Greg Farshtey's Status

[Aldian]

Hypothetically, say if BIONICLE, for now, was to end as it stands. No more serials -- LEGO takes down the site. The plotlines -- the GB, the murderer, etc, are all left unresolved. Do you guys think if BIONICLE was to get revived sometime in the future LEGO would have Greg resolve them? Or start a new story?

Edited February 5, 2012 by Aldian

[Tilius]

Hypothetically, say if BIONICLE, for now, was to end as it stands. No more serials -- LEGO takes down the site. The plotlines -- the GB, the murderer, etc, are all left unresolved. Do you guys think if BIONICLE was to get revived sometime in the future LEGO would have Greg resolve them? Or start a new story?

Seeing as all the serials basically amount to fan fiction in my eyes, they'd probably just start completely new. Also referencing a story that was happening 10+ years ago isn't the best way to get new fans.- Tilius

[Takua Nui of GoAnimate]

Hope Greg comes back sometime soon.

[fishers64]

Hypothetically, say if BIONICLE, for now, was to end as it stands. No more serials -- LEGO takes down the site. The plotlines -- the GB, the murderer, etc, are all left unresolved. Do you guys think if BIONICLE was to get revived sometime in the future LEGO would have Greg resolve them? Or start a new story?

Probably both. They would likely start a new story for the new fans, but they would likely ask Greg to finish the serials to avoid alienating the old fans, whom they want money from.

[talos4]

i always wished the story would go into a more serious direction.. like if it were wrighten for an older target audience, like all the vet fans alredy are. i tried to re read some of the books and realised just how young i was to have anjoyed them so much at the time. i still love the story but its just a little simple for me now. i hope in the futur it can be a little grittier or serious. i'm not looking for any hardcore violence or anything but it just seems to be missing something for me at the moment..also, the ending really bothered me, i would of rather seen some cool matoran resistance type stories then the horrible reboot we got. the new carachters were undevelloped and badly designed (set wise) and i really missed the mithology assosiated with the previous setting. i think the story potential for the final year was huge and the product disapointing. when i remember bionilce it always ends at 2008 befor bara magna, it shouldn't have happened..

[CroMagnonMan]

Hypothetically, say if BIONICLE, for now, was to end as it stands. No more serials -- LEGO takes down the site. The plotlines -- the GB, the murderer, etc, are all left unresolved. Do you guys think if BIONICLE was to get revived sometime in the future LEGO would have Greg resolve them? Or start a new story?

Depending on the length of time we're talking about, I would like to see the fandom come up with their own "canon" answers to those questions, rather than sitting on their hands waiting. Then maybe Greg would incorporate those into the story. I mean, if the story ends it's pretty much up to the fans to come up with new stuff, right? That could be a lot of fun.~QMark

[bonesiii]

Hypothetically, say if BIONICLE, for now, was to end as it stands. No more serials -- LEGO takes down the site. The plotlines -- the GB, the murderer, etc, are all left unresolved. Do you guys think if BIONICLE was to get revived sometime in the future LEGO would have Greg resolve them? Or start a new story?

Depending on the length of time we're talking about, I would like to see the fandom come up with their own "canon" answers to those questions, rather than sitting on their hands waiting. Then maybe Greg would incorporate those into the story. I mean, if the story ends it's pretty much up to the fans to come up with new stuff, right? That could be a lot of fun.~QMark

That's definately something I'd be interested in as an S&T contest if it's ever announced they won't continue canonically. I would refer to it as "fanon", not canon, though (unless of course Greg/LEGO approved of canonizing). Edited February 6, 2012 by bonesiii

[Vote Saxon]

If Greg won't be able to complete the serials, maybe he could at least give us a plot synopsis of what he had planned. Then, we could make contests based on those plans. I'd hate to never know the conclusion to all the open plots.

[bonesiii]

If Greg won't be able to complete the serials, maybe he could at least give us a plot synopsis of what he had planned. Then, we could make contests based on those plans. I'd hate to never know the conclusion to all the open plots.

An excellent idea -- it could be the same basic format as the A Thousand Years Untold contests, so there'd be precedent for it, even.

[Toa Zaz]

A plot synopsis would be great. Too bad he isn't around to give us one.

[Hexann]

I am quite surprised this topic is still going for one it is repeating its self over and over again and there have been very many arguments about if Greg F will come back.

[bonesiii]

For the record, Hakann, the topic has been reported for that reason, but I have decided that, for now at least, it should remain open. We don't close topics because nothing new had been added recently (although I just added something possibly relevant by saying I'd support those S&T contest possibilities ), but only if nothing new is possible to be added (or various other reasons such as tempers going bonkers). Something new can be added here if Greg becomes able to give us any further news. Since we don't know that won't happen, it should remain open.

[Illuminatus]

Personally, I rather resent LEGO for what they did to BIONICLE. They ended the line two years ago in an absurdly abrupt way, cause they'd obviously decided a ten-year-old series wasn't giving them enough profit, so they'd figured they'd replace it with a significantly flatter and less inspiring line. What do they care, I guess, kids are nagging their parents to buy the new sets, anyway (how surprising for kids nowadays, *sigh*), so everything's peachy, right?And it wasn't enough that they made such a big deal out of the whole "reboot" idea in 2009 (and the new movie, with a promise for two more), just to have it discontinued the following year in such a ridiculous way, now they've damaged the canon even more with these unfinished serials. It makes me want to cry. I know Greg is preoccupied with his family nowadays, and I fully understand him, but if it wasn't for those new policies, maybe Greg would actually contact the fanbase every now and then, and we'd still have something.Right now, we've got nothing. And anything we do is akin to sustaining a body alive, where the mind and spirit have died out long ago. Pretty sad.EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, we are the spirit, whereas the body that used to make money for LEGO is dead. But what can we do?

Edited February 7, 2012 by SURREALITY

[bonesiii]

Ah, but there is also the "soul" of Bionicle, Surreality, which IMO lives on in us, the fans, and in our capacity for fan fiction. I don't think the ending was really abrupt at all, considering it lasted nine wonderful years longer than they thought it would, or just about any other line. I think a lot of us are getting ourselves into trouble by setting up expectations, instead of openly considering what they did. People are often making it sound like the end was lousy -- and it could be improved (I certainly intend to try in my own fanfics ) but really to me it was nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. It is sad, to me, that Hero Factory could not be as rich thematically and psychologically as Bionicle, but I think Ninjago is similar to Bionicle, albeit with a comedy bent. And HF can still be fun. :)And like it or not (I don't, much), sales does matter. It isn't wrong for LEGO to worry about that. Money is a necessity, sadly enough.

[Tattorack]

Wouldn't mind to see Bionicle be written by someone else (I said before),only if GregF gives the ok (Also said before).Wouldn't want it to be me though; I've got too many of my own ideas (manly comics,and mature to a certain level...)

[Tilius]

Right now, we've got nothing. And anything we do is akin to sustaining a body alive, where the mind and spirit have died out long ago. Pretty sad.EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, we are the spirit, whereas the body that used to make money for LEGO is dead. But what can we do?

Ah, but there is also the "soul" of Bionicle, Surreality, which IMO lives on in us, the fans, and in our capacity for fan fiction.

Seriously, again with the cult thing. Can we just chill? This melodrama is embarassing. - Tilius

[bonesiii]

It's a figure of speech, T. Bionicle meant a lot to people, that's not wrong. And I would appeal to the thinking of Tolkien here -- there IS something transcendant about creating rich fictional worlds and stories. And it's true -- the "what Bionicle was about" does indeed live on in us.

[Illuminatus]

Just chill, Til? Well you're right, of course it's embarassing, but the truth of the matter is, LEGO stumbled onto something big with BIONICLE, and I'm sure that a good 70-80% of all the people registered here were at least at some point pretty maniacal about it. Especially the staff members and the story/BS01 teams. Perhaps I'm wrong, but IMO, you'd be lying if you said there wasn't at least one day in your life when BIONICLE was the absolute most important thing, or at least the first thing on your mind after waking up.So chill? Sure, that's what normal, sane people do, and I do my best to maintain my own sanity, but let's face it. We're all a bunch of LEGO-happy psychos. Right the way LEGO wanted.

[Makuta_of_Oz]

Right now, we've got nothing. And anything we do is akin to sustaining a body alive, where the mind and spirit have died out long ago. Pretty sad.EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, we are the spirit, whereas the body that used to make money for LEGO is dead. But what can we do?

Ah, but there is also the "soul" of Bionicle, Surreality, which IMO lives on in us, the fans, and in our capacity for fan fiction.

Seriously, again with the cult thing. Can we just chill? This melodrama is embarassing. - Tilius

Unless I missed something, no-one mentioned anything about a cult? :|

[Klak]

BNG, doing well? Really? After the teaser trailer (say what you will about it), they pretty much dissolved.

You clearly haven't been to their site recently.

BNG was a great idea, but here's the problem with it: it was way too ambitious. When I saw that they were trying to make full length movies, I just knew that it would fall apart, and I think the board downtime just accelerated that. Instead of focusing on one massive goal, they should try for many managable goals. Maybe instead of trying to release a full 2-hour movie they should go for 5-10 minute videos released once a month. That way there is measurable progress and more motivation to contiue when the going gets tough. Just a thought.-don't touch my pocket protector

They've switched to that idea, yes.

[Tilius]

It's a figure of speech, T. Bionicle meant a lot to people, that's not wrong. And I would appeal to the thinking of Tolkien here -- there IS something transcendant about creating rich fictional worlds and stories. And it's true -- the "what Bionicle was about" does indeed live on in us.

Sighh.

Well you're right, of course it's embarassing, but the truth of the matter is, LEGO stumbled onto something big with BIONICLE, and I'm sure that a good 70-80% of all the people registered here were at least at some point pretty maniacal about it. Especially the staff members and the story/BS01 teams. Perhaps I'm wrong, but IMO, you'd be lying if you said there wasn't at least one day in your life when BIONICLE was the absolute most important thing, or at least the first thing on your mind after waking up.

Yeah, but then you realise how stupid that is and grow out of it.

Unless I missed something, no-one mentioned anything about a cult? :|

No, they didn't. But they're acting like it's a cult. And it's just embarassing, that's all.This has always been part of the reason why Bionicle fans are looked down upon by the rest of the Lego community.- Tilius

[bonesiii]

T, I'm gonna say some things in response to that, and then ask you to stop. That post got flamey and you know that's against the rules. And anyways we should get back on topic. Basically you're making judgements based on your personal tastes, which might be valid for you, but only for you. I don't think Bionicle is stupid at all -- it's the result of a lot of people's hard work, which deserves gratitude, designed to (and majorly successful) give kids fun toys and fun story (and remember fun is important, for many reasons I've explained elsewhere), while also teaching some good morals, inspiring creativity (which is vital to our brain's health), etc. And I never grew out of it; my tastes were such that I didn't need to. (And in case you have forgotten; that is good too, for example as I pointed out before if no adults were into things like this there would be nobody to produce it for the kids.)And they're not acting like it's a cult. You don't share their reaction to it, that's fine, but it's fine because it's your tastes. Since your subjective tastes are fine, so are theirs, including their enjoyment of it, and even their desires to get poetic about it. You have your emotional reactions, which are true to who you are -- well, so do they. And they're different from you -- and that's good. Variety, etc. Okay?As for "looked down on by the rest" -- firstly, anybody who's looking down on others, unless they happen to be at a higher elevation lol, is making a mistake to begin with, so their credibility IMO is seriously in question. And the reason basically people do that is they didn't like Bionicle due to their tastes, and unfortunately like many people make the same mistake of thinking it's okay to insult others for being different, etc.If you wanna continue this by PM that's fine with me but now let's get back on topic lol.

[Hexann]

For the record, Hakann, the topic has been reported for that reason, but I have decided that, for now at least, it should remain open. We don't close topics because nothing new had been added recently (although I just added something possibly relevant by saying I'd support those S&T contest possibilities ), but only if nothing new is possible to be added (or various other reasons such as tempers going bonkers). Something new can be added here if Greg becomes able to give us any further news. Since we don't know that won't happen, it should remain open.

I guess that makes scene.

[Tilius]

Basically you're making judgements based on your personal tastes, which might be valid for you, but only for you. I don't think Bionicle is stupid at all -- it's the result of a lot of people's hard work, which deserves gratitude, designed to (and majorly successful) give kids fun toys and fun story (and remember fun is important, for many reasons I've explained elsewhere), while also teaching some good morals, inspiring creativity (which is vital to our brain's health), etc. And I never grew out of it; my tastes were such that I didn't need to. (And in case you have forgotten; that is good too, for example as I pointed out before if no adults were into things like this there would be nobody to produce it for the kids.)

It's fine to be into it. My point is that the level of obsession that's apparent in this topic isn't fine. It's unhealthy.

And they're not acting like it's a cult. You don't share their reaction to it, that's fine, but it's fine because it's your tastes. Since your subjective tastes are fine, so are theirs, including their enjoyment of it, and even their desires to get poetic about it. You have your emotional reactions, which are true to who you are -- well, so do they. And they're different from you -- and that's good. Variety, etc. Okay?

Yeah. So I can still say it's embarassing.I mean seriously, there were people who were all I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF IF BOOINICLE DOESN'T COME BACK. And I'm not even exaggurating. And then the posts in this topic just seem like a continuation of that over-the-top obsessiveness, which is what I have a problem with, because it isn't healthy. It should be actively discouraged. So to say 'It's okay to be like that because you just have different personal tastes to others' is silly, because it's not really about that.- Tilius

[Toa Zaz]

MakutaKlak, yes, I have been to the BNG website very recently-- again, today, in fact; there's virtually nothing there. Unless they've been keeping everything under wraps and have actually progressed enormously in secret (which I doubt), it's dissolved pretty much completely.

[bonesiii]

I mean seriously, there were people who were all I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF IF BOOINICLE DOESN'T COME BACK.

Well, that's a negative. I'm talking about positives. Positive is good. Negative bad. Notice the post you quoted from me was responding to someone who was taking it negatively, for example. There's no need to have such reactions, because Bionicle lives on in our memories, and those of us who still want to do stuff related to it can do fan fics, art (shameless sig advert!) etc.

So to say 'It's okay to be like that because you just have different personal tastes to others' is silly, because it's not really about that.

It is NOT okay to be literally addicted to it, and I was the loudest voice saying so even before we knew for sure it was ending. Just linked to the blog entry about that in my new "Best of the Bones Blog" entry, linked in sig. But you're using extreme (and negative) examples to try to argue (or so it appears) that positive reactions are bad. It just doesn't make sense.Edit: "Let me be clear"er: It sounds like you're arguing against calmly accepting the good that Bionicle did, and getting psychological benefit from that. Your reason appears to be because you see a slippery slope where unstable personalities can start getting addicted to it, and then when it was taken away, or now that even the story seems to have stopped due to Greg's situation, yoyo into extreme negatives. I wanna be clear your concern here is valid (but highly unlikely; it's not a drug ).But it seems like your idea to solve this is to encourage people to jump right into the negative side and start denying the positives at all of Bionicle, and highly limit our ability to appreciate different perspectives in a sort of paranoid attempt to avoid risking getting addicted. Notice you described a negative reaction to it being ended, but forgot your own apparent negative reaction to even just the idea that it might continue or return. It almost seems as if, with you and some others, you've actually become what you are arguing against, in reverse -- addicted to its absence so that the idea that it might return or that some are trying to get it to seems to upset you.I'm saying we should neither be addicted nor paranoid; simply be at peace. Peace of mind is a choice, and can be resilient against any occurance, good or bad, and help you make better choices in other areas. For those of us who prefer it to return/continue, for Greg to finish the ongoing stories, etc. we can be at peace while still preferring that, and those who don't need not worry either way; simply ignore any future story that is added and you get the same result. No need to argue against it if you have peace of mind. :)Yeah? Edited February 9, 2012 by bonesiii

[Klak]

T, I'm gonna say some things in response to that, and then ask you to stop. That post got flamey and you know that's against the rules. And anyways we should get back on topic.Basically you're making judgements based on your personal tastes, which might be valid for you, but only for you. I don't think Bionicle is stupid at all -- it's the result of a lot of people's hard work, which deserves gratitude, designed to (and majorly successful) give kids fun toys and fun story (and remember fun is important, for many reasons I've explained elsewhere), while also teaching some good morals, inspiring creativity (which is vital to our brain's health), etc. And I never grew out of it; my tastes were such that I didn't need to. (And in case you have forgotten; that is good too, for example as I pointed out before if no adults were into things like this there would be nobody to produce it for the kids.)And they're not acting like it's a cult. You don't share their reaction to it, that's fine, but it's fine because it's your tastes. Since your subjective tastes are fine, so are theirs, including their enjoyment of it, and even their desires to get poetic about it. You have your emotional reactions, which are true to who you are -- well, so do they. And they're different from you -- and that's good. Variety, etc. Okay?As for "looked down on by the rest" -- firstly, anybody who's looking down on others, unless they happen to be at a higher elevation lol, is making a mistake to begin with, so their credibility IMO is seriously in question. And the reason basically people do that is they didn't like Bionicle due to their tastes, and unfortunately like many people make the same mistake of thinking it's okay to insult others for being different, etc.If you wanna continue this by PM that's fine with me but now let's get back on topic lol.

(o)7 Spoken like a true gentleman. You should join the yonolution.

MakutaKlak, yes, I have been to the BNG website very recently-- again, today, in fact; there's virtually nothing there. Unless they've been keeping everything under wraps and have actually progressed enormously in secret (which I doubt), it's dissolved pretty much completely.

Well, I visited just yesterday and found a flood of activity. We're working on getting advertisement out, among several other things (including RPGs and animations). I'm not sure by what standard you are measuring activity, but by my standards, they seem pretty active. Are you a member of the site? Edited February 9, 2012 by MakutaKlak

[Illuminatus]

Well you're right, of course it's embarassing, but the truth of the matter is, LEGO stumbled onto something big with BIONICLE, and I'm sure that a good 70-80% of all the people registered here were at least at some point pretty maniacal about it. Especially the staff members and the story/BS01 teams. Perhaps I'm wrong, but IMO, you'd be lying if you said there wasn't at least one day in your life when BIONICLE was the absolute most important thing, or at least the first thing on your mind after waking up.

Yeah, but then you realise how stupid that is and grow out of it.

Also notice the end of my post where I was kind of agreeing with you?

So chill? Sure, that's what normal, sane people do, and I do my best to maintain my own sanity, but let's face it. We're all a bunch of LEGO-happy psychos. Right the way LEGO wanted.

So, yeah, I was basically saying you have a point, but there's no need to bash people for worshipping a toy line that you yourself had worshipped at some point. If it's that stupid, they'll all grow out of it eventually.

[Tattorack]

I mean seriously, there were people who were all I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF IF BOOINICLE DOESN'T COME BACK. And I'm not even exaggurating. And then the posts in this topic just seem like a continuation of that over-the-top obsessiveness, which is what I have a problem with, because it isn't healthy. It should be actively discouraged. So to say 'It's okay to be like that because you just have different personal tastes to others' is silly, because it's not really about that.- Tilius

I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF IF BIO- *gets shot*(Ok, that past) Chillax! You think that is all bad? Try Star-Trek; some fans believe that William Shatner is the ultimate god and actually worship him !!!Anyways, this is a topic about that status of GregF, not the members of the forum .

[Hexann]

Hey guys I do not mean to be a bother but if you look at the title it says "Greg Farshtey's Status" not "Argument forum" so if you are going to argue please PM each other arguments so you do not flood the forum with arguments okay, I assure you it would make a lot of members happy if you would please PM each other arguments instead of using this forum.

[Tilius]

Hey guys I do not mean to be a bother but if you look at the title it says "Greg Farshtey's Status" not "Argument forum" so if you are going to argue please PM each other arguments so you do not flood the forum with arguments okay, I assure you it would make a lot of members happy if you would please PM each other arguments instead of using this forum.

Good plan. Let's all get back to the mind-numbingly repetitive whining instead.- Tilius

[Hexann]

Hey guys I do not mean to be a bother but if you look at the title it says "Greg Farshtey's Status" not "Argument forum" so if you are going to argue please PM each other arguments so you do not flood the forum with arguments okay, I assure you it would make a lot of members happy if you would please PM each other arguments instead of using this forum.

Good plan. Let's all get back to the mind-numbingly repetitive whining instead.- Tilius

If you do not think this topic is a good idea then do not post in it.

[bonesiii]

Aaand, final notice to get back on topic; further posts not doing so will be deleted.

[Tilius]

So does anyone know when Greg's gonna be back???- Tilius

[~Xemnas~]

@ Tilius: He gets back when he gets back...Actually, he gets back when he has the time... I dunno when that'll be, though.

[Tilius]

I know he has a daughter now, but surely finishing the serials should take priority, because we outnumber his daughter so it makes sense.Oh well. I guess I'll just have to be patient. I'm not sure how long I can take this for though.- Tilius

[Master Inika]

I don't quite think Greg's going to give us priority over his own flesh-and-blood. Besides, we can live without the story, but Alexandria probably won't live without her dad. (Plus, she can't just have contests to replace Greg.)

[CroMagnonMan]

I know he has a daughter now, but surely finishing the serials should take priority, because we outnumber his daughter so it makes sense.

The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many? *chortle*Or rather, each will take care of his own.~QMark

[Erebus]

I know he has a daughter now, but surely finishing the serials should take priority, because we outnumber his daughter so it makes sense.Oh well. I guess I'll just have to be patient. I'm not sure how long I can take this for though.- Tilius

Oh who knows, perhaps something personal besides raising his daughter came up. :shrugs:He wouldn't leave us hanging without good reason.

[Hexann]

I know he has a daughter now, but surely finishing the serials should take priority, because we outnumber his daughter so it makes sense.Oh well. I guess I'll just have to be patient. I'm not sure how long I can take this for though.- Tilius

It is always family over everything including his job, which is the right thing to do, he will raise a fine daughter I bet.