Everybody Loves Teridax (his Name :p)
Entry posted by bonesiii
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Deadline Extension! Enter by December 9th!
Okay, this "everybody hates 'Teridax'" myth is getting out of hand. Easy mistake to make, but it's just a myth.
The vast majority of BZPers like "Teridax". Only a relative handful of vocal complainers dislike it. Which is their right -- but let's keep it in perspective. That is, let's actually put it in perspective in the first place, since we have already taken "it" far outside perspective.
What's going on here is what happens on BZP anytime something new comes out. First, remember two rules of human (online at least) nature:
1) The displeased are always more vocal.
2) It's impossible to please everybody.
The very same happened with Teridax, with some unfortunate twists. Those few who were dissappointed with the name (which was inevitable, no matter what it was!) posted emphatically about it, and most of those who liked it didn't bother to post. People saw the negative posts and assumed most BZPers "hated" (or disliked) the name.
Not true.
Here's the history summed up for those who didn't watch this as it unfolded, or have forgotten, etc.:
Greg's Poll
Now that we know about the BoM and were going to have other Makuta featured as sets and be in the story, beginning in mid 2007, Greg faced the issue of whether "Makuta's" name should be revealed. He wasn't "unilateral" about it -- he graciously gave us BZPers the choice by posting a poll.
Please note -- we are a tiny fraction of the fanbase. He had to no obligation to give us such a privelege. I know he does this often, but that's no excuse for us to get spoiled.
Now, here's Greg's poll. Results?
Of 2092 votes (that's a TON!), 88% said yes. Only 7% said no, and 5% said "Don't care." That's a clear, clear, support for the name being revealed, by FAR.
Now, to be fair, many of the posts clarified that it would depend on the name. So let's not read too much into that, per se. Still, we have to remember that:
1) Greg let us decide, and we overwhelmingly said "yes." Even for those who voted no, we should be thankful that he did this for us.
2) But some didn't want it, and some would inevitably not like the name, regardless of what they voted there.
Revelation and Actual Reaction
So, "Teridax" is the name. Posts about this were all over; I'm not going to compile a link to every single post about it, don't worry.
What's more important is what polls said, since those are more objective. Skipping ahead a little, here's the first objective poll about it, that I posted a few months after the name had been revealed.
Of 427 votes, nearly 40% said "yes" -- they clearly like the name. Almost the same amount, 36% said "It's okay"; the weak yes. That totals to a whopping 76% positive for "Teridax". In an election, that would considered a landslide.
Only 9% said "No", 7% "Not much", and 8% "Unsure/middle."
Even if we treat the unsure vote as an implied negative, that totals only about 24% negative! Even the weak yes overwhelms that at 36%! And 40% "yes" just plain blasts this myth out of the proverbial... antidermis pool.
Warped Reaction
Yet, before this, the poll that claimed the "don't dupe this topic" spot had unfair options. You could only vote "Best name ever" (the "strong yes" option, which most fair polls don't even bother with in favor of a simple "yes"), "Meh", or the strong no ("Fail").
The results? Well, frankly, even here the myth is unfounded. Out of 840 votes, only about 19% (20 if you wanna round up against the rounding rule
) said "Fail," compared to 32% voting "Best Name Ever." More voted strongly for it than voted strongly against it. So at the very least, "hate" is a huge exaggeration. (And "hate" is unhealthy hype and melodrama anyways, just like how people carelessly call all debates "flame wars," even if they were the opposite of flame.)
Now, this was unfair because while it had a weak no, it lacked a weak yes. If you liked the name, but didn't think it was the best name ever, you either had to null, or flip a coin between "Best name ever" or "Meh." As would be expected, many people voted "Meh."
I nulled, personally. And if you read the posts, most of those who voted "meh" aren't saying they dislike it, per se, but that it's not extreme yes or extreme no. So "somewhere near the middle" is how most people voted.
And that, along with the few strong negative posts in random places out there, started this ugly myth. My poll later revealed that in reality, that "somewhere" near the middle was actually almost totally on the positive side.
Now, In All Fairness
Now, there are some things we do have to take into consideration.
1) My fair poll came late (due to the unfair poll claiming the spot). Perhaps by that time, the name had grown on many people.
2) The amount of people voting nearly halved from Greg's poll to the unfair one, then again from that poll to mine. Perhaps many people who disliked it simply didn't view the reaction polls, skewing the results. Unless the exact same members all voted, we couldn't be 100% sure. (Still, my experience has been that after about 30 votes, most poll results tend not to change much even when the numbers of votes go way up, so around 30 or so votes would be a fair cross-section.)
3) However, the above may have actually skewed the first poll (the unfair options one) towards the negative. If you follow the replies in there, and compare the names you see posting against "Teridax", they are mostly the same people who voted against it being revealed in Greg's original poll.
Many people vote in Greg's polls that do not appear to vote in normal members' polls. These may tend to be less active, but strongly enthusiastic fans of Bionicle who are loving how it's going right now. Just a theory, but if so, both reaction polls, including mine, may be unrealistically skewed towards the negative. A phenomenon that has also seemed to come up every time something new comes out, even in polls.
4) True, there was at least one other option -- Greg didn't have to reveal the name. But let's face it, "we" chose for him to do so. (Meaning, most of us, of course.)
5) Being curious, I have launched another poll on whether people would have liked some other options, mainly if his name hadn't been revealed, would people be okay with that? Something Greg's original poll technically didn't ask, not that it is all that important -- as I say, I was just curious.
As of posting this, there are 65 votes, and it is mostly too close to call, so I won't overanalyze. Pretty consistent from the first few votes to now, though, has been "undecided", and roughly equal amounts of yes and no; no clear resoundingly obvious answer. Except that a somewhat clear majority are on the negative side of T having a different name.
Fanbase Vs. BZP
Finally, let's not forget that the vast majority Bionicle fans out there:
1) Aren't on BZPower. We're talking millions, compared to only thousands here.
2) Are newer and don't have the strong emotional attachment to "Makuta" that many of us do.
3) Do tend, apparently, to often have quite different tastes from BZPers, often opposite to the vocal minority, sometimes even opposite to our majority (ex: brown set color always polls high here, yet is the least popular among most fans).
So this still isn't definitive. But clearly, the myth is WAY blown out of proportions.
Ulterior Motives
Alright, alright, I admit it. I just wanna know TSO's name.
*ahem* Anyways... Let's stop giving life to this myth, okay? It just "ain't so, Joe."
Deadline Extension! Enter by December 9th!
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