Community Alert!

The developer of a new video game, Robodunk (YouTube reveal trailer) (Steam page), has used Frame designs from the MFZ and Lego communities without permission.  A list is below, so please reach out to these designers and let them know about this if you know them.  I've posted links to all the ones I could find to help with comparison purposes.

MittenNinja (Hellion Red Devil)

A. YATES (RAT)

Aardvark17 (Budgie Igneous)

KungFujiApple (Glorificus Nuncius)

the sylince (Shrike Frame Stalker Loadout)

Omniscient Frog (ZK-09 "Rideigu")

chubbybots (Cubots and a WIP unnamed model)

Jay Biquadrate (VLS D051z 'Guishan' and Post-Apocalyptic Scavenger Bot)

There are also builds from Alexial1 and myself that haven't been revealed yet.

The developer has reached out to people to secure permissions.  A couple people have said yes but I've refused.

Hate Has No Home Here

Let's repeat that for those in the cheap seats.

HATE HAS NO HOME HERE.






























I was going to do a review today but a couple of comments on different MFZ social media led to this.  There were two separate incidents of (pushback?complaint?) bitching about Pride Month iconography being posted by people.  That won't stand.  The Mobile Frame Zero community prides itself on being open and welcoming to all people.  Except those that are intolerant.  Denying people a chance to express their identities?  Intolerance.  Hate.  NOT acceptable.

I'm cishet and identify as male.  I know that affords me a lot of privilege but I still remember a time when being geeky and weird was frowned upon.  Luckily I had athletic pursuits that allowed me to pass as "normal" in most circles.  The wheel has turned and it's now the "Age of the Geek".  We're in ascendancy for a tiny moment.  Let's not forget where we came from.  No more gatekeeping, no more intolerance.  No more hate.


Pride color Chubs created by Shades Corvid.  Image used with permission.

Freedom of Speech Versus Freedom from Repercussion

I was going to post another review today but something happened on Monday that I feel the need to get off my chest.

We had someone post on the Discord channel with an objectionable screen-name.  I kicked them out and told them to come back when they chose something a little more family friendly.  The core of the reply was "censorship in 2018".

You know what?  Yes it is.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  Which basically means "We're not going to tell you what you can or can not say".

That really doesn't mean you can say what you want.  You self-censor every day.  You censor what you say to family, friends, and coworkers.  You can't say certain things to your family or you're going to end up in your room with no fun things.  You can't say certain things to your friends or they're not going to be your friends anymore.  You can't say certain things to your coworkers or your not going to have a job anymore.  Real life has consequences.

And just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.  There is a time and a place for everything and knowing what those times and places are makes you a better person.  Just because your screen-name goes over gangbusters in an edgelord community doesn't mean it's going to fly in a family friendly one.  Every community has standards and if you want to be a part of that community you have to abide by those standards.

We all have responsibilities and everyone faces repercussions for their actions.  There's enough annoyance, suffering, and pain in the world right now.  Taking actions that add more doesn't make you cool or edgy, you aren't "keeping it real".  You're just being a jerk and being hurtful to the people you have to interact with.


Oh. And if you think I enjoyed this whole thing, guess again.

No Fascists

There was a bit of a brouhaha on the Facebook page on Monday over someone having Fascist symbols in their icon and having pro-Fascist pictures on their public Facebook page.  That person ended up getting banned after actually using hate-speech in a conversation and another person quit the MF0 Facebook group over "free speech" issues.

 A lot of people bring that up in defense of people who show support for fascists.  "They have the right of Free Speech."

No they don't.  Not on official Mobile Frame Zero related websites.

Part of licensing/creating material related to Mobile Frame Zero is this caveat.

You must design your setting material in such a way that the signature elements of feudal, authoritarian, totalitarian, communist, corporate/anarcho-capitalist, or democidal political structures that are not true, workable, or morally acceptable in the real world are equally untrue, unworkable, and unacceptable in your setting.

That's built into everything Joshua has put his stamp of approval on.  So that means once you agree to the Terms & Conditions of any MF0 website you join, you are bound by that clause.  in short, any public display of support for Fascists of any ilk through speech or display of symbols -- this includes public icons, profiles, or pictures -- will result in an instant and permanent ban from any official Mobile Frame Zero group.

You have been warned.

No More Frames!

Dark Cloud Blogs posted last week on the MFZ Facebook page and the G+ group about wanting to see more Stations, HVAs, and Terrain from the MoF0 community.  He even came up with some new hashtags for this purpose; #MF0station, #MF0HVA, and #MF0cover.  So of course I had to jump on this bandwagon.

As a community we  put a lot of emphasis on Frame design and construction.  I've written about this in the past, and I'm as guilty of this as anyone else.  Of my last sixteen pictures on Flickr, only two were of Stations.  But, honestly, the concern for an established MoF0 or group of MoF0s should be how good the game table looks.  You already know your Frames are awesome, keep moving forward.  I've written about this too.  You want to attract more people to the game?  Have a rockin' table full of neat looking terrain.

This is something I've been trying to work on myself.  Recently I've started building on more interesting wall segments for Demo Games.












I've also experimented with some Alien Tree designs
to go along with the Sci-Fi Outpost terrain.  I have
another tree design I haven't taken pictures of yet.


The point of all this?  Stretch yourself as a builder.  Make some terrain more interesting than simple walls.  The rest of the players will thank you for it and bystanders will comment on it.  Let's get another hashtag trending, #awesomeMF0table.

Cliques, Outside Influences, and MFZ

There was a bit of a trainwreck on the MFZ FaceBook page yesterday after someone posted something that was marginally on-topic at best and insulting at worst.  The discussion over its "worthiness" broke down pretty quickly and the post was removed.  We even lost a few members from the FB group over this.  One of the things that's coming out of that kerfuffle is a discussion of what is an applicable inspiration to share with the community.

People have a habit of posting things to the FB group that they consider "on topic" by the dint that they include Lego.  A lot of times these aren't really on topic and would really be better suited to posting their own personal FB feeds.  Just because something is made of Lego doesn't automatically make it relevant to MFZ.  There also seems to be an idea that building techniques for larger scales can be used at the smaller scales that dominate MFZ.

This ties into another issue.  There's always been a bit of backlash on the multiple MFZ social media sites about the different scales people build at for MFZ.  While I've never actually seen a battle report on the Hangar for a minifig scale MFZ game, there is a small section of the MFZ community that likes building at that scale.  They tend to be found in the Flickr group and are vocal on the subReddit.  Also, there is a larger portion of the community that likes building in 4P scale.  I'm a member of the second but not the first.

There's usually some shouting, "That's not in scale!" whenever someone posts a creation that isn't expressly labeled as being 7p scale.  I'm as guilty of this as the next person.  There's some overlap with the Size Creep Argument in this as well.

As much as you, I, or anyone may feel that the minifig scale builders are people from outside the MFZ community looking for hits, +1s, upvotes, etc., we should still give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's not be overly exclusionary, as some other gaming communities may be, and give these people a chance to fall in love with this game the way we have.

And, let's be a little more careful about what gets posted to the FaceBook group.  since there's no "safety valve" over there the focus has to be little tighter on exactly what is relevant.

Sets vs. Individual Parts

One of the ongoing debates in the MFZ community is the merit of buying sets for parts versus targeted buying of parts via Bricklink/owl, etc.

Basic sets are a good way to build up a supply of bricks, basic or otherwise. That's why I recommend them. It may be a slow way to build up the specialty bricks, especially for people new to the game, but it pays off in the long run.  You get the parts you need plus others that you will use later.  Frames, terrain, parts for other frames, you're building a stockpile.

Bricklink is a good way to acquire the bricks you need right now.  You get what you need and no more.  So while you may get out of the gate faster you will have a limited number of parts to draw from later.

Either way, you acquire Lego and you start playing MFZ.  Which is the reason why you're doing this in the first place.  :-)

The Cult of the Build

One of the things that we don't really talk about in the community is why the only thing we ever discuss is the question, "What have you built lately?"  The driving impetus with the majority of the people that interact on the Hangar, the FB page, or the G+  group is showing off the frames we've created for the game.  We only talk about the rules when someone new to the game asks a question, and there's not really much talk about the setting even though that's new to everyone.

Is this because it's easier to share a photo online than it is to type a handful of sentences?  Is this a holdover from the general Lego community that seems to prize creation above all else?  Or does it relate to our need for attention and praise?

I realize I'm just as guilty of this as the next person.  It's very easy to throw together a quick blog post with a handful of pictures and some, "Ooh, lookit that" text and be done with it.  Also, like a fair amount of other builders, I tend to build a lot of one-off designs.  Now this is a great way to express creativity but it doesn't really make for a deep and abiding interest in the game itself.  I also realize it's the easiest way for people new to the game to express themselves in a meaningful manner.  "Look what I built!"  is usually the second post on one of the message boards/social media sites after, "My name is..."  I don't begrudge people this.  It is a time-honored way of introducing yourself.

How do we change this?  Is it up to the bloggers to point the community in another direction?  Do we take the hard tack and start writing things that are more than puff pieces?  (And be "we" I mean "I".)  Or is this just the way it is with the MFZ community and it's really not going to change?

You tell me.


Note:  I've been thinking about this for several weeks now.  The discussion over what MittenNinja's return to blogdom should look like provided the final push for me to finish this piece.

Public Service Announcement: Presenting a Unified Front

This is about tagging your photos.  I noticed today that one Flickr group has a number of tags dominated by our particular game, but they're not quite exact.  If we all use a set of standardized tags it will bring more notice to all of our photos.  These are the Tags I use; MOC, Mechaton, Mecha, Mobile Frame Zero, Microscale, MFZ, MF0, Mech, and Kre-O, Lego, or Brickblend where appropriate.  I also use Station for photos of stations.  You should be able to cut and paste these straight into Flickr or whatever picture hosting service you use.

Feel free to suggest more tags we should use.  There's also some discussion of this on the Hangar.

Flickr: Train-Wreck or Triumph?

This was going to be another random Flickr trawl post, right up until last night when I got home from class.  that's when I discovered the new user "interface" on Flickr.  I'll admit it, I'm a late adopter.  I always have been.  I started using Flickr after Yahoo bought them.  I have no idea what the "good old days" were like.  But I do know that once I figured out how to reverse the previous round of upgrades, I did.  I like looking at thumbnails.  It allows me to surf through images faster.  I don't really need to see images that are all strung together.  This current round of upgrades marginalizes everything I liked about Flickr.  Besides, if you just bought Tumblr for $1.1 BILLION why do you need to make Flickr look just the same?  And there seems no way to convert back.  While the terabyte of free space is nice I just upgraded to a pro account recently.  So that makes that $25 semi-wasted.  The Lego community seems to feel the same.  I guess only time will tell if things stay the same or we go back to the way things were before.  Just in case, does anyone know of a hosting site that looks like Flickr used to?


Here's a few articles for your reading enjoyment.  Here's an article on how Yahoo screwed up Flickr.  Here's an article on the upgrades to Flickr and the differences between them and the other main photo sites.  Another article on the Flickr Pro accounts.  Even The Brothers Brick don't know what to think.