way station for travels between the North and South, even more so now that Lenfald declared its independence. Durrough had long been the port of choice for travelers, but its uncertain future made the decision easy for globetrotters and peddlers. Loreos remained leal supporters to the Royal Isle and they in turn returned their favor to Loreos. "Lord Stout?" -- Ronnet Oresbane inquired. Again Lord Stout's mind drifted to the sea as the cool sea air swept through his silver mane. Lord Stout slowly looked up, "I see the men of the Bloody Spear are deep in their cups again." "What good would they be in battle if they weren't!" - Lord Ronnet proclaimed. "But, they aren't in battle ... and if were up to me they won't be for some time " growled the elder statesman. Lord Stout continued, "I haven't the foggiest where the Isle stands on Lenfald's actions. Even if this were to come to blows I imagine Garheim still has a soft spot for the Frogs, best case is they remain neutral. I never understood their affinity for them, it would seems we have more in common with them than they do with the Green Buggers. Can they not understand they live in desert much like ourselves, the cold can burn a man just as bad as the sun. " "True, father," Gerrick piped up. "And then there are the Outlaws. Some are good folk, many indistinguishable from our own citizens, but then there are their bad apples. Really bad apples. I do so hope this Drakk and Keeler are apart of the good folk. " - Lord Stout "Not too good I hope! Good men don't equate to good fighters " bellowed Ronnet! Lord Stout smiled and took in the scene, after a moment his voice rang out the standing orders to the men on the dock.
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josdu
Outlaws
Marooned on the Island of Lost Souls
Posts: 1,176
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Post by josdu on May 4, 2015 5:29:15 GMT -8
OK man, the poll is up!
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josdu
Outlaws
Marooned on the Island of Lost Souls
Posts: 1,176
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Post by josdu on May 6, 2015 6:49:17 GMT -8
Looks like size is everything . Oh well...
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Lego3364
Lenfald
Gotta love Cracklink
Posts: 574
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Post by Lego3364 on May 6, 2015 8:40:01 GMT -8
Looks like size is everything . Oh well... I voted for the Donald's because I really liked the details he added to the houses. For me size had nothing to do with it.
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Schmidt
Adventurer
Lord of the Bargain
All for one, one for all, every man for himself!
Posts: 1,330
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Post by Schmidt on May 6, 2015 17:13:20 GMT -8
Looks like size is everything . Oh well... Understand, I am not trying to be mean, but I would like to offer you some constructive criticism relating to both builds and your response to your losing this poll. If you are insinuating you are losing this brawl because people are voting for thedonald's entry simply because it is larger and not because the voters believe it is superior, than you would be sorely mistaken. He's achieved a great build even on a large scale, with an incredible amount of depth, lifelike minifigs, great canopies and a sense of purpose. I can clearly look at his and see (without reading a story, mind you), that this port city, is a thriving hotbed of Loreesi activity, where armed forces are clearly out in number, preparing for some great conflict. He doesn't even need a story with his, I know what is going on. His failing is the photography and editing. I struggle immensely with this too. I just have a hard time (still without a tripod) getting a detailed shot of a big build to look clean. However, this drawback is nothing when compared to the pros. I look at yours, and I see one minifigure who's back is to me (big no, no (your central minifigure(s), should be facing the camera, or at least have a half-body shot)). What does the minifigure look like? Is he sad, scared, mad, etc? He looks like he might be a pirate? He's standing in front of a big lava/fire dragon/snake/thingy with what I presume are black wings? You have some good depth due to the height of the snake/dragon/thingy, i'll give you that, but the MOC just doesn't stand out. If the creature we are speaking of, is just coming out of the fire/lava pit, why not add some large lava plumes bursting up, or something make the build dramatic? Thedonalds is very dramatic, in that the city is full of life. Lots of soldiers going back and forth, clearly a sense of tension as they move supplies to and fro, preparing for a grave conflict. The build has purpose. Your pirate dude and the snake thingy look like they are having a casual conversation. Furthermore, the build could be more appreciated, I think, if the view of the photo were higher up. At ground level, I feel like the only thing I can see is the dragon/snake thingy, and not the rockwork that the pirate dude is standing on. A higher up view would show more of your build. Finally, in the future, I would caution you of making or insinuating generalizations, such that, you are losing this brawl because all of the Donald's votes are because he has a bigger build than yours. This couldn't be farther from the truth. I would hazard a guess that most of the voters felt his was far superior to yours, as I did. That's not to say your build is bad. Heck, I voted for it over my own build in the restricted GC category (which is full of its own flaws, mind you). Keep building, and don't get discouraged when you don't win something. I've noticed as well, that attitude is everything in the LEGO community. I'm not going to vote for a pessimistic, annoying, debbie-downer attitude over someone who is kind and gracious, even if their build is better. Why would I willingly support someone in the community who shows a spirit that turns people away from such an awesome community? Maybe something in the above post will matter in the long wrong. If so, then yee-haw! If not well then <-----this is me blowing a raspberry!
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josdu
Outlaws
Marooned on the Island of Lost Souls
Posts: 1,176
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Post by josdu on May 6, 2015 17:28:41 GMT -8
Looks like size is everything . Oh well... Understand, I am not trying to be mean, but I would like to offer you some constructive criticism relating to both builds and your response to your losing this poll. If you are insinuating you are losing this brawl because people are voting for thedonald's entry simply because it is larger and not because the voters believe it is superior, than you would be sorely mistaken. He's achieved a great build even on a large scale, with an incredible amount of depth, lifelike minifigs, great canopies and a sense of purpose. I look at yours, and I see one minifigure who's back is to me (big no, no (your central minifigure(s), should be facing the camera, or at least have a half-body shot)). What does the minifigure look like? Is he sad, scared, mad, etc? He looks like he might be a pirate? He's standing in front of a big lava/fire dragon/snake/thingy with what I presume are black wings? You have some good depth due to the height of the snake/dragon/thingy, i'll give you that, but the MOC just doesn't stand out. If the creature we are speaking of, is just coming out of the fire/lava pit, why not add some large lava plumes bursting up, or something make the build dramatic? Thedonalds is very dramatic, in that the city is full of life. Lots of soldiers going back and forth, clearly a sense of tension as they move supplies to and fro, preparing for a grave conflict. The build has purpose. Your pirate dude and the snake thingy look like they are having a casual conversation. Furthermore, the build could be more appreciated, I think, if the view of the photo were higher up. At ground level, I feel like the only thing I can see is the dragon/snake thingy, and not the rockwork that the pirate dude is standing on. A higher up view would show more of your build. Finally, in the future, I would caution you of making or insinuating generalizations, such that, you are losing this brawl because all of the Donald's votes are because he has a bigger build than yours. This couldn't be farther from the truth. I would hazard a guess that most of the voters felt his was far superior to yours, as I did. That's not to say your build is bad. Heck, I voted for it over my own build in the restricted GC category (which is full of its own flaws, mind you). No no, mind you I'm not insinuating that, his is awesome! Thanks for the critique too, I'll make a friendly retaliation though : OK, I'll take that advice when possible, but you must realize when in a build two things are face to face you can hardly get both in the shot, so I choose to get the dragon and not the fig . Yes, black wings (are my customs that bad ). Thanks! Haha, I totally agree with you there , that's why I tried to do just that, look close, I've got some there but it contrasts very little with the red unfortunately !! I do agree that the look is not totally achieved though (sadly). Haha! That was funny, I do wish I could have tilted the dragons head to be looking at the fig and maybe breathing fire, but I couldn't. You are right there too, though I slightly prefer this view to the other one which is from a higher angle, here it is in fact: Lastly, sorry if I did that! I did not mean to and will try not to again! And thanks for the vote .
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Schmidt
Adventurer
Lord of the Bargain
All for one, one for all, every man for himself!
Posts: 1,330
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Post by Schmidt on May 6, 2015 19:29:24 GMT -8
I'd love to get some other opinions, but I honestly think that picture is waaaay better than the first one. Had I seen it prior to voting it would have been a lot tougher decision. Keep up the good work!
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Post by thedonald13 on May 6, 2015 20:42:01 GMT -8
Ha, first call out on the butchered edit! I just started using any kind of editing software, I will get better!
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josdu
Outlaws
Marooned on the Island of Lost Souls
Posts: 1,176
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Post by josdu on May 7, 2015 3:53:40 GMT -8
I'd love to get some other opinions, but I honestly think that picture is waaaay better than the first one. Had I seen it prior to voting it would have been a lot tougher decision. Keep up the good work! Haha, thanks man! You can still go change your vote you know! I think you've convinced me to like that one better too now, I do agree that you can see a lot more!
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Post by Andrew JN on May 7, 2015 12:07:38 GMT -8
Personally, I think it is really difficult to judge between these two (fantastic) entries since they are so different in nature. One is a thriving city, while the other is a detailed dragon, thus it is difficult since you have to judge one entry based on details related to a city, whereas with the dragon, you have to base a vote on things like expression, life-likeness, etc... I even considered not voting at all just because the two entries are so different... That's just my two cents.
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AK_Brickster
Innkeeper
Scouting the Lenfel Border
Posts: 3,272
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Post by AK_Brickster on May 7, 2015 13:11:41 GMT -8
thedonald13, don't worry about your editing too much with this one. A build this large is nearly impossible to do justice to without some professional camera and lighting equipment. josdu, I really like your build a lot. I think the minifig facing away from the camera is a minor negative in the grand scheme of things, but (without reading the story) maybe a solution would be to have your fig turning away and running from it in order to get a view facing the camera. Great builds, both of you. Donald has really dynamic height variation that really stands out for a large layout. He got my vote for many reasons that Schmidt outlined, but Josdu's build was terrific in it's own ways as well.
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Schmidt
Adventurer
Lord of the Bargain
All for one, one for all, every man for himself!
Posts: 1,330
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Post by Schmidt on May 8, 2015 17:16:52 GMT -8
Ha, first call out on the butchered edit! I just started using any kind of editing software, I will get better! No worries, you ought to see my photos I am TERRIBLE at getting good resolution and editing properly. I wrote the rule-book on bad picture taking/editing!
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josdu
Outlaws
Marooned on the Island of Lost Souls
Posts: 1,176
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Post by josdu on May 9, 2015 4:35:00 GMT -8
Nice win thedonald! Next time I'll make sure I know what I agreed to though !
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Post by thedonald13 on May 9, 2015 10:32:08 GMT -8
Nice win thedonald! Next time I'll make sure I know what I agreed to though ! Both your Unres & res were great this GC, it just just worked out for me this time!
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