~Shockwave~

I think that it's worth noting that there are currently almost twice as many guests online than logged in members.

so why are they visiting and not joining? the site is obviously attracting SOME form of attention, but we need to find out how to get them to join.

Edit: I'm sorry, I was test posting from my 360 and missed some mistakes.

It seems to me that some of the suggestions made - such as the one regarding posts counting - are based on a "new BZP" sort of logic. In other words, "Since BZPower is less active these days, [x] would now be feasible." This has certainly led to improvements and an overall streamlining of the BZP experience. But what happens if our activity drastically increases? Will we need to revert certain policies? I'm wondering if it would be better to use a "future BZP" sort of logic.

 

What are your thoughts?

Well, that's an interesting thought... But we essentially have to think that way to get anywhere. We have to make changes to get people, than we have to make changes to accommodate the theoretical wave of new members. Otherwise we can't get anywhere. Because what's being done now isn't working the way we want it to, or else this topic wouldn't be a thing. A forum with our user base has to work differently than a forum with TFW's user base. That's just how it works.

Oh, I thought they didn't. My mistake.

The reasoning for the 'COT posts don't count' rule is that this is a Bionicle/Lego forum, so all posts should relate to those things. Any that relate to other subjects shouldn't be included in members' post counts because they're irrelevant to this.

 

And let's face it, your post count does affect how you're perceived here. The more posts you have, the more involved you appear to be. As such, I don't want a member looking like a pillar of the Bionicle/Lego community when the majority of his or her x thousand posts are actually in the Pokemon/My Little Pony/Corrupt-a-wish topics.

But that's not how it works either. You want to play a Bionicle RPG? No post count. You want to answer questions for confused members? No posts for you. And during the voting booth days posts in there didn't count either.

I'm not saying that post count is the ultimate decider, but the forum does need to do more to get the off-topic discussions up and going. Having the site effectively tell you that it is not going to reward you for getting involved in a section is only going to discourage members from using it.

 

And forums that do have more active general discussions tend to do better from my experience. I've joined several sites and gotten involved simply because I liked the environment in general and I branched out to the site-specific categories that brought me to the site in the first place.

That's a valid point, but I think it's going to take a bit more than just adding post count to accomplish that. What I think we really need is a bigger active userbase, than, theoretically, it should be easier to move from there. But that obviously isn't the easiest thing to accomplish.

 

I really have never understood why they don't count. I mean a post in one place theoretically takes a similar amount of effort as a post anywhere else. So why bother sorting through what counts or doesn't? I've heard the "so there's less spam" excuse which is complete garbage because we don't want any spam. I suppose there's still the "Lego themed" thing, but that doesn't sound quite right either.

Oh believe me, I don't think that rule makes complete sense either. I wouldn't mind one bit if it were changed. I just don't think it would make any substantial difference in the level of activity here, because I don't think anyone chooses NOT to post there just because it doesn't add to their post count. If people have things to discuss in that forum they'll do so anyway.

 

Than it appears we are in agreement.

I really have never understood why they don't count. I mean a post in one place theoretically takes a similar amount of effort as a post anywhere else. So why bother sorting through what counts or doesn't? I've heard the "so there's less spam" excuse which is complete garbage because we don't want any spam. I suppose there's still the "Lego themed" thing, but that doesn't sound quite right either.

And we still have almost no polls being made. But we have the blogs, which I haven't seen on any forums I've been to, so there's that.

We also have those ​enormously controversial flame wars that come about every so often. Which, if I wasn't a member of the site already, would probably run and never come back if that was the first thing I saw. Luckily those seem to be at a minimum lately. Plus anyone with a search engine searching for BZPower may come upon some very unfavorable depictions of some members by some of our members. Also not terribly inviting. Plus that's not going to create an air of acceptance or whatever.

Now I'm aware that a lot of these aren't exactly under the staff's control, but I think they should be brought up.

 

 

 

In response to a few points made - it's not making topics about stuff that attracts people, it's the news and information. That's our hook. If we had any kind of focus in our news stories on the actual media being produced by the Lego company - books, television, games, whatever, we'd attract the kids looking for that information on the internet. Then they join looking to discuss it further. I don't know about y'all but I certainly found BZP because I wanted to know more about the Rahkshi. Same theory here.

 

And more generally, let's not get so high and mighty pretending Bionicle was ever somehow not as lighthearted and simple as any of the other lines Lego is producing. Go back and watch any of the Bionicle movies and you'll see it's all pretty much on the same level as any given Hero Factory, Chima or Ninjago episode. The only part of it that ever had real 'complexity' to it was the books, and guess what? exact same dude is writing all the books now as back then. I haven't read them, but I bet he's still adding just as much into it as he always was. We just don't hear about it.

I strongly disagree. The movies (at least the first three) are far less lighthearted than just about any LEGO theme. I've watched Hero Factory and Ninjago. Ninjago is very lighthearted, and Hero Factory is pretty tame. BIONICLE may not be an ultra-dark theme, but it has the least lighthearted themes of any theme, I think.

 

Perhaps, but the differences in the level of lightheartedness is imperceptible on anything but a tiny scale. They all were very simple in their themes, their characters were not complex, and their conflict was clearly defined. They were, in a word, kid shows. Not that this is a bad thing, which is really the overarching point I'm trying to make here. These kinds of shows would still fit into the mold we've formed here.

 

 

Again, I strongly disagree.

 

The only lightheartedness present in BIONICLE is stuff associated with Le-Matoran/Toa of Air (plus Pohatu once or twice when he's bugging Kopaka) through 2004, after which nothing is lighthearted - the Visorak are a monstrous plague, Mata Nui is dying and he has to be saved (and the Matoran on Voya Nui are held captive by murderous brutes), even more powerful and evil sea creatures are trying to take the Mask of Life, and then the Toa have to face off against beings of shadow, the embodiments of evil in the Matoran Universe. The only real exception before 2009 is Mata Nui Online Game (MNOG II is pretty calm and fun but doesn't have that same sense of humor that MNOG did) - which isn't even canon, and in 2009 the only exception is Berix. Bara Magna definitely isn't light-hearted.

 

Compare that to any Ninjago episode. I can't say for sure with Hero Factory as I've only seen the first two seasons (and it was a while ago) - maybe that isn't lighthearted, but just about any other LEGO theme is (the other exception I can think of off the top of my head is Alpha Team).

 

BIONICLE was clearly for kids but it was not your run-of-the-mill theme.

 

Lightheartedness isn't a bad thing. Terraria never takes itself seriously and I love that game.

It was actually quite lighthearted and kid-ish other than what you mentioned. But I won't bother to list all of that.

It's not about what happens, but how it's handled. I think you should make yourself more informed before you start using blanket statements like the ones you did. And you can describe anything in that way (as the poster above me did) and make it seem as dreary or lighthearted as you please.

Size isn't what I was talking about. The other one was boxy and had sharp angles. This one is rounder. It just doesn't look like prime to me.

Design. I haven't seen much of the robot, But I'm not feeling it. I still like the beefcake truck mode from the first three.

I still don't care for it. He looks lije he should be Orion Pax in both modes.

Can you play it on a Mac?

 

Speaking of aiming issues, have you thought about using the mouse for aiming? I'm not sure how well that would work though... but it may feel more streamlined while pkaying, and it could open up several options with things like the teleportation piwers.

The mouse will not be used for aiming. It forces me to condense actions into the typical FPS setup, and it messes with the feel of being able to switch between melee, shields and various powers on the fly. I have tinkered with mouse aim before, but it's something that fits a pure shooter much more than this game, I feel. It is true that it could have a positive effect on certain powers, but it would force me to redesign a lot of the rest to fit. This game has not been balanced around the idea that people can aim anywhere they want with explosives, for example. Maybe it would be better to have mouse aim since the menu is mouse-heavy as well, but I'm building more on the classic platform games than I am on shooters. Plus, being able to play the game just with a keyboard gives you some freedom in where to play it, and how to bind the keys.

 

I can see that. Just a thought.

Speaking of aiming issues, have you thought about using the mouse for aiming? I'm not sure how well that would work though... but it may feel more streamlined while pkaying, and it could open up several options with things like the teleportation piwers.

I really enjoyed the episode! Some more detailed thoughts:

 

• [*]Smith and Coleman played off of Tennant and Hurt very well. Clara continues to be enjoyable, but after a season (well, half) with her she still hasn't quite grabbed me as some other companions have. Or maybe I'm just still bitter over Donna only getting one season. [*]Ten! Honestly, I thought this was a pretty run-of-the-mill Ten performance from Tennant (aside from the aforementioned banter with Smith), but that's not a bad thing; he slipped right back into the role.[*]Billie Piper was great as the Moment. While of course there's that part of you that wants to see, "well, what if Rose and 11 met just once", but Rose's story really is done and over with, and this was a great way to let her be involved. And she really knocked it out of the park with her performance - alternately fun and grave, and a great match for Hurt.[*]Speaking of Hurt, boy was he good as well. I am glad that they gave him some levity and didn't just make him entirely dark; in the end he still felt very Doctor-y, and they were clearly having some fun with him representing the classic Doctors.[*]The special as a whole was much more lighthearted than I expected - I mean, a good chunk of the ep is just a plain old, rubber-aliens-vs.-UNIT romp. Another pleasant surprise.[*]Speaking of surprises: Capaldi! Baker! I was actually spoiled on the latter's appearance, but augh he was so good. I really need to watch more classic Who. And Capaldi was just a perfect surprise - there was applause.[*]Loved all the little nods to the series as well. (Who wants to bet the Curator gave Osgood that scarf?) The audio/clips of the old Doctors was a nice touch.[*]If there's one complaint, it's that a few plot points wound up dangling, like the human/Zygon negotiations and Tennant not giving much response to Hurt's "Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you!" But those are minor quibbles that I'm fine overlooking for the sake of keeping things moving and fun.[*]Oh, and I do still wish Eccleston had been involved. But the guy's got the right to refuse.

Hoping to catch An Adventure in Space in Time at some point as well. 'Till then, on towards Christmas!

 

I just built a new computer and loaded this game up. Wirks awesomely, wuth no lag of any kind. So until the issue with windows 8 gets fixed I can run it there.

Actually the appearance of John Hurt (if you've seen "Night of the Doctor" short by Moffat) suggests that there was another regeneration between the 8th and the 9th, until the 23rd we won't know for sure, this is all just a theory.

"Suggests" Is putting a bit mildly.

I don't remember where it was though...

I am flabbergasted!! Totally unexpected! And so John Hurt truly IS the Ninth Doctor! (Only the next lot has been denying his existence up til now.) ...and that means the Twelfth Doctor is the final one...

I could have sworn they said they had a solution for that somewhere...

I haven't gotten a good look, but they look neat. I may have to pick one up.

I sold mine for $10. It was from the clock.

 

I hope the pokemon one gets 10,000 too. I would totally buy it. But, yeah, hope this gets past reveiw. ^.^

 

Oh god, there's a project for that? That has a toyline already. It doesn't need a lego set.

 

That's a terrible reason for something to not be made into a set.

I'm not sure how well it would translate into lego to be perfectly honest...

But if we get Zelda and Pokemon through than maybe we can have METROID Lego sets!

I can hope, right?

I don't see it happening... But it would be awesome.

I would love some nintendo sets...

I think we're slinging mud in all the wrong directions here. Yes, maybe some things could have been done differently, but it wouldn't have even mattered if the site hadn't been attacked.

I can understand that life can get in the way of things. And I'm someone who has more than his fair share of free time. It's also really easy to look back and say what could've been done differently, but that isn't apparent before the incident happens.

Good to know.