Is the LEGO® Cuusoo concept broken?

[CaptainFordo]

Culture can't be broken, it just is

The popularity of Justin Bieber says otherwise.

That being said, culture isn't the problem, but the people certainly are. LEGO could have certainly been more... focused, let's say, about what they wanted. But the bigger problem is their product for years has been marketed to people that don't understand the most basic thing about what LEGO is: a product where you can build whatever you like. Take a jaunt down our "set wishlist" threads and see what I mean. It's a toy of imagination, and support seems to come from mostly people that don't get that simple fact.

There are a ton of great ideas (go look at some of the modular buildings, Classic Space inspired lines, or the Western Town modular ideas), but most of the support is coming from people who either aren't LEGO collectors, or are just LEGO buyers.

Damning words indeed, but remember the very site we're on =P

[dWhisper]

I have a very good idea of the site... having been on it for at least a few days now.

We're just as guilty though. Go look at the number of comments on MOC threads compared to posts about sets on Cuusoo or leaked pictures. We're buyers too, and not enough of us are builders.

[Flynn]

I think the mere existence of that "Dark Bucket" concept is proof positive of your claim, dwhisper.

[fallenangel327]

This isn't necessarily related to the thread topic, but there's a group of kids cluttering up Eurobricks with their CUUSOO proposals:

First attempt
The project
Presumed second attempt
Classic Pirates... again

As you can see, this has been going on for quite some time and annoying me to no end. I hope this does not mean a cheapening of FOL communities in the future as purchase-oriented members struggle to outdo each other's project promotions.

There exists a similar problem with people suggesting uploading good MOCs to CUUSOO as if it were a natural follow-up. While I’m all for commendable works becoming available to the public, I envisioned a more user-based system (exchanging building instructions, etc.) and would be far more interested in encouraging less conventional building among MOCers than propagating a ‘we want ___’ mindset among FOLs.

Spoiler: show

Wow, don't know what's been happening to my English lately. This could have been worded much better.

EDIT: Oh, look:

This makes absolutely no sense, Lego. You created entire lines of sets based on Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Batman, all PG-13 or HIGHER franchises. But now you freak out every time anything on Cuusoo that actually makes it to 10k supporters isn't G-rated?

Why don't you just be honest with us? In the end, you don't like fan-projects based on franchises when they make better sets than you would. Minecraft only succeeded because it was the owners of Minecraft themselves who approached you to do it, and as for the Japanese sets, both are based off real life objects.

If you're really going to stick to your guns, you'll throw out Back to the Future because the third movie has people getting shot, and Zelda because of all the bad guys who get stabbed all the time. And you'll also cancel the Lord of the Rings line. And the Star Wars line. And the Batman line. And the Castle line, after all, we can't have those poor Orcs getting killed...and the City line, because those poor robbers will get eaten by the bear or set on fire in the forest, and that certainly isn't PG! And the Hero Factory line, all those bad guys shooting at each other, that's not good for our kids...

Don't try to justify this crap.

[legodavee123]

CUUSOO isn't broken. I think people's understanding of CUUSOO is broken.

CUUSOO isn't really about making products that hobbyists want. Or, not directly. On the surface, it's about information gathering. What types of things are LEGO hobbyists interested in, and how can LEGO use that information to cater to its hobbyist market? They might use that information to make better products that you're more likely to want, but not without a lot of filtering and finagling.

But mostly, it's about brand building and advertising. LEGO doesn't really care about the vast majority of ideas that are submitted. There are a TON of half-baked ideas that don't stand even the most remote chance of even making 100 votes, let alone 10,000, and let alone support from LEGO. BUT! Just because LEGO doesn't care about those ideas, and just because most AFOLs don't care about those ideas, doesn't mean that you (as a contributor of a dead-end idea) won't go doing some advertising for LEGO. You'll gladly email all your friends (both LEGO and non-LEGO friends), and ask for them to support your idea on CUUSOO! ... Which gets them thinking about LEGO, and maybe even how THEY could submit a cool LEGO idea.

The fact that some sets come out of it is pretty secondary as far as LEGO's concerned. Or, so I imagine. But, admittedly, they DO need some success stories in order to inspire you. If you didn't think your idea was going anywhere, you'd never submit it, and you'd be less likely to spam your friends with it. So, they need SOME sets to make it.

Hence, asking LEGO to somehow put resources towards restricting what you can submit by pre-approving them would be counter-productive for LEGO. Not only would it cost them more in terms of manpower, slogging through thousands of entries every day, but it would also deny many people the chance to send out spams asking for support of their LEGO project.

LEGO's approach (IMHO) is just fine, considering what they probably want it to be.

As for licensed stuff vs. original content? Meh. LEGO's team of concept designers aren't vanishing because of CUUSOO. Concept designers might be helped out by the information that CUUSOO can provide, but they're not going out of work thanks to CUUSOO submissions any more than they would be by people submitting awesome MOCs to Flickr or something. The awesome MOCs get posted to a dozen different LEGO blogs that LEGO is already watching. So CUUSOO's not saving them anything on that front.

Anyway, it may not be what we, as hobbyists want. But it's not broken at all, in my opinion.

DaveE

[emmtwosix]

CUUSOO isn't broken. I think people's understanding of CUUSOO is broken.

Agreed.

A couple of projects don't pass the review stage and everyone's up in arms about how TLG is mismanaging the project and how Cuusoo needs to be fixed. They're addressing issues in a proper manner as needed.

legodavee123 put it perfectly, Lego would have to devote a lot of manpower to pre-approve projects and it would be counter-productive from a publicity standpoint. If people were coming up with great original ideas that met all the requirements but were being rejected, then there may be cause for uproar. As it is, a couple of sets based on pre-existing franchises that would have required licenses and only cater to a niche audience have failed review.

There will be sets that fail. Probably even great sets. Just because Lego doesn't produce every one that gets the required amount of votes doesn't mean Cuusoo is "broken." Maybe if a disclaimer was attached to the slogan "Make your dreams come true!" people would cool off a bit.