Continuing Gen 1 On Our Own?

[CarumEsSarene]

II have seen a lot of creative people on both BZP and YouTube. Not only with MOCs, but with artwork, comics, writing, and even animation.

 

We keep getting upset that they never brought Gen 1 back, and maybe not. But I think that it's completely possible for us, the fandom, to keep Gen 1 going.

 

We can create comic continuations, books, fanmade adverts, and even our own sets. (In the form of MOC instructions)

 

Anyone agree to taking Gen 1 iinto our hands and keeping it going? With test trials in mind.

[MarkSurge9411]

Probably not a good idea.

 

I love Gen 1 as much as the next fan, however there are several problems with this idea. For starters, we need a comic publisher to help print the comics out to sell them. If we continued the story, there'd be much debate over what happens and such. And we need a manufacturer to make the pieces to make the sets, not to mention that having two Bionicle's at once will confuse many. 

[Bfahome]

The trouble with continuing the canon is that you're probably not going to get any large number of fans to agree on how it should go, and you also don't actually have any official say in where the story should go, so at best you'd be writing fan fiction with a few other like-minded people.

 

And that's basically what fan fiction is all about, anyway; you want to add things to the lore, so you write your own stories to do so.

[Prowl Nightwolf]

I am for doing something to that extent. Though I have to ask if you really know what you may be asking of the community? Are you wanting us to just continue a fanon story or are you asking for the option for the fans to decide what officially becomes Gen1 canon? Because if it is the prior then that could get a lot of hate mail type of responses from people who want Gen1 to remain in the hands of Greg and Lego as a whole.

 

Me personally I'd love for somebody to continue Gen1 but I don't see where that would be any different than anyone doing their fan media anyway. Most stuff is either their headcanon concept of what happened, or continuations of what became of them after... Unless your a pre-historiest who likes to lead up to the Gen1 story instead.

[CarumEsSarene]

Probably not a good idea.

 

I love Gen 1 as much as the next fan, however there are several problems with this idea. For starters, we need a comic publisher to help print the comics out to sell them. If we continued the story, there'd be much debate over what happens and such. And we need a manufacturer to make the pieces to make the sets, not to mention that having two Bionicle's at once will confuse many.

They don't need to actually be published comics, they can be online.

 

We can have teams of writers, and include entire communities to help through polls.

 

As for sets, I said MOC instructions. Having MOCs buildt for each character and How-tos posted like instruction booklets.

 

I think it wouldn't confuse anyone. If we keep the project away from mixing with Gen 2, it can work.

The trouble with continuing the canon is that you're probably not going to get any large number of fans to agree on how it should go, and you also don't actually have any official say in where the story should go, so at best you'd be writing fan fiction with a few other like-minded people.

 

And that's basically what fan fiction is all about, anyway; you want to add things to the lore, so you write your own stories to do so.

What you're all thinking is this won't work because the team effort wouldn't be possible.

 

If the community works together we'll be able to pull this off. Don't make just one person do one thing but make it a collaboration.

[Bfahome]

If the community works together

That's a colossal "if".  Even something like deciding what mask an already-canon character wore was enough to have people at each other's throats; not just as to what mask it should be, but whether it should be defined at all.

[Lyichir]

II have seen a lot of creative people on both BZP and YouTube. Not only with MOCs, but with artwork, comics, writing, and even animation.

 

We keep getting upset that they never brought Gen 1 back, and maybe not. But I think that it's completely possible for us, the fandom, to keep Gen 1 going.

 

We can create comic continuations, books, fanmade adverts, and even our own sets. (In the form of MOC instructions)

 

Anyone agree to taking Gen 1 iinto our hands and keeping it going? With test trials in mind.

Beyond what others have said... you're talking as if you're the first person to have this idea.

 

When we first got news that Bionicle was ending, dozens of "continuation" projects started up practically overnight. In the five years since then, none of them have ever amounted to anything... the more ambitious projects stumbled out of the gate, while the more modest ones mostly faded into obscurity. What makes you think things can or would be any different with future attempts?

[Ballom Nom Nom]

There's this thing called fanfiction, which seems to work pretty well for people...

 

~B~

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

i dunno about fandom-wide continuation-projects, but tbh this topic did inspire me into thinking up a possible two-wave year that takes place directly after Bionicle ended and uses some of the serials for basis. :u

 

(did you know we had two six-toa teams that (almost) fit the six colors neccesary?)

[Quisoves Potoo]

I'd be quite happy to see a multi-media fan-project succeed. Of course, success is the tricky bit, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, trite as it may sound.

The trick is to set reasonable goals. Instead of falling for the "we'll make this everything we've ever dreamed it could be" attitude that mars so many fan-projects, one should assess one's limitations, and plan meticulously. Also, don't throw the project wide open. Make sure that those who come on board are reasonably qualified in what they're doing. And make sure that you have a clear hierarchy, so that internal disagreements don't spell your venture's end.

Even then, success is far from certain, but it won't be doomed to failure.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Quisoves Potoo

[Mocmaker]

 

Probably not a good idea.

 

I love Gen 1 as much as the next fan, however there are several problems with this idea. For starters, we need a comic publisher to help print the comics out to sell them. If we continued the story, there'd be much debate over what happens and such. And we need a manufacturer to make the pieces to make the sets, not to mention that having two Bionicle's at once will confuse many.

They don't need to actually be published comics, they can be online.  Good idea!  Online comics are becoming very popular!

 

We can have teams of writers, and include entire communities to help through polls. 

 

As for sets, I said MOC instructions. Having MOCs built for each character and How-tos posted like instruction booklets.  Oh and for the MOCs; not everyone likes CCBS or BBS so what if we were to make MOCs that use both building systems' parts' in one model!  And to get rid of the character diversity complaint: make them all diverse builds.

 

I think it wouldn't confuse anyone. If we keep the project away from mixing with Gen 2, it can work.   Yes, however isn't "Bionicle" a copyrighted name?  Would this "spin-off" have to go by a different name?  

The trouble with continuing the canon is that you're probably not going to get any large number of fans to agree on how it should go, and you also don't actually have any official say in where the story should go, so at best you'd be writing fan fiction with a few other like-minded people.

 

And that's basically what fan fiction is all about, anyway; you want to add things to the lore, so you write your own stories to do so.

What you're all thinking is this won't work because the team effort wouldn't be possible.

 

If the community works together we'll be able to pull this off. Don't make just one person do one thing but make it a collaboration.  Maybe we could get Greg for the story?

 

I say it is worth a shot; lots of planning and things required but not too far out of reach. 

[Xabla]

I can see it work, but someone would need to be nominated leaders across all forums. I would like to see a oligarchy be created though, of sorts. There is a elder/leader from every forum- BZP, TTV etc.. and they discuss it and make it up. The leaders would have to be elected though.

[Naota Takizawa]

Let's focus on gen 2, gen 1 is over and dead. 

[Xabla]

Let's focus on gen 2, gen 1 is over and dead. 

Yeah- this too. My feelings for the plantlife gender discussions right here.

[masterchirox580]

I mean outside of what everyone's said it would also depend on if you're doing it for profit or not, if you're going to do it for profit Lego would sue you, plus your idea has already been done to some degree. Although there are no comics I'm pretty sure there's plenty of fanfictions continuing/ending the serials, the only way you could actually have a definitive continuation would be if Lego declared it canon (and we all know nothing like that's ever gonna happen). And to be honest would continuing G1 really be a good idea? I mean that thing was already going all over the place so I think it's best to leave it. I get G1 is very important to a lot of people (heck even I'd like it if Greg would finish it off) but all that can be done now is for people to write their own continuation/ending, in the way I guess that's kinda the beauty of G1, because it never ended it kinda lives on, at least that's how I see it. 

[silo]

Let's focus on gen 2, gen 1 is over and dead. 

This pretty much sums up my thoughts too. That being said, fanfiction is always an option, and I'm definitely not against Gen 1 fanfic (I'm working on one right now).

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

 

So basically continue on with what I have been doing by making music, fan fiction and game development by co-creating with friends? Alright, thanks for the advice.

 

The only way it could work with the way that you describe it is by each of us doing our own thing and then saying that there is a multiverse that binds them all together and they can cross over if they wanted to.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Iaredios Paerkenon

[Taria Pakari]

Anyone remember Bionicle: Next Generation...? Yeah...

 

Like Lyichir said, many have tried to do that already and none of them have succeeded.

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

Anyone remember Bionicle: Next Generation...? Yeah...

 

Like Lyichir said, many have tried to do that already and none of them have succeeded.

 

many will enter, few will win.

[Art Vandelay]

Like masterchirox580 said, the open-endedness of G1 is actually kind of nice. Fan continuation projects like Solis Magna (which, contrary to popular belief, is still alive ) are great, but there could never and should never be some megafanon continuation project that the whole community would accept as the official continuation of G1.

 

Continuation projects are meant to provide different interpretations of what might happen after The Powers That Be and The Yesterday Quest, not be a definitive answer as to what would happen. 

[Mocmaker]

Anyone remember Bionicle: Next Generation...? Yeah...

 

Like Lyichir said, many have tried to do that already and none of them have succeeded.

Stating facts doesn't make something impossible.  Either way the only thing that is impossible is impossibility.

 

What are some of the major issues with this idea (to continue G1)?  Any idea on how we could overcome them?

Edited May 25, 2015 by Mocmaker

[Irrie]

 

Anyone remember Bionicle: Next Generation...? Yeah...

 

Like Lyichir said, many have tried to do that already and none of them have succeeded.

Stating facts doesn't make something impossible.  Either way the only thing that is impossible is impossibility.

 

What are some of the major issues with this idea (to continue G1)?  Any idea on how we could overcome them?

 

The biggest problem would be frequent disagreements over the canon. It would require so many polls to determine outcomes that you could literally smell the democracy oozing out of your computer screen. 

Edited May 25, 2015 by The Irrational Rock

[Granberia Doragoon]

If your gona get people to make stories for Gen 1,  please don't try to get it canonized.

[Taria Pakari]

 

 

Anyone remember Bionicle: Next Generation...? Yeah...

 

Like Lyichir said, many have tried to do that already and none of them have succeeded.

Stating facts doesn't make something impossible.  Either way the only thing that is impossible is impossibility.

 

What are some of the major issues with this idea (to continue G1)?  Any idea on how we could overcome them?

 

The biggest problem would be frequent disagreements over the canon. It would require so many polls to determine outcomes that you could literally smell the democracy oozing out of your computer screen. 

 

 

And there's really no way to overcome conflicting headcanons.

[Arcee]

I think a simpler solution to expanding G1 is something we thankfully have a whole lot of here on BZPower: fanfiction, plain and simple. I understand that a lot of fans may be looking for something that could fit within the Bionicle canon, or follows the existing characters, or seems like something that could be part of the actual storyline, but that's the beauty of it. There's alternate canon and there are stories that follow existing rules and history.

 

Trying to create one Cohesive Thing wouldn't work, I don't think, because of the creative disagreements everyone's mentioned.

 

I guess if you really miss the sets, the comics, the commercials, etc, it'd be much harder to find than art, stories, or comedies, but there are some pretty ambitious projects out there. I don't think we need to try to emulate something Lego would do.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

I think a simpler solution to expanding G1 is something we thankfully have a whole lot of here on BZPower: fanfiction, plain and simple. I understand that a lot of fans may be looking for something that could fit within the Bionicle canon, or follows the existing characters, or seems like something that could be part of the actual storyline, but that's the beauty of it. There's alternate canon and there are stories that follow existing rules and history.

 

Trying to create one Cohesive Thing wouldn't work, I don't think, because of the creative disagreements everyone's mentioned.

 

I guess if you really miss the sets, the comics, the commercials, etc, it'd be much harder to find than art, stories, or comedies, but there are some pretty ambitious projects out there. I don't think we need to try to emulate something Lego would do.

Well put. You get a +1 as a reward for something sanely spoken!

[Mjolnitor]

Has anyone here ever tried not continuing, but rewriting and altering?

[Mr. Cup of Fail]

That is a horrible idea, there will be a lot of people saying "THIS IS NOW CANON, NO THIS IS CANON" and stuff like that. Plus the stupid shipping thing is in Gen1.

 

It's like giving the bronie fandom rights to keep MLP Gen 4 going.

Edited May 26, 2015 by ShadowWolfHount

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

Has anyone here ever tried not continuing, but rewriting and altering?

 

reality is but the fabric of illusion, all that we know can be molded and crafted in our hands...

 

yeah that is definitely better left for fanfic, i'll assume Bones'll come in and talk about his retelling sometime after this post, any minute now...

[Quisoves Potoo]

I think a simpler solution to expanding G1 is something we thankfully have a whole lot of here on BZPower: fanfiction, plain and simple. I understand that a lot of fans may be looking for something that could fit within the Bionicle canon, or follows the existing characters, or seems like something that could be part of the actual storyline, but that's the beauty of it. There's alternate canon and there are stories that follow existing rules and history.

But what Carum is proposing is fanfiction, albeit more ambitious than the norm. I don't see the problem.

 

That is a horrible idea, there will be a lot of people saying "THIS IS NOW CANON, NO THIS IS CANON" and stuff like that. Plus the stupid shipping thing is in Gen1.

 

It's like giving the bronie fandom rights to keep MLP Gen 4 going.

What? How would that happen? What Carum is proposing is simply a particularly ambitious fan-project, with no claims to being official canon.

 

@Carum I think this topic has reached the end of its usefulness. If I were you, I'd get about organizing the project, or not doing so, as the case may be.

[Logan McOwen]

Stick to fanfiction. If you want to do a continuation with more than yourself, work on it together with some friends. I know people who do this, and they have a lot of fun with it. 

Edited May 26, 2015 by Logan McOwen

[Aanchir]

Has anyone here ever tried not continuing, but rewriting and altering?

 

Yes, Bonesiii (among others) has tried that. I was not really impressed at all with his attempt. Frankly, even though the G1 story was not flawless, it was still reasonably good for what it was, and I've never seen an attempt at completely rewriting it I've been happy with. After all, many of G1's weaknesses came from it being so extraordinarily ambitious, so it doesn't surprise me that fans who attempt to mimic or exceed that ambition without the human and material resources that the LEGO Group had at their disposal end up meeting with failure.

[JMSOG]

Devil's advocate, here we go.

 

There are two ends of a spectrum of how this would go...Complete, 100% democratic community involvement, or the entirity being put into a select few (a new story team, essentially).

 

The complete community idea, while great on paper, suffers from one thing...We'd have to put up a poll or discussion topic for litterally every event and detail. This would suffer due to it not being too efficient, likely taking a year to put out a months worth of story.

 

It also suffers from another fact of making a story via democracy: Every decision would likely end up being, on average, bland and neutral. This seems a bit negative, but put it this way: There's absolutely no way that Matoro's death would have won in a public poll.

 

The story team idea is the ideal one. Select some of the best fan fiction writers and MOCers from accross all the bionicle forums, and bam, you have a powerhouse. HOWEVER: it suffers from one thing: Public perception. If a decision is made that a few don't like, they will likely be attacked for "not being the real story", and the canon locking debate will rage on. Same example: if a "Matoro's Death" moment happens, the team would immediatly, and unfairly, lose credibility.

 

Personally, I would be 100% behind the creation of a new story team. That is the ideal way to continue on the story. We could even acknowledge that it's a kind of "loose" canon, similar to the Star Wars expanded universe (oh boy I hope that's an acceptable analogy). If not that, then more contests like Memoirs of the Dead would be good.

 

I'm 100% behind this. I love this idea. But the community as a whole might not be as willing to accept this.

[Xabla]

What if contests like BFTGM were held, but for canon story expansions?

[Owlexander]

There are 1000 reasons why this is a bad idea... and 941 are fanfics.

[Prowl Nightwolf]

What if contests like BFTGM were held, but for canon story expansions?

Weren't they doing that already? What with the Memwars of the Lost(^{I think that is what it was called.}) contest?

[Evergrey: Toa of Music]

Let's focus on gen 2, gen 1 is over and dead. 

 

This guy speaks very wise words. "dead" isn't the best word, but the rest of it is very well put. Bionicle is BACK! Gen 2 is doing some amazing things that Gen 1 didn't do. Rejoice! Let's actually enjoy the fact that we have our beloved toa back!

 

As for fan fiction: DO IT! Let there be fan fiction and people making their own alternate universes/interpretations of the storyline. But none of it has to be canonized. It really shouldn't be. And we shouldn't elect a new story team because honestly, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the gen 1 story team...so what makes you think I'd pay attention to a new group of yahoos making more gen 1 canon? To answer that rhetorical question, it ain't happening   and here's why: the gen 2 story is what Lego is actually releasing so my already limited time for Bionicle will be with Gen 2. Besides, if something becomes canon that people don't like, it's going to cause more division within the community (and there's quite a bit already just by glancing at this topic). 

 

In the economics way of thinking: People can spend money and time. I'm structuring this as if it's actually a company sales pitch

 

There's only so much time and money the people on the team will be willing to be a part of it and there's only so much time and money that people will want to have new Gen 1 cannon. Some people may say that they want Gen 1 to go on forever, but eventually they will get tired of it. The first month of a new story team may see like 500 people reading the new cannon, then the next month is down to 200 and then it keeps decreasing until you have the 40ish people that are super dedicated to the Gen 1 line and the team wants to call it quits.

 

With fan fiction, everyone is free to express themselves without worrying about causing an uproar over it being cannon or not; because it's just fan ideas that they're sharing with other fans.

 

(sorry if any of this was rambling or just plain gibberish) 

[fishers64]

I shall fanfic the best continuation of G1. Then everyone else can bow before my greatness. Problem solved; no democracy, debates, flames, or anything of the sort needed. 

 

[Taria Pakari]

I shall fanfic the best continuation of G1. Then everyone else can bow before my greatness. Problem solved; no democracy, debates, flames, or anything of the sort needed. 

 

 

So its a dictatorship continuation? :v

[Ghidora131]

Viva la revolution