What will happen to MOCpages?

[Prince Imdol]

Many of you guys know the situation. The crisis MOCpages is going through. Many people are now moving to newer locations like Flickr.

MOCpages is infamous for having immature kiddies. Over 90% or so of poeple on MOCpages are kiddies who can't build for their life. "I h4z mad 4 w4rth0gz anz 1t is w3ll 1337!!11!one!elevee, u b3 bad rat1n ma m0d3lz, me spam youz now n00b!!!11!!2234986:"

As you can see, MOCpages is running out of good builders and decent people. Some of the few that remain are Kieth Goldman (I dont think he will ever leave), Darkspawn, and some other people from here and CSF. Right now, I am pondering over whether to leave MOCpages totally and god to Flickr, or not. To me, and many of you, MOCpages is my home. It was the first lego site I posted my stuff on, and I have been their for a long time. When it was a decent place. Now it has become un enjoyable.

What are you thoughts and opinions are moving elsewhere.

Where are you going?
Why are you going, if at all?


P.I

[Athos]

I don't have much need for MOC pages, which has limited my use of it. Especially since I post most everything to brickshelf and then link to it from MOC pages, its mostly just an unnecessary extra step for me.

And I get enough feedback on the various (5) forums I post at.

Steve

[ottoatm]

I've actually never used or even gone to MOC pages unless directed there in a link by someone from here, so I guess I'm not sure about what sort of value it adds - although there must have been something good about it.

The few times I was there, I was a little put off by the interface (although I like it a bit better than Flickr), but the creations I viewed were quite good.

Have things really gotten that bad over there?

[Prince Imdol]

Things have gotten much worse. All of the decent people have left, but I am up for a fight!


P.I

[DARKspawn]

I will stay, no matter what. Even if I was the last AFOL left, I'd stay. Someone has got to show these youngins how to write a decent review

Seriously, its a great site. Even if it is totally overrun with kids it will at least provide the more talented members a way to break into the community & maybe take the hobby more seriously. LEGO isn't all about AFOLs (yes, maybe to us it is), its a kids toy, so I don't find it surprising that MOCpages is attracting a much younger audience recently.

We can't look at this as a negative thing, what's wrong with more people buying LEGO & getting involved with the online community? Even if a members MOC makes your eyes bleed it's great that he loves the brick enough to take that step into the online world. One day that member may well turn out to be the next Keith Goldman or whoever, & wouldn't it be great to think that you helped him on his way

[FishRfine]

bad builders? i go there to feel inferior whenever I look at the castles...

[ottoatm]

Yea, I've seen some nice castles there lately too... maybe some things have changed since October when PI originally posted this though~

[Sir Fredric]

There are some pretty excellent builders there, but there are more horrible, then good.

[g2]

I personally don't use MOCpages or even vist it, but I think it is a very valuable resource. The "young-ones" do need somewhere to post their work too. If MOCpages were to go down or stop being available for Lego uploads, then our other beloved image hosting sites (insert your favourite site name here) would be over-run with Rainbow creations and blocky MOCs.

I would suggest if you don't like MOCpages because of the creations, simply don't visit it.

[Donut]

I agree with what Darkspawn and G2 said. We all were young builders once, I personally did not know about the online community until recently. I would have loved if an experienced builder gave me pointers on my creations. Through some guidance these young builders could perhaps turn into the next castle prodigy. (I believe some of you guys who posted already are ).

[Blueandwhite]

Honestly, MOC pages is simply another venue to display one's MOCs. Nothing more, nothing less. It is far easier to navigate than Flickr. I may be in the minority, but I'm less likely to search through a Flickr account for MOCs than anything. MOC pages may not be perfect, but it works.

[kelderic]

Many people are now moving to newer locations like Flickr.

Flickr and MOCPages aren't the same type of site, so I am confused as to why people would leave one for the other. Until reccently, one could not even host images at all on MOCPages. It is, as Blueandwhite said, a place to display MOCs, like Classic-Castle forums. Flickr is just an image hosting site, like Photobucket or a hundred others.

You do have a point about annoying reviews. Heck, what I hate most is when people leave a bad rating without any review. However, some new features are helping to curb this problem. For example, offensive reviews can be deleted, very easily, by the MOC's creator.

Overall, I still think it is still a useful site, and will stay.

Kelderic

[J1A3L5]

Many people are now moving to newer locations like Flickr.

Flickr and MOCPages aren't the same type of site, so I am confused as to why people would leave one for the other. Until reccently, one could not even host images at all on MOCPages. It is, as Blueandwhite said, a place to display MOCs, like Classic-Castle forums. Flickr is just an image hosting site, like Photobucket or a hundred others.

I disagree. Yes, Flickr does provide image hosting, but it also has most of the features (and then some!) of MOCpages. People can not only leave comments (like reviews) but they can also place notes on certain portions of the images. While it isn't a LEGO website, the "friend" and "group" features of it give it a very LEGO community feel. You can favourite images you like, and meet new AFOL's! I agree that at first it seems hard to use, but once a friend convinced me to try it it began to make so much more sense.

I daily visit Flickr to see what my contacts have uploaded - And see all sorts of new MOC's each day, just like I would on MOCpages, Brickshelf, or Classic-Castle. This isn't limited to just real "friends" on Flickr, but lots of other AFOL's who I don't know personally but have on my contacts. Most people happily consider any other LEGO Fan a "contact".

Ontop of that, Flickr is a medium which allows you to upload singular images that may not be of a complete MOC: Collections, single building ideas, etc. MOCpages is much more clumsy and unprofessional in doing this.

Finally, since Flickr is not solely a LEGO site it gives the outside world the occasional glimpse into what can be done with LEGO. Every now and then a comment gets left by someone outside the community. For example, I once had a picture invited to a group pool on vehicles, because they liked a firetruck in a picture so much.


That all said, I still think MOCpages is a great idea and site. I think I'm probably near the oldest users (I think I'm about #130) and it's certainly changed since when it first started. Lately I find the formatting to act strangely on my computer, so it can be frustrating to use.

-John.

[doc069]

MOCpages was my introduction to the Lego online world.

It has its problems to be sure; such as immature users, more Halo mocs than I care to look at, etc, etc,

However, I feel it is still a valuable resource. It allows these 'kids' to express themselves and learn from others. Not just learn how to improve their building skills, but also learn how to express their views through reading other's reviews.

I try to leave one or two reviews there daily to encourage these people to build and share.

I have to admit the interface leaves a bit to be desired, but I'm not paying so I'm not complaining.

Regards,

Lee

[The_Vanquished]

With MOC pages, I have had it for awhile, but until recently, I haven't been there in along time. There are annoying users there (Sam I Am....) but I will post creations there, it is a great idea for a site, but could be exucuted better.