Is BZPower Dead?

[Toa Alvarno]

After hearing about the Bionicle reboot, I came back to this site and started posting in the forums more often after a four year hiatus. But compared to what it used to be during the 2006-2009 period, the Bionicle forums seem to have a lot less activity. Is it just me or have people really stopped posting in these forums?

[Ballom Nom Nom]

BZPower is a lot quieter than it was in the past, yes. Bionicle ending as a line resulted in a large decrease in activity over the following few years. However, there are a lot of signs that Bionicle's return is causing activity to slowly pick up again.

 

~B~

[fishers64]

You should have seen this place about this time last year. Compared to that, we're on our way up. 

 

No, this place is far from dead. It has at least three years of life left in it, if not more. We've survived our low point, learned from the dark time, and are ready to ride into the future with confidence.

Edited December 29, 2014 by fishers64

[Dane-gerous]

Saying BZPower is dead now is like going up to me in the street and saying I'm dead.

Edited December 27, 2014 by VahkiDane

[Mr. Cup of Fail]

Yes, BZPower is 888888888888% dead and in no way coming back to life, ever...

 

Okay for real, it look like it is coming back to life, even though I wasn't around on BZP when bionicle ended, I see a little more people on the forums then when I first joined BZPower. So it slowly getting more life.

[Nescent]

As long as Bionicle is around, BZP will flourish. Of course, Bionicle was dead for several years, which is why BZP lost so much activity.

 

Give it a couple of months, Bionicle will attract new fans, and they will inevitably find their way here.

[The 1st Shadow]

Just within the last two months, it's been more alive than I've seen in a long time! 

 

LEGO is bringing BIONICLE back, did you hear about that? Kinda resurrected the place.

[Sumiki]

BZP's activity has actually improved since the G2 rumors began circulating. I'm still not sure if it'll ever reach the popularity of years past (although I'm not entirely sure if that'd be an unambiguously good thing), but there's definitely an increase in activity.

[xccj]

BZPower died a few years ago, this is ZomBieZPower.

 

[Voltex]

Yeah, it's definitely nowhere near what it was back when G1 was a thing, but the reboot has definitely prompted an increase in activity, and hopefully BZPower will continue to grow.

[Rooster Nui]

When I joined with my first account in 2009, I could see that the forums were pretty active. However, when I joined again in 2012, there wasn't as much activity as there was then, and now. Hopefully the new line will bring in a new generation of fans that can make BZPower shine bright once more. 

 

I don't think BZPower is dead.

[Hitoshura]

What is dead may never die.

 

But rises again harder and stronger.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Gengar

[Element Lord of Milk]

BZPower died a few years ago, this is ZomBieZPower.

That needs to happen for real next Halloween.

[Valendale]

We're not dead, far from it.

[bonesiii]

This topic is a few months late. For maybe about a year prior to the reboot news, I'd noticed a slowdown below what we'd had since Bionicle ended (both would be expected though), but since then it's exploded compared to previously. Not as active as when Bionicle was active, but that's also to be expected; the reboot hasn't exactly started yet (yeah, we have some story, but it's not even 2015 yet, heh). This is the time for a topic more like "Is BZP getting really active now?" to which the answer's yes.

[Bfahome]

BZPower is only mostly dead.

 

There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.

[Ghidora131]

Mostly dead, you can revive the forums and bring back Bionicle. All dead, there's only one thing you can do.

 

Rummage through the pockets for spare change.

 

(of course I'm going to carry along the princess bride joke.)

Edited December 28, 2014 by ghidora131

[Toa Smoke Monster]

As others have said, BZP isn't as populated at it used to be. But with Bionicle being rebooted, activity on the forums will go up. The rumors of Bionicle returning a few months back alone caused a surge of members to return. And new members will also join the site when the new story officially starts. So I don't think BZP is dead at all. It's simply the calm before the storm.

[Sir Kohran]

Activity unsurprisingly declined in the years that Bionicle was away for, and attempts to maintain it through coverage of Hero Factory and System lines didn't do much to affect that, but with the crucial line now on its way back things are definitely picking up again - many new members are joining and topics are getting far more posts. I'd say the signs are good.

[25K Now!]

If you asked this last year, I would've sorta agreed with you.

 

Then BIONICLE came back.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

I doubt BZP will ever reach the activity level it once had, but in the next few months things will start to pick up.

[Jobber]

Is BZP dead? Am I dead? Yes.

[LegoSWfan]

The question is not if bz power is dead, but was it ever alive to begin with?

[Letagi]

I think that the fact that someone can post this topic and get a reasonable amount of discussion is the surest indication of all that BZPower is very much alive. Maybe not as active as it used to be, but definitely still going strong.

 

-Letagi

[-Windrider-]

I started to get worried about the state of BZPower's activity in the summer of 2013. It was really quite scary to see how few members were online at a time. But I do have to agree with everyone above and say that things have improved drastically since then, thanks of course to certain news about 2015.

 

I have high hopes for the coming year. It's exciting to be a part of it here on BZP!

[You just lost the game]

It was extremely quiet for about a year.

The activity is rising though.

Even old lurkers like me are returning.

Edited January 3, 2015 by You just lost the game

[Sharnak the Bohrok Lord]

Yes and no. You see, we can't actually confirm if it died or not, so according to quantum physics it is both dead and alive.

 

In seriousness, BZPower is springing back to life thanks to new BIONICLE content. The real question is whether or not BZPower will ever reach its previous popularity.

[The Rah]

Activity will keep decreasing but I don't see this place dying anytime soon.

 

(Then again, who knows?)

[Lewa0111 Nuva]

It's far from dead, though it was in "hibernation" for the past five or so years. BIONICLE's return is still a relatively recent development, and certainly as the 2015 story picks up steam and grows bigger, we'll see BZP coming back to life again. Sure it's not at the level of '06-'08 or so, but it's certainly far more active than it was a year ago.

 

Lewa0111 Nuva

[exotahu4]

Didn't the forums die a few years ago? I seem to remember the site being offline (and having been so for a while) when I randomly checked back in somewhere during the hiatus.

[Lewa0111 Nuva]

Didn't the forums die a few years ago? I seem to remember the site being offline (and having been so for a while) when I randomly checked back in somewhere during the hiatus.

 

Yeah, there were several offline periods, hackings, and whatnot going on during that time (most notably the switch to the new forums and the loss of the archives). For a relatively unknown site dedicated to discussing a fifteen-year-old line of plastic toys, we sure have been a target for hackers an absurd amount of times...

 

Lewa0111 Nuva

[The Skakdi Chronicler]

Simple answer, am I dead, well maybe, that was a bad example. I have only been here a short amount of time and I find that it's pretty active. Meaning, No It's not dead.

[Sir Kohran]

Didn't the forums die a few years ago? I seem to remember the site being offline (and having been so for a while) when I randomly checked back in somewhere during the hiatus.

 

You're probably referring to the April-October downtime in 2011.

 

The site went offline in early and late 2013, but those were only for a couple of days.

[Zippo]

I'm going to be the pessimist here. BZPower has been dropping in activity for a while now. While many people believe that the return of Bionicle will bring about a huge surge in activity once again, there's a few factors which lead me to believe that won't happen.

 

-Other sources of Bionicle news/discussion (The 2 most prominent ones that come to mind: TTV Podcast, and another website I'm not allowed to name here)

-Other sources having no policy against discussing leaked information (Which sucks for Lego, but at this point in time, leaked information is to be expected one way or another)

-Some of these other sources allowing people to openly criticize BZPower, its policies, and its moderation team (Which, I admit, I tend to side with them over these issues most of the time)

-The complete annihilation of the old forums, after they were upgraded into what they are now, which pretty much wiped everything clean, and consequently caused most of BZPower's more active/well known topics (Comics, stories, artwork, etc) to disappear forever

-Bionicle was canceled 5 years ago. While some fans haven't moved on, many of them have. It's not anyone's fault, it's just how life tends to be

 

A lot of people would probably agree when I say that BZPower is no longer the only (Maybe not even the #1) place for Bionicle news, reference, and discussion. With the expansion of social media, many more places exist for people to discuss Bionicle, and many of BZPower's former posters have migrated there instead. It's a sad truth, but still truth nonetheless.

 

Personally (And I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this), I believe BZPower has overstayed its welcome, evidenced by the news page now being 90% Lego news, 10% Bionicle news (Whereas before it was quite the opposite) and the addition of non-Bionicle dedicated boards (Such as Chima and Ninjago). My opinion? BZPower should officially branch out and relabel itself as a Lego news, reference, and discussion website, not just Bionicle. That's the direction we've been headed for a while now, so doing an official change seems like the best option.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Zippo

[Jobber]

*snip*

 

A lot of people would probably agree when I say that BZPower is no longer the only (Maybe not even the #1) place for Bionicle news, reference, and discussion. With the expansion of social media, many more places exist for people to discuss Bionicle, and many of BZPower's former posters have migrated there instead. It's a sad truth, but still truth nonetheless.

 

Personally (And I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this), I believe BZPower has overstayed its welcome, evidenced by the news page now being 90% Lego news, 10% Bionicle news (Whereas before it was quite the opposite) and the addition of non-Bionicle dedicated boards (Such as Chima and Ninjago). My opinion? BZPower should officially branch out and relabel itself as a Lego news, reference, and discussion website, not just Bionicle. That's the direction we've been headed for a while now, so doing an official change seems like the best option.

I 80% agree with you. BZP is no longer the only source of Bionicle news, (Eurobricks comes to mind, but that only has one dedicated topic and the convo has been slowing dying down significantly. Not to mention that's where most of the Bionicle leaks get posted as well) but it's still the most popular. Just look at the Battle for the Golden Mask Competition. BZP had more entries than all the other sites combined. And as for this site turning into mostly LEGO news and such, I agree with you on that as well. It mainly had to do with the fact that Bionicle was canceled and there was basically no news.

 

But yeah, BZP should change into a multi-product site instead of mainly Bionicle-themed.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Chasm

[fishers64]

Um, the Lego-in-general branch-out is pretty official. My observation is that the community that comes here still really wants to discuss Bionicle, though. Look at the Lego Discussion forum - the Bionicle forums each have more topics and posts than all the other Lego discussion forums combined. That doesn't happen by everyone going to Eurobricks. 

 

And lets be fair. I visited Eurobricks, and the place has one forum for HF and Bionicle, with MoCs and discussion all in one place. Contrast that with our entire forums - two of them - dedicated to Bionicle alone, and our massive creative forum apparatus. It's not really a contest. People go to Eurobricks to discuss leaks because leaks are allowed there. But is there much there ASIDE from leaks and leak-related discussion? I haven't looked real recently, but I'm willing to say no. That discussion on EB happens merely because leaks aren't allowed here. If BZP allowed leaks, any competition EB would have would diminish considerably. 

 

It's like the Lego message boards, which have always existed. Competitors to BZPower are nothing new under the sun. But BZPower somehow has managed to survive and outlast all of them. That's because we still provide a service that the other websites don't offer: thoughtful, intelligent Bionicle discussion and creative opportunities. 

[Aanchir]

A lot of people would probably agree when I say that BZPower is no longer the only (Maybe not even the #1) place for Bionicle news, reference, and discussion. With the expansion of social media, many more places exist for people to discuss Bionicle, and many of BZPower's former posters have migrated there instead. It's a sad truth, but still truth nonetheless.

I don't know the exact numbers, but I would probably agree with this. At the same time, I personally feel that this is not a big deal. No longer being the center of all BIONICLE-related discussion is not an existential crisis for the site. BZPower still has an extremely healthy community, and I think maintaining and nourishing that community should be the priority.

 

BZPower doesn't need to demolish the competition in order to remain relevant, and I actually think there's more to be gained by embracing the wide reach of the BIONICLE fan community and establishing further dialogue with other parts of that wider community. The era of pretending other places to discuss BIONICLE don't exist is long over. But BZPower has gained a valuable sense of perspective by embracing other LEGO themes that appeal to BIONICLE fans. And we can gain even more perspective by reaching out to other LEGO and BIONICLE fan communities around the world.

[IcarusBen]

Technically speaking, BZP is dead. It's inorganic, therefore, it was never alive.

 

Oh, you mean if people have stopped posting!

 

Well, I registered this November, and I have several hundred posts. Considering that pretty much all of them are replies to topics that, whenever I'm gone, get at least a dozen posts... yeah. BZP is more alive than... well... a few months ago.

[SailorQuaoar]

If Lego pulled BZP's support, would they die?

[Jobber]

If Lego pulled BZP's support, would they die?

I don't think so, it'll most likely slow things down a great bit. (Such as getting sets early to review, some forms of news, etc.)