G1 Elitism, Or "How Dare TLG Not Cater To ME!"

[Regitnui]

I've started to notice this quite a bit. Most obviously in the 2015 discussion and notably in the Trans-Blue Mask of Water thread. 'This' is of course the notion that TLG somehow owes the G1 fans for... something. Keeping the torch alive? Remaining fans for 5 years of no new content? Whatever. Similarly, over in S&T, I keep seeing people who keep confusing the Masters with the Nuva, as if the word 'reboot' wasn't enough to point out that these are new characters with their own story. Most notably, people complained about Tahu Okoto running from a swarm of Skull Spiders because "Tahu (Nuva) would never have done that."
 
Well, I'm going to tell you something you need to hear. You might not want to hear it, and I fully expect all of you who are guilty of this to ignore me and continue on regardless. It still needs to be said.
 
Lego Owes You Nothing

 

You're a devoted fan of G1. So am I.

 

You devoured the story at every opportunity. So did I.

 

You begged and pleaded for Bionicle to be brought back after 2010, because you couldn't imagine your life without Bionicle. So did... No, wait, I didn't. I moved on. But that's not important.

 

What is important is that now that the BIONICLE name has returned to shelves, you seem to think that everything TLG is doing is wrong, somehow. Either they're doing a massive disservice to the world by not continuing G1's story, or they're making this new story too simple, because you're older now and demand more satisfaction from your entertainment. Either they are doing the promotions wrong, or they should never have started advertising in the first place. They characterize the Toa wrong, making Tahu a (sensible) coward, or Gali an ineffectual peacemaker. Though it's never said, your complaints all carry the sentiment of:

 

"If Lego wasn't going to do Bionicle right, they should have never brought it back at all"

 

But here's the thing. They are doing it right, as far as we can tell. The sets are awesome. The story has barely started, but already it's inspired more new theories and thoughts than the atrophied remains of G1 could. The Masters are great characters, for what we've seen, and they look like they're going to be great fun over the next three years. The Reboot has enough nostalgia for me, someone who left before the Glatorian, to love the new line, but is also fresh enough for children a third my age to enjoy and buy. The Toa are well-designed, keeping the same balance of nostalgia and freshness that the story does. G2 has its shortcomings, but those few shortcomings are tiny compared to how well TLG hit the mark on everything else.

 

So why are you still complaining? Perhaps it's because 'doing Bionicle right' must mean doing it how you think is right, not how the massive toy company that employs hundreds of marketers, designers and accountants knows is right for the current market. You should have been personally consulted on every step of the process when they decided to bring Bionicle back, or failing that, there should have been polls on the Lego Boards and BZP and Facebook asking for the opinions of a bunch of nostalgia-fuelled fans who'd never let go of G1 as being perfect.

 

And if they had, would you be happy? Would you be happy if TLG had caved to your desires and continued where we left off? Would you be happy if everyone got a golden mask for helping TLG 'realise Bionicle at its best'? No, you wouldn't. For every opinion you hold, there's somebody who's an equally ardent fan who holds the opposite. Should the Okoto Toa be direct clones of their Nuva equivalents in CCBS? Half of you will say yes, half of you won't, and you'll tear each other to shreds doing so. Where would we set the new story? "Spherus Magna", "An Island in the sea.", "Back in the GSR".

 

Instead of listening to all those contradictory voices, TLG went back to the 2001 concept of Bionicle and built it again from scratch, Can you see why a reboot was better? Can you see why they took the names of the characters, basic concepts, and little else? G1 is dead. Gone. Buried, as far as TLG is concerned. They're concentrating on G2 now, making it the best ever. Why should they develop G2 by pouring G1 onto it? It's not like G1 can make G2 any better.

 

We can't even compare G1 and G2 to find out which is better yet. Simply because one has long finished, and the other has barely started. Would you judge a child by the accomplishments of his older brother? Is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Chronicles an automatic failure because it isn't more LotR? Is the Elder Scrolls series a waste of my time because it isn't more Ultima Underworld? Shall we roast Rayman over a fire because he isn't Sonic or Mario?

 

Simply put, ladies, gentlemen, and those of you raring up to flame me just because I asked you to think about what you're saying on the internet, why should we, the nameless masses who enjoy Bionicle enough to keep it alive, start asking for more when we've already gotten something beyond our wildest dreams?

 

Lego doesn't owe you anything.

 

We don't owe Lego anything.

 

But they enjoy making Bionicle for us, and we enjoy hearing the story from them.

 

Let's give TLG the benefit of the doubt. They know what they're doing. It might not be what you, individually, want, but they want to tell everyone a story, not just you personally. G2 has barely started. Don't start throwing the six-month old baby into college and expect it to succeed like its parent.

 

Next time you feel the urge to complain, ask yourself if the complaint is legitimately founded in objective fact, or is a personal feeling of yours. You might find that there's less to dislike than you think.

 

***

 

As for the Moderators, feel free to delete this or do what you like with me for intentionally igniting this. I simply needed to get this off my chest, and I hope people will listen rather than have knee-jerk reactions after reading the two bold sentences. I apologize right now for all the trouble this may cause.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Regitnui

[SailorQuaoar]

If you're referring to the topic that I started, no one in that thread said that g2 Bionicle was bad, just mis-handled and under-utilized. Don't put words into someone else's mouth.

 

There are very few people who will say that g1 was perfect. It had many flaws, especially near the end. No one was saying that in the Kaukau topic.

 

The majority of posters here like the new Bionicle. If we were really in the "my childhood is ruined crowd", we wouldn't even be keeping track of Bionicle news.

 

However, no series is perfect. As much as Lego has done market research, they have dropped the ball on several occasions (eg minimal story, lack of names and characterization for Protectors, and the designer videos that barely told us anything about the look of the sets)

 

I like the sets, I like the aesthetic. I really want new Bionicle to succeed. But I (and several others) feel that Lego is selling the IP short.

It is possible to be critical of media and still enjoy it, and in fact being critical is important for a company to improve its products.

 

You say that Lego doesn't owe us anything, but Lego is a business. Lego depends on the money of consumers to make profit, and consumers depend on Lego for high-quality construction toys.

 

If Lego churns out a poorly-designed product, are we acting entitled if we criticize it? No. It is the right of the consumer to vote with our wallets and let Lego know what we do and don't want to buy.

 

In the case of the trans-blue Kaukau, we're telling Lego "hey there's a market for this mask, and you'd make a lot of money if it was more widely available." No one is asking for it to be free. We would all be willing to buy such a variant if it was mass-produced.

 

Sometimes a company is not aware of all demographics, and it is a right of the consumer to let manufacturers know that there is a demand for a product. Letting someone know what you want or don't want is not being selfish.

 

It is important for businesses and customers to communicate with each other. When the customer lets the business know what they want or need, then the business can fill that niche.

[Regitnui]

Put like that, it sounds reasonable. In practice, it's hardly that mature and professional. Who are we to assume that TLG aren't aware of the demographics? I'm pretty sure the reason those masks are exclusives are because they're desirable.

 

I find a lot of people on this forum, when asked how TLG is 'selling Bionicle short', trot out the G1 marketing campaign. This isn't G1. It's 15 years later. The world is different, so G1's strategies won't work today. That's why I've written this. People complain about G2 and use G1 to back themselves up without thinking about why things are different.

 

And finally, this isn't about any one comment by any one person in any one thread. It's the overriding attitude. If you feel like I'm personally remarking on what you said, perhaps you should think about it rather than snapping back.

[Everspark]

Though I enjoy G2 as much as I can, sometimes I like to think the Toa are in their Metru Nui/Reign of Shadows adaptive form. I also have a B version for the Skull Villians, they are the crazy revived characters from the MU in the Red Star. But I think that's not a big crime. 

 

I try to be open-minded and not complain about little things, and I think fans should show more patience. 

[Owlexander]

"You have summoned the horde."

[Madu Cabolo]

To begin with, I really like what you have to say, and I have noticed a certain snobbishness among us older fans. However, I'd like to point out that TLG does owe us something; I mean, who are the people who faithfully buy their products and have (more or less) the capital to do so? We, the fans.

As a company, Lego should listen to the fans, even the cranky, old, die hard ones on this forum. And if someone wants to be cranky about how the new line is progressing, they can do so. We still have free speech as far as I know.

Nevertheless, I understand how it can become rather hackneyed. People should reserve their judgement until at least the end of the year, as the line could easily get much better. On an artistic or story level, Lego is more than capable of success. 

[Kopekemaster]

I like G1. I like G1 more than G2. But I still like G2.

 

I recognize them as utterly different things. I see similarities, of course, but I realize they're very different things, and try not to so much compare them as continue loving G1 and just enjoy G2 as it is.

 

Also, fanservicing can be both good and bad. I'm sure LEGO will do an appropriate measure of it.

[Gipsy Danger]

I've started to notice this quite a bit. Most obviously in the 2015 discussion and notably in the Trans-Blue Mask of Water thread. 'This' is of course the notion that TLG somehow owes the G1 fans for... something. Keeping the torch alive? Remaining fans for 5 years of no new content? Whatever. Similarly, over in S&T, I keep seeing people who keep confusing the Masters with the Nuva, as if the word 'reboot' wasn't enough to point out that these are new characters with their own story. Most notably, people complained about Tahu Okoto running from a swarm of Skull Spiders because "Tahu (Nuva) would never have done that."

 

Well, I'm going to tell you something you need to hear. You might not want to hear it, and I fully expect all of you who are guilty of this to ignore me and continue on regardless. It still needs to be said.

 

Lego Owes You Nothing

 

You're a devoted fan of G1. So am I.

 

You devoured the story at every opportunity. So did I.

 

You begged and pleaded for Bionicle to be brought back after 2010, because you couldn't imagine your life without Bionicle. So did... No, wait, I didn't. I moved on. But that's not important.

 

What is important is that now that the BIONICLE name has returned to shelves, you seem to think that everything TLG is doing is wrong, somehow. Either they're doing a massive disservice to the world by not continuing G1's story, or they're making this new story too simple, because you're older now and demand more satisfaction from your entertainment. Either they are doing the promotions wrong, or they should never have started advertising in the first place. They characterize the Toa wrong, making Tahu a (sensible) coward, or Gali an ineffectual peacemaker. Though it's never said, your complaints all carry the sentiment of:

 

"If Lego wasn't going to do Bionicle right, they should have never brought it back at all"

 

But here's the thing. They are doing it right, as far as we can tell. The sets are awesome. The story has barely started, but already it's inspired more new theories and thoughts than the atrophied remains of G1 could. The Masters are great characters, for what we've seen, and they look like they're going to be great fun over the next three years. The Reboot has enough nostalgia for me, someone who left before the Glatorian, to love the new line, but is also fresh enough for children a third my age to enjoy and buy. The Toa are well-designed, keeping the same balance of nostalgia and freshness that the story does. G2 has its shortcomings, but those few shortcomings are tiny compared to how well TLG hit the mark on everything else.

 

So why are you still complaining? Perhaps it's because 'doing Bionicle right' must mean doing it how you think is right, not how the massive toy company that employs hundreds of marketers, designers and accountants knows is right for the current market. You should have been personally consulted on every step of the process when they decided to bring Bionicle back, or failing that, there should have been polls on the Lego Boards and BZP and Facebook asking for the opinions of a bunch of nostalgia-fuelled fans who'd never let go of G1 as being perfect.

 

And if they had, would you be happy? Would you be happy if TLG had caved to your desires and continued where we left off? Would you be happy if everyone got a golden mask for helping TLG 'realise Bionicle at its best'? No, you wouldn't. For every opinion you hold, there's somebody who's an equally ardent fan who holds the opposite. Should the Okoto Toa be direct clones of their Nuva equivalents in CCBS? Half of you will say yes, half of you won't, and you'll tear each other to shreds doing so. Where would we set the new story? "Spherus Magna", "An Island in the sea.", "Back in the GSR".

 

Instead of listening to all those contradictory voices, TLG went back to the 2001 concept of Bionicle and built it again from scratch, Can you see why a reboot was better? Can you see why they took the names of the characters, basic concepts, and little else? G1 is dead. Gone. Buried, as far as TLG is concerned. They're concentrating on G2 now, making it the best ever. Why should they develop G2 by pouring G1 onto it? It's not like G1 can make G2 any better.

 

We can't even compare G1 and G2 to find out which is better yet. Simply because one has long finished, and the other has barely started. Would you judge a child by the accomplishments of his older brother? Is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Chronicles an automatic failure because it isn't more LotR? Is the Elder Scrolls series a waste of my time because it isn't more Ultima Underworld? Shall we roast Rayman over a fire because he isn't Sonic or Mario?

 

Simply put, ladies, gentlemen, and those of you raring up to flame me just because I asked you to think about what you're saying on the internet, why should we, the nameless masses who enjoy Bionicle enough to keep it alive, start asking for more when we've already gotten something beyond our wildest dreams?

 

Lego doesn't owe you anything.

 

We don't owe Lego anything.

 

But they enjoy making Bionicle for us, and we enjoy hearing the story from them.

 

Let's give TLG the benefit of the doubt. They know what they're doing. It might not be what you, individually, want, but they want to tell everyone a story, not just you personally. G2 has barely started. Don't start throwing the six-month old baby into college and expect it to succeed like its parent.

 

Next time you feel the urge to complain, ask yourself if the complaint is legitimately founded in objective fact, or is a personal feeling of yours. You might find that there's less to dislike than you think.

 

***

 

As for the Moderators, feel free to delete this or do what you like with me for intentionally igniting this. I simply needed to get this off my chest, and I hope people will listen rather than have knee-jerk reactions after reading the two bold sentences. I apologize right now for all the trouble this may cause.

"Lego Owes You Nothing"

 

In my opinion, yes, Lego owes us basically.  If they were to bring back Bionicle, then they SHOULD'VE brought everything ELSE back from the OLD Bionicle.  Now they are bringing a new audience in (which are little kids who will grow with it).  That's why they did a reboot.  And they basically left us out.  KIND OF(due to the age range which for me are suggestions).  I don't mean for this post to make you guys angry, so if its something rude, keep it to yourself, unless if you can say it in a different/good way.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Gipsy Danger

[Owlexander]

 

I've started to notice this quite a bit. Most obviously in the 2015 discussion and notably in the Trans-Blue Mask of Water thread. 'This' is of course the notion that TLG somehow owes the G1 fans for... something. Keeping the torch alive? Remaining fans for 5 years of no new content? Whatever. Similarly, over in S&T, I keep seeing people who keep confusing the Masters with the Nuva, as if the word 'reboot' wasn't enough to point out that these are new characters with their own story. Most notably, people complained about Tahu Okoto running from a swarm of Skull Spiders because "Tahu (Nuva) would never have done that."

 

Well, I'm going to tell you something you need to hear. You might not want to hear it, and I fully expect all of you who are guilty of this to ignore me and continue on regardless. It still needs to be said.

 

Lego Owes You Nothing

 

You're a devoted fan of G1. So am I.

 

You devoured the story at every opportunity. So did I.

 

You begged and pleaded for Bionicle to be brought back after 2010, because you couldn't imagine your life without Bionicle. So did... No, wait, I didn't. I moved on. But that's not important.

 

What is important is that now that the BIONICLE name has returned to shelves, you seem to think that everything TLG is doing is wrong, somehow. Either they're doing a massive disservice to the world by not continuing G1's story, or they're making this new story too simple, because you're older now and demand more satisfaction from your entertainment. Either they are doing the promotions wrong, or they should never have started advertising in the first place. They characterize the Toa wrong, making Tahu a (sensible) coward, or Gali an ineffectual peacemaker. Though it's never said, your complaints all carry the sentiment of:

 

"If Lego wasn't going to do Bionicle right, they should have never brought it back at all"

 

But here's the thing. They are doing it right, as far as we can tell. The sets are awesome. The story has barely started, but already it's inspired more new theories and thoughts than the atrophied remains of G1 could. The Masters are great characters, for what we've seen, and they look like they're going to be great fun over the next three years. The Reboot has enough nostalgia for me, someone who left before the Glatorian, to love the new line, but is also fresh enough for children a third my age to enjoy and buy. The Toa are well-designed, keeping the same balance of nostalgia and freshness that the story does. G2 has its shortcomings, but those few shortcomings are tiny compared to how well TLG hit the mark on everything else.

 

So why are you still complaining? Perhaps it's because 'doing Bionicle right' must mean doing it how you think is right, not how the massive toy company that employs hundreds of marketers, designers and accountants knows is right for the current market. You should have been personally consulted on every step of the process when they decided to bring Bionicle back, or failing that, there should have been polls on the Lego Boards and BZP and Facebook asking for the opinions of a bunch of nostalgia-fuelled fans who'd never let go of G1 as being perfect.

 

And if they had, would you be happy? Would you be happy if TLG had caved to your desires and continued where we left off? Would you be happy if everyone got a golden mask for helping TLG 'realise Bionicle at its best'? No, you wouldn't. For every opinion you hold, there's somebody who's an equally ardent fan who holds the opposite. Should the Okoto Toa be direct clones of their Nuva equivalents in CCBS? Half of you will say yes, half of you won't, and you'll tear each other to shreds doing so. Where would we set the new story? "Spherus Magna", "An Island in the sea.", "Back in the GSR".

 

Instead of listening to all those contradictory voices, TLG went back to the 2001 concept of Bionicle and built it again from scratch, Can you see why a reboot was better? Can you see why they took the names of the characters, basic concepts, and little else? G1 is dead. Gone. Buried, as far as TLG is concerned. They're concentrating on G2 now, making it the best ever. Why should they develop G2 by pouring G1 onto it? It's not like G1 can make G2 any better.

 

We can't even compare G1 and G2 to find out which is better yet. Simply because one has long finished, and the other has barely started. Would you judge a child by the accomplishments of his older brother? Is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Chronicles an automatic failure because it isn't more LotR? Is the Elder Scrolls series a waste of my time because it isn't more Ultima Underworld? Shall we roast Rayman over a fire because he isn't Sonic or Mario?

 

Simply put, ladies, gentlemen, and those of you raring up to flame me just because I asked you to think about what you're saying on the internet, why should we, the nameless masses who enjoy Bionicle enough to keep it alive, start asking for more when we've already gotten something beyond our wildest dreams?

 

Lego doesn't owe you anything.

 

We don't owe Lego anything.

 

But they enjoy making Bionicle for us, and we enjoy hearing the story from them.

 

Let's give TLG the benefit of the doubt. They know what they're doing. It might not be what you, individually, want, but they want to tell everyone a story, not just you personally. G2 has barely started. Don't start throwing the six-month old baby into college and expect it to succeed like its parent.

 

Next time you feel the urge to complain, ask yourself if the complaint is legitimately founded in objective fact, or is a personal feeling of yours. You might find that there's less to dislike than you think.

 

***

 

As for the Moderators, feel free to delete this or do what you like with me for intentionally igniting this. I simply needed to get this off my chest, and I hope people will listen rather than have knee-jerk reactions after reading the two bold sentences. I apologize right now for all the trouble this may cause.

"Lego Owes You Nothing"

 

In my opinion, yes, Lego owes us basically.  If they were to bring back Bionicle, then they SHOULD'VE brought everything ELSE back from the OLD Bionicle.  Now they are bringing a new audience in (which are little kids who will grow with it).  That's why they did a reboot.  And they basically left us out.  KIND OF(due to the age range which for me are suggestions).  I don't mean for this post to make you guys angry, so if its something rude, keep it to yourself, unless if you can say it in a different/good way.

 

 

It's not even really opinionated (which is why this argument is going to be so hard to win) but more of it's a fact than an opinion that Lego owes us nothing.

[Mocmaker]

I've started to notice this quite a bit. Most obviously in the 2015 discussion and notably in the Trans-Blue Mask of Water thread. 'This' is of course the notion that TLG somehow owes the G1 fans for... something. Keeping the torch alive? Remaining fans for 5 years of no new content? Whatever. Similarly, over in S&T, I keep seeing people who keep confusing the Masters with the Nuva, as if the word 'reboot' wasn't enough to point out that these are new characters with their own story. Most notably, people complained about Tahu Okoto running from a swarm of Skull Spiders because "Tahu (Nuva) would never have done that."

 

Well, I'm going to tell you something you need to hear. You might not want to hear it, and I fully expect all of you who are guilty of this to ignore me and continue on regardless. It still needs to be said.

 

Lego Owes You Nothing

 

You're a devoted fan of G1. So am I.

 

You devoured the story at every opportunity. So did I.

 

You begged and pleaded for Bionicle to be brought back after 2010, because you couldn't imagine your life without Bionicle. So did... No, wait, I didn't. I moved on. But that's not important.

 

What is important is that now that the BIONICLE name has returned to shelves, you seem to think that everything TLG is doing is wrong, somehow. Either they're doing a massive disservice to the world by not continuing G1's story, or they're making this new story too simple, because you're older now and demand more satisfaction from your entertainment. Either they are doing the promotions wrong, or they should never have started advertising in the first place. They characterize the Toa wrong, making Tahu a (sensible) coward, or Gali an ineffectual peacemaker. Though it's never said, your complaints all carry the sentiment of:

 

"If Lego wasn't going to do Bionicle right, they should have never brought it back at all"

 

But here's the thing. They are doing it right, as far as we can tell. The sets are awesome. The story has barely started, but already it's inspired more new theories and thoughts than the atrophied remains of G1 could. The Masters are great characters, for what we've seen, and they look like they're going to be great fun over the next three years. The Reboot has enough nostalgia for me, someone who left before the Glatorian, to love the new line, but is also fresh enough for children a third my age to enjoy and buy. The Toa are well-designed, keeping the same balance of nostalgia and freshness that the story does. G2 has its shortcomings, but those few shortcomings are tiny compared to how well TLG hit the mark on everything else.

 

So why are you still complaining? Perhaps it's because 'doing Bionicle right' must mean doing it how you think is right, not how the massive toy company that employs hundreds of marketers, designers and accountants knows is right for the current market. You should have been personally consulted on every step of the process when they decided to bring Bionicle back, or failing that, there should have been polls on the Lego Boards and BZP and Facebook asking for the opinions of a bunch of nostalgia-fuelled fans who'd never let go of G1 as being perfect.

 

And if they had, would you be happy? Would you be happy if TLG had caved to your desires and continued where we left off? Would you be happy if everyone got a golden mask for helping TLG 'realise Bionicle at its best'? No, you wouldn't. For every opinion you hold, there's somebody who's an equally ardent fan who holds the opposite. Should the Okoto Toa be direct clones of their Nuva equivalents in CCBS? Half of you will say yes, half of you won't, and you'll tear each other to shreds doing so. Where would we set the new story? "Spherus Magna", "An Island in the sea.", "Back in the GSR".

 

Instead of listening to all those contradictory voices, TLG went back to the 2001 concept of Bionicle and built it again from scratch, Can you see why a reboot was better? Can you see why they took the names of the characters, basic concepts, and little else? G1 is dead. Gone. Buried, as far as TLG is concerned. They're concentrating on G2 now, making it the best ever. Why should they develop G2 by pouring G1 onto it? It's not like G1 can make G2 any better.

 

We can't even compare G1 and G2 to find out which is better yet. Simply because one has long finished, and the other has barely started. Would you judge a child by the accomplishments of his older brother? Is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Chronicles an automatic failure because it isn't more LotR? Is the Elder Scrolls series a waste of my time because it isn't more Ultima Underworld? Shall we roast Rayman over a fire because he isn't Sonic or Mario?

 

Simply put, ladies, gentlemen, and those of you raring up to flame me just because I asked you to think about what you're saying on the internet, why should we, the nameless masses who enjoy Bionicle enough to keep it alive, start asking for more when we've already gotten something beyond our wildest dreams?

 

Lego doesn't owe you anything.

 

We don't owe Lego anything.

 

But they enjoy making Bionicle for us, and we enjoy hearing the story from them.

 

Let's give TLG the benefit of the doubt. They know what they're doing. It might not be what you, individually, want, but they want to tell everyone a story, not just you personally. G2 has barely started. Don't start throwing the six-month old baby into college and expect it to succeed like its parent.

 

Next time you feel the urge to complain, ask yourself if the complaint is legitimately founded in objective fact, or is a personal feeling of yours. You might find that there's less to dislike than you think.

 

***

 

As for the Moderators, feel free to delete this or do what you like with me for intentionally igniting this. I simply needed to get this off my chest, and I hope people will listen rather than have knee-jerk reactions after reading the two bold sentences. I apologize right now for all the trouble this may cause.

Dude how long did it take you to write that post?

 

I moved on as soon as it ended because they didn't take away my Bionicle characters so there was nothing for me to complain about.  

 

Now they brought it back and of course I don't like the new sets or anything about it but I have moved on and understand they are catering to a younger audience.  My only complaint really is that they are using the names of the toa mata for these new Okoto versions of them; In my opinion it is a disservice to the G1 fans.  Now if they used the original building system with a few modifications for the toa Okoto with the names of the toa mata then I wouldn't mind it, because that original building system helped save the Lego company, led a 10 year Bionicle saga and it really defined Bionicle.

 

Yeah that building system had a few downsides but so does the new one, well on the bright side I'm not forced to buy the new sets.

[Jobber]

I'm going to create special hashtag for this very occasion: #G1Gate

 

This Elitist-shaming needs to stop right now. 

[Owlexander]

I'm going to create special hashtag for this very occasion: #G1Gate

 

This Elitist-shaming needs to stop right now. 

 

...the pic isn't showing up for me so I'm hoping you're joking.

[Jobber]

 

I'm going to create special hashtag for this very occasion: #G1Gate

 

This Elitist-shaming needs to stop right now. 

 

...the pic isn't showing up for me so I'm hoping you're joking.

 

I'm dead serious, bro.

[Owlexander]

 

 

I'm going to create special hashtag for this very occasion: #G1Gate

 

This Elitist-shaming needs to stop right now. 

 

...the pic isn't showing up for me so I'm hoping you're joking.

 

I'm dead serious, bro.

 

 

... ... ... ...

 

It's not exactly "Elitist-shaming" more of just trying to get the point across of Lego doesn't owe us anything.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Forgeta

[believe victims]

and understand they are catering to a younger audience.

 

No, they aren't. They're catering to the exact same audience they always did; you just stopped being a part of it.

 

You say that Lego doesn't owe us anything, but Lego is a business. Lego depends on the money of consumers to make profit, and consumers depend on Lego for high-quality construction toys.

 

LEGO makes far more money from its child fans than from adult fans.

 

Therefore, LEGO owes the younger fans far more than the adult fans, and when it comes to the needs of one vs. the other, the child fans will, ultimately, prevail.

 

I realize that's not immediately relevant to your specific complaint about the mask, but people keep assuming that just because adults buy children's toys, they should be catered to equally as much as the children. This same weird idea pervades the Transformers fanbase, and honestly, it makes no sense. The biggest moneymaking demographic for a toy company will always be the children, so they will always come first.

 

If they were to bring back Bionicle, then they SHOULD'VE brought everything ELSE back from the OLD Bionicle.

 

Yeah, why reboot ANYTHING when you can instead try to pump some kind of life into the dried, lifeless husk of the original? There's certainly absolutely no appeal to trying to take it from the top and do something new.

[Axilus Prime]

Haven't been in the G2 discussion very much, save for maybe a few posts here and there. Last one was weeks ago at least. So maybe that's why I haven't seen any of this "elitism" or the idea that Lego owes us. I certainly don't have the idea that they do.

 

But if they turn out something that sucks, like, say, their recent story animations, we have the right to come out and say that it plain sucks.

[Gipsy Danger]

 

 

I've started to notice this quite a bit. Most obviously in the 2015 discussion and notably in the Trans-Blue Mask of Water thread. 'This' is of course the notion that TLG somehow owes the G1 fans for... something. Keeping the torch alive? Remaining fans for 5 years of no new content? Whatever. Similarly, over in S&T, I keep seeing people who keep confusing the Masters with the Nuva, as if the word 'reboot' wasn't enough to point out that these are new characters with their own story. Most notably, people complained about Tahu Okoto running from a swarm of Skull Spiders because "Tahu (Nuva) would never have done that."

 

Well, I'm going to tell you something you need to hear. You might not want to hear it, and I fully expect all of you who are guilty of this to ignore me and continue on regardless. It still needs to be said.

 

Lego Owes You Nothing

 

You're a devoted fan of G1. So am I.

 

You devoured the story at every opportunity. So did I.

 

You begged and pleaded for Bionicle to be brought back after 2010, because you couldn't imagine your life without Bionicle. So did... No, wait, I didn't. I moved on. But that's not important.

 

What is important is that now that the BIONICLE name has returned to shelves, you seem to think that everything TLG is doing is wrong, somehow. Either they're doing a massive disservice to the world by not continuing G1's story, or they're making this new story too simple, because you're older now and demand more satisfaction from your entertainment. Either they are doing the promotions wrong, or they should never have started advertising in the first place. They characterize the Toa wrong, making Tahu a (sensible) coward, or Gali an ineffectual peacemaker. Though it's never said, your complaints all carry the sentiment of:

 

"If Lego wasn't going to do Bionicle right, they should have never brought it back at all"

 

But here's the thing. They are doing it right, as far as we can tell. The sets are awesome. The story has barely started, but already it's inspired more new theories and thoughts than the atrophied remains of G1 could. The Masters are great characters, for what we've seen, and they look like they're going to be great fun over the next three years. The Reboot has enough nostalgia for me, someone who left before the Glatorian, to love the new line, but is also fresh enough for children a third my age to enjoy and buy. The Toa are well-designed, keeping the same balance of nostalgia and freshness that the story does. G2 has its shortcomings, but those few shortcomings are tiny compared to how well TLG hit the mark on everything else.

 

So why are you still complaining? Perhaps it's because 'doing Bionicle right' must mean doing it how you think is right, not how the massive toy company that employs hundreds of marketers, designers and accountants knows is right for the current market. You should have been personally consulted on every step of the process when they decided to bring Bionicle back, or failing that, there should have been polls on the Lego Boards and BZP and Facebook asking for the opinions of a bunch of nostalgia-fuelled fans who'd never let go of G1 as being perfect.

 

And if they had, would you be happy? Would you be happy if TLG had caved to your desires and continued where we left off? Would you be happy if everyone got a golden mask for helping TLG 'realise Bionicle at its best'? No, you wouldn't. For every opinion you hold, there's somebody who's an equally ardent fan who holds the opposite. Should the Okoto Toa be direct clones of their Nuva equivalents in CCBS? Half of you will say yes, half of you won't, and you'll tear each other to shreds doing so. Where would we set the new story? "Spherus Magna", "An Island in the sea.", "Back in the GSR".

 

Instead of listening to all those contradictory voices, TLG went back to the 2001 concept of Bionicle and built it again from scratch, Can you see why a reboot was better? Can you see why they took the names of the characters, basic concepts, and little else? G1 is dead. Gone. Buried, as far as TLG is concerned. They're concentrating on G2 now, making it the best ever. Why should they develop G2 by pouring G1 onto it? It's not like G1 can make G2 any better.

 

We can't even compare G1 and G2 to find out which is better yet. Simply because one has long finished, and the other has barely started. Would you judge a child by the accomplishments of his older brother? Is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Chronicles an automatic failure because it isn't more LotR? Is the Elder Scrolls series a waste of my time because it isn't more Ultima Underworld? Shall we roast Rayman over a fire because he isn't Sonic or Mario?

 

Simply put, ladies, gentlemen, and those of you raring up to flame me just because I asked you to think about what you're saying on the internet, why should we, the nameless masses who enjoy Bionicle enough to keep it alive, start asking for more when we've already gotten something beyond our wildest dreams?

 

Lego doesn't owe you anything.

 

We don't owe Lego anything.

 

But they enjoy making Bionicle for us, and we enjoy hearing the story from them.

 

Let's give TLG the benefit of the doubt. They know what they're doing. It might not be what you, individually, want, but they want to tell everyone a story, not just you personally. G2 has barely started. Don't start throwing the six-month old baby into college and expect it to succeed like its parent.

 

Next time you feel the urge to complain, ask yourself if the complaint is legitimately founded in objective fact, or is a personal feeling of yours. You might find that there's less to dislike than you think.

 

***

 

As for the Moderators, feel free to delete this or do what you like with me for intentionally igniting this. I simply needed to get this off my chest, and I hope people will listen rather than have knee-jerk reactions after reading the two bold sentences. I apologize right now for all the trouble this may cause.

"Lego Owes You Nothing"

 

In my opinion, yes, Lego owes us basically.  If they were to bring back Bionicle, then they SHOULD'VE brought everything ELSE back from the OLD Bionicle.  Now they are bringing a new audience in (which are little kids who will grow with it).  That's why they did a reboot.  And they basically left us out.  KIND OF(due to the age range which for me are suggestions).  I don't mean for this post to make you guys angry, so if its something rude, keep it to yourself, unless if you can say it in a different/good way.

 

 

It's not even really opinionated (which is why this argument is going to be so hard to win) but more of it's a fact than an opinion that Lego owes us nothing.

 

We all have different opinions, so lets not ARGUE about them.

[masterchirox580]

If there's one thing I can't stand is the idea that if you don't 100% support G2 you are a terrible person, how does me simply having disagreements with lego on how to run the franchise make me selfish? It's not like I'm going into lego headquarters and forcing them to run bionicle the way I see fit, nor do I harm anyone by simply stating an opinion. 

[Mocmaker]

 

and understand they are catering to a younger audience.

 

No, they aren't. They're catering to the exact same audience they always did; you just stopped being a part of it.

Exactly what I mean.   Even though they are aiming at the exact same audience it appears to me as if they are aiming for an audience younger than that.  Verdict: it doesn't matter.  

 

Now back to the topic:

 

 

As for the Moderators, feel free to delete this or do what you like with me for intentionally igniting this. I simply needed to get this off my chest, and I hope people will listen rather than have knee-jerk reactions after reading the two bold sentences. I apologize right now for all the trouble this may cause.

@bolded: You wanted to start a flame war?  

 

@Underlined: Now you're making sense but in my opinion you could have stated it a little nicer to avoid the risk of people having knee-jerk reactions. (e.g. The title of this topic.)

[Jobber]

Elitists deserve respect and fair treatment, that's all I'm saying.

[sydorack]

The fact that people think lego owes the bionicle fan base something is pretty ridiculous. They didn't have to bring it back. They brought it back because we so desperately begged for it to come back. Bionicle is their creation though, not ours, and therefore they have the right to do whatever they want with it. They didn't need to bring it back to save the company a second time. If anything, they brought it back because they're doing so well that they were willing to take the risk of reviving a dead toyline. Hopefully the new generation will sell just as well as the old one. If we're the only people who buy g2 sets, then it will be dead at the end of three years.

[Ford]

Are we seriously separating G1 elitists and G2 fans among the Bionicle community?

If so, then this brings a whole new discussion about segregation to the forefront.

I propose legislation to give equal rights to both G1 elitists and G2 fans, a legislation that calls for the illegality of the persecution of either of the groups.

Thank you.

 

(If someone takes this seriously, I will be both amused and disappointed.) 

[Makaru]

We don't need fandom infighting. It's one thing to like what you like, and another thing entirely to wield nostalgia and pride as fact.

 

Old Bionicle was extremely successful and is culturally significant in very large ways to a lot of people.

 

New Bionicle is, in its own right, an important and successful reboot to old and new fans alike.

 

New Bionicle is not, nor should it ever have to be like old Bionicle.

 

Smarten up, all of you.

 

Topic closed.