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Has Brickset gone down hill??

theriletherile Member Posts: 4
in Forum Operation
Just wondered if any one else thanks that since half of the staff have got involved in Blocks magazine that the quality of the news articles has deteriorated?? I do.
tomahawker

Comments

  • plasmodiumplasmodium Member Posts: 1,956
    To the OP:
    No, I don't, but I would very much like to know specifically why you think so. What in the news articles don't you like, and why are you linking it to Huw's (and co.) participation with Blocks? If it's the articles concerning Blocks, then, as @akunthita‌ said, you can op-out or simply ignore them. If it's the content of other articles, then I have to say, I think they are the same or higher - I particularly like the articles from guest writers about the history of certain themes.

    If you have complaints, do try and be more specific, otherwise people are going to think you're just trolling. Similarly, you could have (politely) voiced your concerns in an email to one of the admins, rather than writing it here, which is a little rude, as he will most likely see it anyway.
    AndorTelcontarEKSamShibrollabar
  • zipsforbananaszipsforbananas Member Posts: 250
    I can't say I've noticed anything. Like @akunthita‌ said, it's been a bit quiet lately so we can't expect much more on the news. We'll need to see how a busier period is covered to judge and I can't say I'm expecting a noticeable change.
  • yuffieyuffie Member Posts: 92
    No.
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    No (and perhaps its actually better), its just a quiet time of year. If you looked back at the news articles from November last year (http://brickset.com/news/year-2013/page-6) it was similarly quiet. There was just posts about images of 2014 sets, a few items about retail sales, some cussoo updates and polybag reviews. Oh and a few items about the fairy bricks Christmas appeal.

    If anything its slightly better this year as we've had some of these old lego articles. One thing I guess we could have is reviews of this years Christmas stuff - notably the snowman and reindeer (unless I've missed them) although maybe its still a bit early (although they're now sold out at [email protected]!).

    I can understand why some might think that stuff will be kept over for bricks but I suspect that would be a bad idea for Huw (damaging a proven format - brickset - for an as yet unproven one - blocks) and not one he's considering. There's certainly no sign of it at the moment.
  • HuwHuw Administrator Posts: 7,087
    edited November 2014
    An interesting discussion...

    I'm actually writing very little for Blocks. That which I have contributed so far is not really website material anyway. I certainly won't be holding back any news or reviews: I guess recently there hasn't been a lot to report on or review so I've been concentrating on adding new features to the site such as the tags (which has gone slightly pear-shaped, I admit, but that's another story...)

    Unlike other sites' owners, I don't feel obliged to fill the news with trivial stories of little interest to the majority (such as this one, not to pick on BrickFanatics specifically, but is that something you'd want and expect to read about here?) Even The Brick Fan, which does an excellent job of news coverage hasn't published anything much this week other than video games news which I don't cover here.

    I'll be reviewing the Skating scene set next week and then launching a competition related to it.

    Come December you'll be begging for less news once we get stuck into the Advent calendar daily rundown and, hopefully, reporting sightings of 2015 sets in shops, not to mention the traffic review of the year and so on...
    AndorrocaomadforLEGOHangedSanchezKevin_Hyattmargotchuckp52scoobydoo
  • MojoestMojoest Member Posts: 476
    Quality no, loved reading the most recent one on "Four things you never knew about LEGO…". However, as others have mentioned the quantity has dropped a bit of late, but that can't be helped if there are no news stories of note to write about because its a slow time of year.

    Maybe some fillers are needed, (joking, but part of me wishes these were real ;-p)?.... "Breaking News! Woman finds crisp shaped like a mini fig!" .... "Man has to call fire brigade after gust of wind blows poly collection into tree" .... "TV psychic holds séance in an attempt to communicate with members of HH".
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    @Huw - are reviews of the snowman and reindeer coming? They're great looking little christmas ornament pieces.
  • Farmer_JohnFarmer_John Member Posts: 2,405
    I have always found the news article summaries to be very informative and useful. I recall at least one of the recent magazine subscriptions being ridiculously expensive, although my kids would be begging to have them if they knew about them.

    I seldom actually login to Brickset's main page or comment on the articles, but I do glance at the article overviews. I comment on the articles even less frequently. I obviously always login to the Brickset forum as that is required to post. The purpose of the main page (for me) is really just awareness.
    TheBrickLaddAndor
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    ^^^^ You also missed the exclusive story that HUKD users are getting ready for black friday.
    plasmodium
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    @Huw - any chance of another one of these too? It directly ensured that I got a book for christmas that I actually wanted last year!

    Top 5 LEGO books of the year
    http://brickset.com/article/8644/top-5-lego-books-of-the-year
  • plasmodiumplasmodium Member Posts: 1,956
    Huw said:

    An interesting discussion...
    I'll be reviewing the Skating scene set next week and then launching a competition related to it.

    Bring it on! I just love those winter scene sets, but I never buy enough/anything from [email protected] to qualify for free ones.
    cheshirecat said:

    @Huw - any chance of another one of these too? It directly ensured that I got a book for christmas that I actually wanted last year!

    Top 5 LEGO books of the year
    http://brickset.com/article/8644/top-5-lego-books-of-the-year

    I actually quite like "Christmas suggestions" lists, so that'd be cool by me too.

    Speaking of Christmas (dangit it's still November, guys XD), which Advent Calendars will you be doing this year? I quite liked the "Star Wars and best of City/Friends" format.
    AndorLegoKip
  • LostInTranslationLostInTranslation Member Posts: 5,572
    @cheshirecat, I will be reviewing the Turkey, Snowman and Reindeer over the next few weeks :-)
    HangedSanchezcarlqrancorbaitSirBenLegoKipmargotGothamConstructionCo
  • CapnRex101CapnRex101 Administrator Posts: 2,364
    @plasmodium‌ - I will be reviewing the Star Wars and City calendars daily. Friends is being covered by @LostInTranslation‌ I believe.
    HangedSanchezcarlqrancorbaitLegoKipGothamConstructionCo
  • plasmodiumplasmodium Member Posts: 1,956
    edited November 2014
    Excellent! All three daily - not a Friends fan, but it does at least mean I see every City and SW entry. And will be able to help me decide which (if any) to buy when they're 50% off after Christmas. ;-)
    andhe
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    With two kids I have to alternate SW and City each year, that means I can have both the current years and last years from the same theme - avoids arguments. This year its SW so we've got chirstmas Jango and Vader to look forward to. Then come December I'll grab the City one reduced for next year.

    @LostinTranslation I wouldn't wait too long. They're already OOS at [email protected] and probably wont last a whole lot longer in stores either. (I know you'll have them already but for others seeing the review!)
  • ytjediytjedi Member Posts: 20
    plasmodium said:

    And will be able to help me decide which (if any) to buy when they're 50% off after Christmas.

    Good luck with the Star Wars one this year. Last year I was waiting for the same type of deal, but I never saw a Star Wars 2013 Advent on shelves after Thanksgiving or in stock online at any of the major retailers. TRU still had SW 2012 calendars though. Hopefully LEGO estimates their production a little better this year. I've already picked up the SW 2014 calendar though; wasn't going to risk it again.

    And to stay on topic, no, I do not feel the quality of the articles on the site has gone down. I would prefer Blocks available in a digital format though instead of a hard copy.

  • BooTheMightyHamsterBooTheMightyHamster Member Posts: 1,533
    edited November 2014
    To the original question, no. It may well be that several of the Brickset team have assisted with the magazine, but that's had no effect (that I can see) on the quality of the articles that have been published on Brickset. (Well - apart from one iffy review of Blocks issue 1.)

    It may be that the quantity and frequency of articles has tailed off a little, but Huw addresses that point above.

    You specifically point out though, that it's the quality, not the quantity, of the articles that you feel is lacking. Can you identify any pieces that you feel are sub-standard, and explain what exactly you think is wrong, because at the moment your point is a little too vague to carry much weight.
  • plasmodiumplasmodium Member Posts: 1,956
    edited November 2014
    ytjedi said:

    plasmodium said:

    And will be able to help me decide which (if any) to buy when they're 50% off after Christmas.

    Good luck with the Star Wars one this year. Last year I was waiting for the same type of deal, but I never saw a Star Wars 2013 Advent on shelves after Thanksgiving or in stock online at any of the major retailers.
    Yeah. We checked in various places on line, and the remaining stock were on discount in quite a few places (the Entertainer, Clas Ohlson, I can't remember where else), but they were all out of stock when we went to town a few days after Christmas. We ended up having to order click-and-collect from The Entertainer in Guildford (I live in Reading :P) and asking my grandparents to pick it up. XD
  • MorkManMorkMan Member Posts: 916
    edited November 2014
    @Huw I would be interested in stories like this one:
    Huw said:


    ...trivial stories of little interest to the majority (such as this one)

    AndorPlell
  • AndorAndor Member Posts: 252
    ^I thought it quite interesting as well @MorkMan‌.
  • msandersmsanders Member Posts: 1,017
    I think the only thing that I've been missing is some reviews of some new sets, specifically the new Hobbit sets (in particular #79018 lonely mountain), the small Xmas sets as others have mentioned, Halloween and thanks giving sets. I suppose I could try my hand at writing a review and equally others that want to see more news could do the same.

    May be the OP is like me and constantly checks brickset main website and forum on a minute basis, so their post may be born out of disappointment with a lull in news during this time of the lego season.
    Andor
  • AndorAndor Member Posts: 252
    edited November 2014
    ^I Check brickset main website and forum numerous times a day too. And It would be nice if the New Hobbit sets were reviewed. Actually I think they might be already. Great input @msanders‌ .
  • HuwHuw Administrator Posts: 7,087
    I have the Hobbit sets and did wonder about reviewing them but to be honest I don't know enough about the source material and in the past I've been slated for that, e.g. in the comments to the Minecraft reviews.

    Also, I find it takes me a long time to do them: building and photographing are no problem but adding the words seems to take me ages. I've been faffing about with tags lately and preparing for a holiday/vacation so haven't found the time.
  • zipsforbananaszipsforbananas Member Posts: 250
    ^In your defence, if you provide decent photographs then why does it matter if you don't know how the sets compare to the source material? The people who care presumably know the source material themselves and so could draw their own conclusions from the photos, and I can't imagine why anyone who doesn't know the source material would care about how it compares anyway!
    Does that mean that logically speaking these derogatory comments are coming from people who shouldn't exist? :P
    Andor
  • CapnRex101CapnRex101 Administrator Posts: 2,364
    I simply did not have time to review the Hobbit sets, although I would have liked to. This was not down to the fact that I was writing for Blocks though, but as I am now at university I have other commitments to fulfil.

    I actually have precisely the opposite issue to Huw. I find that the writing is quick and easy once you get into a flow while photographing is the most time-consuming part.
    Shib
  • AndorAndor Member Posts: 252
    edited November 2014
    Huw said:

    I have the Hobbit sets and did wonder about reviewing them but to be honest I don't know enough about the source material and in the past I've been slated for that, e.g. in the comments to the Minecraft reviews.

    Also, I find it takes me a long time to do them: building and photographing are no problem but adding the words seems to take me ages. I've been faffing about with tags lately and preparing for a holiday/vacation so haven't found the time.

    I enjoyed your Minecraft Reviews @Huw‌. I thought they were informative on seeing how the sets looked and functioned. I played Minecraft a little but I am by no means an expert on it.
    If you do review the new Hobbit sets that would be great. And it fine with me if you don't really know the source material. I would be more interested in the picture; since I know a whole bunch about the source material. Huzzah!
  • AanchirAanchir Member Posts: 3,037
    I haven't noticed a lot of real changes in the quality of the articles and reviews here, and if there were any change I'd be more likely to attribute it to changes in what news there is to write about than to the staff not giving the site the attention it deserves.
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    The (lack of) hands on approach to the _forum_ does seem to be suffering from something recently.

    We now have multiple "predictions / EOL" threads, each big set getting it's own titled thread, but the conversion naturally veers to other sets so there is a lot of cross talk. Not so long ago these would have all been merged into THE predictions thread. Multiple threads about what are the rarest minifigs and their value, marketplace trade threads with no location specified despite the rule saying they have to, sometimes multiple threads for the same item from the same person ...
    Bumblepantsdougtsbinaryeye
  • ShibShib Member Posts: 5,469
    ^I agree with that, but I don't see it correlating directly with the Blocks staffing, it's been sliding for a while and hit hard the past couple of weeks.
  • margotmargot Member Posts: 2,308
    CCC said:

    marketplace trade threads with no location specified despite the rule saying they have to,

    That's always been a problem.

  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    ^ Not so much since the rule about locations was brought in. Although I was not too keen on it, maybe they do need to start removing threads if they do not contain the right info about locations.

    And we also seem to have a Rocket Raccoon spammer now too.
  • margotmargot Member Posts: 2,308
    ^I saw that. He has no excuses now.
  • LegopantsLegopants Member Posts: 2,097
    ^ and ^^ Yeah, someone *please* trade with him!!! Please!!!
    margot
  • plasmodiumplasmodium Member Posts: 1,956
    CCC said:

    The (lack of) hands on approach to the _forum_ does seem to be suffering from something recently.

    Mods split/merge/rename/close threads to much, people complain. They let it run wild, people complain. It's not easy...that said, I did like it that there used to be an effort made to keep it so that there'd be just one thread that had all the info on a given topic.
  • BooTheMightyHamsterBooTheMightyHamster Member Posts: 1,533
    I much prefer the 'little or no moderation' approach. Over time, poor threads sink and good threads stay active. Multiple threads on the same subject? So? Not the end of the world.
    Not complaining, just observing, but Brickset is the most over-moderated forum that I've ever been on. If Blocks keeps some of those mods busy elsewhere, long may it continue!
    :o)

    bendybadgermargot
  • bendybadgerbendybadger Member Posts: 1,139
    Like Boo I too think the forums "little moderation" is a good thing. I find most members here know what is acceptable and to a greater part the forum tends to be self moderated. I do not see a lot of threads that have to be closed or deleted. Love it here and I don't think the place has gone downhill at all.
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    The recent influx of brickpickers was the only downhill i've seen. Although most seem to have got bored now.
    Bumblepants
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    While I agree that less moderation is often better, I don't see the point of threads such as Sydney Opera House EOL or GE and TH. Those threads soon deviate from the title, and so are just duplicates of the predictions thread.
    BumblepantsAndor
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