Every week, we’re busy telling the stories behind our platform, our technology, and our place in the gaming and technology industries. For those of you who catch up with ROBLOX over the weekend, the Weekly ROBLOX Roundup collects the best stuff to hit our various avenues of publication in the last week. This time: talking mechs, motors and invention with user TakeoverTom, we respond your ideas for things like a leveling-up/reputation system and investing in ROBLOX games, the user-generated content landscape, advanced FPS creation and more.

Mechs, motors and invention with TakeoverTom

TakeoverTom has created some of the most complex models you’ll see on ROBLOX. We had the chance to talk to him in person about his creations, all of which operate on real-world physical principles and revolve around suspension and steering. From mechs to motorcycles, TakeoverTom is taking advantage of some of ROBLOX’s deepest intricacies, and I think you’ll find his point of view fascinating. You can read the full story here. Recommended reading.

Collecting and responding to your feedback

ROBLOX’s Creative Director John Shedletsky put out a call for your feedback via Twitter early this week. He responded to a number of good ideas, including a leveling-up/reputation system, a ROBLOX stock market, adding Robux or Tix to trades, messaging optimizations and more. We routinely and directly address our community’s ideas and questions in this recurring series. Check out the latest edition here, and an archive of previous entries here.

User-generated content platforms and what makes them successful

There are a number of user-generated content platforms that are stacking up big user statistics — YouTube, ROBLOX and WattPad, to name a few — and, in this article, we offer our ideas as to what makes them work. Of course, we make sure to connect those ideas with their manifestations on ROBLOX.

Initial “game template” released

ROBLOX is building out game templates that let you create a game in a specific genre without having to worry about the nuts and bolts, and instead focus on great level design. Our first template is Capture the Flag, a common multiplayer shooter mode. We put together a short demonstration video for the feature, so check out the complete blog post for all the information you need to get started.

Game trailer contest: you voted, we rewarded

Our video trailer contest ended this week, and we let our users choose five winners — who banked 20,000 Robux — from our top 24 picks. Check out this blog post to see the winning game trailers (I’ll drop in my personal favorite here to entice you). Congratulations to the winners!

Bits

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We recently asked our Facebook followers how they’d describe ROBLOX to a friend. What’s interesting about the responses is they all represented one of the many ways users interact with our platform.

We heard from the players:

Your one-stop shop for plenty of great games ranging from shooter to RPG, from adventure to fighting, from hanging out to role play. Nice customization, making friends, a game engine that you will enjoy until the end of time.

And the builders:

An unlimited building platform to share your games with others. By providing a building brick creation system you can literally create any game you can think of with a moderate learning curve. A great way to start and practice game design.

I would describe it as the ultimate building, playing and learning experience. There is no other game like it on the internet, and it is definitely my favorite game out there as it has inspired so many people in so many ways. Start your journey now!

And the socialites:

Cool place where you can talk to and meet new people. Yesterday I made four friends. They are awesome.

You can take part in discussions like these by following ROBLOX on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We love to hear what you have to say, so join the hundreds of thousands of others!