175 replies to this topic

[You just lost the game]

I still like BIONICLE and always will, but right now I'm too busy collecting other Lego sets to worry about Bionicle. >_>

[Disciple]

I'm as interested in BIONICLE now as I ever was. Feels great.

[Dralcax]

I feel my general interest is dwindling. I think this might be the "dark ages" AFOLs talk about.

[Janus]

I've always enjoyed BIONICLE and probably always will enjoy BIONICLE.

 

That's not to say, however, that I agree with or support every decision made in BIONICLE.  To be quite frank while there were smatterings of good ideas throughout, for the most part my BIONICLE will always be 2001-2005.  After that point I started to lose interest in what was currently being output, but I've never lost my love for the first four years.

 

That's why I write non-canon fanfic.  It's more fun that way.

 

-Janus

Edited by Janus, Dec 08 2012 - 02:04 PM.

[UltToaNovaJoshNova]

I personaly love bionicle and not in a like kinda way it is my favorite thing ever

 

[Space: Ocean of Awe]

I haven't grown out of Bionicle or moved on. I'm not complaining about its end, nor am I glad it ended when it did, but I'm just grateful for the time it was here. My interest hasn't waned one bit, and though I've picked up many other interests, Bionicle still tops the list. I just wish I had more time to MOC and that I had all those books and comics that I missed the chance to have, but maybe I'll find someone from whom I can buy them (or borrow the from my friend).

 

While I appreciate the fact that we still have a buildable action figure line from Lego, I find that Bionicle was far superior to Hero Factory (any clone build complaints are at this point kinda invalid), as the build was far more stimulating and offered some good building techniques in the larger sets, whereas HF seems to be rather lacking in that (and its piece/price ratio is worse than Bionicle, at least in Canada). It's also lacking in the very in-depth story that I loved about Bionicle, though HF does have some useful MOCing parts, and I don't have to worry about keeping up with the story. Please keep in mind that I'm not bashing Hero Factory, I'm simply stating my opinion .

 

=)

[Meta-Mind]

BZPower started as a Bionicle site - do you really have to ask this question? 

 

Joking aside, I would say that many members do still like Bionicle, as evidenced by our still-thriving S&T, BBC, and RPG forums.

[Ta-metru_defender]

Yeah, I like Bionicle. Sure, I don't buy my sets (or even have any of mine nearby) and kinda stopped following the story after the Makuta's death, but I'll always have a soft spot for it.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I haven't grown out of Bionicle or moved on. I'm not complaining about its end, nor am I glad it ended when it did, but I'm just grateful for the time it was here. My interest hasn't waned one bit, and though I've picked up many other interests, Bionicle still tops the list. I just wish I had more time to MOC and that I had all those books and comics that I missed the chance to have, but maybe I'll find someone from whom I can buy them (or borrow the from my friend).
 
While I appreciate the fact that we still have a buildable action figure line from Lego, I find that Bionicle was far superior to Hero Factory (any clone build complaints are at this point kinda invalid), as the build was far more stimulating and offered some good building techniques in the larger sets, whereas HF seems to be rather lacking in that (and its piece/price ratio is worse than Bionicle, at least in Canada). It's also lacking in the very in-depth story that I loved about Bionicle, though HF does have some useful MOCing parts, and I don't have to worry about keeping up with the story. Please keep in mind that I'm not bashing Hero Factory, I'm simply stating my opinion .
 
=)

Totally understandable opinion. Personally, I think one reason I had such an easy time moving on to HF was that clone builds never really bothered me, and for me I preferred to see versatile parts repeated endlessly than to see more specialized parts introduced purely for the sake of variety. Hence in Hero Factory I'm glad to see that a lot of the new parts budget since the new building system debuted has gone towards expanding that building system rather than just swapping the basic elements out for more context-specific parts. This isn't to say I don't think the building system could expand further-- after all, I'd love to see a torso design that allows for waist articulation, or a shell design for the crotch that makes it easier to custom-armor the upper torso without the lower torso seeming incomplete. But I don't mind if progress is slow as long we continue to see steady improvements (like next year's rumored new head piece).

I agree that one thing that draws me to the HF story is that it doesn't require any huge investment of time and energy on my part to keep up with the story. With that said, I encourage you to check out Greg Farshtey's "Hero Factory Secret Mission" chapter books if you ever get time in a bookstore, or can afford to buy the first one on a whim. They're waaaaaaaaay more engaging than the show, and have a lot of the kind of writing that made Greg Farshtey's BIONICLE books so great.

Overall, I don't want Hero Factory to become just like BIONICLE, but at the same time I feel there are ways in which it hasn't yet lived up to its potential. While I love the new building system, none of the large-scale figures have near the same artistry as, say, Roodaka, Brutaka, or the 2008 Takanuva, all of whom were remarkably streamlined and imposing. It'll be hard for Hero Factory to move in that direction without losing the user-friendly part designs I love the new building system for, but then again it can't be forgotten that all of those titan sets I named came after years of introducing new molds that none of them could have done without. So hopefully the HF building system will indeed continue to expand and not just plateau and start introducing new armor and weapon elements like BIONICLE so often did in its later years.

[GSR]

I seem to have gone through this 'dark age' already that some of you are talking about, so to answer simply: yes, of course. There's something about the mythos of Bionicle that just works for me, and after getting back into it about two years ago, I get the feeling my interest in it isn't going to fade anytime soon.

Of course, I know just as well as everyone else that the line is well and truly done, so I'm not exactly waiting on tenterhooks for a grand return over here.

[CeeCee]

I'll never move on. Bionicle is one of the best, most imaginative franchises I know!

 

When I first came to this site, and I really wasnt clued up on the story at all, I though 

"Fan boys/girls, its a kids toy theme. The story is in no way shape or form going to be as complex as you make it out to be"

 

But as I did a little research, I actually found that it is one of the best universes I have ever come across

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I'll never move on. Bionicle is one of the best, most imaginative franchises I know!

 
When I first came to this site, and I really wasnt clued up on the story at all, I though 
"Fan boys/girls, its a kids toy theme. The story is in no way shape or form going to be as complex as you make it out to be"
 
But as I did a little research, I actually found that it is one of the best universes I have ever come across

I definitely agree, though with that said I think it makes sense that it ended. As a film franchise or a book series, it could have had amazing potential. But as a toy line, the story it was trying to tell was perhaps too ambitious to really take full advantage of that story's grand scale. Let's face it-- if it takes eight years for the driving force behind the entire story to be explained, and by that point many of the original fans of the toys have lost interest in the series as a whole, then that plot twist isn't going to have nearly the same impact on the new fans who have taken their place than it would have had on the fans who were there through the whole thing. And that's just one way in which the story was too grand for TLG to market to its peak potential-- there's also the fact that they couldn't afford to promote older story years once those years had ended, unlike media-only themes like bestselling book series and film franchises which can continue to promote their previous installments for years to come. This made the already difficult-to-digest BIONICLE story inaccessible to far too many fans (attempts like BIONICLEstory.com to condense previous story into more digestible summaries were honorable, but perhaps not as effective as they really needed to be).

Overall, I don't think BIONICLE ended because it was bad, but rather because it was simply too ambitious for TLG to market effectively so many years after it began, and so their options would have been to bring it to a close or to re-imagine it to the point that it lost what made it so great in the first place (its copious backstory and world-building).

Hero Factory, Ninjago, and other more recent themes may be somewhat cliche in various respects, but that makes them a lot more approachable than BIONICLE was for newer fans, who were somehow expected to catch up with years of previous story details if they wanted to understand the context of the current story. Ninjago, like many LEGO themes, was planned with a much shorter and more reasonable lifespan than BIONICLE was. And Hero Factory, while seemingly geared towards longevity, has the advantage of its episodic storyline, where knowing the events of previous story arcs is more or less irrelevant to understanding the current story arc. It's less ambitious, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing for either the creators or the fans.

[CeeCee]

 

 

I'll never move on. Bionicle is one of the best, most imaginative franchises I know!

 
When I first came to this site, and I really wasnt clued up on the story at all, I though 
"Fan boys/girls, its a kids toy theme. The story is in no way shape or form going to be as complex as you make it out to be"
 
But as I did a little research, I actually found that it is one of the best universes I have ever come across

 

I definitely agree, though with that said I think it makes sense that it ended. As a film franchise or a book series, it could have had amazing potential. But as a toy line, the story it was trying to tell was perhaps too ambitious to really take full advantage of that story's grand scale. Let's face it-- if it takes eight years for the driving force behind the entire story to be explained, and by that point many of the original fans of the toys have lost interest in the series as a whole, then that plot twist isn't going to have nearly the same impact on the new fans who have taken their place than it would have had on the fans who were there through the whole thing. And that's just one way in which the story was too grand for TLG to market to its peak potential-- there's also the fact that they couldn't afford to promote older story years once those years had ended, unlike media-only themes like bestselling book series and film franchises which can continue to promote their previous installments for years to come. This made the already difficult-to-digest BIONICLE story inaccessible to far too many fans (attempts like BIONICLEstory.com to condense previous story into more digestible summaries were honorable, but perhaps not as effective as they really needed to be).

Overall, I don't think BIONICLE ended because it was bad, but rather because it was simply too ambitious for TLG to market effectively so many years after it began, and so their options would have been to bring it to a close or to re-imagine it to the point that it lost what made it so great in the first place (its copious backstory and world-building).

Hero Factory, Ninjago, and other more recent themes may be somewhat cliche in various respects, but that makes them a lot more approachable than BIONICLE was for newer fans, who were somehow expected to catch up with years of previous story details if they wanted to understand the context of the current story. Ninjago, like many LEGO themes, was planned with a much shorter and more reasonable lifespan than BIONICLE was. And Hero Factory, while seemingly geared towards longevity, has the advantage of its episodic storyline, where knowing the events of previous story arcs is more or less irrelevant to understanding the current story arc. It's less ambitious, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing for either the creators or the fans.

 

 

I totally agree with you. Bionicles story was too ambitious for The lego group. You have to wonder, if it had been released as just a series farley long of books(Not that child friendly becuase it wouldn't have to cater to the toy line) I wonder how successful it would have been

[BZCoolness]

Well, my interest has diminished a bit, especially since I'm older now and real life is starting to creep in more and more (much to my dismay), but I still enjoy playing with them. I've just gotten a little more, shall we say, logical in terms of building and playing with them.

[CeeCee]

Well, my interest has diminished a bit, especially since I'm older now and real life is starting to creep in more and more (much to my dismay), but I still enjoy playing with them. I've just gotten a little more, shall we say, logical in terms of building and playing with them.

 

Im similar. It sometimes scares me how dark some of my stories get(not written ones). I think some of what I put on BZP is pushing the boundries as it is,

[Sir Kohran]

Let's face it-- if it takes eight years for the driving force behind the entire story to be explained, and by that point many of the original fans of the toys have lost interest in the series as a whole, then that plot twist isn't going to have nearly the same impact on the new fans who have taken their place than it would have had on the fans who were there through the whole thing.

(end quote)

 

A very good point. Many of the mysteries raised in the first stage (the organic rock layer, the Bohrok, Metru-Nui's dome) weren't explained for years thereafter. The lack of story progression before those answers came may account for some of the line's problems, in addition to the accumulating complexity.

[bohrokmaster]

I still love BIONICLE and I still remain a huge fan. Even when they ended it in 2010.

Edited by bohrokmaster, Dec 11 2012 - 09:13 AM.

[Damaracx 7.0]

No, I hate BIONICLE and everything about it!  >

 

~Soran

Ah, sarcasm, such a great thing it is.  

 

I still like it.

 

-HDXC2000 6.0

Edited by Hybridno DXC2000 6.0, Dec 11 2012 - 02:10 PM.

[~The 1st Shadow~]

I still like it. Always have, always will. Ninjago is just my priority right now, seeing as BIONICLE has a distinct lack of story and sets out at the moment. Bring all that back, though, and BIONICLE will be back on top of my list.

 

[Taipu1]

I still like Bionicle.  I don't know if I've moved on or not, I'm not particularly observant of any other lego theme, not ones I wasn't interested in before Bionicle anyway.  But I guess the hole left by Bionicle has been filled by the fact I'm generally busier...

[toa jalokim]

I still LOVE bionicle as much as I did when I first read chronicles #1.

 

Bionicle is something Ive loved since BEFORE I LEARNED TO READ.

yup. in fact, I love it even more since it ended. And I am talking about the STORY, by the way.

[KlakWest]

I still do, obviously not extremely, but I still do.

 

Whether or not I like it as much as I used to is something I'm not sure I can answer. I think I more or less like it just the same.

Edited by KlakWest, Dec 12 2012 - 04:20 AM.

[MisterGryphon]

Unfortunately, my love for Bionicle is kind of gone. Life, school, assorted wikis and things that I'm interested in have torn me away from it. I own but a few Bionicles now - they've been all but handed down to younger relatives.

[toa jalokim]

Unfortunately, my love for Bionicle is kind of gone. Life, school, assorted wikis and things that I'm interested in have torn me away from it. I own but a few Bionicles now - they've been all but handed down to younger relatives.

 

 

but you still love the story, right? loveing the story is what makes someone a bionicle fan, in my opinion.

[fishers64]

Unfortunately, my love for Bionicle is kind of gone. Life, school, assorted wikis and things that I'm interested in have torn me away from it. I own but a few Bionicles now - they've been all but handed down to younger relatives.

 
 
but you still love the story, right? loveing the story is what makes someone a bionicle fan, in my opinion.
 

As much as I love Bionicle story, I disagree with this. You can be a fan of Bionicle sets and not the story.

[Flaredrick: Forgotten One]

I will never out grow my passion for making Bionicle mocs, the movies, the games,etc.

[Lewa Krom]

I love Bionicle and I am waiting for it's return so that I can buy Legos again.

 

Let's Keep Bionicle Alive,

 

Lewa Krom

[jalar]

BIONICLE is my favorite story ever. I will always like it, but with the end of the line, I must admit that I've opened my eyes to other great things.

[Ballom]

I still like Bionicle, 2 years after it ended, which is why I'm still going strong as a member of this site. I don't collect LEGO sets as much as I used to, but that's mainly because I don't feel the pressing need to collect sets like I did with Bionicle back when it was still around. Mainly I get sets or parts for the sake of MOCing, which is one of the things I like most about Bionicle, and the reason why I like Hero Factory too -- the parts are just as good.
 
And that, I think, is one of the main reasons why I stick around. Bionicle as a storyline had its flaws, I'll admit; in particular, I considered its "prime" to be from 2001 to 2006, after which I grew displeased with things that GregF wrote, but in general I really enjoyed the mythos. It was cool; it was unique. As a writer of Bionicle fanfiction, it left so much room for creative extended universes that I've been able to really grow as a writer by crafting my own Bionicle epics. That has been quite rewarding.
 
And as for the parts, most of them were fantastic, and every year the variety got better and better. There is an infinite amount of possibilities of things you can make combining System, Technic, Bionicle, and now Hero Factory, and I think as a hobby toy there's no shame in still tinkering with Bionicle and associated parts, at least for the next few years while I still have the time. Sure, there were some misses over the years in the sets department -- egregious silver, overused Ignika and Av-Matoran bodies, hand pieces prone to breaking, Radiak -- but as a whole I couldn't have asked for a better plethora of pieces to work with. The characters embodied in the sets were cool too.
 
~B~

Edited by Ballom, Dec 13 2012 - 01:06 AM.

[Creep Of The Deep]

I like BIONICLE. But as glorious Cholie said before me I don't really have anything to talk about. So I focus on other things like the gorgeous Hero Factory toyline. But I still like BIONICLE's story and sets.

[Zorrakh]

Bionicle is a really interesting case, I believe. The only other thing I can really think of comparing it to is Transformers in the sense of it being a toyline with a very developed storyline with an incredible amount of characters. I still love Bionicle, even though now it's mostly for the parts and not the storyline, as I don't care for how it sputtered out in the end with both story and the Stars sets (please don't get me started on those ); I would have prefered if they had ended the story with the defeat of Makuta Teridax. However it wasn't until about two weeks ago when I was talking with a friend briefly what the story was (they didn't know what Bionicle was). I then told them that it was a bunch of mechanical beings living inside a giant robot and that that wasn't revealed until eight years into Bionicle.

 

It was shortly after that conversation did I realize just how big a part Bionicle has played in my life after all this time (over half of my lifetime), and that reinforces my love for Bionicle. It had absolutely everything that I wanted: cool (buildable) toys, cool characters, cool concept, creatures, weapons, settings, story, and it's been such an inspiration for me. I doubt there will be anything like it that could replace those feelings I have for Bionicle. Granted, that's also because I'm older now, but I still build, I still think about the story at times (I actually believe it's one of the best stories ever), and it's still a part of my life, and I won't easily forget it.

 

. . .

 

Yeah, I'm in College Schoolwork Mode.

Edited by Zorrakh, Dec 13 2012 - 01:20 AM.

[Toatapio Nuva]

I thought when I was younger that my interest in Bionicle would fade away gradually. That hasn't happened, but rather the opposite. My love for Bionicle grows every day. Yet I really don't care if it returns or not, since the new storyline wouldn't be the same, and would most likely be much worse (as demonstrated with Hero Factory). But I do love the old Bionicle and I still collect some of the few collectibles I'm still missing... and I'll never forget the brilliant storyline, which is like nothing else.

 

EDIT: I absolutely second what Zorrakh said. Bionicle has the best story created by man (only one story I think is more better, but that I will keep to myself). Well, except for what happened after 2008. That was just lame.

Edited by Toatapio Nuva, Dec 13 2012 - 02:52 AM.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I thought when I was younger that my interest in Bionicle would fade away gradually. That hasn't happened, but rather the opposite. My love for Bionicle grows every day. Yet I really don't care if it returns or not, since the new storyline wouldn't be the same, and would most likely be much worse (as demonstrated with Hero Factory). But I do love the old Bionicle and I still collect some of the few collectibles I'm still missing... and I'll never forget the brilliant storyline, which is like nothing else.
 
EDIT: I absolutely second what Zorrakh said. Bionicle has the best story created by man (only one story I think is more better, but that I will keep to myself). Well, except for what happened after 2008. That was just lame.

I don't think HF should be taken as an example of how the BIONICLE storyline would become worse if it came back... after all, Hero Factory is intended to be much different than BIONICLE, whereas a BIONICLE reboot would be trying very hard to recapture what made BIONICLE great (even though it would also try to steer clear of some of the story's flaws).

And if you want an example, check the description of this upload of Ordeal of Fire by David Carr, a member of the HF story team (and the voice of Nathaniel Zib in the HeroPad videos and Hero Factory FM). He up and admits that it's cheesy, but he doesn't seem too broken up about it. Because frankly, Hero Factory isn't intended to tell the same kind of epic story BIONICLE had. It's meant as more lighthearted fare in almost all media.

Now, Ninjago is closer to what BIONICLE would be like in a reboot, what with its heavy backstory and large cast of characters, but even it gets deep into the sort of childish humor that has been a LEGO hallmark since the LEGO Island PC game in the late 90s, if not earlier. A BIONICLE reboot would have jokes, of course, just as it did in the various BIONICLE movies, but there's no reason to think they'd bring it back at all if they didn't think kids were interested in a story with that signature mythic tone that separated it from other LEGO themes.

[MisterGryphon]

 

Unfortunately, my love for Bionicle is kind of gone. Life, school, assorted wikis and things that I'm interested in have torn me away from it. I own but a few Bionicles now - they've been all but handed down to younger relatives.

 

 

but you still love the story, right? loveing the story is what makes someone a bionicle fan, in my opinion.

 

 

 

I do love the story.

[GBV]

No, I hate BIONICLE and everything about it!  >

 

~Soran

Hmm... maybe that's why You have the Mask of Light on your avatar.

Me? I still love BIONICLE!

[Rooster Nui]

I haven't grown out of it and most likely won't.

[Axilus Prime]

I used to be more interested in it, but I'm not some stuck-up stereotypical pig who thinks it is now immature or something like that. The only reason I've lost any interest at all is because of the lack of new content. I still like it enough to make a comic series set in its universe, and to hang around here. (Then again, I spend most of my time on here with Transformers, Halo, and said comic series.) 

 

Bionicle is in no way "immature", "beneath me", "a relic of the past" or anything like that. And its story most definitely was not ruined in my eyes, or even made less awesome, by the later years. I don't believe that one ever "grows" out of it, I believe that one "runs out of ideas with" it. I still take pride and enjoyment in Bionicle.

Edited by Axilus Prime, Dec 20 2012 - 04:02 AM.

[Konuju]

Of course I still like Bionicle! My enthusiasm may have dwindled a bit, and it definitely isn't always on the forefront of my mind anymore, but Bionicle has had a huge impact on about half my life. In fact, any year between 2001 and 2010 I associate with that year in Bionicle. (Consequently, every year since has sort of blurred together. It's hard to believe 2012 is almost over now. Then again, maybe that's just me getting old. )

 

This past summer, I met a couple of guys who were in to Bionicle back in the day, and I impressed them by instantly knowing that "the ones that you could roll up into a little ball" were the Bohrok, and when they told me they stopped following Bionicle after "they went to the new island that was like a city and had new Toa" I said "Oh, so around 2004, then."

 

Admittably, a vast majority of my posts on BZPower are in the CoT RPG Pokemon: Rise of the Rockets. But by no means does that mean I'm no longer interested in Bionicle.

 

I'd say my passion for Bionicle is dormant right now, but whenever we get new story info (i.e. the reveal of the Great Being, the info on the Red Star, or the Thousand Years Untold 2 stories) it always manages to reignite my excitement.

[TNT-Vezon with an Olmak]

Of course I still like Bionicle! My enthusiasm may have dwindled a bit, and it definitely isn't always on the forefront of my mind anymore, but Bionicle has had a huge impact on about half my life. In fact, any year between 2001 and 2010 I associate with that year in Bionicle. (Consequently, every year since has sort of blurred together. It's hard to believe 2012 is almost over now. Then again, maybe that's just me getting old. )

 

Dude, I thought I was the only one who did that! Every time someone goes "Back in 2008..." I think What's happening in 2008? Oh yeah, Toa Nuva fighting the Makuta in Karda Nui. That's right. 

 

I think I might be addicted to BIONICLE since I often come on here when I should be doing more important things. Like homework.

[Takuna]

A few nights ago, my friends and I were running a playtest with the new Dungeons and Dragons materials, and I was building a cleric. I decided that my character would worship Mata Nui, and throughout the entire mission I was having my character compare what we were doing to the adventures that Toa had. He was stressing the importance of Unity, Duty, and Destiny; searches for secret walls were inspried by the Toa Mata's actions on their way to fight the Bahrag; he compared traitorous double-agents to the Toa Hagah; an amnesiac character was comforted by the Toa Mata's plight when they first arrived on Mata Nui. So on and so forth. I was exercising my knowledge of the BIONICLE mythos through my character. My references were spot-on and quickly delivered because of how much the BIONICLE story was impacted on me during the years I followed it, and to this day I can slip right back in to the obsessive fanset mind.

BIONICLE was the first in-depth, growing storyline that I partook of as a fan. Before that, I read stuff like Hardy Boys, which were one-shot adventures without an overarching story. But with BIONICLE, I discovered a world. I followed it from the beginning, and I stayed with it right up until the end. It was my first love, and I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it, nor give it up.

 

I've discovered other expanding storylines, like Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere or the Star Wars Expanded Universe, but none hold the same place in my heart as BIONICLE does.