pi = 3.14159265...

Terrak!

But if they "leave it alone," how do they ever get any better? Is every MOCer an expert from the time they start, day one? Or do they learn and get better through practice? Should a kid not put his entry up on display and feel that sense of pride, just because it doesn't happen to meet your standards? At the end of the day, LEGO building is an art, and that makes LEGO models a matter of taste -- what you think is lousy, someone else might like, same as with paintings or sculpture or any other art form. Should we set some sort of standard and then ban all builders who don't meet it from having the thrill of knowing their work is being viewed by their peers?

Yeah. I'm not that good of an MOCer yet, but I would have been even worse if I did not enter the 2 contests that I lost. But now I know a little more about creativity and originality. It used to be where I would combine the instructions for 2 sets and call it done. But now I've improved a little, and if I didn't try, I couldn't have gotten to the fairly normal position that I'm in now. My chances are a little better for the Makuta contest, though I really don't expect to win.