[mcphage]

> The whole point of Lego was creative free form building. Remove that & it’s dull as hell.

The point is that Lego can be played with in a bunch of ways. It's parts that you can do whatever with, and it has instructions for one or more models that you can make. Some people like the sheer possibilities of making things up, and some people find that daunting. Lego supports both, and anything in between.

Following the instructions does teach you techniques that you can use on designing your own builds. It's a way to learn from experts.

[photonerd]

> The point is that Lego can be played with in a bunch of ways.

Indeed: the exact opposite of a set of instructions & specific, custom produced, build pieces.

[mcphage]

> specific, custom produced, build pieces

How they reuse molds in Lego models is crazy. I have a model with a pagoda, that uses bananas for the points on the eaves. My favorite is the orchid model, where the smaller orchid blossoms are demigorgon heads from the Stranger Things sets.