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How did BZPower gain so many members so fast?


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Hi BZP, I have a question for everyone, I always find it fun to go back through the archives of BZPower and look at old posts, but just now I went through members from the ones who joined earliest back in 2001, it amazes me that in 2001 Internet wasn't a big thing and not a lot of people used it, but it seemed like so many people joined BZPower within the first month of existence, how did the administrators and founders promote this website so it would reach a lot of Bionicle fans as quick as it did?

 

From what I understand BZPower was created for a Bionicle contest, and was named Kanohi-Power, to see who could come up with the best website that Lego could use to have a forum for Bionicle, and the great administrators and founders of BZP won, is this information correct?

 

So basically my question is how did this forum gain so many members within the first few months of existence in a time where Internet wasn't used by everyone?

 

Thanks everyone! :)

 

 

Go check out our Youtube channel! We review BIONICLE and other LEGO related items!
https://www.youtube.com/user/RandomReviewerBros

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Now, ye see. Back in thir heyday, ther wher two major bonkle communities. Kanohi Power, and Bionicle Zone Community, or BZCommunity for short. So, in the year of our mascot Tohu, it was a union of two, in 2002 the two sites merged into one. BZPower, and over thar years many have come, and many have gone. And with the return on BIONICLE many more have come.

 

 

I hope this answers the question.

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Now, ye see. Back in thir heyday, ther wher two major bonkle communities. Kanohi Power, and Bionicle Zone Community, or BZCommunity for short. So, in the year of our mascot Tohu, it was a union of two, in 2002 the two sites merged into one. BZPower, and over thar years many have come, and many have gone. And with the return on BIONICLE many more have come.

 

 

I hope this answers the question.

Haha I love your phrasing, oh so two sites merged to create this one, that I did not know, I also recall seeing a KanohiPower.com.au site that was announced when I was going back through BZP's news archives, I believe it was 2003 if I'm not mistaken, but that is non existing anymore, I wish that did still exist tho, do you know what happened to that one?

Edited by randomreviewerbros

Go check out our Youtube channel! We review BIONICLE and other LEGO related items!
https://www.youtube.com/user/RandomReviewerBros

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How did it gain so many members so fast?

 

The correct answer is like a boss.

 

But there's also the fact that since it was originally two sites which then merged into a giant gem-fusion kaita, the same person could've been signed up for both sites when they were separate, but then have two accounts for the one when they were fused.

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How did it gain so many members so fast?

 

The correct answer is like a boss.

 

But there's also the fact that since it was originally two sites which then merged into a giant gem-fusion kaita, the same person could've been signed up for both sites when they were separate, but then have two accounts for the one when they were fused.

Haha true true, it's just amazing to me because in 2001, how many people were really using the Internet, couldn't have been that many, but I am genuinely impressed by all this, BZPower is a great website!

Go check out our Youtube channel! We review BIONICLE and other LEGO related items!
https://www.youtube.com/user/RandomReviewerBros

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Okay, brief history lesson:

 

First there was xTIAN's Bionicle Corner and Mike's Bionicle Island. This was around mid-to-late 2000. Don't ask me which started first.

 

Those two sites merged into Kanohi Power, which focused on Bionicle news and keeping track of all the collectibles and promotions.

 

In July 2001, Bionicle Zone started. This shortly became BZCommunity since LEGO legal didn't like Dimensioneer using 'bioniclezone.com'. It was primarily a forum site for people to discuss the line.

 

Many of the reporters on Kanohi Power were also staff and admins on Bionicle Zone, so in 2002 the sites merged to become BZPower.

 

As for how we gained so many members so quickly - it was the early days of the Internet, and forums were pretty much the place to go to talk about things that you liked, since there was no Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr or any of that. We got lucky in gaining a critical mass of members which led to more activity, higher search result placement, more members, etc. The early administrators played a big part in this by making sure we stayed up to date with news and had everything people wanted to talk about, from the story to the sets to MOCs, in one place.

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Okay, brief history lesson:

 

First there was xTIAN's Bionicle Corner and Mike's Bionicle Island. This was around mid-to-late 2000. Don't ask me which started first.

 

Those two sites merged into Kanohi Power, which focused on Bionicle news and keeping track of all the collectibles and promotions.

 

In July 2001, Bionicle Zone started. This shortly became BZCommunity since LEGO legal didn't like Dimensioneer using 'bioniclezone.com'. It was primarily a forum site for people to discuss the line.

 

Many of the reporters on Kanohi Power were also staff and admins on Bionicle Zone, so in 2002 the sites merged to become BZPower.

 

As for how we gained so many members so quickly - it was the early days of the Internet, and forums were pretty much the place to go to talk about things that you liked, since there was no Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr or any of that. We got lucky in gaining a critical mass of members which led to more activity, higher search result placement, more members, etc. The early administrators played a big part in this by making sure we stayed up to date with news and had everything people wanted to talk about, from the story to the sets to MOCs, in one place.

Wow thanks for the response Black Six, I always like to hear the history of something, its interesting to me, and this information is definitely interesting, thank you for the response!

Go check out our Youtube channel! We review BIONICLE and other LEGO related items!
https://www.youtube.com/user/RandomReviewerBros

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As for how we gained so many members so quickly - it was the early days of the Internet, and forums were pretty much the place to go to talk about things that you liked, since there was no Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr or any of that. We got lucky in gaining a critical mass of members which led to more activity, higher search result placement, more members, etc. The early administrators played a big part in this by making sure we stayed up to date with news and had everything people wanted to talk about, from the story to the sets to MOCs, in one place.

It also led to the infamous "Server Busy" message which was doubly fun on dial up!

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As for how we gained so many members so quickly - it was the early days of the Internet, and forums were pretty much the place to go to talk about things that you liked, since there was no Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr or any of that. We got lucky in gaining a critical mass of members which led to more activity, higher search result placement, more members, etc. The early administrators played a big part in this by making sure we stayed up to date with news and had everything people wanted to talk about, from the story to the sets to MOCs, in one place.

It also led to the infamous "Server Busy" message which was doubly fun on dial up!
That is way too true. Back when I first joined, I had to go to my grandparents if I wanted to look at the artwork forum, and hope the server wasn't busy.
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  • 3 weeks later...

The early administrators played a big part in this by making sure we stayed up to date with news and had everything people wanted to talk about, from the story to the sets to MOCs, in one place.

This is very true!  I visited Kanohi Power for some time before i ever dipped my toes in the forum waters(I think I joined a few weeks after the merge happened in mid 2002).  Kanohi Power was a great resource, because for those of us who were hungry for all news Bionicle, KP was simply amazing!  I remember when KP posted some great clearance sales that members had been reporting at Target...and I promptly went to Target and was able to buy Muaka/Kane-Ra for...$17 I think?  It's been a while, but it was ridiculously low.  Same for the original mask packs, when KB Toys sold them for clearance prices, KP reported that and I increased my mask collection tenfold!  So the prompt and accurate news reporting of Kanohi Power led me to start visiting BZC in late 2001.  

 

The fusion of a great staff team, quality news articles, and a very warm community led to the rapid membership growth(at least in my opinion!).  BZP was one of the greatest communities I've ever been a part of...even though I'm not active now, still remember those days fondly.  :)

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