This Is The Issue
Entry posted by Tufi Piyufi
727 views
I've been a BBC moderator for over four years now. That's four years of having my eye trained on the place. Four years of watching the Western Bionicle building community. That stretch of time includes the Rahkshi, Metru Nui, the Hordika, the Piraka, and the Barraki, among the other sets released over the years. There's quite a shift to be found in there. We went from the Nuva with incredibly limited articulation, to the Rahkshi with their knees and working necks, to the Metru with just about everything except for torso articulations and full shoulder movement. That's a massive shift in three years.
That's the sets side of things. However, I'm not a Sets moderator anymore. The days of my attachment to Sets have worn off for a long, long time. Besides, everyone and their dog is blogging about sets these days. This is about the more MOC-ish side of things, and the folks who favour showforum=6 over showforum=2.
If I had a dollar for every time someone mentioned 'the declining state of MOCing' during this time, I'd have enough money to bother suing myself for using an overworn cliche and be able to live in luxury for the rest of my days. Those who summon this phrase often go on to elaborate why they think it's that way, typically citing something along the lines of 'too many bad builders'. Too much new, inexperienced blood muddying up the pool.
No. No no no no no no no no no oh for no.
There is an issue, yes. It has nothing to do with the quality of appearance of MOCs. It is so far removed from that, it's not even funny. It's the typical Internet boogeyman: blame it all on the 'noobs' so you don't have to look at yourself and maybe see that there's something up with you and the other established members. As much as I could go on and on about that in general, tonight I speak about how it manifests itself in the building community.
It's all the bloody humanoids.
They're the only thing a vast majority of people build. So much time is spent banging at the typewriter, trying to find the magical combination of parts that is the best. They're the only things a lot of people know how to review. Heck, there are people who, when thinking about a MOC to build, will only think in terms of humanoid. That is, 'what should I do for the head, arms, weapon, torso, etc.'. To so many people, that's what a MOC is.
And you know what? It's even worse than the boogeyman. The whole spectrum of building skill is plagued by this, right up to the ends. It's a death of imagination. Creativity. It might be a bit hard to see at first, but you have to look past the new pieces of each year. Once you do, it becomes more and more apparent that you're looking at the same bloody thing. The pieces are pure distraction. It's a blur. It's all one big blur.
Now that those contests are long over, I can tell you that I was just ecstatic when Roa's wreath won contest #39 and Shan's stone-Mata Nui won contest #40. It was proof that the public doesn't actually hate different concepts like those. They won't shun you for trying something new and different. They're not the obstacle here.
Speaking of contests, why do you think we had #41 and #42? Rahi contests. Because even Rahi are so scarce. Heck, the typical vertebrate configuration, when you lay it out, is pretty dang close to the humanoid. It's just build and postured differently from animal to animal. Even this deviation seems to be too much. #41 and #42 were the biggest contests we've ever had, but good luck finding a Rahi from May on. Or before March.
I already know what #46 is. It's not a question. The responses gathered by my 'Curiosity' entry only reaffirmed this and told me that no, I wasn't so crazy for thinking it up. Just so you all have a warning.
The concept of 'fusion' is a big one. Mixing System parts in with Bionicle MOCs is regarded as one of the higher-end skills. It ends at the parts, though. It takes the parts and leaves behind everything else that is Lego. It leaves behind the very creative soul of Lego. Remember how you'd build all those ships and robots and animals and forts and what-have-you from your System when you were young, building the wildest things you could dream up, and you loved every minute of it?
Go back and pick that up.
13 Comments
Recommended Comments