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Bionicle 2015 too rushed?


Fry

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I for one am wishing there was more text-based content. I know the books will come out eventually, but it'd be nice for some short stories or something. Right now I want world-building, not just animations.

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Bionicle: ANP aims to create narrated versions of all the Bionicle books, with voice actors for each character, and music taken from various media to enhance the story. Check here if you're interested in voicing a character, and here for the chapters that've already been released!

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There's books reportedly coming in December. 

If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

 

I'm not upset. I'm perfectly calm. I am, however, also passionate about the Bionicle reboot actually caring about the roots of the franchise instead of the rotten growths that developed later.

 

And to me, "being Bionicle" isn't just about having the Bionicle logo slapped onto the packaging. That's not what being Bionicle necessarily is. What I mean by "being Bionicle" is feeling like Bionicle, staying true to the things that made it great. That's something 2006 didn't do, at all.

Oh yeah? Sorry to burst your bubble, but 2001 was the worst year for Bionicle. in fact, the story didn't start picking up until 2003. I never cared about the 'magic' or 'mystery'.  

 

2006 had all of that and more. Giant axe wielding monsters? Check. Lightning powers? Check. An important storyline that would shape the future of the series? Check.

 

'But wahh! It didn't have stupid online games and mask packs!'

 

Too bad. It didn't need any of that. It had awesome light up swords and rain drenched garages with the AAR backing the heroes as they assaulted the evil Piraka base. In fact, I regret not getting any of the Piraka now because back then I didn't have money.

 

And since you pointed it out, YES, I like 'gang culture' and dark and gritty stuff. What's wrong with that? It's better than some childish stick robots trying to fight rolling balls. 

 

Good for you. FYI, people are inclined to have their own opinions and disagreeing with them is not reason to start bashing on someone. Personally, I don't feel that the year that can be summed up in the words "Yo, yo, Pirika" is the best.

Also, why does everyone praise the 'darkness' of 2006? I'm sorry, but 2006 is a walk in the park when compared to stories such as A Clockwork Orange or the Lord of the Rings. 2006 was a wannabe gang attacking deformed villagers while a Toa team saved the day and (failed) getting the Ignika. LOTR is (basically) about the end of the world and the dominion of the dark lord Sauron. I don't think that I can get into A Clockwork Orange on BZPower.

 

My point is that 2006 to me never reflected the comments of many others. For example: "2006 was so great and dark" Why was it so great? "2006 was really dark" How was it dark? "It had the Pirika, and Mata-Nui was dying, and... did I mention that it was dark?"

 

You just got mad at a poster for bashing someone's opinion, and then you continued to bash his opinion.

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Bionicle for 2015.

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Everyone keeps talking about hoping for "novels". I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade, but we'll be getting chapter books, if anything. The difference is mostly semantic but the point stands that the books we'll end up getting will be aimed at young readers and be short and digestible. We're not talking about Harry Potter or The Hobbit, here—these will most likely be eight to twelve pages per chapter, with about as many chapters altogether. If the books retell the same story as the animations, that means that each animation would likely be covered in a single chapter, and that the entire winter wave story would maybe take a single book (same for the summer wave, if it contains a similar number of episodes).

 

Lego chapter books are not homogenous, of course—while HF and Bionicle's chapter books were long-form stories divided into chapters, Ninjago and Chima's chapter books each tell several independent stories, with Ninjago's containing a short story and a longer story divided into chapters and Chima just telling three or four short stories. Also, Chima's chapter books were illustrated, and Ninjago's were as well in non-U.S. markets. Lego could take any one of those tacks for Bionicle's books.

 

I guess my overall point is that if the books tell the main story like the animations do, then there's not much chance that they flesh the story out much more than that. The only way they could really have room to do so is if they tell independent stories, like Ninjago, Chima, and Hero Factory did—which wouldn't be a bad thing. But in essence that means that if you're expecting the kind of expanded story the original Bionicle's large number of sequential chapter books afforded it compared to the comics, that might be a little too much to hope for.

I'm not fully sure that I buy this yet. While I won't be expecting Lord of the Rings: Toyline Cashgrab Edition (XD), I think assuming that they will just tell the stories of the animations and that's it is a bit of a premature assumption to make. 

 

Even HF's books were somewhat good, and Bionicle has a tradition of decent-length narrative books. If they respect the original line enough to bring back gear functions, then they probably do enough to write at least a Hapka-level book.  

 

Oh yeah? Sorry to burst your bubble, but 2001 was the worst year for Bionicle. in fact, the story didn't start picking up until 2003. I never cared about the 'magic' or 'mystery'.  

 

2006 had all of that and more. Giant axe wielding monsters? Check. Lightning powers? Check. An important storyline that would shape the future of the series? Check.

 

'But wahh! It didn't have stupid online games and mask packs!'

 

Too bad. It didn't need any of that. It had awesome light up swords and rain drenched garages with the AAR backing the heroes as they assaulted the evil Piraka base. In fact, I regret not getting any of the Piraka now because back then I didn't have money.

 

And since you pointed it out, YES, I like 'gang culture' and dark and gritty stuff. What's wrong with that? It's better than some childish stick robots trying to fight rolling balls. 

Do not. Insult. The Bohrok. 

 

:P

 

But for the most part, I kinda agree with this post. Except for the part about gang culture. And consider moi a Piraka rap un-fan and an AAR eye-roller. 

 

But still. Maybe it helps that I didn't know about the Piraka rap or Free the Band until four years after the fact. My exposure to 2006 was the Piraka's witty bios on Bionicle.com and the books. While the books weren't as cool as 2004-05, they weren't half-bad. I reread Power Play over and over. I remember reading Dark Destiny during lunch hour at school. Epic dude with axe? Check. Cool evil bad guys? Sure. Epic heroes with ownedness? Yes. Intriguing new mysteries? Bam. Done. Sold. 

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As mentioned previously, I think the biggest difference for me is/will be the lack of something like MNOG which not only took a lot longer to work through, but also allowed you to explore from the point of view of a character of the world and allowed you to immerse yourself not only into the game itself but also the other media (ie after playing MNOG you could appreciate the settings and characters in the books and comics etc... a lot more, or at least I thought so). It also allowed I think little details added to the game to be inspected by the community and indirectly expanding the mythology and fleshing out in the world. It's a lot harder to do that with a non-interactive format I feel. Not saying every year needs  MNOG, but it's a very good thing to have at the beginning of a new setting and basically new cast of characters since it allows you to establish it a lot better and immerse your audience.

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If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

The BIONICLE theme's target audience is not considerably different than it was in generation one, or for that matter, than Hero Factory, Ninjago, or Legends of Chima. Considering I've managed to enjoy the books from all four of those themes (as well as other kid-oriented franchises like My Little Pony Friendship is Magic), I have no reason to think that the target audience will have any impact on whether the books are "cringeworthy and mind-numbing". If the new books are either of those things, it will be because they are poorly written, not because of who they're aimed at.

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There's books reportedly coming in December. 

If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

 

I'm not upset. I'm perfectly calm. I am, however, also passionate about the Bionicle reboot actually caring about the roots of the franchise instead of the rotten growths that developed later.

 

And to me, "being Bionicle" isn't just about having the Bionicle logo slapped onto the packaging. That's not what being Bionicle necessarily is. What I mean by "being Bionicle" is feeling like Bionicle, staying true to the things that made it great. That's something 2006 didn't do, at all.

Oh yeah? Sorry to burst your bubble, but 2001 was the worst year for Bionicle. in fact, the story didn't start picking up until 2003. I never cared about the 'magic' or 'mystery'.  

 

2006 had all of that and more. Giant axe wielding monsters? Check. Lightning powers? Check. An important storyline that would shape the future of the series? Check.

 

'But wahh! It didn't have stupid online games and mask packs!'

 

Too bad. It didn't need any of that. It had awesome light up swords and rain drenched garages with the AAR backing the heroes as they assaulted the evil Piraka base. In fact, I regret not getting any of the Piraka now because back then I didn't have money.

 

And since you pointed it out, YES, I like 'gang culture' and dark and gritty stuff. What's wrong with that? It's better than some childish stick robots trying to fight rolling balls. 

 

Good for you. FYI, people are inclined to have their own opinions and disagreeing with them is not reason to start bashing on someone. Personally, I don't feel that the year that can be summed up in the words "Yo, yo, Pirika" is the best.

Also, why does everyone praise the 'darkness' of 2006? I'm sorry, but 2006 is a walk in the park when compared to stories such as A Clockwork Orange or the Lord of the Rings. 2006 was a wannabe gang attacking deformed villagers while a Toa team saved the day and (failed) getting the Ignika. LOTR is (basically) about the end of the world and the dominion of the dark lord Sauron. I don't think that I can get into A Clockwork Orange on BZPower.

 

My point is that 2006 to me never reflected the comments of many others. For example: "2006 was so great and dark" Why was it so great? "2006 was really dark" How was it dark? "It had the Pirika, and Mata-Nui was dying, and... did I mention that it was dark?"

 

You just got mad at a poster for bashing someone's opinion, and then you continued to bash his opinion.

 

Exactly. The hypocrisy was just too great. 

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If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

What was wrong with the books in G1? Honestly, those are some of the best toy-based novels I have read, and I can rarely think of any true "cringe-worthy" moments. What's to worry about with this year? It's the same target audience, always has been.

 

-NotS

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I kind of felt that Bionicle is a bit too rushed because all its nine webisodes came out on one month in January. However, webisodes 5-9 were just released on foreign languages in YouTube, so the English versions would come out later this first half of this year, perhaps month by month in either the Lego website or the Bionicle website.

I hope that it doesn't last short, like the Hero Factory episodes, Brain Attack and Invasion From Below. It would be five months of boredom if that could happen.:(

Besides, we got summer sets coming this summer or August, and there will be books this year along the way (hopefully with a greater extent).

Edited by Lenny7092

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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I kind of felt that Bionicle is a bit too rushed because all its nine webisodes came out on one month in January. 

 

Do you (& others?) actually think those 9 episodes & the smartphone game are really enough to go on until Wave2/Books/???

Because frankly I think there either needs to be more more episodes or more of something else, it would have been nice if those episodes actually showed more, actually built up something but eh...

 

Webisodes that are essentially on their own do not seem to be a sustainable interest. I mean one episode a fortnight~~month?

 

Then again they only "need" to sustain interest enough to sell a few to a few kids, not to provide regular discussion material...

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If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

What was wrong with the books in G1? Honestly, those are some of the best toy-based novels I have read, and I can rarely think of any true "cringe-worthy" moments. What's to worry about with this year? It's the same target audience, always has been.

 

The fact that nearly all the canon story was isolated in them and they were unavailable to everyone outside North America?

 

And whilst I don't know what others think, for me, books, without the benefit of music and visuals, lack the thrill and immersion that movies and games have.

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If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

What was wrong with the books in G1? Honestly, those are some of the best toy-based novels I have read, and I can rarely think of any true "cringe-worthy" moments. What's to worry about with this year? It's the same target audience, always has been.

 

The fact that nearly all the canon story was isolated in them and they were unavailable to everyone outside North America?

 

And whilst I don't know what others think, for me, books, without the benefit of music and visuals, lack the thrill and immersion that movies and games have.

 

Unfortunately, both the Bionicle games and movies have proven to be mediocre thus far.

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If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

What was wrong with the books in G1? Honestly, those are some of the best toy-based novels I have read, and I can rarely think of any true "cringe-worthy" moments. What's to worry about with this year? It's the same target audience, always has been.

 

The fact that nearly all the canon story was isolated in them and they were unavailable to everyone outside North America?

 

And whilst I don't know what others think, for me, books, without the benefit of music and visuals, lack the thrill and immersion that movies and games have.

 

Unfortunately, both the Bionicle games and movies have proven to be mediocre thus far.

 

 

Whilst there were certainly flaws across the four movies and Templar's stuff (particularly the second MNOLG), and the two console games were disappointing for various reasons, I still think there's enough quality here and there to prove that there's potential for greatness in such media.

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If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

What was wrong with the books in G1? Honestly, those are some of the best toy-based novels I have read, and I can rarely think of any true "cringe-worthy" moments. What's to worry about with this year? It's the same target audience, always has been.

 

The fact that nearly all the canon story was isolated in them and they were unavailable to everyone outside North America?

 

And whilst I don't know what others think, for me, books, without the benefit of music and visuals, lack the thrill and immersion that movies and games have.

 

Unfortunately, both the Bionicle games and movies have proven to be mediocre thus far.

 

 

Whilst there were certainly flaws across the four movies and Templar's stuff (particularly the second MNOLG), and the two console games were disappointing for various reasons, I still think there's enough quality here and there to prove that there's potential for greatness in such media.

 

Don't forget, video games are not made specifically for the fans, but for the general market. They're supposed to focus more on the gameplay, rather than the plot, since they have to anticipate the average player being uninformed about previous story content. 

bZpOwEr

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Don't forget, video games are not made specifically for the fans, but for the general market. They're supposed to focus more on the gameplay, rather than the plot, since they have to anticipate the average player being uninformed about previous story content. 

 

That's true to some extent, but I think some plot is essential to make the action interesting on a level deeper than the shallow and superficial. But lack of plot isn't the main problem with The Game. The problem there is that it promised a dozen levels, one for each Mata and Nuva, but many of them (mostly Mata) were dropped for time reasons, and it was poorly received by most critics and players. Heroes was disappointing because it had almost no official plot from that year at all and included stuff from other years, making it non-canon and a big missed opportunity to engage the fans.

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The fact that nearly all the canon story was isolated in them and they were unavailable to everyone outside North America?

 

And whilst I don't know what others think, for me, books, without the benefit of music and visuals, lack the thrill and immersion that movies and games have.

 

That was indeed a problem, but it wasn't what the poster seemed to have an issue with.

 

I love the books, lets you exercise your imagination to its full potential, plus they were rather well-written. I also loved the movies and wish the games tried harder to portray Bionicle in a more accurate light.

 

-NotS

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The fact that nearly all the canon story was isolated in them and they were unavailable to everyone outside North America?

 

And whilst I don't know what others think, for me, books, without the benefit of music and visuals, lack the thrill and immersion that movies and games have.

 

That was indeed a problem, but it wasn't what the poster seemed to have an issue with.

 

I love the books, lets you exercise your imagination to its full potential, plus they were rather well-written. I also loved the movies and wish the games tried harder to portray Bionicle in a more accurate light.

 

-NotS

 

I love the BIONICLE books. People can bash Greg all they want, but as far as I'm concerned, his books were the best source of BIONICLE story in the entire franchise.

Edited by toa kopaka4372
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Ways 2015 is unlike 2006 for the better:

  • no pretensions of gritty grimdarkness
  • the island actually feels like an island instead of a farcical land of death
  • no characters defined by how many people they've killed and how much disrespect for life they can casually throw into conversation
  • villains aren't generic gangsters made specifically for appeal to edgy teens
  • better promotional material in every way, shape, and form
  • no forced cross-promotions with bands
  • no hamfisting of pop songs when original songs are better
  • actually feels like Bionicle

 

I was an angsty pre-teen at that point so I really enjoyed it. Looking back 2006 was pretty laughable, it was the start of Bionicle getting much darker at some points it felt too edgy for its own good. But the Piraka were a HUGE step up from the past villains. We finally got a group of six sentient villains rather than hordes or swarms of mindless animals (Visorak) or robots (Vahki). Sure the Barraki were much better if you ask me, but the Piraka were the first wave of villains I was actually interested in since the Rahkshi. Using All American Rejects was pretty funny though. Even though 2006 was hilariously try-hard at attempting to be edgy, it got a lot of people (myself included) really back into the story, especially after the lackluster attempt at darkness in 2005. Looking back, 2006's "dark" and "edgy" tones are part of the charm, it's so not subtle and it's kind of a "so bad it's good" kinda deal. Of course, I don't think we'll see anything like this in the near future, but I'd get a kick out of it.

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-BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER-

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Ways 2015 is unlike 2006 for the better:

  • no pretensions of gritty grimdarkness
  • the island actually feels like an island instead of a farcical land of death
  • no characters defined by how many people they've killed and how much disrespect for life they can casually throw into conversation
  • villains aren't generic gangsters made specifically for appeal to edgy teens
  • better promotional material in every way, shape, and form
  • no forced cross-promotions with bands
  • no hamfisting of pop songs when original songs are better
  • actually feels like Bionicle

 

  • 2006 was not neccessarily any more grim dark than any prior year of bionicle
  • I'm sorry but are we trying to imply that earlier years of bionicle were not set on equally dangerous islands?  Because if so I'm afraid to inform you that you're wrong
  • Rhetoric of that type was already widely sprinkled throughout bionicle in the previous years.  There was a minor escalation of this I will admit, but it was minor.
  • The Piraka were not gangsters.  They were rogue mercanaries.  I fail to see why people always refer to the Piraka as gangsters when they clearly weren't
  • Cool opinion.  There was a ton of sweet online content for 2006 that it puts 2004-2005 to shame.
  • Free The Band was an attempt to garner a larger audience and more eyes on the product using a band that was popular at the time.  They were trying to build and expand the Bionicle brand, and that's not a bad thing.
  • I hate AAR as much as anything but come on man.  You salty.
  • What does this even mean?  What does Bionicle 'feel' like?  If anything 2006 was a return to the feel of 2001-2003 after the high tech shenanigans of 2004-2005.

2006 gets a lot of hate and it absolutely astounds me given that it's easily the best year of Bionicle this side of maybe 2003.  Maybe 2001 depending on how high you rate that year.

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  • The Piraka were not gangsters.  They were rogue mercanaries.  I fail to see why people always refer to the Piraka as gangsters when they clearly weren't

Eh... what? The Piraka chilled in a dank lounge with rap music, and their the tagline was "The Gang is on the Loose". Heck, Piraka.com took place in a police station with each character getting a mugshot. I fail to see why you fail to see people referring to them as gangsters, cause they clearly were. 

 

-NotS

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Everyone keeps talking about hoping for "novels". I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade, but we'll be getting chapter books, if anything. The difference is mostly semantic but the point stands that the books we'll end up getting will be aimed at young readers and be short and digestible. We're not talking about Harry Potter or The Hobbit, here—these will most likely be eight to twelve pages per chapter, with about as many chapters altogether. If the books retell the same story as the animations, that means that each animation would likely be covered in a single chapter, and that the entire winter wave story would maybe take a single book (same for the summer wave, if it contains a similar number of episodes).

 

Lego chapter books are not homogenous, of course—while HF and Bionicle's chapter books were long-form stories divided into chapters, Ninjago and Chima's chapter books each tell several independent stories, with Ninjago's containing a short story and a longer story divided into chapters and Chima just telling three or four short stories. Also, Chima's chapter books were illustrated, and Ninjago's were as well in non-U.S. markets. Lego could take any one of those tacks for Bionicle's books.

 

I guess my overall point is that if the books tell the main story like the animations do, then there's not much chance that they flesh the story out much more than that. The only way they could really have room to do so is if they tell independent stories, like Ninjago, Chima, and Hero Factory did—which wouldn't be a bad thing. But in essence that means that if you're expecting the kind of expanded story the original Bionicle's large number of sequential chapter books afforded it compared to the comics, that might be a little too much to hope for.

I'm not fully sure that I buy this yet. While I won't be expecting Lord of the Rings: Toyline Cashgrab Edition (XD), I think assuming that they will just tell the stories of the animations and that's it is a bit of a premature assumption to make. 

 

Even HF's books were somewhat good, and Bionicle has a tradition of decent-length narrative books. If they respect the original line enough to bring back gear functions, then they probably do enough to write at least a Hapka-level book.  

 

Oh yeah? Sorry to burst your bubble, but 2001 was the worst year for Bionicle. in fact, the story didn't start picking up until 2003. I never cared about the 'magic' or 'mystery'.  

 

2006 had all of that and more. Giant axe wielding monsters? Check. Lightning powers? Check. An important storyline that would shape the future of the series? Check.

 

'But wahh! It didn't have stupid online games and mask packs!'

 

Too bad. It didn't need any of that. It had awesome light up swords and rain drenched garages with the AAR backing the heroes as they assaulted the evil Piraka base. In fact, I regret not getting any of the Piraka now because back then I didn't have money.

 

And since you pointed it out, YES, I like 'gang culture' and dark and gritty stuff. What's wrong with that? It's better than some childish stick robots trying to fight rolling balls. 

Do not. Insult. The Bohrok. 

 

:P

 

But for the most part, I kinda agree with this post. Except for the part about gang culture. And consider moi a Piraka rap un-fan and an AAR eye-roller. 

 

But still. Maybe it helps that I didn't know about the Piraka rap or Free the Band until four years after the fact. My exposure to 2006 was the Piraka's witty bios on Bionicle.com and the books. While the books weren't as cool as 2004-05, they weren't half-bad. I reread Power Play over and over. I remember reading Dark Destiny during lunch hour at school. Epic dude with axe? Check. Cool evil bad guys? Sure. Epic heroes with ownedness? Yes. Intriguing new mysteries? Bam. Done. Sold. 

 

I think the story picked up in 2002. Honestly, the only good thinks about 2001 is MNOG and Bionicle coming into existence at all.

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  • The Piraka were not gangsters.  They were rogue mercanaries.  I fail to see why people always refer to the Piraka as gangsters when they clearly weren't

Eh... what? The Piraka chilled in a dank lounge with rap music, and their the tagline was "The Gang is on the Loose". Heck, Piraka.com took place in a police station with each character getting a mugshot. I fail to see why you fail to see people referring to them as gangsters, cause they clearly were. 

 

-NotS

 

I loved that site.

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Everyone keeps talking about hoping for "novels". I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade, but we'll be getting chapter books, if anything. The difference is mostly semantic but the point stands that the books we'll end up getting will be aimed at young readers and be short and digestible. We're not talking about Harry Potter or The Hobbit, here—these will most likely be eight to twelve pages per chapter, with about as many chapters altogether. If the books retell the same story as the animations, that means that each animation would likely be covered in a single chapter, and that the entire winter wave story would maybe take a single book (same for the summer wave, if it contains a similar number of episodes).

 

Lego chapter books are not homogenous, of course—while HF and Bionicle's chapter books were long-form stories divided into chapters, Ninjago and Chima's chapter books each tell several independent stories, with Ninjago's containing a short story and a longer story divided into chapters and Chima just telling three or four short stories. Also, Chima's chapter books were illustrated, and Ninjago's were as well in non-U.S. markets. Lego could take any one of those tacks for Bionicle's books.

 

I guess my overall point is that if the books tell the main story like the animations do, then there's not much chance that they flesh the story out much more than that. The only way they could really have room to do so is if they tell independent stories, like Ninjago, Chima, and Hero Factory did—which wouldn't be a bad thing. But in essence that means that if you're expecting the kind of expanded story the original Bionicle's large number of sequential chapter books afforded it compared to the comics, that might be a little too much to hope for.

I'm not fully sure that I buy this yet. While I won't be expecting Lord of the Rings: Toyline Cashgrab Edition (XD), I think assuming that they will just tell the stories of the animations and that's it is a bit of a premature assumption to make. 

 

Even HF's books were somewhat good, and Bionicle has a tradition of decent-length narrative books. If they respect the original line enough to bring back gear functions, then they probably do enough to write at least a Hapka-level book.

 

You misunderstand my point. My point is that IF the chapter books retell the main story as told in the animations, I doubt they'll have space to add much complexity. If they tell side-stories like the HF chapter books? In that case, anything goes. I'm actually hoping for the latter—there are plenty of blank spaces for character-establishing adventures in between the brief webisodes. But it sounded to me like most people had wanted books that were to the animations what the classic books were to the comics—an expanded, authoritative version of the main story. And I don't see that happening unless we get more than two books before the year is up (and given we don't have a single release date? Those are tough odds).

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

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There's books reportedly coming in December.

If I hear someone mention the word 'books' one more time, I am going to go insane. I don't mean to be offensive, but I have seen at least 10,000 people mention the Bionicle books. Remember that the target audience for Bionicle is boys from the ages of 6-12. The books (if any) will most likely be very cringe worthy and mind numbing.

Oh boy, its obvious you didn't read the ones from G1 written by Greg...

 

MOVIES where "cringe worthy" and "mind numbing", but I have already ranted a lot about them so I won't do it *again*

Came for the sets, stayed for the story.

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If anything 2006 was a return to the feel of 2001-2003 after the high tech shenanigans of 2004-2005.

 

I think people greatly overstate the 'high tech' aspect of the Metru Nui story. Yes, it was there (the huge chutes, video screens in the Coliseum, heavy industry in Ta-Metru) but most of the time it was just off in the background. It's not like the Toa were flying around in spaceships and blasting away with laser guns. There were also many scenes were set in dark tunnels, stone temples and desolate areas with no technology in sight.

 

Plus the way that Metru Nui was much more explored and lively with all its inhabitants, locations and secrets made it feel a lot closer to Mata Nui than Voya Nui, which was little more than a generic place for the story to happen in.

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Eh... what? The Piraka chilled in a dank lounge with rap music, and their the tagline was "The Gang is on the Loose". Heck, Piraka.com took place in a police station with each character getting a mugshot. I fail to see why you fail to see people referring to them as gangsters, cause they clearly were. 

 

-NotS

 

Let me break this down for you.

  • I fail to see how 'dark lounge' and 'rap music' are inherently 'gangster'
  • Gang on the loose is honestly the best bet you have on proving your point considering it is inherently a reference to criminals.  However that brings me to the next point....
  • RE: police station mug shots.  The Piraka were originally members of the Dark Hunters, a force of mercenaries loyal only to the highest bidder.  In 2006 they were ex-dark hunters aiming on obtaining the Ignika.  You keep using the term 'gangster', and I assume that you're using it in the modern parlance of organized street crime.  The Piraka were anything but street hooligans and or thugs.  They were war criminals.  Heck this even ties into "The Gang is on the loose" tagline meaning that the Piraka were mercenaries with no loyalty to the highest bidder but rather their own personal interests.

The strange thing is about all of this is that I feel like labelling the Piraka as war criminals rather than 'gangsters' undermines one of my initial point of 2006 not being grim dark.  Congratulations.  In my rebuttal of your poorly thought out and reasoned argument I have somehow managed to undermine my initial point.  Clever.

 

 

If anything 2006 was a return to the feel of 2001-2003 after the high tech shenanigans of 2004-2005.

 

I think people greatly overstate the 'high tech' aspect of the Metru Nui story. Yes, it was there (the huge chutes, video screens in the Coliseum, heavy industry in Ta-Metru) but most of the time it was just off in the background. It's not like the Toa were flying around in spaceships and blasting away with laser guns. There were also many scenes were set in dark tunnels, stone temples and desolate areas with no technology in sight.

 

Plus the way that Metru Nui was much more explored and lively with all its inhabitants, locations and secrets made it feel a lot closer to Mata Nui than Voya Nui, which was little more than a generic place for the story to happen in.

 

  • re: Metru-Nui not being 'high tech' I want you to go rewatch the first Bionicle movie and then the second one.  I then want you to reason out this point further about how the high-tech atmosphere of Metru-Nui.  Then after you have done this I want you to go back, reread my last point, and actually address the bulk of the matter (you can't quantify how Bionicle 'feels') rather than a minor quip.
  • The only reason why Metru-Nui was more explored was because it had an entire extra year dedicated to it.  If 2007 had been based around Voya-Nui and its characters as opposed to Mahri-Nui and its new cast of matoran, villains, and titans then it would be in the same league.  It's like comparing a minor league sports team to a major league one.  In a vacuum 2006 is on the same tier as '01 and '04.  Further more I merely noted that Metru-Nui was more advanced that Mata-nui.  You are turning me into a strawman and putting words in my mouth.  At no one point did I claim that there were space ships or laser beams.  You're probably thinking of '08-'11, which is two years past '06. It's also worth noting that by the time '06 rolled around the entire show was pretty much being run by Greg rather than the collection of writers that were used to hammer out '01-'03
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  • I fail to see how 'dark lounge' and 'rap music' are inherently 'gangster'
  • Gang on the loose is honestly the best bet you have on proving your point considering it is inherently a reference to criminals.  However that brings me to the next point....
  • RE: police station mug shots.  The Piraka were originally members of the Dark Hunters, a force of mercenaries loyal only to the highest bidder.  In 2006 they were ex-dark hunters aiming on obtaining the Ignika.  You keep using the term 'gangster', and I assume that you're using it in the modern parlance of organized street crime.  The Piraka were anything but street hooligans and or thugs.  They were war criminals.  Heck this even ties into "The Gang is on the loose" tagline meaning that the Piraka were mercenaries with no loyalty to the highest bidder but rather their own personal interests.

Yes, storywise I would agree with you - the Piraka weren't gangsters but more the worst criminals you could possibly ever meet, that is 100% true.

 

But no, the promotional material WAS trying to paint them as "hip gangsters". The imagery of 'dark lounge' and the auditory aspect of 'rap music' isn't inherently "gangster" in definition but by modern standards it is a very definite reflection of gangster stereotypes. 

 

The aesthetic of the Piraka stronghold and the police station were different from previous Bionicle years because they took the characters and actually put them into a realistic, human setting. The fact that the Piraka are lined up in a very realistic police station, and not already inmates or on death row lead me to believe they were going for the, as you defined it, "modern parlance of organized street crime". Watch the Piraka animations - that does not paint an image of a war criminal, that paints an image of a hip gangster. What sells me on that aspect? The setting, the hip-hop music, the nick-names. 

 

Finally, the narrator for the Piraka promotional campaign was an African American male. Like it or not, this is unarguably one of the biggest stereotypes regarding modern gangster culture.

 

-NotS

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Finally, the narrator for the Piraka promotional campaign was an African American male. Like it or not, this is unarguably one of the biggest stereotypes regarding modern gangster culture.

Racism is not a basis for an effective argument.  Ten points from gryffindor.  F - -.  Please see me after class.

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Finally, the narrator for the Piraka promotional campaign was an African American male. Like it or not, this is unarguably one of the biggest stereotypes regarding modern gangster culture.

Racism is not a basis for an effective argument.  Ten points from gryffindor.  F - -.  Please see me after class.

 

 

I sincerely hope that was sarcasm, because you've given no actual reason to why aspects of a stereotype aren't allowed to be used to justify that a certain media did depict certain characters as gansters?

 

Literally a character is defined by how they are presented, and a part of that presentation might just happen to be a whole pile of aspects that fit a stereotype but you're not allowed to point out an extra detail of the ad - which the characters featured in?

 

Yep, let's go with Kevin was being sarcastic.

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~ Sophistry: A way to be antidisuncorrect. ~


 


 


In a decade you might convince maybe a small tribe of people.


In a decade you might also conquer one million km2 of land,


& in over a thousand years you might have over a billion followers.


 


I like building things. Please don't break the big ones.


& evidential philosophies that dare to extrapolate beyond


an individual's direct experience aren't easily built.

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Finally, the narrator for the Piraka promotional campaign was an African American male. Like it or not, this is unarguably one of the biggest stereotypes regarding modern gangster culture.

Racism is not a basis for an effective argument.  Ten points from gryffindor.  F - -.  Please see me after class.

 

 

I sincerely hope that was sarcasm, because you've given no actual reason to why aspects of a stereotype aren't allowed to be used to justify that a certain media did depict certain characters as gansters?

 

Literally a character is defined by how they are presented, and a part of that presentation might just happen to be a whole pile of aspects that fit a stereotype but you're not allowed to point out an extra detail of the ad - which the characters featured in?

 

Yep, let's go with Kevin was being sarcastic.

 

No it wasn't sarcastic.  NotS claimed the strongest argument for the Piraka being gangsters was that the narrator was an African American male.  They were being racist.

 

I give you a 2/10 for getting me to respond.  You're defending racism.  Stop it.

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That really did sound like he was defending racial stereotypes, dang. 

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 You're defending racism.  Stop it.

 

 

I'm not defending racism, I do not agree with the stereotype, but pretending that the stereotype doesn't exist or that the ads didn't happen to coincide with those stereotypes is patently false. (In addition just because a stereotype appears somewhere doesn't mean the creators believe it; eg I don't believe TLG is racist etc.)

 

All you did was declare poor reasoning, the reasoning might be based of a stereotype (which we agree isn't nice?) but that doesn't make:

 

"depicting characters as X therefore characters were X in that depiction(/media), (even if that isn't canon to the rest of the story)"

 

Not true.

 

 

I'm not saying the stereotype is true, but NoTS did point a number of different attributes that together find evidence that in those ads they were meant to be gangsters; multiple aspects of a ganster stereotype where there.

 

I don't think the stereotype is true (a bit tautological!), but denying that they were shown in a way that fits the stereotype doesn't make you right automatically.

 

Edit: line spacing

Edited by Iblis
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~ Sophistry: A way to be antidisuncorrect. ~


 


 


In a decade you might convince maybe a small tribe of people.


In a decade you might also conquer one million km2 of land,


& in over a thousand years you might have over a billion followers.


 


I like building things. Please don't break the big ones.


& evidential philosophies that dare to extrapolate beyond


an individual's direct experience aren't easily built.

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I don't think the stereotype is true (a bit tautological!), but denying that they were shown in a way that fits the stereotype doesn't make you right automatically.

 

Edit: line spacing

The fact that NotS was willing to invoke a racist stereotype completely discredits any further argument that they made.  It might not make them automatically right, but it makes them automatically wrong.

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I don't think the stereotype is true (a bit tautological!), but denying that they were shown in a way that fits the stereotype doesn't make you right automatically.

 

Edit: line spacing

The fact that NotS was willing to invoke a racist stereotype completely discredits any further argument that they made.  It might not make them automatically right, but it makes them automatically wrong.

 

 

Arguably NotS didn't invoke anything, he observed an ad which had some features of a stereotype and thus assumed that the characters (in the ad at least) were intended to be a stereotypical X.

 

He didn't grasp at straws, the final point was somewhat poignant because it shows that the stereotypical elements where everywhere; the scenery evokes the stereotype, the characters actions in the ad are also comparable, and hey even the narrator seems to be different to other ones... in a way that also lines up with the stereotype.

 

It's a few different elements that ad up, altogether they do give the impression to some that the Piraka were meant to be (stereotypical) gangsters.

 

Looking at the target demographic, there do seem to be a number of things that they would probably connect to the idea of Gangsters.

It's not to say that that generalised idea, that stereotype is true; but it does look like the ad evoked the stereotype.

 

Someone not seeing that stereotype, because they aren't aware of that stereotype or view it as something different doesn't mean it wasn't there; if plenty of people don't notice it then it raises the likelihood that the stereotype wasn't intended...

 

But whether the stereotypical nature of those ads (although Bionicle (as a "constructible action figure"?) would probably seem pretty out there?) is intended is actually still not relevant, because someone noticing it doesn't mean that that stereotype doesn't exist...

 

 

 

(If I where unaware of say, France, & new nothing about it, or the French language, or it's influence etc.)

Say I happened to write a story that had a character who had a "nasally voice like he has the flu all the time", she eats frogs and snails, is really arrogant and rude, is cowardly, never shaves & is hairy, dresses like a modal, and always wines.

 

Someone could argue that I made a stereotypically french character, someone else could argue that's not what the french are like don't be racist, someone else might not even notice the parallels or feel like they aren't enough to really make the connection.

And wherever I intended it that way or not, people would be quite correct in saying that the stereotype was there, people would also be correct to say it's a stereotype and the stereotype isn't true.

 

But to say that the stereotype wasn't there? It wasn't the reader who invoked the stereotype...

Now how many of those 'stereotypical aspects' can I remove before people stop calling it stereotypically french?

Besides someone is busy arguing that eating frogs and snails aren't intrinsically a French stereotype, so does that carry more or less weight than the others or none at all because they believe it couldn't be part of a French stereotype. (I would agree that by itself it is a minor point - so how many points do I need for it to contribute enough to say a stereotypically X?)

 

 

 

Regardless I hope we don't see more ads like that one in 2015 (or in the future mind you), whether Kopaka starts drinking tea or Pohatu starts wrangling hopping-crocodiles, it becomes irksome IMO, Villains having British/German/Russian accents gets a bit tiresome according to some, but I think it depends on how many random stereotypical ..things ... go into it.

*shrugs*

Mind you I just want more lore~story at this point, because 30 minutes alone will not keep me interested for a year, I'll keep buying the sets because I like them ... but maybe the story isn't rushed so much as very small.

Edited by Iblis
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~ Sophistry: A way to be antidisuncorrect. ~


 


 


In a decade you might convince maybe a small tribe of people.


In a decade you might also conquer one million km2 of land,


& in over a thousand years you might have over a billion followers.


 


I like building things. Please don't break the big ones.


& evidential philosophies that dare to extrapolate beyond


an individual's direct experience aren't easily built.

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Metru-Nui not being 'high tech'

 

I didn't say it wasn't, I just said that the high tech stuff was rarely much more than background.

 

 

 

I then want you to reason out this point further about how the high-tech atmosphere of Metru-Nui. 

 

This sentence seems unfinished. How the high tech atmosphere of Metru Nui...what?

 

 

 

I want you to go back, reread my last point, and actually address the bulk of the matter (you can't quantify how Bionicle 'feels') rather than a minor quip.

 

Well, your point is part of your defence of 2006, and it's that Voya Nui was closer to Mata than Metru was because Voya was rural rather than a high tech city. I disagree on the grounds that the high tech parts of Metru Nui weren't featured very much and so weren't an important factor in the 'feel' of the Metru Nui years. And to add to that, I think 2006's huge stylistic differences that Wally did a good job of listing were a far bigger factor in why 2006 felt inconsistent with the Mata Nui years, because they were featured upfront in the year's promotion.

 

 

 

The only reason why Metru-Nui was more explored was because it had an entire extra year dedicated to it.

 

But that year did no worldbuilding because the city was in ruins and its inhabitants all asleep. Nearly all of what we know of Metru Nui comes from 2004 content - the movie, Toa CD games and various books.

 

 

 

In a vacuum 2006 is on the same tier as '01 and '04.

 

I don't feel it is, largely due to the lack of any media that properly explored the island in the way that stuff like the MNOLG did.

 

 

 

You are turning me into a strawman and putting words in my mouth.  At no one point did I claim that there were space ships or laser beams.

 

No, you didn't, but you didn't give any examples of what you consider to be high tech, you just mentioned "high tech shenanigans".

 

 

 

You're probably thinking of '08-'11, which is two years past '06.

 

I wasn't trying to pinpoint any part of the storyline, I was just giving in passing an example of what I consider high tech.

 

 

 

It's also worth noting that by the time '06 rolled around the entire show was pretty much being run by Greg rather than the collection of writers that were used to hammer out '01-'03

 

I doubt he had any involvement in Heroes or Free the Band, though these weren't canon of course.

 

 

 

The fact that NotS was willing to invoke a racist stereotype completely discredits any further argument that they made.

 

I think his argument was rather that Lego (or whoever else made that promotion) themselves were using a racial stereotype by using an African American in connection with something evocative of gang culture.

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No it wasn't sarcastic.  NotS claimed the strongest argument for the Piraka being gangsters was that the narrator was an African American male.  They were being racist.

 

This wasn't even my strongest argument. I was saying that, in conjunction with the rest of the ad campaign's aesthetic, having an African American narrator seems like the use of a racial stereotype to further connect the Piraka to being "modern gangsters". If I thought this was my strongest argument, I wouldn't have had a whole paragraph about other elements of the ad that are more definitive to my claim than just the supposed "racism". The last line was intended to support it further, having made the connection beforehand. 

 

The fact that NotS was willing to invoke a racist stereotype completely discredits any further argument that they made.  It might not make them automatically right, but it makes them automatically wrong.

 

See, this makes no sense to me. I used the stereotype in a objective sense to connect to the ad campaign in general. That is not "invoking" racism - the stereotype is something that exists, like it or not, and so it has the capacity to influence a brand or product even if it seems transparent to those using it.

 

It would be invoking racism if I simply said "The narrator was African American male", because then an assumption that all African American males are gangsters can be interpreted. But I said this was a common stereotype regarding modern gangster image, which is a fact. When you consider all of the other aspects of the Piraka ad campaign that try their hardest to emulate a "gangster image", the addition of an African American narrator makes it clear that the creators of the ad were utilizing this stereotype not to be racist but to further cement the idea of a modern gangster. 

 

Think about it this way - the whole idea of Piraka.com and the commercials for it are influenced entirely by social conventions that created the widespread stereotypes in the first place. How many times have you seen the associated symbols (gangsters vs police, dank lounge, African American Male, rap music) repeated in all forms of media? The social norms regarding the identity of the gangster has become misconstrued and permeated its way through all levels of representation. Because of this, LEGO's usage of these symbols are directly related to stereotypical conventions regardless of intent. 

 

I am not saying the stereotype is true, nor am I saying I - or the LEGO group - agree with it. However, it is unarguably an image that is present in modern day society. The issues behind why the image exists and the false connotations that come with it are an entirely different can of worms that we will not discuss on this site.

 

-NotS

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Finally, the narrator for the Piraka promotional campaign was an African American male. Like it or not, this is unarguably one of the biggest stereotypes regarding modern gangster culture.

Racism is not a basis for an effective argument.  Ten points from gryffindor.  F - -.  Please see me after class.

 

 

I sincerely hope that was sarcasm, because you've given no actual reason to why aspects of a stereotype aren't allowed to be used to justify that a certain media did depict certain characters as gansters?

 

Literally a character is defined by how they are presented, and a part of that presentation might just happen to be a whole pile of aspects that fit a stereotype but you're not allowed to point out an extra detail of the ad - which the characters featured in?

 

Yep, let's go with Kevin was being sarcastic.

 

No it wasn't sarcastic.  NotS claimed the strongest argument for the Piraka being gangsters was that the narrator was an African American male.  They were being racist.

 

I give you a 2/10 for getting me to respond.  You're defending racism.  Stop it.

 

It seems like you're saying that the proper way to tackle the issue of racism is to ignore any instance of it and brush it under the rug. Are you one of those types who believes that racism can be eliminated by pretending it doesn't exist and that you "don't see race" and neglecting to acknowledge all the ways in which racial prejudice has become ingrained in our societies for hundreds of years? Because that's the vibe I'm getting here.

 

The bottom line -- as Sir Kohran said -- is that NotS pointing out the fact that LEGO invoked a racist stereotype in an ad campaign does not make NotS a racist, no more than pointing out the fact that some deodorant commercials objectify women makes a person sexist. You get 1/10 and detention. Read a textbook on logic while you're there.

 

 

OKAY LET'S TALK ABOUT BOOKS.

 

 

 

Everyone keeps talking about hoping for "novels". I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade, but we'll be getting chapter books, if anything. The difference is mostly semantic but the point stands that the books we'll end up getting will be aimed at young readers and be short and digestible. We're not talking about Harry Potter or The Hobbit, here—these will most likely be eight to twelve pages per chapter, with about as many chapters altogether. If the books retell the same story as the animations, that means that each animation would likely be covered in a single chapter, and that the entire winter wave story would maybe take a single book (same for the summer wave, if it contains a similar number of episodes).

 

Lego chapter books are not homogenous, of course—while HF and Bionicle's chapter books were long-form stories divided into chapters, Ninjago and Chima's chapter books each tell several independent stories, with Ninjago's containing a short story and a longer story divided into chapters and Chima just telling three or four short stories. Also, Chima's chapter books were illustrated, and Ninjago's were as well in non-U.S. markets. Lego could take any one of those tacks for Bionicle's books.

 

I guess my overall point is that if the books tell the main story like the animations do, then there's not much chance that they flesh the story out much more than that. The only way they could really have room to do so is if they tell independent stories, like Ninjago, Chima, and Hero Factory did—which wouldn't be a bad thing. But in essence that means that if you're expecting the kind of expanded story the original Bionicle's large number of sequential chapter books afforded it compared to the comics, that might be a little too much to hope for.

I'm not fully sure that I buy this yet. While I won't be expecting Lord of the Rings: Toyline Cashgrab Edition (XD), I think assuming that they will just tell the stories of the animations and that's it is a bit of a premature assumption to make. 

 

Even HF's books were somewhat good, and Bionicle has a tradition of decent-length narrative books. If they respect the original line enough to bring back gear functions, then they probably do enough to write at least a Hapka-level book.

 

You misunderstand my point. My point is that IF the chapter books retell the main story as told in the animations, I doubt they'll have space to add much complexity. If they tell side-stories like the HF chapter books? In that case, anything goes. I'm actually hoping for the latter—there are plenty of blank spaces for character-establishing adventures in between the brief webisodes. But it sounded to me like most people had wanted books that were to the animations what the classic books were to the comics—an expanded, authoritative version of the main story. And I don't see that happening unless we get more than two books before the year is up (and given we don't have a single release date? Those are tough odds).

 

So wait, has it been established that they won't do both? That's what I recall the gen1 chapter books doing -- main storyline, in slightly more detail, with occasional side-plots.
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Finally, the narrator for the Piraka promotional campaign was an African American male. Like it or not, this is unarguably one of the biggest stereotypes regarding modern gangster culture.

Racism is not a basis for an effective argument.  Ten points from gryffindor.  F - -.  Please see me after class.

 

 

I sincerely hope that was sarcasm, because you've given no actual reason to why aspects of a stereotype aren't allowed to be used to justify that a certain media did depict certain characters as gansters?

 

Literally a character is defined by how they are presented, and a part of that presentation might just happen to be a whole pile of aspects that fit a stereotype but you're not allowed to point out an extra detail of the ad - which the characters featured in?

 

Yep, let's go with Kevin was being sarcastic.

 

No it wasn't sarcastic.  NotS claimed the strongest argument for the Piraka being gangsters was that the narrator was an African American male.  They were being racist.

 

I give you a 2/10 for getting me to respond.  You're defending racism.  Stop it.

 

It seems like you're saying that the proper way to tackle the issue of racism is to ignore any instance of it and brush it under the rug. Are you one of those types who believes that racism can be eliminated by pretending it doesn't exist and that you "don't see race" and neglecting to acknowledge all the ways in which racial prejudice has become ingrained in our societies for hundreds of years? Because that's the vibe I'm getting here.

 

The bottom line -- as Sir Kohran said -- is that NotS pointing out the fact that LEGO invoked a racist stereotype in an ad campaign does not make NotS a racist, no more than pointing out the fact that some deodorant commercials objectify women makes a person sexist. You get 1/10 and detention. Read a textbook on logic while you're there.

 

 

OKAY LET'S TALK ABOUT BOOKS.

 

 

 

Everyone keeps talking about hoping for "novels". I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade, but we'll be getting chapter books, if anything. The difference is mostly semantic but the point stands that the books we'll end up getting will be aimed at young readers and be short and digestible. We're not talking about Harry Potter or The Hobbit, here—these will most likely be eight to twelve pages per chapter, with about as many chapters altogether. If the books retell the same story as the animations, that means that each animation would likely be covered in a single chapter, and that the entire winter wave story would maybe take a single book (same for the summer wave, if it contains a similar number of episodes).

 

Lego chapter books are not homogenous, of course—while HF and Bionicle's chapter books were long-form stories divided into chapters, Ninjago and Chima's chapter books each tell several independent stories, with Ninjago's containing a short story and a longer story divided into chapters and Chima just telling three or four short stories. Also, Chima's chapter books were illustrated, and Ninjago's were as well in non-U.S. markets. Lego could take any one of those tacks for Bionicle's books.

 

I guess my overall point is that if the books tell the main story like the animations do, then there's not much chance that they flesh the story out much more than that. The only way they could really have room to do so is if they tell independent stories, like Ninjago, Chima, and Hero Factory did—which wouldn't be a bad thing. But in essence that means that if you're expecting the kind of expanded story the original Bionicle's large number of sequential chapter books afforded it compared to the comics, that might be a little too much to hope for.

I'm not fully sure that I buy this yet. While I won't be expecting Lord of the Rings: Toyline Cashgrab Edition (XD), I think assuming that they will just tell the stories of the animations and that's it is a bit of a premature assumption to make. 

 

Even HF's books were somewhat good, and Bionicle has a tradition of decent-length narrative books. If they respect the original line enough to bring back gear functions, then they probably do enough to write at least a Hapka-level book.

 

You misunderstand my point. My point is that IF the chapter books retell the main story as told in the animations, I doubt they'll have space to add much complexity. If they tell side-stories like the HF chapter books? In that case, anything goes. I'm actually hoping for the latter—there are plenty of blank spaces for character-establishing adventures in between the brief webisodes. But it sounded to me like most people had wanted books that were to the animations what the classic books were to the comics—an expanded, authoritative version of the main story. And I don't see that happening unless we get more than two books before the year is up (and given we don't have a single release date? Those are tough odds).

 

So wait, has it been established that they won't do both? That's what I recall the gen1 chapter books doing -- main storyline, in slightly more detail, with occasional side-plots.

 

The difference is that the gen 1 books, at their peak, had five books per year, with the main story otherwise crammed into 6 comic books. Maybe the books can get to that level in a future year, but as it stands now we have zero word about what Bionicle books might be in the works, leading me to believe that it may well be autumn before they come out—hardly enough time for that kind of release schedule. I think more than two chapter books this year might be wishful thinking, and considering that we'll most likely have around 18 webisodes by year's end, I don't know if two chapter books could manage to adapt that and have much room for expansion.

 

It's possible, and we really have no idea what to expect, but people keep talking about the books like they'd be a panacea, and there's really no guarantee of that. Don't forget that the classic Bionicle's books struggled to maintain sales, even moreso than the sets, leading to fewer and fewer books each passing year. Ninjago (which dwarfed Bionicle in popularity from the get-go) and Chima never had more than four chapter books a year, and Hero Factory never had more than two.

 

My point is that just because there will be books will not automatically fix people's issues with the new story, and it won't necessarily add anywhere near the level of complexity of the classic story. At best, they should give us more of what we've already gotten so far—but that means that if you're not happy with what we've gotten so far, the books aren't likely to change that. I'm extremely excited for the books, whatever they turn out to be, but building them up in your mind as game-changers is only setting yourself up for disappointment.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

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