Wow. Firstly, he complains about the jaggedness. Yeah, this is Bionicle, not some super accurate representation of toys from another franchise. Plus, it's built by someone with not a lot of time on their hands. It's show accurate enough to be recognized as Ravage, be happy with that! He complains about the greebling underneath the armor plates. There isn't enough connection points beneath to produce that. I do agree that there should be more jaggedness along the spine, however.

D=

That is completely the opposite of constructive criticism. It doesn't offer any helpful tips on how to achieve the look the reviewer thinks the MOC should have, but just points out everything "wrong" with it and tears the MOCer down. Saying things like "it looks nothing like it should," "you didn't do a good enough job," and "doing this totally ruined it" is just mean. Something like, "If you have any, you could try using some black pins, instead of red, in the places that show up the most. It's really hard to find a lot of black pins nowadays, though (thanks, Lego XD)" says basically the same thing but in a completely different way.

Even when some of the things pointed out are valid points, the MOCer is left feeling like utter fail and with a strong dislike for the reviewer.

Yaaay, I just reviewed a review! XD

Turakii

D=

 

That is completely the opposite of constructive criticism. It doesn't offer any helpful tips on how to achieve the look the reviewer thinks the MOC should have, but just points out everything "wrong" with it and tears the MOCer down. Saying things like "it looks nothing like it should," "you didn't do a good enough job," and "doing this totally ruined it" is just mean. Something like, "If you have any, you could try using some black pins, instead of red, in the places that show up the most. It's really hard to find a lot of black pins nowadays, though (thanks, Lego XD)" says basically the same thing but in a completely different way.

 

Even when some of the things pointed out are valid points, the MOCer is left feeling like utter fail and with a strong dislike for the reviewer.

 

Yaaay, I just reviewed a review! XD

 

 

Turakii

Fully agreed, on the basis of clear logic.

I must agree with the other posters here- this tears you down as a mocist. And for the record, that does look like Ravage.

I guess I'm the only one here who thought Primus' review was good. It got to the point. It gave examples on how to improve. It didn't have a number rating. It didn't butter up the MOC or the builder in order to take the edge off of any negative comments.

That is completely the opposite of constructive criticism. It doesn't offer any helpful tips on how to achieve the look the reviewer thinks the MOC should have, but just points out everything "wrong" with it and tears the MOCer down. Saying things like "it looks nothing like it should," "you didn't do a good enough job," and "doing this totally ruined it" is just mean. Something like, "If you have any, you could try using some black pins, instead of red, in the places that show up the most. It's really hard to find a lot of black pins nowadays, though (thanks, Lego XD)" says basically the same thing but in a completely different way.

 

Even when some of the things pointed out are valid points, the MOCer is left feeling like utter fail and with a strong dislike for the reviewer.

Did you read the whole review?

The texturing on this is all wrong. You've got jagged-y parts where they need to be smooth, and smooth areas where it needs to be jagged. The legs look nothing like the source image, and the coloring is off. Really, you used a bunch of big parts to attempt to achieve "detail" which pretty much defeats the purpose. An accurate homage to Ravage should be made of a variety of small pieces covered by much larger, smoother pieces, as that's what Ravage's (and any Bayformer's, for that matter) style is. The coloring isn't great. The main color should be silver. There shouldn't be any black or gunmetal. They aren't included in the source image, so why are you including them in the MOC? The eye is too high up, and it's not nearly round enough. The MOC doesn't really resemble Ravage, mainly because you didn't do a good enough job of defining/detailing certain parts of MOC, especially the legs and torso. The mouth doesn't look functional, and it doesn't really resemble Ravage's mouth. Also, the red pins and the blue pinaxles totally ruin the color flow (not that the colors really flow on this MOC, but still).

 

Oh, and the photography is not the greatest. Might I suggest checking out this topic? Presentation is key when displaying your creations.

 

P

Plus, some of the other comments imply how to fix it. When he says "the eye is too high up," he is obviously implying to move the eye down a stud or two. You're right that it's two ways of saying the same thing, but I disagree that one is more polite than the other.

Ferhago, I don't personally think this is a bad MOC. It is mediocre. You've got the basic concept down, now it's all about finessing the MOC. When you have time, read over Primus' (and everyone else's) reviews and apply some of the ideas. Continually revising and changing the MOC will make it as accurate as possible to the original Ravage. The best builders go through multiple revisions of their work before the final version is done. Hope I don't sound too high-and-mighty.

- Sidorak

- Sidorak

Did you read the whole review?

It doesn't offer any helpful tips on how to achieve the look the reviewer thinks the MOC should have...

When reviewing MOCs, you've got to keep in mind that only so much can be done with Bionicle pieces. "It's too smooth in parts and too jagged in others" doesn't really tell him how to change it, just that it needs to be changed.

I'm sorry if I sound really harsh or something. >< Super-negative reviews really get on my nerves because, as I said before, no matter how right they may be, they can make the artist/MOCer/writer feel horrible. Just a mere change of wording can make a world of difference and gain you more respect.

Turakii

@Sidorak: I understand what you're saying, and I agree with the basic concept. But what gets me is that the blazing criticizers (at least the ones I've had run-ins with) don't seem to stop and think about the possibility and plausibility of the changes they suggest. You probably didn't know, but it took 2 hours to get a head that good, and I went through every option possible before finally picking that one. I think the eye should be lower, too, but it seemed impossible to do with the parts I had.

It seems to me that the blazing critics don't really think of that.

If I'm wrong, then it shouldn't be too hard for them to at least say which parts may work better, aye? I'd gladly accept the blazing criticism if there was any way of fixing it provided. But instead I get a "This sucks, go fix it so I like it." Which doesn't help much when I've already gone as far as I can to make it good.

Rebuttals?

Memoria.

The real problem isn't the review, it's the fact that nobody making movie transformers has ever done it right, because doing it properly would involve, oh let me think, seventy, maybe eighty thousand pieces.

come to think of it, we need some Transformers made by Legoland master builders. That would be sick (if they transform, that is).

@Sidorak: I understand what you're saying, and I agree with the basic concept. But what gets me is that the blazing criticizers (at least the ones I've had run-ins with) don't seem to stop and think about the possibility and plausibility of the changes they suggest. You probably didn't know, but it took 2 hours to get a head that good, and I went through every option possible before finally picking that one. I think the eye should be lower, too, but it seemed impossible to do with the parts I had.

 

Memoria.

While I agree with you there, that last sentence could make any criticism moot. =/ Still though, P's suggestion's do seem near impossible for many people.

Quote edited to match the rest - Ferhago

Did you read the whole review?

 

It doesn't offer any helpful tips on how to achieve the look the reviewer thinks the MOC should have...

When reviewing MOCs, you've got to keep in mind that only so much can be done with Bionicle pieces. "It's too smooth in parts and too jagged in others" doesn't really tell him how to change it, just that it needs to be changed.

 

I'm sorry if I sound really harsh or something. >< Super-negative reviews really get on my nerves because, as I said before, no matter how right they may be, they can make the artist/MOCer/writer feel horrible. Just a mere change of wording can make a world of difference and gain you more respect.

 

 

Turakii

No, you didn't come across super harsh; you're one of the nicer people on this site. I think the wording of the review is personal preference - when I have post a creation, I just want the criticism. I don't really like number ratings or extra information, I want to know what parts of the MOC are badly constructed and need to be fixed. Most people don't like such blunt reviews.

Either I'm weird, or my creations really suck.

One thing we can both agree on is that it would be nice to tell the builder what they are doing right -- that adds a positive aspect to the review, and it's useful for builders because they get an idea of what works well.

@Sidorak: I understand what you're saying, and I agree with the basic concept. But what gets me is that the blazing criticizers (at least the ones I've had run-ins with) don't seem to stop and think about the possibility and plausibility of the changes they suggest. You probably didn't know, but it took 2 hours to get a head that good, and I went through every option possible before finally picking that one. I think the eye should be lower, too, but it seemed impossible to do with the parts I had.

It seems to me that the blazing critics don't really think of that.

If I'm wrong, then it shouldn't be too hard for them to at least say which parts may work better, aye? I'd gladly accept the blazing criticism if there was any way of fixing it provided. But instead I get a "This sucks, go fix it so I like it." Which doesn't help much when I've already gone as far as I can to make it good.

 

Rebuttals?

 

Memoria.

I understand what you're saying about reviews suggesting changes not in the range of possibility. MOCers have limits on time, pieces, etc. Those are problems everybody runs into. But there's no way for reviewers to know how much time you've got or which pieces you have, so they make all the suggestions they can think of. (At least, I do.) Then, you can pick and choose which ones are actually feasible and apply them.

To quote Darth Vader, "constructive criticism =/= positive feedback." I know how disappointing it is to spend hours upon arduous hours on a creation, only to post it and receive negative reviews. I spent a LONG time building this castle and was upset when some people didn't like it. But I eventually learned from my mistakes (there's waaaaaay too much going on and the MOC should be simpler) and now I'm a better builder. Not that that's saying much. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I'd like to hear what Primus has to say.

- Sidorak

Sometimes people expect to much. This would be a good review for someone who had tons of peices. I figure you have to take the time to get a good feel of what the MOCist can do, and what sorts of pieces he or she have in their personal collection. That's what I do before I give a review. For example, I'd give a new person to MOCing a diffrent style of review than say Darth Vader. There is an obvious diffrence in skill level.

As for the MOC. I love it! For a MOC that barely uses system pieces, it's great! I don't really agree with Primus on what he has to say on some things. But don't let the little things bother you.

-BD

Read this.