300 replies to this topic

[Vandenreich]

So basiclly what are opinions on Bionicle you have that for the most part is unpopular?
For example ''I think 2001 was the worst year ever(Just an Example dont kill me)'' or ''The Toa Nuva were a Bad team (Example)''
I shall begin , I find Tahu a terrible character and cannot stand him.

Continue.

[Princess Grr]

WELL, I think Bionicle was of pretty low quality in general for most of its run <---UNPOPZ OPINZZ

HOWEVER WON'T THIS TOPIC BREED EXCESSIVE NEGATIVISM???

[Applejack]

I liked 2005. ALL of it.
The Visorak were amazing.

[Makaru]

I cannot stand Kopaka. Long story short, I find him to be similar to Wolverine in many ways, many of them good. However, Logan has an underlying hero quality about him that allowed him to see past his brash solitary charisma to do the right thing for the good of the team from time to time, whereas Kopaka simply learned how to be less of a pretentious gob.

This is not character development. This is shallow character advancement.

~Makaru
1987-2012
Killed by angry fangurls(sic)


EDIT:

Also, I imagine my absolute love for the Bohrok Kal is an unpopular thing as well.

Edited by Makaru, Feb 24 2012 - 05:52 PM.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I was fond of the Inika masks. And the Phantoka masks. And the Inika torso, which I still consider the best and most versatile canister set torso design in the theme's lifespan. And on Pohatu turning orange.

In general I had a pretty positive outlook on a lot of things in BIONICLE sets that were unpopular on BZPower.

[Astrotorical]

There was only 1 think i didnt like about bionicle at all. For the the entire run of bionicle, start to end, I still couldnt grasp my head around the point of having Stone and Earth as seperate elements. Now I understand it from a village point of view, 1 lives in the desert, the other in a cave. But they are esentially the same thing.

Everything else was awesome, even the ones that noone else liked

Edited by Astrotorical, Feb 24 2012 - 06:02 PM.

[Sumiki]

I actually liked the Bohrok-Kal. Sure, they were clone sets and complete silver ripoffs of the Bohrok, but those shields and those silver joints were and are still great, even if the color of the latter didn't exactly match the rest of the silver.

I think silver is a legitimate color. Just because it's been "overused" doesn't mean it's bad ... would red or green or blue be bad if it were overused? I'll be the first to admit that it was in a lot of sets that it probably shouldn't have been, but hate on the set if you want - not the color.

The Inika torsos were also the single best torso ever to be in a set. Again, their overuse led to their hate - but what other part had so many connection points? It was versatile, and it worked. Everyone loved it in 2006, but by 2007, hordes were on the brink of storming LEGO for the part's sudden "overuse" ... The Piraka torsos, which they're often compared to, do not have as many connection points and the shape and angle of its armor is not conducive to many creative or innovative uses in MOCs.

Edited by Sumiki, Feb 25 2012 - 11:16 AM.

[Dralcax]

Functions suck and makes posing a headache.

[fishers64]

2001-2003 story was bleh, shortsighted, boring...I read 2004 story first.

The Toa Metru/Hordika were the best Toa. Vakama rules.

2008 story was amazing - especially all the alternate dimensions.

I have many unpopular opinions.

[The Inquisitive Automaton]

2009 had the best sets of all time. Of ALL TIME.

[LewaLew]

Hero Factory is a good theme, and has better sets than BIONICLE.

Oh, wait, that idea's popular now.

I tend to be the devil's advocate for many unpopular views of BIONICLE and Hero Factory, but there are a few I don't hold. For instance, I was sick and tired of Metru Nui halfway through the Morbuzakh arc. But I did like the Inika and Piraka builds, silver, and Hero Factory, and have supported them for a long while.

[DeeVee]

Unpopular opinion: Greg is a sub-par book author and had too much story control.

[Aderia]

2001-2003 story was bleh, shortsighted, boring...I read 2004 story first.

The Toa Metru/Hordika were the best Toa. Vakama rules.

2008 story was amazing - especially all the alternate dimensions.

I have many unpopular opinions.

This opinion isn't unpopular, at least with me!

[Hurricane iBrow]

Well, I didn't mind the re-use of the Inika torso. I also didn't mind the transition from brown... until they got rid of the gunmetal that went with the keetorange.

-ibrow

[Scanty Demon]

Unpopular opinion: Greg is a sub-par book author and had too much story control.

I sorta agree with this, I mean he wasn't a horrible writer. He did however need to work on his writing a little more.

That and I actually liked the Toa Phantoka's build.

[Hastur the Unspeakable]

2006-2008 were the best years ever, in terms of both sets and story. *retreats into bomb shelter*


"But as long as I'm here, I get to bust heads!"

[Valenti]

Gali Mistika's mask is awesome.

[Black Six]

Since this is about Bionicle and not BZP, I'm throwing this over to LEGO Discussion.

[Phyoohrii]

2008 was my favourite year.

Silver is an awesome colour and a number of the non-metallic coloured weapons after 2002 looked dumb.

BIONICLE 3 was the best of the four films (actually, I'm not sure if that's unpopular).

Mukau is not a dumb name.

Plus other stuff I guess.

[BioGio]

Unpopular opinion: Greg is a sub-par book author and had too much story control.

I sorta agree with this, I mean he wasn't a horrible writer. He did however need to work on his writing a little more.

Right, "sub-par" doesn't actually mean "terrible," but it does mean "not good" and "mediocre to bad." I really agree that Greg isn't a good author, but I also wouldn't expect all that much when LEGO really is just interested in selling sets. For what he does, he's not that bad (though that might be my nostalgia filter kicking in). To the many bronies who occupy BZP, Lauren Faust is not the norm.

As for my own opinion: The Hordika weren't that bad. They contained a function that didn't interfere with the pose-ability of the sets by much. Sure, they were ugly in respect to proportions, and they unfortunately lacked Kanohi, but they were good as animal-esque Toa.

~ BioGio

[xccj]

Tahu has always been one of my least fav Toa. And I did like the Bohrok Kal story very much. (Sets were okay too, I guess.) My favorite Inika and Mahri were both Hewkii, and I thought 2006 was the best year after 01 and 02. And I love the new Hero Factory ball joint designs.

That's really all I can think of for now...

[Half a Cup of EW]

I really like the Mahri. Don't know if that's a particularly unpopular opinion, but I've seen lots of people bashing them over the years, so I figure it counts. Also, the Cordak launchers were really cool. They shot projectiles farther and harder than any other launcher, and they looked pretty hardcore.

I also loved the Metru Nui storyline, and wasn't angry at all when they took two years away from the Toa Nuva.

The Toa Newva were really cool. I loved them (except, unfortunately, Gali. Poor girl).

[///dotcom///]

The squid launchers were some of the best launchers and anyone who couldn't fire them was a sissy.
Yes.

[Spink]

Gali was bleh, I'm speaking of '01 - '03 Gali as I dunno if she ever changed. From my perspective, she was just dreadfully boring and had too much of a mother-complex. Didn't do anything very interesting, did nothing memorable, scolded Tahu once or twice.

But I will, always, hold a place in my heart for the likes of the bohrok. <3

[Axilus Prime]

My favorites were 2006-2008. Storyline of Bohrok-Kal saga was lame. (I put the Bohrok-Kal thing as an unpopular thing since many people in here are saying they like it.) For some reason, I hate stories where the characters aren't at full power during a fight and the only way to get their power back is to win the fight anyway.

I also thought 2009 was decent and the Titan Mata Nui was my favorite set, seconded by Skopio.

[Vandenreich]

The squid launchers were some of the best launchers and anyone who couldn't fire them was a sissy.
Yes.

Yeah the Squid launchers were my favorite 😝

[Sir Kohran]

I dislike how much of the storyline became concentrated in Greg Farshtey's books. I think that by himself he just didn't quite have the storytelling talent to pull it all off. I do admire the great effort he put in; I just don't feel the results quite matched up.

[Toa Zaz]

Yeah, I sort of agree with you guys about Greg. I guess he did a fairly decent job, considering what he had to work with, but yeah, he is kind of sub-par. Actually, (and this is likely just due to nostalgia, because this is really when I got into Bionicle), I really liked 2005. Also, Web of Shadows was by far my favorite movie. I strongly disliked Mask of Light.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I liked how the storyline came to an end. I've heard people say that it wasn't good, but I liked it. I mean, it had two giant robots that were millions of feet tall fighting each other. What's not to like about that?

Also, I thought the Bohrok-Kal sets looked really cool. Sure, they looked a lot like the originals, but they were still cool in their own right. (At least, IMO.)

[Sumiki]

Unpopular opinion: Greg is a sub-par book author and had too much story control.

I think it's kind of unfair to call Greg a sub-par author. He wasn't aiming his books at adults, you know - it was a line aimed at kids, and thus the books were also. If course they'd be simplistic.

As far as story control goes, he wasn't always singlehandedly the author. He went by a story bible which was developed in the first year. Later on, yeah, maybe he did, but would the story have been significantly improved had he had a co-writer, or two, or three?

[Ehlekdude]

2008 was a great year, story was great, so were sets, silver is one of the best colours, Tarix is absolutely awesome, squid launchers were the best shooting weapon ever (especially looked great with the green/blue squid), Hahli Mahrii sucked awfully (unlike all the other Mahrii) , and Pohatu looks better in orange.

[Riglax]

I liked 2005. ALL of it.
The Visorak were amazing.

The joke's on you, I actually liked 2005.

[KlakWest]

2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008 were epic, and I liked 2009 and 2010. One thing I can complain about Bionicle is complication, but I think it is a much better series than Hero Factory. It's one of the reasons I joined this site, anyway.

Also, Greg rocks.

*prepares flame shield and starts to set up base*

Edited by MakutaKlak, Feb 25 2012 - 01:25 PM.

[Lyichir]

I share many unpopular opinions with Aanchir.

I disagree with the mass denunciation of Greg as "sub-par". Some things he wrote weren't as good as others, but in certain cases he really shone. For instance, many of his "transition" books, like Tales of the Masks, Voyage of Fear, Maze of Shadows, and Time Trap were excellent. His work writing the main story for most story years was decent, too. Where his writing tended to suffer was when he had complete creative freedom and no direction as to where it should go, as with many of the story serials, particularly those after BIONICLE ended. He's currently writing for Ninjago and doing an excellent job, which I think is in part due to not having to explain the mechanics of every aspect of the Ninjago universe to fans. No longer does he have to field questions about what is harder or softer than protosteel, or what elemental powers can do. Instead he can go crazy with the story as it's presented to him, omitting logical analysis when it doesn't suit the story, which leads to novels that are much like his best work with the BIONICLE comics.

[Ryuujin]

unpopularest opinion: the storyline was boring and the sets were a waste of money.

[KlakWest]

unpopularest opinion: the storyline was boring and the sets were a waste of money.

To be honest, it seems that a lot of BZP members agree with you.

[Sir Kohran]

I share many unpopular opinions with Aanchir.

I disagree with the mass denunciation of Greg as "sub-par". Some things he wrote weren't as good as others, but in certain cases he really shone. For instance, many of his "transition" books, like Tales of the Masks, Voyage of Fear, Maze of Shadows, and Time Trap were excellent. His work writing the main story for most story years was decent, too. Where his writing tended to suffer was when he had complete creative freedom and no direction as to where it should go, as with many of the story serials, particularly those after BIONICLE ended. He's currently writing for Ninjago and doing an excellent job, which I think is in part due to not having to explain the mechanics of every aspect of the Ninjago universe to fans. No longer does he have to field questions about what is harder or softer than protosteel, or what elemental powers can do. Instead he can go crazy with the story as it's presented to him, omitting logical analysis when it doesn't suit the story, which leads to novels that are much like his best work with the BIONICLE comics.

Do four criticisms really amount to 'mass denunciation'?

I think the flaw in Farshtey's writing is that it's rooted in the style of comic books. The positive side of this was that he was extremely good at writing action scenes, intricate plots, villains and one-liners. But the downside was that as far as happy times, quiet and sombre moments, the wider world around the characters and the Matoran society they defended went, such things were barely touched upon. He told the main story of good and evil well enough, but rarely seemed to go far beyond it.

[Dralcax]

I share many unpopular opinions with Aanchir.

I disagree with the mass denunciation of Greg as "sub-par". Some things he wrote weren't as good as others, but in certain cases he really shone. For instance, many of his "transition" books, like Tales of the Masks, Voyage of Fear, Maze of Shadows, and Time Trap were excellent. His work writing the main story for most story years was decent, too. Where his writing tended to suffer was when he had complete creative freedom and no direction as to where it should go, as with many of the story serials, particularly those after BIONICLE ended. He's currently writing for Ninjago and doing an excellent job, which I think is in part due to not having to explain the mechanics of every aspect of the Ninjago universe to fans. No longer does he have to field questions about what is harder or softer than protosteel, or what elemental powers can do. Instead he can go crazy with the story as it's presented to him, omitting logical analysis when it doesn't suit the story, which leads to novels that are much like his best work with the BIONICLE comics.

Do four criticisms really amount to 'mass denunciation'?

I think the flaw in Farshtey's writing is that it's rooted in the style of comic books. The positive side of this was that he was extremely good at writing action scenes, intricate plots, villains and one-liners. But the downside was that as far as happy times, quiet and sombre moments, the wider world around the characters and the Matoran society they defended went, such things were barely touched upon. He told the main story of good and evil well enough, but rarely seemed to go far beyond it.

That's because they give him 21 or so characters and tell him to write with them hogging the spotlight each year, not to mention that a totally different writer started Bionicle and Greg can't make radical character changes easily. It even took him 2 years to turn Teridax from a mean dude with cool powers into an evil mastermind.

[fishers64]

I'll have to dig up that quote again, but Greg only had about six-eight weeks to write each book. I'm going to come out with my newly unpopular opinion and say that Greg was a great writer. Given all the craziness that Lego made him put up with, including an excess number of characters (52 in one book!) and the constraints that Lego and Bionicle universe put on him, I would say he did an excellent job.

I often wish that the serials would have contenued. That way we would have gotten a better feel for how his writing style would have worked, less constrained. Because Time Trap was epic. If all of Greg's works were on par with that, then I don't think this argument would even exist.

And what is wrong with battles, villains, and one-liners? You could argue that we never learned about a Matoran's ordinary day, but we did. It's called MNOG. And MNOG 2. How much society and Happy Times can you fit in in the middle of a fight for survival?

Character development shortage? That's in 2006, when there were 52 characters in Dark Destiny , 39 in Power Play , 29 in Inferno, and don't get me started on Legacy of Evil. If I had 52 characters in a story, I don't think I would be able to give them much development either. I wouldn't even try; my tendancy is to focus on one or two characters, or a group that can play off each other.

I think that was what the serials were for; to try to develop stuff out that was important so Greg wouldn't have to deal with that many characters at once; he could give them some space and move them about one at a time. 2008 was the crux of all that unweildy stuff with everything happening at once. It almost was too much for one person to handle.

So I really don't blame him. Given all that, I really could not have done any better, and I challenge any who critisize the King of Bionicle to write out any of that story they think is "subpar" in a better fashion.

Edited by fishers64, Feb 25 2012 - 05:05 PM.

[KlakWest]

I'll have to dig up that quote again, but Greg only had about six-eight weeks to write each book. I'm going to come out with my newly unpopular opinion and say that Greg was a great writer. Given all the craziness that Lego made him put up with, including an excess number of characters (52 in one book!) and the constraints that Lego and Bionicle universe put on him, I would say he did an excellent job.

I often wish that the serials would have contenued. That way we would have gotten a better feel for how his writing style would have worked, less constrained. Because Time Trap was epic. If all of Greg's works were on par with that, then I don't think this argument would even exist.

And what is wrong with battles, villains, and one-liners? You could argue that we never learned about a Matoran's ordinary day, but we did. It's called MNOG. And MNOG 2. How much society and Happy Times can you fit in in the middle of a fight for survival?

Character development shortage? That's in 2006, when there were 52 characters in Dark Destiny , 39 in Power Play , 29 in Inferno, and don't get me started on Legacy of Evil. If I had 52 characters in a story, I don't think I would be able to give them much development either. I wouldn't even try; my tendancy is to focus on one or two characters, or a group that can play off each other.

I think that was what the serials were for; to try to develop stuff out that was important so Greg wouldn't have to deal with that many characters at once; he could give them some space and move them about one at a time. 2008 was the crux of all that unweildy stuff with everything happening at once. It almost was too much for one person to handle.

So I really don't blame him. Given all that, I really could not have done any better, and I challenge any who critisize the King of Bionicle to write out any of that story they think is "subpar" in a better fashion.

I second that challenge, seriously.