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Is BZP a Dying Platform?


Calvirick

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I've been wanting to be more active on BZPower, but I honestly feel like there's not much to do anymore, what with Bionicle being finished officially.

 

It's been I think 10 years since I signed up for BZPower, and so much stuff has happened.

It seems from my perspective that the comic section is officially dead. But does that also mean the rest of the forums are dead?

I'm very curious what everyone thinks about this. BZPower literally was the sole reason I found my passion in life. Whether it was in Graphic Design and creativity or just watching or reading awesome content. I felt like there were so many talented and cool people on here (I'm sure there's a lot lurking around still). I would love to find that niche again. I also am feeling very nostalgic every few months or so about Bionicles. Being 23 means, kids stuff isn't cool anymore. (Even though I still think it's super cool!)

 

In a way, this is an open ended honest question for the BZPower community. I'm reaching out and legitamately wanting to know if BZPs still the coolest place on the internet.

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Some of my comrades and I have tried to revive Comics, Epics, and Comedies, but to no avail. Otherwise, you're pretty much spot-on in your assessment: this place isn't doing so well right now. But I shall endeavor to remain for as long as I love LEGO. :)

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there's activity but not nearly as much as there used to be, but tbh forums in general feel like relics of an older time on the internet with so many other options that are now available for everyone to use

 

even most tbrpg forums i was on died out or swapped to other formats, like Discord

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yeah forums has a whole aren't really a...thing, anymore. places like tumblr have overtaken them. bzp is still moderately alive because it has a few diehards who can't let go of the site. bzp has a strange grip to it that's seemingly difficult to escape really. i feel like the site will continue to have some level of activity for some time because of that, and the fact that its name is still very well known amongst People Who Still Care About Bionicle

nothing lasts forever tho, and with bionicle's second cancellation i don't think bzp's gonna survive as long as it did during the four years bionicle was gone (unless it completely reinvents itself in some way).

Edited by Gigatron
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Well this thread is mighty depressing.

 

I mean, I think BZP will last a good long while, but with more or less the same low level of activity it has now. There are still cool things going on like the streams and BFA Plays from the site itself, and the forums while not particularly vibrant, are lively. There are still many new posts and replies each day, and like it's been said above, some of us are far too clingy - me included - to leave, even if the activity drops below what it is now.

 

Anyway, I sure hope the site and the community will be around for a good long time.

 

:kakama:

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

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For those of you who remember the ridiculously long downtime in 2013 (or was it 2012?), you'll probably also remember that the only thing that "saved" BZP and jolted it back to life after that were the rumors that Bioncle was coming back. The chances of BZP reaching that level of interest again with Bioncle dead and buried are pretty low. Like Gigatron said, web forums are for geezers... outlets like tumblr reign supreme today, which is pretty tragic.

 

Yes, it probably is. But I'm hoping that they'll be able to bring the archives back before it dies completely.

 

That will never happen.

Edited by TheSkeletonMan939

 

 

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Some of my comrades and I have tried to revive Comics, Epics, and Comedies, but to no avail. Otherwise, you're pretty much spot-on in your assessment: this place isn't doing so well right now. But I shall endeavor to remain for as long as I love LEGO. :)

 

 

there's activity but not nearly as much as there used to be, but tbh forums in general feel like relics of an older time on the internet with so many other options that are now available for everyone to use

 

even most tbrpg forums i was on died out or swapped to other formats, like Discord

 

 

yeah forums has a whole aren't really a...thing, anymore. places like tumblr have overtaken them. bzp is still moderately alive because it has a few diehards who can't let go of the site. bzp has a strange grip to it that's seemingly difficult to escape really. i feel like the site will continue to have some level of activity for some time because of that, and the fact that its name is still very well known amongst People Who Still Care About Bionicle

 

nothing lasts forever tho, and with bionicle's second cancellation i don't think bzp's gonna survive as long as it did during the four years bionicle was gone (unless it completely reinvents itself in some way).

 

 

Yes, it probably is. But I'm hoping that they'll be able to bring the archives back before it dies completely.

 

 

Well this thread is mighty depressing.

 

I mean, I think BZP will last a good long while, but with more or less the same low level of activity it has now. There are still cool things going on like the streams and BFA Plays from the site itself, and the forums while not particularly vibrant, are lively. There are still many new posts and replies each day, and like it's been said above, some of us are far too clingy - me included - to leave, even if the activity drops below what it is now.

 

Anyway, I sure hope the site and the community will be around for a good long time.

 

:kakama:

 

 

For those of you who remember the ridiculously long downtime in 2013 (or was it 2012?), you'll probably also remember that the only thing that "saved" BZP and jolted it back to life after that were the rumors that Bioncle was coming back. The chances of BZP reaching that level of interest again with Bioncle dead and buried are pretty low. Like Gigatron said, web forums are for geezers... outlets like tumblr reign supreme today, which is pretty tragic.

 

Yes, it probably is. But I'm hoping that they'll be able to bring the archives back before it dies completely.

 

That will never happen.

 

I guess when I put the pieces together, we've got a dying platform, and a dead topic. It also seems like there's more traffic in other places and Bionicle ending officially has essentially filtered out the old guys. The rest seemed to have moved on.

 

I guess its like the same feeling you get when you move to a different city and have to say goodbye to your best friends you hung out with for what seems so long. And you realize that you have to move on. I know it was just a forum, but I think we can all agree that BZP was a freakishly awesome place for teenagers at one point in time. 

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I guess its like the same feeling you get when you move to a different city and have to say goodbye to your best friends you hung out with for what seems so long. And you realize that you have to move on. I know it was just a forum, but I think we can all agree that BZP was a freakishly awesome place for teenagers at one point in time. 

 

I didn't join until 2010, but I was lurking here for years beforehand, and it was indeed awesome. '09 in particular was a fun year, because story-wise it was completely new ground for everyone.

 

 

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I've seen forums in much worse shape than BZPower. Have you been to Lugnet recently? It was once one of the central hubs of the online LEGO community. Currently, it's only had 29 posts in the past week and 28 of those were bot posts recording site statistics like this. Classic-Castle.com is also pretty inactive. I don't know if there's a page on BZPower that tells you how many posts it's had in a week, but looking at the "new content" page it's had posts in at least 29 different topics in just the past two days.

 

I kind of doubt BZPower will ever be as big as it was in 2006 or so. Even if Bionicle came back and became a mega-hit, the Internet just isn't the same place it was back then. People who want to discuss things they love have far more ways and places to do it than they once did. But that's not to say the site or community is likely to give up the ghost anytime soon.

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Well this thread is mighty depressing.

I concur.

 

 

 

I guess its like the same feeling you get when you move to a different city and have to say goodbye to your best friends you hung out with for what seems so long. And you realize that you have to move on. I know it was just a forum, but I think we can all agree that BZP was a freakishly awesome place for teenagers at one point in time. 

 

I didn't join until 2010, but I was lurking here for years beforehand, and it was indeed awesome. '09 in particular was a fun year, because story-wise it was completely new ground for everyone.

 

I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing. I hope it doesn't go away anytime soon, I love reading the fanmade stories and seeing everyone's creativity. It's basically the nostalgia that's keeping me here to be completely honest.

 

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I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing.

Lots of Server Busy messages. So many Server Busy messages.

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I think people who only see BZPower stuff online forget how big and successful BZP has been in recent years. After Bionicle was discontinued (the first time), things like the Convention Circuit program and BioniLUG popped up - both of which are beasts of their own that show no signs of dying out any time soon. We might be a fairly quiet online community, but all of the in-person stuff we've branched out into has been doing well.

 

I'll also reiterate what Aanchir said about other forums dying out - ignoring the social media cesspools, this is one of the more active places to discuss LEGO these days.

Edited by danny316p
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In my opinion BZPower has been less active ever since the end of G1. It's going to take a major sponsorship with G3 to gie next generation fans a place to talk.
Since the lego board was closed...maybe we could consider switch to a name like "Lego Power" to promote a open lego forum to a wider audience.
 

I've seen forums in much worse shape than BZPower. Have you been to Lugnet recently? It was once one of the central hubs of the online LEGO community. Currently, it's only had 29 posts in the past week and 28 of those were bot posts recording site statistics like this. Classic-Castle.com is also pretty inactive. I don't know if there's a page on BZPower that tells you how many posts it's had in a week, but looking at the "new content" page it's had posts in at least 29 different topics in just the past two days.

I kind of doubt BZPower will ever be as big as it was in 2006 or so. Even if Bionicle came back and became a mega-hit, the Internet just isn't the same place it was back then. People who want to discuss things they love have far more ways and places to do it than they once did. But that's not to say the site or community is likely to give up the ghost anytime soon.

But how well has the neighbor site Eurobricks been doing?

 

 

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In my opinion BZPower has been less active ever since the end of G1. It's going to take a major sponsorship with G3 to gie next generation fans a place to talk.

Since the lego board was closed...maybe we could consider switch to a name like "Lego Power" to promote a open lego forum to a wider audience.

 

I've seen forums in much worse shape than BZPower. Have you been to Lugnet recently? It was once one of the central hubs of the online LEGO community. Currently, it's only had 29 posts in the past week and 28 of those were bot posts recording site statistics like this. Classic-Castle.com is also pretty inactive. I don't know if there's a page on BZPower that tells you how many posts it's had in a week, but looking at the "new content" page it's had posts in at least 29 different topics in just the past two days.

 

I kind of doubt BZPower will ever be as big as it was in 2006 or so. Even if Bionicle came back and became a mega-hit, the Internet just isn't the same place it was back then. People who want to discuss things they love have far more ways and places to do it than they once did. But that's not to say the site or community is likely to give up the ghost anytime soon.

But how well has the neighbor site Eurobricks been doing?

 

 

Generally Eurobricks seems to be much more active than BZPower, but at the same time I'd say the Bionicle or constraction-specific activity on BZP still outweighs that on Eurobricks.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

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I think that BZP's still got some life in it. I think that if the members had something to collaborate on, there might be more activity. I hope that BZP doesn't go away, it's the best forum I've ever been on, and one of the few forums left. Social sites like tumblr, reddit, and so on (remember when we weren't allowed to talk about other websites?) just don't allow the same type of full discussions as forums, basically being designed as ad tubes and echo chambers.

 

 

I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing.

Lots of Server Busy messages. So many Server Busy messages.

 

 

So true, lol.

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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I guess its like the same feeling you get when you move to a different city and have to say goodbye to your best friends you hung out with for what seems so long. And you realize that you have to move on. I know it was just a forum, but I think we can all agree that BZP was a freakishly awesome place for teenagers at one point in time. 

 

I didn't join until 2010, but I was lurking here for years beforehand, and it was indeed awesome. '09 in particular was a fun year, because story-wise it was completely new ground for everyone.

 

 

 

As a platform? Yeah. And the remarks about internet/forum culture are spot-on.

 

Doesn't mean there aren't some amazing people here still, though.

 

 

I've seen forums in much worse shape than BZPower. Have you been to Lugnet recently? It was once one of the central hubs of the online LEGO community. Currently, it's only had 29 posts in the past week and 28 of those were bot posts recording site statistics like this. Classic-Castle.com is also pretty inactive. I don't know if there's a page on BZPower that tells you how many posts it's had in a week, but looking at the "new content" page it's had posts in at least 29 different topics in just the past two days.

 

I kind of doubt BZPower will ever be as big as it was in 2006 or so. Even if Bionicle came back and became a mega-hit, the Internet just isn't the same place it was back then. People who want to discuss things they love have far more ways and places to do it than they once did. But that's not to say the site or community is likely to give up the ghost anytime soon.

 

 

 

Well this thread is mighty depressing.

I concur.

 

 

 

I guess its like the same feeling you get when you move to a different city and have to say goodbye to your best friends you hung out with for what seems so long. And you realize that you have to move on. I know it was just a forum, but I think we can all agree that BZP was a freakishly awesome place for teenagers at one point in time. 

 

I didn't join until 2010, but I was lurking here for years beforehand, and it was indeed awesome. '09 in particular was a fun year, because story-wise it was completely new ground for everyone.

 

I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing. I hope it doesn't go away anytime soon, I love reading the fanmade stories and seeing everyone's creativity. It's basically the nostalgia that's keeping me here to be completely honest.

 

 

 

 

I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing.

Lots of Server Busy messages. So many Server Busy messages.

 

 

 

I think people who only see BZPower stuff online forget how big and successful BZP has been in recent years. After Bionicle was discontinued (the first time), things like the Convention Circuit program and BioniLUG popped up - both of which are beasts of their own that show no signs of dying out any time soon. We might be a fairly quiet online community, but all of the in-person stuff we've branched out into has been doing well.

 

I'll also reiterate what Aanchir said about other forums dying out - ignoring the social media cesspools, this is one of the more active places to discuss LEGO these days.

 

 

The answer to the topic title is yes.

 

However, it's not dead quite dead yet. There are still fans around, and I suspect the forums will remain active at least for a few more years.

 

Dying, but not dead.

 

 

I think it really depends which subforum you're looking at. Some places have gone rather quiet recently, others not so much. :notsure:

 

 

In my opinion BZPower has been less active ever since the end of G1. It's going to take a major sponsorship with G3 to gie next generation fans a place to talk.

Since the lego board was closed...maybe we could consider switch to a name like "Lego Power" to promote a open lego forum to a wider audience.

 

I've seen forums in much worse shape than BZPower. Have you been to Lugnet recently? It was once one of the central hubs of the online LEGO community. Currently, it's only had 29 posts in the past week and 28 of those were bot posts recording site statistics like this. Classic-Castle.com is also pretty inactive. I don't know if there's a page on BZPower that tells you how many posts it's had in a week, but looking at the "new content" page it's had posts in at least 29 different topics in just the past two days.

 

I kind of doubt BZPower will ever be as big as it was in 2006 or so. Even if Bionicle came back and became a mega-hit, the Internet just isn't the same place it was back then. People who want to discuss things they love have far more ways and places to do it than they once did. But that's not to say the site or community is likely to give up the ghost anytime soon.

But how well has the neighbor site Eurobricks been doing?

 

 

 

 

 

In my opinion BZPower has been less active ever since the end of G1. It's going to take a major sponsorship with G3 to gie next generation fans a place to talk.

Since the lego board was closed...maybe we could consider switch to a name like "Lego Power" to promote a open lego forum to a wider audience.

 

I've seen forums in much worse shape than BZPower. Have you been to Lugnet recently? It was once one of the central hubs of the online LEGO community. Currently, it's only had 29 posts in the past week and 28 of those were bot posts recording site statistics like this. Classic-Castle.com is also pretty inactive. I don't know if there's a page on BZPower that tells you how many posts it's had in a week, but looking at the "new content" page it's had posts in at least 29 different topics in just the past two days.

 

I kind of doubt BZPower will ever be as big as it was in 2006 or so. Even if Bionicle came back and became a mega-hit, the Internet just isn't the same place it was back then. People who want to discuss things they love have far more ways and places to do it than they once did. But that's not to say the site or community is likely to give up the ghost anytime soon.

But how well has the neighbor site Eurobricks been doing?

 

 

Generally Eurobricks seems to be much more active than BZPower, but at the same time I'd say the Bionicle or constraction-specific activity on BZP still outweighs that on Eurobricks.

 

 

 

I think that BZP's still got some life in it. I think that if the members had something to collaborate on, there might be more activity. I hope that BZP doesn't go away, it's the best forum I've ever been on, and one of the few forums left. Social sites like tumblr, reddit, and so on (remember when we weren't allowed to talk about other websites?) just don't allow the same type of full discussions as forums, basically being designed as ad tubes and echo chambers.

 

 

I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing.

Lots of Server Busy messages. So many Server Busy messages.

 

 

So true, lol.

 

So what I'm gathering is that the answer to whether the platform is dying or not is more relative than expected. (Like it's a a matter of opinion). It's a high possibility because of social media platforms taking over, but I guess this doesn't mean that the community is obsolete. I would agree that with the downtime, and G1 closing on us it pushed a lot of us off the forum to other places and helped branch out. But still we stayed connected (I didn't. haha)

Maybe what I should do, at least while the time is still at hand, is stick around the more public areas and stick to those. 

 

I know we all miss the high traffic though. HUGELY! BZPower will always stay awesome in my mind. 

 

So it sounds like the BioniLUG discussions, and other creative outlets are still in activity correct? Are there other cool places?

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I think what really hurt BZP was the self-entitled bitterness that was on the boards after Bionicle ended, and even after Bionicle came back. This drove off the more optimistic members from BZP, and when the angry members got tired of being angry, they left too. Which leaves us. Maybe we could try networking with older members to come back? I dunno. Solving population problems isn't my strong suit. I think all of our forums and sub-forums still have active topics, just not as much as ye​e oldene dayes​e.

Edited by Iver

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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I think what really hurt BZP was the self-entitled bitterness that was on the boards after Bionicle ended, and even after Bionicle came back. This drove off the more optimistic members from BZP, and when the angry members got tired of being angry, they left too. Which leaves us. Maybe we could try networking with older members to come back? I dunno. Solving population problems isn't my strong suit. I think all of our forums and sub-forums still have active topics, just not as much as ye​e oldene dayes​e.

I can definitely sort of agree. I took a leave from BZP after Bionicle's end due to the bitterness and whininess that manifested when Bionicle ended, and even after things had settled back down I came back more to discuss new things than to continue mourning Bionicle's end (even to this day I'm much more interested in current or recent themes than wading into G1 topics that have been discussed to death.

 

That's part of why I do think that while Bionicle discussion should always have a place on BZP, its continued survival requires an emphasis on other ongoing Lego themes. I probably would never have come back if discussion had remained focused primarily on a theme that was no longer resulting in new content.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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I think what really hurt BZP was the self-entitled bitterness that was on the boards after Bionicle ended, and even after Bionicle came back. This drove off the more optimistic members from BZP, and when the angry members got tired of being angry, they left too. Which leaves us. Maybe we could try networking with older members to come back? I dunno. Solving population problems isn't my strong suit. I think all of our forums and sub-forums still have active topics, just not as much as ye​e oldene dayes​e.

I can definitely sort of agree. I took a leave from BZP after Bionicle's end due to the bitterness and whininess that manifested when Bionicle ended, and even after things had settled back down I came back more to discuss new things than to continue mourning Bionicle's end (even to this day I'm much more interested in current or recent themes than wading into G1 topics that have been discussed to death.

 

That's part of why I do think that while Bionicle discussion should always have a place on BZP, its continued survival requires an emphasis on other ongoing Lego themes. I probably would never have come back if discussion had remained focused primarily on a theme that was no longer resulting in new content.

 

 

I've been thinking about that too. I would totally join discussions about other things related to Lego. If we could just keep going and talk about something else, then I would say it would flourish again. 

I think I missed out on the whiny-ness back then because I was wrapped up in the comic section and trying to get through college. 

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I think that BZP's still got some life in it. I think that if the members had something to collaborate on, there might be more activity.

 

I can attest to how true this is. While I first joined BZP for the S&T stuff, what kept me here (and brought me back) was the BIONICLE RPGs. That forum is all about collaborative projects that (nominally) centre around BIONICLE, but tend to become more about the community of players. So long as the community stays reasonably active, there will always be new content to respond to and discuss.

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On the comments about having projects to collaborate with, it is so true. I abandoned BZPower because there was little to do here unless you want to join a Text-Based RPG or have a project to work on, and I only came back in late 2014 to share my ideas on stuff that would later manifest into A Rude Awakening half a year later, and really, I would have continued my leave of BZPower if not for my A Rude Awakening project and the great people I have worked with; and likewise, if ARA goes away or something,  I can safely say that is when my interest here dies with it and I could say goodbye in the Revolving Door topic. And to those people who dislike me, you have only to wait until then. :P  But it will be a while.

 

I must say some of my ideas do seem to border on the rules and I can feel constricted by them, but that's what other websites are for; that might be the only other thing that would make me leave. I do appreciate the language filter, as there are some words I don't really like, but others I wish I could say.

 

 

 

I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing.

Lots of Server Busy messages. So many Server Busy messages.

 

Yeah I remember that, and you would be able to pop digital bubble wrap while the server was too busy. Heh, good memories.

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On the comments about having projects to collaborate with, it is so true. I abandoned BZPower because there was little to do here unless you want to join a Text-Based RPG or have a project to work on, and I only came back in late 2014 to share my ideas on stuff that would later manifest into A Rude Awakening half a year later, and really, I would have continued my leave of BZPower if not for my A Rude Awakening project and the great people I have worked with; and likewise, if ARA goes away or something,  I can safely say that is when my interest here dies with it and I could say goodbye in the Revolving Door topic. And to those people who dislike me, you have only to wait until then. :P  But it will be a while.

 

I must say some of my ideas do seem to border on the rules and I can feel constricted by them, but that's what other websites are for; that might be the only other thing that would make me leave. I do appreciate the language filter, as there are some words I don't really like, but others I wish I could say.

 

 

 

I only joined three years ago, way after G1 had already ended, and I can only imagine what this place was like back when BIONICLE was in full swing.

Lots of Server Busy messages. So many Server Busy messages.

 

Yeah I remember that, and you would be able to pop digital bubble wrap while the server was too busy. Heh, good memories.

Oh my god the memories, those were the times. That bubble wrap thing was fantastic

 

:kakama:

:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

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RIP bubblewrap. I like the rules the way they are. Strict rules kept us on topic, prevented spamming and flaming, and gave us an air of legitimacy. As for ways to keep BZP active, more contests or whatever, and expansions to non-Bionicle Lego discussion? I also noticed that people don't discuss on the news talkback as much as they used to.

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"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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It seems from my perspective that the comic section is officially dead. But does that also mean the rest of the forums are dead?

I'm very curious what everyone thinks about this. BZPower literally was the sole reason I found my passion in life. Whether it was in Graphic Design and creativity or just watching or reading awesome content. I felt like there were so many talented and cool people on here (I'm sure there's a lot lurking around still). I would love to find that niche again.

 

Okay so this part depresses me the most because I'm right there with you (by the way - hey Cal! It's Kahi! Long time no see!)

 

Comics, back when it was Artwork III, was my childhood. I have a lot of memories and made a lot of friends there. And no matter how hard I've tried, I can't seem to replicate that genuine subculture that drew me in so heavily back then. I've been in other fandoms - sprite comics just weren't a thing there like they were on here. That heyday has passed, and I think it's honestly been lost to time. So many series have been lost to time with the downtime of Maj and Brickshelf, anyways. I was fortunate enough to save a bunch of my favorites before the first downtime, but even still. Relic of a time gone past, you know?

 

yeah forums has a whole aren't really a...thing, anymore. places like tumblr have overtaken them. bzp is still moderately alive because it has a few diehards who can't let go of the site. bzp has a strange grip to it that's seemingly difficult to escape really. i feel like the site will continue to have some level of activity for some time because of that, and the fact that its name is still very well known amongst People Who Still Care About Bionicle

 

nothing lasts forever tho, and with bionicle's second cancellation i don't think bzp's gonna survive as long as it did during the four years bionicle was gone (unless it completely reinvents itself in some way).

 

Alright, fine. Elephant in the room. TTV Message Boards are doing well. Like, not BZP in its heyday well, but well enough that I'm pretty happy with it. Live stats on the boards are telling me that ~400 users have logged in and posted 1.3k posts in the last 24 hours. We've seen a bunch of growth in the past several weeks because we've started some new initiatives on our YouTube channel to get people on the boards and talking about stuff, but throughout last year we generally averaged 700 posts a day with an absolute low of 400.

 

Granted, it's a different place with a different audience. Our boards were made to engage our audience on YouTube, so there's a bunch of younger members with a different expectation of interaction, a more neo-millennial (I don't actually know the correct term? Basically kids born after 2001) level of instant updates. We have to moderate a lot more posts because the younger kids use chatspeak a lot more, and they're only recently learning how to do longer, essay kind of posts. They're also more highly critical than I'd like - I think it's a holdover from how everyone comes from a YouTube personality wishing point. And the fandom focus is different. A lot more people do videos now than stuff like sprite comics or like RPG Maker games (both things I miss about the old fandom). MOCs are still super popular, that's not changed; stories are kind of popular. Art is super popular, there's a lot more really, really good artists doing consistently amazing art stuff now than I feel like there used to be. That's a carryover from Tumblr and how artists are discovered nowdays. Oddly enough, text games are really popular, like the ones they have in Completely Off Topic. I would think that that's something that would fade away, but I guess that is a level of interaction with the other members that you can't really get on social media like Tumblr or Facebook.

 

I don't really mean this to be blatant self-advertising (only lowkey self-advertising  ;)), but I'm seeing a lot of posts here that are kind of pointing towards social media as the reason forums aren't doing so well. I'm not so sure - and trust me, we've done a ton of investment into researching the Bionicle fandom on different social media outlets. They all have their own niche. Tumblr focuses mostly on MOCs or Art, stuff you can see, like artist stuff. Facebook is how a lot of people get their news. YouTube seems to be either stop-motion or MOC review based. Twitter is personality and comedy based (180 characters make it hard for anything else!) The engagement is spread upon different social media, and there's definitely aspects of the fandom that aren't being met anymore. For instance, fanfiction doesn't really have a one stop location or social media destination like it used to. But regardless, our social media engagement on all of these platforms (outside of YouTube) is distinctly much, much less than the direct engagement we have on our boards.

 

I do think there's still some room for forums, based on how many people are using ours. And I think BZPower has a distinct place in the fandom that has definitely been shifted, but hasn't been lost. I definitely don't want to see this place die, it's very nostalgic for me and it's how I met some of my best friends online. There's still ways for this place to be more active.

 

So before you guys all write the activity here off as forums being dying, maybe there's another explanation for it? Just throwing my perspective in the mix.

Edited by Jonathan Juan
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Well, dang... you leave for a coupla' months to pursue other things and when you come back, everything's become super depressing.

 

I just hope there's still some people here when I do eventually, inevitably resume Nova Orbis for real. I've really enjoyed being a part of this place in recent years, after only observing it from outside all throughout G1.

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the_toa_sig_by_nickinamerica-dbn0wau.png

The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

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Even if it is a dying platform, I don't see what the real issue is here. Communities always lose people. Hypothetically, if something terrible happens and we get down to like 10 members, I've been in plenty of online communities that survive surprisingly well with a small group of regular users. I honestly don't think that BZPower will ever reach such a state, especially if we start branding ourselves to the larger Lego audience, but at the same time continuing to appeal to the older Bionicle fans. 

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bZpOwEr

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Well, dang... you leave for a coupla' months to pursue other things and when you come back, everything's become super depressing.

 

I just hope there's still some people here when I do eventually, inevitably resume Nova Orbis for real. I've really enjoyed being a part of this place in recent years, after only observing it from outside all throughout G1.

Even so, you have an audience on DeviantArt as well as here on BZP.  I know there's still plenty of Bionicle fans out on DA (I've been thinking about joining their ranks), so I don't think it's a problem of Bionicle itself losing fans.  BZP, however?  Not so sure.  I don't know, really, if forums are losing popularity.  See, for me, it's not BZP along with other social media outlets, BZP is my social media outlet, so comparing it to Tumblr or Twitter or DeviantArt doesn't make much sense to me.

 

Personally?  I think forums have their time and place.  When I think of what goes on here - fans debating some obscure piece of lore or the morality of bootleg parts, posting a fan game and getting such a wide audience to play it, the pun wars in Soran's comic thread, the text-based RPGs - I can't see it being relegated to a blog, or a profile page.  Forums, to me, have a sort of back-and-forth conversational quality, as opposed to one person dumping something into the Internet and getting comments on it.  As long as people want that sort of conversation and discussion, I think forums will stick around.  And here's hoping BZP sticks around with 'em.

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Avatar by Nicholas Anderson (NickonAquaMagna)

My blog: The Jaga's Nest

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In my opinion BZPower has been less active ever since the end of G1. It's going to take a major sponsorship with G3 to gie next generation fans a place to talk.

Since the lego board was closed...maybe we could consider switch to a name like "Lego Power" to promote a open lego forum to a wider audience.

 

 

I've seen forums in much worse shape than BZPower. Have you been to Lugnet recently? It was once one of the central hubs of the online LEGO community. Currently, it's only had 29 posts in the past week and 28 of those were bot posts recording site statistics like this. Classic-Castle.com is also pretty inactive. I don't know if there's a page on BZPower that tells you how many posts it's had in a week, but looking at the "new content" page it's had posts in at least 29 different topics in just the past two days.

 

I kind of doubt BZPower will ever be as big as it was in 2006 or so. Even if Bionicle came back and became a mega-hit, the Internet just isn't the same place it was back then. People who want to discuss things they love have far more ways and places to do it than they once did. But that's not to say the site or community is likely to give up the ghost anytime soon.

But how well has the neighbor site Eurobricks been doing?

 

I like you idea of turning BZPower more system friendly.

 

I think we should keep the name the same it's iconic.

Hey I got a Flickr because I like making LEGO stuff.

https://www.flickr.com/people/toatimelord/
 

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That's some interesting insight, Kahi! I'll have to take a look at TTV. I think that those who find this topic to be depressing are missing the point. We're trying to solve problems, not mope about them. How would BZPower become more system friendly, ToaTimeLord? And how would it help?

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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I've been a member for a while, but I've never really been very active, so I might not be the best judge of character on if BZP is actually dying. I do think its interesting how many people visit the site vs how many actually post things though.

 

For example, as I type this, there are 236 users online, but only 19 that are actually members (and thus, I assume, the ones who are actually posting). Everyone else seems to be just lurking. That just seems like a very small percentage to me. Why is that?

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REVIEW TOPIC

 

 

 

 

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I'd say so. Membership numbers and participation have dropped. People either grow up or look elsewhere for their Bionicle needs. I can attest that my preferences have changed. I'd rather browse Bionicle meme pages on facebook because it's just something BZP doesn't offer; stupid humour with snippets of advice and deep discussion.

AΨ 94

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