170 replies to this topic

[Fastcar700]

I love BIONICLE. It is more to me than a LEGO theme or a story. It has shown me that anything can be done through Unity. It has taught me that good things happen when I do my Duty. And it has taught me that it seems now that I amy never amount to anything, but someday I will rise from the ashes of defeat and find my Destiny somewhere in this world.

Edited by Fastcar700, Dec 20 2012 - 09:16 PM.

[Nick Silverpen]

I'm still all for Bionicle; whereas many people have moved on writing-wise, I am still writing in that genre. Hero Factory's got a good storyline, yeah, but I've not had the will to fully invest in it- it wasn't captivating, like the early years were.

[~garnira returns~]

I like to consider myslef an active fan. I make mocs often, and I keep the legend going by writing, making videos, posters, and even some old fashioned roleplay!

[Mersery]

I am still a very passionate BIONICLE fan, perhaps even more so now. The fact that BIONICLE is still a very big part of my life well after the line's discontinuation reaffirms the fact to me that I am, to put it bluntly, a die-hard fan. There is just such much appeal to the BIONICLE storyline; it is jam-packed with creativity, fascinating ideas, mystery, adventure, even scenes that can make you a little sad at times. I love the story because its themes can be extremely flexible at times, and there have been times where it has dived into some surprisingly dark areas. BIONICLE is also great because despite all the interesting places, characters and events presented in canon, it leaves just enough room for the fans to create their own characters, interpretations and fanfictions (as with any good series). I could go on for ages as to why I still love it, but to put it simply: yes, I still like BIONICLE.

[Ultimate Sybre]

I still love BIONICLE, but not as much as I used to. I keep telling myself it will return and our love affair will have a whole new beginning. I currently await that day.

[Bumblebee4483]

Excuse me, I LOVE BIONICLE!  However, I do understand those who don't care for it anymore.

[The Xinlo]

I still love it. But as many have said, I've also moved on. I still display the sets I have together and my MOCs (I usually make a new one every few months) and I have vowed never to sell any of them. I'm still trying to get the last 25 sets or so that I need to complete my collection.
 
But as I said, I've moved away from it a lot. With no new story or sets there's only so much that can be done, and I feel I've done it. Thus my interested have shifted back over to Star Wars which was always an interest of mine but I never had the money for the sets I really wanted. Now I do.
 
Pretty much all my money from work that hasn't gone into savings has been spent on music and lego.

EDIT: About it returning, I'm indifferent. If it does, I will definitely collect every set as I did before. But if it never does, then oh well. I have other themes and other non-lego things that need my attention.

Edited by Xinlo, Dec 21 2012 - 07:00 PM.

[NatureDruid]

It has had a great impact on my life. Heck, even when I get away from it my other interests stem from it. Elemental creatures? Bionicle! Druids? Oddly enough, Bionicle! Its impact has waned over time as the series ended and I moved into other interests, but it will always be there. Heck, considering how fast my interests disappear and reappear, I wouldn't be surprised if I got obsessed tomorrow!

[Takua: Tohunga of Light]

YES. As I wright, I'm drinking a coffee next to my Takua and Tahu from 2000.

[Samhain]

Been a fan since 2001 and still am.

[The Inquisitive Automaton]

I find it difficult not to love Bionicle. I still have all the sets posed on various shelves around my room and, as is evident from my sig, come up with ideas for assorted fanfiction almost every day. It was an absolutely huge part of my childhood as well as something of a money vacuum so I find it difficult to toss aside just so easily. Sure, I might not be as enthusiastic about LEGO as I used to be but I still hold a Bionicle close to my black, twisted and empty heart.

 

But of course eventually I'll run out of things to say about it. Sooner or later I'll want to move onto other themes to write stories about and maybe even come up with some of my own. The sets are having to be taken down bit by bit as I'm running out of space to put my books (which are now having to be put on the floor). It's like Toy Story 3. The whole thing's sentimental but eventually we'll just have to move on. 

[CeeCee]

YES. As I wright, I'm drinking a coffee next to my Takua and Tahu from 2000.

 I mean no offence here, but Bionicle didnt start until 2001(correct me if Im wrong) and Takua didn't appear in set form(I dint think) until 2003

[toa kopaka4372]

 

YES. As I wright, I'm drinking a coffee next to my Takua and Tahu from 2000.

 I mean no offence here, but Bionicle didnt start until 2001(correct me if Im wrong) and Takua didn't appear in set form(I dint think) until 2003

 

I think some sets were released early in 2000.

[maxthethrax]

Well,I dont like...only Tren Krom in BIONICLE.

And I love (realy love) BIONICLE.

[GBV]

I still like it as much as I did, but I don't see that as being incompatible with having "moved on". I'm not sitting down like a mule and waiting for it to come back; LEGO has given me plenty of other enjoyable things to pass the time with, such as Hero Factory.

I personally do not think that HERO Factory was a good replacement for BIONICLE, and if they made something better, then we would be on the same page.

[MisterGryphon]

 

I still like it as much as I did, but I don't see that as being incompatible with having "moved on". I'm not sitting down like a mule and waiting for it to come back; LEGO has given me plenty of other enjoyable things to pass the time with, such as Hero Factory.

I personally do not think that HERO Factory was a good replacement for BIONICLE, and if they made something better, then we would be on the same page.

 

 

It's story was lackluster. I expected more, but my hopes may have been too high, simply because not much could ever live up to Bionicle's legacy. It's not bad for what it is, but it could definitely have been much better. Time will tell, I guess, especially since (as far as I know) LEGO doesn't plan on ending the line soon.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I still like it as much as I did, but I don't see that as being incompatible with having "moved on". I'm not sitting down like a mule and waiting for it to come back; LEGO has given me plenty of other enjoyable things to pass the time with, such as Hero Factory.

I personally do not think that HERO Factory was a good replacement for BIONICLE, and if they made something better, then we would be on the same page.
 

It's story was lackluster. I expected more, but my hopes may have been too high, simply because not much could ever live up to Bionicle's legacy. It's not bad for what it is, but it could definitely have been much better. Time will tell, I guess, especially since (as far as I know) LEGO doesn't plan on ending the line soon.

Personally, I don't think Hero Factory's story was much better or worse than BIONICLE's. It's different, but not necessarily in a bad way. It's just aiming for something different: instead of an epic, myth-style storyline, it's aiming to be an action cartoon. And personally, I had that expectation from the start, which helped me enjoy it.

The jokes in Hero Factory are often pretty awful, but BIONICLE's jokes (when it had them) were not much better. "All right, who fired the tickle spinner?" And that doesn't even get into the awful pop-culture references that were in some of the serials. Meanwhile, Hero Factory has had some genuine hilarity in Hero Factory FM, the web media like the Bios and Gadgets & Weapons pages, and the Hero Factory Secret Mission chapter book series.

As far as epic storylines are concerned, I think Ninjago and Chima are moving in that direction. But frankly, I don't expect a story that takes itself as seriously as BIONICLE did, because frankly I think that the seriousness was a detriment to the BIONICLE story in many ways. It made the story as a whole less versatile than most LEGO themes, since it meant there could never be any silly crossovers or even a lot of jokes. It says a lot that the Mata Nui Online Game in 2001 permanently remained the closest thing to lighthearted storytelling that BIONICLE ever really saw.

Plus, let's not forget the issue of romance! A silly theme like Hero Factory can have robot characters flirt with each other for comedic or heartwarming effect (if you want to actually laugh at a joke in the Hero Factory TV show, watch Nex flirting with Daniela Capricorn and getting utterly rejected in the background of Makuro's press conference in Ordeal of Fire). In BIONICLE, the rules of the universe were taken so seriously that any romantic hints were more or less ignored by the official story in the long run (until the Glatorian story arc, at least).

So yeah, BIONICLE was great because it was so different than other themes. But frankly after ten years of it I felt happy to get something a little looser, a little freer, a little less ambitious. And I can't say I really want to see other themes go down the same road BIONICLE did. It was a brilliant theme in that it broke from LEGO traditions, but I think it's nice that more recent themes have bounced back towards a happy medium between epic storytelling and lighthearted humor. Hero Factory still has some settling to do before it's possible to enjoy it thoroughly without wincing at the TV show, but hopefully it will eventually reach a point where the story reaches the approproate sort of balance.

[Lenny7092]

Yes, I still do like Bionicle.

[toa electro]

I lo e ionicke best theme and best toy line ever !! I'm serious, I was into alot if toys and Bionicle still win me over

[ShadowBionics]

To be incredibly honest, my interest in Bionicle has gone down. Mainly because of the lack of story and lack of sets coming out, but we all know the cause of the latter... sort of. I kind of predicted the end of Bionicle when I saw the stars (and I got mocked for it), but whatever, that's another story.

 

So long story short, I've shifted my attention to my other interests such as video games and transformers... so in a since, I'm back to how I was before Bionicle came around. I've devoted some attention to Hero Factory and Ninjago as well, since I like the figures of the former and I like the storyline of the latter. Plus I still enjoy collecting other Lego sets, so that part of me is still with Lego. 

 

I mainly stay on here to continue whatever writings I have. Unfortunately, a lot of my friends have all moved on and left this site, so I don't have too many people to talk to anymore, only a few. So I guess that's mainly why I'm still on here. 

[Grandmaster Lehvorak]

To be honest, I still like Bionicle. I will always be a fan of Bionicle no matter what, because I grew up with it, but it is kinda sad that people do move on from it.

 

Lehvorak

[Kranan: Rider of Rohan]

I'll never stop likiking BIONICLE

Me too. I LOVE BIONICLE! I usually go to bricklink so i can see the old BIONICLE sets. That's the reason why I came to BZPower. On late 2010, I was searching about Bionicle info until i found something called BZPower. On early 2011, I decided to make a BZPower account called Toaofunityandbeyond. but then I forgot about my old account so I made a new one called Toa of Unity and Beyond. And now I still go to Bionicle Sector 01. 

[Predator - Jungle Hunter]

I'll never stop likiking BIONICLE

Me too. I LOVE BIONICLE! I usually go to bricklink so i can see the old BIONICLE sets. That's the reason why I came to BZPower. On late 2010, I was searching about Bionicle info until i found something called BZPower. On early 2011, I decided to make a BZPower account called Toaofunityandbeyond. but then I forgot about my old account so I made a new one called Toa of Unity and Beyond. And now I still go to Bionicle Sector 01. 

 

Should't have you asked the forum administrator for a pass or something?

Edited by Jungle Predator, Jan 25 2013 - 09:28 AM.

[Lord Nektann]

I still like Bionicle. It was a really well done, ingenious, and creative story. It started with mystical robots on a tropical island to a 100,000 year old quest to save a planet with giant robots. That's really amazing, and Bionicle was incredible through its run. Sure there was the occasional misstep, but we're all still here aren't we? From when I joined in the MoL saga, Bionicle has kept my interest for a decade soon. That's quite an impressive hold a franchise has had. I think Lego would benefit most from Bionicle by almost doing graphic novels and books and serials without any sets. Without being tied to sets, Bionicle could flourish. Imagine the story team thinking with no restrictions. Bionicle's downfall was it got too big for the sets, but that's exactly why got more involved with it. Some will argue differently, but I think, one day, Bionicle will come back. In what form I don't know, but I can tell you one thing.

 

We'll still be here.

[Ghabulous Ghoti]

I outgrew the toys in 2007... it was the story that kept me until the endish-thing we got (kind of in the middle of nowhere...)

 

Lord Nektann:

I still like Bionicle. It was a really well done, ingenious, and creative story. It started with mystical robots on a tropical island to a 100,000 year old quest to save a planet with giant robots. That's really amazing, and Bionicle was incredible through its run. Sure there was the occasional misstep, but we're all still here aren't we? From when I joined in the MoL saga, Bionicle has kept my interest for a decade soon. That's quite an impressive hold a franchise has had. I think Lego would benefit most from Bionicle by almost doing graphic novels and books and serials without any sets. Without being tied to sets, Bionicle could flourish. Imagine the story team thinking with no restrictions. Bionicle's downfall was it got too big for the sets, but that's exactly why got more involved with it. Some will argue differently, but I think, one day, Bionicle will come back. In what form I don't know, but I can tell you one thing.

 

We'll still be here.

It comes back when I am an experienced film maker and get the rights to do a full-length BIONICLE film...

 

No really, I have the ambition to do that

Edited by Ghabulous Ghoti, Jan 25 2013 - 08:24 PM.

[Neelh]

It's my childhood. Though I sometimes hate it, I still eagerly await story updates.

 

Aw, who am I kidding? I find it difficult to be so invested in something for longer than a year at a time. This year is Homestuck.

[Takanuva of Twilight]

I still love BIONICLE! It is, and always will be one of my favorite franchises ever. Although, since it's ending I have begun to pursue other interests, namely TransFormers, and, since the LEGO theme was introduced, The Lord of the Rings and other Middle-earth stuff.   Currently all my sets are in a huge bin in the basement, but once I get my shelves built and set up they're all getting a spot at the top!   I'm hoping to read all the fiction, in chronological order, some day, hopefully this year if I'm lucky!

Which reminds me, when was the blog or the serial on BIONICLE Story been updated last? I haven't checked in a while, and I can't remember if I've read the current one yet or not (read the blog yesterday anyway, and it sounded familiar, but I can't remember).

[Autobot Grimlock]

Still like it.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I still love Bionicle. In 2010 after they ended I began to slowly lose interest, but sometime in January it all came back, and with a new passion to complete my collection, which is pretty close to completion. One day i want that goal to be achieved. I realize that they won't ever come back, but there's always hope that in the future, Lego will release a new series more similar to it than Hero Factory, as their building experience isn't nearly the same. T feel like they are designed for a younger generation of kids, and Bionicle was too complex foe them, but there's always hope.

I don't think the generation of kids has anything to do with the differences between the BIONICLE and Hero Factory building systems, myself. At 21 years old and after ten years of BIONICLE building, I am still able to say without any reservations that I greatly prefer the Hero Factory building experience to building with BIONICLE parts. The Hero Factory building system is simpler, but the terminology I prefer is "user-friendly". Everything is designed with the intent of making it possible to build a variety of models with a fairly standardized selection of pieces, much like classic LEGO. In contrast BIONICLE was a sort of intermediate stage between Technic and dedicated action figure building. The amount of effort needed just to change up the proportions of a figure's legs was what I would call excessive, and besides a community of very talented MOCists here on BZPower and at conventions, most BIONICLE MOCs I saw online were a terrible mess in one sense or another. It just doesn't make sense to have a building system where you need a separate beam piece to put an armor piece on the sides of a leg than what you'd use to put armor on the front. Likewise it doesn't make sense to have a building system where the only lower leg beams are seven modules long and eight modules long, each with a variety of highly specialized textures.

Overall I think if BIONICLE had continued it would have inevitably had to move in the direction of what Hero Factory has now. It might not have gotten there as quickly and it certainly would have had a different visual style once it did reach that point, but already it had been drifting towards many of the things that make the Hero Factory building system so successful. The Toa Metru introduced the fundamentals of shell-and-beam based building. The Piraka introduced the idea of using the same limb construction for legs and arms, with elbow and knee joints alike. The Toa Inika experimented with the idea of a torso design that was designed for versatility, not functionality or appearance, with lots of easily-accessible connection points. The Barraki explored the idea of having shells that could work on the front or sides of a beam just as effectively.

In general, while BIONICLE never quite reached the construction styles of the new building system, the ideas behind its construction-- moving towards greater versatility and posability versus the specialization that the theme began with-- were a part of the same shift that eventually brought us where we are now. I don't think that we could or would even want to move backwards now, even in a new theme.

Edited by Aanchir: Rachira of Time, Feb 09 2013 - 07:22 PM.

[CeeCee]

I still love Bionicle. In 2010 after they ended I began to slowly lose interest, but sometime in January it all came back, and with a new passion to complete my collection, which is pretty close to completion. One day i want that goal to be achieved. I realize that they won't ever come back, but there's always hope that in the future, Lego will release a new series more similar to it than Hero Factory, as their building experience isn't nearly the same. T feel like they are designed for a younger generation of kids, and Bionicle was too complex foe them, but there's always hope.

I don't think the generation of kids has anything to do with the differences between the BIONICLE and Hero Factory building systems, myself. At 21 years old and after ten years of BIONICLE building, I am still able to say without any reservations that I greatly prefer the Hero Factory building experience to building with BIONICLE parts. The Hero Factory building system is simpler, but the terminology I prefer is "user-friendly". Everything is designed with the intent of making it possible to build a variety of models with a fairly standardized selection of pieces, much like classic LEGO. In contrast BIONICLE was a sort of intermediate stage between Technic and dedicated action figure building. The amount of effort needed just to change up the proportions of a figure's legs was what I would call excessive, and besides a community of very talented MOCists here on BZPower and at conventions, most BIONICLE MOCs I saw online were a terrible mess in one sense or another. It just doesn't make sense to have a building system where you need a separate beam piece to put an armor piece on the sides of a leg than what you'd use to put armor on the front. Likewise it doesn't make sense to have a building system where the only lower leg beams are seven modules long and eight modules long, each with a variety of highly specialized textures.

Overall I think if BIONICLE had continued it would have inevitably had to move in the direction of what Hero Factory has now. It might not have gotten there as quickly and it certainly would have had a different visual style once it did reach that point, but already it had been drifting towards many of the things that make the Hero Factory building system so successful. The Toa Metru introduced the fundamentals of shell-and-beam based building. The Piraka introduced the idea of using the same limb construction for legs and arms, with elbow and knee joints alike. The Toa Inika experimented with the idea of a torso design that was designed for versatility, not functionality or appearance, with lots of easily-accessible connection points. The Barraki explored the idea of having shells that could work on the front or sides of a beam just as effectively.

In general, while BIONICLE never quite reached the construction styles of the new building system, the ideas behind its construction-- moving towards greater versatility and posability versus the specialization that the theme began with-- were a part of the same shift that eventually brought us where we are now. I don't think that we could or would even want to move backwards now, even in a new theme.

When you said that Bionicle MOCs manily looked thrown together like a terrible mess, I think that this was a creativity issue. I definitely know what you mean when you say that they looked terrible for the most part, because lots of kids mixed and matched colors and stuff that made them look disproportionate and disgusting looking. However, if one had an amount of skill taken to keep the colors and proportions in check, then the MOCs looked amazing. I personally feel as if there was a lot more opportunity for detail and intricate designs on Bionicle MOCs wit the tube pieces, and so on. I feel that the Hero Factory sets, especially the first generation, which are the only ones I own, are less creative, such as only having a single positional arm, and non-bendable knees, and even in the newer ones, the legs and arms are less customize-able, due to  there being much less armor plating pieces.

 

 This is solely my opinion, I respect your side as well, I just feel differently on the subject.

 

While I was doing some adjustments to some of my Bionicles the other day I thought about the building system of the two. In my experience, baring in mind I cant speak for every one, I had much more fun "MOCing" with Bionicle than HF. HF is smoother, sleeker and builder friendly  but I find it limiting. Bionicles have some many connection ports. There is always some where for something to go, even if the space isnt really conventional. You can do almost anything with Bionicle, providing you have the parts(in which that Im aware is a disadvantage), but the point still stands. I find, once I put all the armour onto poor old Stringers, there is not much more I can do with him apart from play. I often find that you can always add to a Bionicle figure, but a HF one can be finalized shortly

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I still love Bionicle. In 2010 after they ended I began to slowly lose interest, but sometime in January it all came back, and with a new passion to complete my collection, which is pretty close to completion. One day i want that goal to be achieved. I realize that they won't ever come back, but there's always hope that in the future, Lego will release a new series more similar to it than Hero Factory, as their building experience isn't nearly the same. T feel like they are designed for a younger generation of kids, and Bionicle was too complex foe them, but there's always hope.

I don't think the generation of kids has anything to do with the differences between the BIONICLE and Hero Factory building systems, myself. At 21 years old and after ten years of BIONICLE building, I am still able to say without any reservations that I greatly prefer the Hero Factory building experience to building with BIONICLE parts. The Hero Factory building system is simpler, but the terminology I prefer is "user-friendly". Everything is designed with the intent of making it possible to build a variety of models with a fairly standardized selection of pieces, much like classic LEGO. In contrast BIONICLE was a sort of intermediate stage between Technic and dedicated action figure building. The amount of effort needed just to change up the proportions of a figure's legs was what I would call excessive, and besides a community of very talented MOCists here on BZPower and at conventions, most BIONICLE MOCs I saw online were a terrible mess in one sense or another. It just doesn't make sense to have a building system where you need a separate beam piece to put an armor piece on the sides of a leg than what you'd use to put armor on the front. Likewise it doesn't make sense to have a building system where the only lower leg beams are seven modules long and eight modules long, each with a variety of highly specialized textures.

Overall I think if BIONICLE had continued it would have inevitably had to move in the direction of what Hero Factory has now. It might not have gotten there as quickly and it certainly would have had a different visual style once it did reach that point, but already it had been drifting towards many of the things that make the Hero Factory building system so successful. The Toa Metru introduced the fundamentals of shell-and-beam based building. The Piraka introduced the idea of using the same limb construction for legs and arms, with elbow and knee joints alike. The Toa Inika experimented with the idea of a torso design that was designed for versatility, not functionality or appearance, with lots of easily-accessible connection points. The Barraki explored the idea of having shells that could work on the front or sides of a beam just as effectively.

In general, while BIONICLE never quite reached the construction styles of the new building system, the ideas behind its construction-- moving towards greater versatility and posability versus the specialization that the theme began with-- were a part of the same shift that eventually brought us where we are now. I don't think that we could or would even want to move backwards now, even in a new theme.
 
 

When you said that Bionicle MOCs manily looked thrown together like a terrible mess, I think that this was a creativity issue. I definitely know what you mean when you say that they looked terrible for the most part, because lots of kids mixed and matched colors and stuff that made them look disproportionate and disgusting looking. However, if one had an amount of skill taken to keep the colors and proportions in check, then the MOCs looked amazing. I personally feel as if there was a lot more opportunity for detail and intricate designs on Bionicle MOCs wit the tube pieces, and so on. I feel that the Hero Factory sets, especially the first generation, which are the only ones I own, are less creative, such as only having a single positional arm, and non-bendable knees, and even in the newer ones, the legs and arms are less customize-able, due to  there being much less armor plating pieces.
 
 This is solely my opinion, I respect your side as well, I just feel differently on the subject.
 
 
 

Well if you're talking about first-gen HF sets, no wonder you consider them inferior. I won't lie, those are rubbish for building compared to the average BIONICLE set, and several of the pieces are even more limiting than those of the BIONICLE Stars. But judging all Hero Factory sets based on those is like judging all BIONICLE sets based on the BIONICLE Stars.

Ever since 2011 when the new building system was introduced, Hero Factory sets have the same posability as 2006-2009 BIONICLE canister sets. Unlike BIONICLE, all the shell and beam pieces used to create arms and legs exist in a variety of sizes-- in BIONICLE, the only size upper leg beams were 5M and 7M, and the only size lower leg beams were 7M and 8M. Certainly you could use Technic to create completely custom legs, but you can do the same thing in Hero Factory since most of the useful Technic ball joint/ball cup pieces for customizing are still in use in today's sets.

I don't know what you mean about there not being as many armor plating pieces in HF as in BIONICLE. That seems to me to be just a result of BIONICLE having had a longer lifespan than Hero Factory. Back in the days of the Toa Metru, there were very few armor pieces for upper limbs. The 2005 sets didn't add many either. But gradually, over time, the number of armor pieces added up. In contrast, Hero Factory started the new building system in 2011 by introducing armor shells in eight different sizes/styles and beams in 11 different sizes/styles for limbs and 3 different styles for torsos. Since then the building system has been gradually expanded with new beam and armor pieces, just as BIONICLE's was, but the general rule is that new parts for the building system are designed to be compatible visually with almost all previous parts, and as such there are few armor pieces as specialized in design as, say, Barraki armor.

In Hero Factory, new parts (excluding masks) will generally perform new functions, not just be an aesthetic change from existing parts that perform the same function. There are very few examples of parts like the Piraka and Toa Inika thigh shells that function almost identically but just have slight visual distinctions. I much prefer this to how BIONICLE handled new parts. It feels more practical and less wasteful, in my opinion.
 

I still love Bionicle. In 2010 after they ended I began to slowly lose interest, but sometime in January it all came back, and with a new passion to complete my collection, which is pretty close to completion. One day i want that goal to be achieved. I realize that they won't ever come back, but there's always hope that in the future, Lego will release a new series more similar to it than Hero Factory, as their building experience isn't nearly the same. T feel like they are designed for a younger generation of kids, and Bionicle was too complex foe them, but there's always hope.

I don't think the generation of kids has anything to do with the differences between the BIONICLE and Hero Factory building systems, myself. At 21 years old and after ten years of BIONICLE building, I am still able to say without any reservations that I greatly prefer the Hero Factory building experience to building with BIONICLE parts. The Hero Factory building system is simpler, but the terminology I prefer is "user-friendly". Everything is designed with the intent of making it possible to build a variety of models with a fairly standardized selection of pieces, much like classic LEGO. In contrast BIONICLE was a sort of intermediate stage between Technic and dedicated action figure building. The amount of effort needed just to change up the proportions of a figure's legs was what I would call excessive, and besides a community of very talented MOCists here on BZPower and at conventions, most BIONICLE MOCs I saw online were a terrible mess in one sense or another. It just doesn't make sense to have a building system where you need a separate beam piece to put an armor piece on the sides of a leg than what you'd use to put armor on the front. Likewise it doesn't make sense to have a building system where the only lower leg beams are seven modules long and eight modules long, each with a variety of highly specialized textures.

Overall I think if BIONICLE had continued it would have inevitably had to move in the direction of what Hero Factory has now. It might not have gotten there as quickly and it certainly would have had a different visual style once it did reach that point, but already it had been drifting towards many of the things that make the Hero Factory building system so successful. The Toa Metru introduced the fundamentals of shell-and-beam based building. The Piraka introduced the idea of using the same limb construction for legs and arms, with elbow and knee joints alike. The Toa Inika experimented with the idea of a torso design that was designed for versatility, not functionality or appearance, with lots of easily-accessible connection points. The Barraki explored the idea of having shells that could work on the front or sides of a beam just as effectively.

In general, while BIONICLE never quite reached the construction styles of the new building system, the ideas behind its construction-- moving towards greater versatility and posability versus the specialization that the theme began with-- were a part of the same shift that eventually brought us where we are now. I don't think that we could or would even want to move backwards now, even in a new theme.
 
 

When you said that Bionicle MOCs manily looked thrown together like a terrible mess, I think that this was a creativity issue. I definitely know what you mean when you say that they looked terrible for the most part, because lots of kids mixed and matched colors and stuff that made them look disproportionate and disgusting looking. However, if one had an amount of skill taken to keep the colors and proportions in check, then the MOCs looked amazing. I personally feel as if there was a lot more opportunity for detail and intricate designs on Bionicle MOCs wit the tube pieces, and so on. I feel that the Hero Factory sets, especially the first generation, which are the only ones I own, are less creative, such as only having a single positional arm, and non-bendable knees, and even in the newer ones, the legs and arms are less customize-able, due to  there being much less armor plating pieces.
 
 This is solely my opinion, I respect your side as well, I just feel differently on the subject.
 
 

 
While I was doing some adjustments to some of my Bionicles the other day I thought about the building system of the two. In my experience, baring in mind I cant speak for every one, I had much more fun "MOCing" with Bionicle than HF. HF is smoother, sleeker and builder friendly  but I find it limiting. Bionicles have some many connection ports. There is always some where for something to go, even if the space isnt really conventional. You can do almost anything with Bionicle, providing you have the parts(in which that Im aware is a disadvantage), but the point still stands. I find, once I put all the armour onto poor old Stringers, there is not much more I can do with him apart from play. I often find that you can always add to a Bionicle figure, but a HF one can be finalized shortly
 
 
 

Some BIONICLE parts had lots of connection points, but there are several examples that didn't. Compare a Toa Metru lower leg beam to a 7M Hero Factory lower leg beam. The Toa Metru lower leg beam is around the same size, albeit a bit thicker and bulkier, but has four connection points only (two Technic pin holes and two balls). A 7M Hero Factory beam has five connection points (two Technic pin holes, a ball, a ball with guides, and a ball cup). Furthermore, the ball with guides is a more versatile connection point in many ways than a Technic pin hole would be, since an armor piece can be attached to it in any configuration, whereas the Technic pin holes on the Toa Metru lower leg beam are limited to attaching pieces from the front and the back.

Additionally, Hero Factory shells are designed to be compatible with essentially any Hero Factory beam and vice-versa. The shells can be used as hands/wrists, as feet, as upper leg shells, as lower leg shells, as upper arm shells, as lower arm shells, as shoulder shells, or even as torso shells. In contrast, a BIONICLE shell can only be used as armor, and is only designed to be compatible with parts with a certain design. And a BIONICLE beam is often even more limited, particularly in the case of lower leg beams which are not designed to be armored at all, and as such are essentially the equivalent of a beam and a shell fused together into one piece less versatile than either part would be on its own.

As for the issue of "you can always add to a BIONICLE figure", I don't think I'd call that an advantage necessarily. You can likewise add plenty of things to a Hero Factory figure, since every shell has at least two connection points. My younger brother did admirably using hardly any BIONICLE parts to create a huge Hero Factory dragon, and he added more details to it each time he got a new set. But adding things to a figure is not always worthwhile, and many of the worst BIONICLE MOCs I see, even if their color schemes and proportions are decent, suffer from inconsistent armor styles being thrown on seemingly at random.

One advantage of the Hero Factory building system is that there generally aren't any inconstistent armor styles to be had. Almost every shell is designed to be visually compatible with every other shell, with a smooth, refined aesthetic. Contrast that with BIONICLE, where you can get a MOC that looks like a real wreck if you use Toa Nuva armor in one part of the model and Toa Metru armor in another part without attention to which styles suit which parts of the model.

On the whole, BIONICLE and Hero Factory are probably suited to different styles of building, but overall I think Hero Factory's building system represents where BIONICLE's might have gotten if given enough time (and given the opportunity to discard many of its dated or obsolete parts entirely, as Hero Factory did with most of its super-specialized parts from 2010 when the new building system was introduced). And I'm much happier with the end result than I was with BIONICLE's building system. It certainly suits my style of building, with an emphasis on using visually-compatible parts, ideal figure proportions, and creative reuse of parts for never-before-used applications, far better. This isn't to say I don't like BIONICLE any more, or that I don't love the incredible detail of its part designs, but they were limiting in some respects and I believe the gradual drift towards the system Hero Factory now uses was a great improvement, with the Glatorian and Glatorian Legends being some of my favorite sets in many respects, and the Toa Inika torso being undoubtedly my favorite canister set torso design since it emphasized the ideal of "form follows function" and focused on providing useful connection points without frills like chunky gearboxes or excessive molded detail.

Edited by Aanchir: Rachira of Time, Feb 11 2013 - 09:56 AM.

[yeow]

Bionicle is the reason I didn't have a dark ages completely from Lego. And while I still kept up with the story, it wasn't enough to justify me buying the sets. For me, 2001-2004 were the best years. From 2005 and onward, I mostly only bought Titan and enemy sets.

 

For me, the best sets were the ones that were part Technic, part new parts, and is one of the fundamental reasons I don't like the later Bionicle and HF. Bionicle will always have a place in my heart and childhood, and it's the main reason to this day while I still try and complete my Kanohi, Krana, and Kraata collection.

[-Jaller-]

I still like Bionicle. I will alaways be a fan of it.

[DARKSIDERZ]

I absolutely love it!! I think Bionicle and Lego are a huge part of my personality... I could've been a completely different person if it hadn't been for Lego in general. I like some of the sets from Hero Factory and such, but nothing will ever quite reach Bionicle in terms of the sentimental value it has in my heart

[Daryl Dixon]

Yes, I still do like Bionicle.