fishers64

It's what you've all been waiting for...:-)Legends of Metru Nui Notes• Main Character: Vakama• Secondary Major Character: Lhikan• Theme: “He must learn to believe in himself. Only then will he find his destiny.” This film focuses on self confidence, like the last film focused on self-discovery.• In some respects, this film is a direct sequel to the last film – we move from self-discovery to self-confidence, which are themes that build on each other – you know who you are, now you should be confident in it. The self-reliance theme, however, gives Mata Nui less of a role, so they had to include some plot to work him in.The Very First Scene• Mega-neat animation here, with the Miramax logo fading into a pillar of light. The light is an allusion to the last film, in which Vakama says “Light found itself and illuminated our destiny.” So this is what the light revealed, thus the column of light.• Since the sea was noticeably absent in the last film, we are working it in here quite nicely.• The light of Mata Nui shines through the red “Toa-rock” indicating that light will be shown through the “Fire characters” throughout the film, which it is. Vakama is the “Takanuva” of this film, even though it doesn’t feel like it. His visions show destiny just like Takuanuva’s light at the end of the first film, but more subtle. This makes the film a little more complex and engaging then the last one.• And the darkness doesn’t completely fill up the “Toa-rocks” completely either, showing that not all hope is lost.• The end of the scene shows Mata Nui being squeezed between two rocks that represent Makuta, and then we see Lhikan shoving two dark things aside, which, if you read the novel, are suva doors. This tells us the Lhikan is interested in resisting Makuta, even if we didn’t get it from the introduction. Also, both Mata Nui and Lhikan both meet bad ends at the end of the film, and in Vakama’s visions the two aren’t distinguished well.• Lhikan is also remarkably similar to Jaller. Just as Jaller helps Takua find his identity, Lhikan helps Toa Vakama to be more confident in himself, and both do it just before they die. Jaller comes back, and Lhikan doesn’t; after all knowing who you are actually takes you further than being confident in yourself, the films imply. Both actually do the opposite of what they are supposed to early in the film, Jaller by doubting, Lhikan by being captured. They are also the first people who appear in their respective films. And don’t wear that Kanohi Hau, pal, it is the kiss of a glorious death.• Instead of a Lame Matoran calling other Lame Matoran’s Name, the film’s pace is quick. 10 seconds in, Lhikan is performing cool acrobatic stunts to stay out of energy webs. (This is one of the reasons this film was better than the last one. Many reasons.)• And then we get the fall scene, and because this is Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui, the film about self-reliance, Lhikan pulls out of his fall by his own resources and bails. The observers are the professional discouragement team led by Krekka. No, wait…• Also, before I leave Lhikan behind, I should point out that in some respects Jaller and Lhikan are foils in the fact that Jaller’s presence for most of the film led to problems for Takua, and it is Lhikan’s absence in this film that causes the most problems. Lhikan has great confidence in Vakama, but Jaller has zero confidence in Takua. Jaller actually has more parallels to Mata Nui, since he came back from the dead and was exposed to forgetful sleep. And you know what the Matoran used to represent Mata Nui? A Kanohi Hau Mask, which Jaller and Lhikan both wore. Jaller and Lhikan both are incomplete, fuzzy pictures of Mata Nui! This would explain the strange scene on the stairs to the chamber of Life where Lhikan says “As long as you remember me in your hearts, I am not truly dead.” or something to that effect. It almost refers to that point where Mata Nui’s spirit goes dormant in the Mask of Life, leaving a legacy behind, but never truly dead. So Lhikan = Jaller = Mata Nui, approximately speaking, like Lhikan ~ Jaller ~ Mata Nui, but that looks weird. If you knew that already, I might have discovered a new connection or two for you. So Tahu’s Kanohi Hau is (literally) a red herring. Back to the story:Introducing: The Toa Metru!• Because we don’t care much about identity here, the six Toa are promptly identified in what qualifies as Backstory. Then another cool action sequence with Vakama and Lhikan, and finally we get to that Lame Matoran chatty sequence we’ve all been waiting for.• Vakama’s first vision is similar to the Mata Nui-being-crushed/Lhikan-shove-open-sequence, which could almost qualify as an overuse. When Mata Nui is crushed, Vakama (and consequently the entire Matoran population) is going down with it. Vakama doesn’t get it.• “You should not blame yourself Vakama. You are a mask maker, not a Toa.” And how does Turaga Dume happen to know about these intimate details about Lhikan’s capture and what Vakama thinks? That should have been a red flag…and then Vakama’s voice evidences fear, which is unusual in the presence of a Turaga. Respect, yes, but fear is a little off. Coliseum: Round One• This is our first reference to the sea in this film. Because there was no mention of Po-Koro or the sea in the last film, we see lots of Po-Metru – and the sea.• This is a pattern from the last film. In MoL, the first time Takua does the kolhii match, he fails miserably, and the second time he succeeds – when it really counts. The first time the match was controlled, was done in an arena, with the Turaga watching. The second time the kolhii match is completed, it is against Makuta. The second time, Takua had discovered his identity. In LoMN, the “Sea of Protodermis” is repeated twice, first in an arena with a Turaga watching, and the second time, with Makuta, where it really counts. The second time, the Toa were considerably more confident of their abilities and did not botch it the second time. Moral: training pays off.• The Toa leave the stadium by bringing down the statue of Toa Lhikan. In the second round, they really do leave over Lhikan’s dead body, by bringing him down.• The Great Disks don’t work in the arena, and the Mask of Time isn’t too effective in the end. They are crutches that Vakama falls back on instead of himself.• On the self-reliance end of the spectrum, unlike last time where Takua and Jaller were defeated by others, the Toa Metru were busted by a machine. Takua’s defeat was his own fault, but the Metru never had a chance. That’s a foreshadow of the ending… all those inside the robot never have a chance against Makuta, whereas those outside (Spherus Magna’s) problems are their own fault.The Chute, Kikanalo, and a guy named Nidiki.• Nidiki and Krekka are mighty slow on the flight side, or Matau is a very fast chute jumper. In fact, it might have been cool to have Matau snatched out of the air by the Dark Hunters, Matau fight them off and crash them to the ground, and…but now I’m speculating.• Because we cannot Fire-bash like we did in the last film, we Air-bash because we can. Matau is actually supposed to be a comic relief character in an otherwise dark and depressing movie, but…he is pretty stupid. That and the infamous Krekka.• That vision hanging from the chute…the giant Lhikan next to the small Vakama is a picture of how Vakama thinks of himself. And, yes, that UDD symbol in the sky, the giant Lhikan to the giant Mata Nui, which was represented by the UDD.• Bottom line: Bionicle is generally partial to the water and ice personages. Nokama generally isn’t beat up, Gali owns the world, Hali gets to make epic speeches and play epic kolhii and be “Hali the Barabarian” and so on. Matoro saves the universe, Kopaka owns the world, but Nuju is…well, Nuju. But because in this film, Vakama is the owner of this tale, even Nokama gets her comeuppance on Matau’s accurate comment about “bad things happening in the desert”. This is actually, in part, a self-fulfilling prophecy by Matau.• “It’s amazing what you can learn when you aren’t always speak-teaching.” Then Nokame finds her mask power as translation, which is a speak-teaching power. Irony. By the way, all the Toa’s Mask Powers do fit them exactly, which is true even of the Toa Nuva, even if it is less of a personality fit. The only possible future exception to this rule is Kongu and Nuparu’s swapped powers, which the organic masks is another really strange concept…and I am getting off topic again. Bossy Onewa= mind control, always-wanting-to hide Vakama=invisibility, and so on. It make sense. • Lhikan says “Without self-discovery you will never find your destiny.” What, didn’t you all watch the last film?• The Toa walk right past the canisters that would have solved their mystery for them about the "odd storage containers". This wouldn't have changed very much...• …although it might have convinced the Toa to ride just a bit faster in the scene that follows. This is scene is supposed to be comic relief between two major action sequences.• This movie focused a lot more on action then the last film, it is a lot less mystic and a whole lot faster paced, less of a fantasy opera and more of an action film. I don’t know about you, but I think younger kids tend to like those better.• Vakama says “Toa Lhikan will be forever in your debt.” He is living in Toa Lhikan’s shadow the whole film. Only his death allows him to be himself, a parallel to the last film with Jaller’s death in the last film.The End• All the major villainous characters in this movie have the ability to fly in this film, and the only hero that really does is Lhikan.• The Toa were trying to get back to the Great Temple, but were stopped by Makuta. When the Toa Nuva tried to get the Great Spirit back, they got Makuta instead.• The last vision: It is difficult to see because everything happens so fast, but in the middle of images from the previous visions and their real-life fulfillments, there is this picture of Toa Vakama standing in front of the Great Spirit Rock, which is being closed upon. I am pretty sure this means that Vakama is the last hope for the Great Spirit, which is also the purpose of the Vakama-as-Matoran vision when he runs toward the last remainder of light. Whereas Lhikan and Jaller are representations of the Great Spirit, Vakama is the Great Spirit’s guardian, his friend, even. Every battle he has fought, and will fight, is not because he doesn’t have a choice, but because he has an affection for the people of Metru Nui and the principles they live by, and the person who gave those principles to them. Vakama, at first, doesn’t believe he can live up to the standard of others that have come before, like Lhikan, but he does. That’s part of what made Time Trap so great, is that Vakama can finally live with himself, he knows exactly who he is and want he wants, and he will stop at nothing to get it. Finally!• In contrast to Time Trap, Vakama is an absolute coward, cowering behind the Mask of Time and Lhikan to try to avoid getting pulverized. Then he hides (literally) behind his mask of concealment.• Only when all Vakama’s crutches (Lhikan, the Mask of Time) are removed does he come out and say – “I don’t need to, I’m a Toa.” Lhikan’s death frees Vakama to work out his own problems without the old hanging over his head.• “If Toa Lhikan could not defeat me alone, how can you?” I love that line, because the proper answer is “With one Mask of Time”(Time Trap). But the temporary answer Nokama gives is fine, too, and it takes away, slightly, from the over dominance of Vakama here. • At the end, the UDD symbol is in the sky over Mata Nui. It’s up there. I never would have guessed.The End (movie 2)

Applaud the update. Makes the site look a bit more professional and less like it was randomly thrown together.

^ Probably about $10 a month, plus whatever labor costs are needed to maintain the place.

^ It wasn't completely destroyed. Otherwise there would be no living beings from Metru Nui to evacuate.

^ Maybe the zyglak species were supposed to perform a purpose, then they went rogue and crazy after Mata Nui left.

The best: "You don't know this group of Toa. We make our own luck. Now let's move before that thing remembers we're here." - Toa Hordika WhenuaThe second best: "That will be two more seconds than I need to turn you to ash, Dark Hunter" said Vakama. "So who wants to be first?" Why: The Whenua quote at top is an addendum to the famous Kopaka quote in MoL. The Vakama quote is showing how you do not have to be powerful to have a strong effect on destiny, a la the "you don't have to be a Toa to be a hero" but a little more powerfully and sharper. As for the worst, the one that comes to mind is the quote from Mata Nui "And you grew as a people past the point where you needed a Great Spirit to guide you." This is after the Great Spirit saves the helpless Toa and Agori though sheer might, making this quote almost an out and out lie. They might not need one to guide them, but they need one to save them, and I just don't like that quote that much. It also contradicts the messages of the first two quotes shown above. This whole thing is a matter of opinion, however.

People are weird. This article shows a unique problem Lego is facing. Should they cater to their adult fanbase, and how much?It also brings up an new way of classifying Lego fans: ABC. We have the AFOLS: Adult Fans of Lego, the BFOLS: Bionicle Fans of Lego, and the CFOLS: Child Fans of Lego. That might be narrow-minded, but I dislike the idea of TFOLS, so placing Bionicle in there fits the bill.

^ Mata Nui lives among them as a spirit...literally speaking, but that robot is not their great spirit. It's just a dead robot that was abused by Makuta to get to his own ends. The Great Spirit was once in charge of it, but he no longer is, and the Matoran have enough intelligence to make the distinction between the intelligence that saved them and the dead machinery that he once used, and, being resourceful, they are going to use it for what they need, which is spare parts.

Should the old animations and maybe games be added to the site?

Takanuva, Toa of Light!Oh, wait, that was an epic quote...

Um, I don't think the word filter would allow me to post what was my reaction, so I'll post a highly moderated version."HECK YES."-Dovydas

No more server lags is a major bonus...until this site is around for a another ten years and gets cluttered up again.I shall rejoice when that happens...until the admins take down the site, AGAIN, because it will mean BZP has last that long. :-)

Chrome has an IE Tab extension, too...You can also use Chrome's Incognito Mode on one window, and the normal window in another. Sadly, this doesn't work for individual tabs, but it's better that loading up two browsers at once... Oh, and Explorer has InPrivate Browsing, but I don't know if it works or not...

Something else to consider is that yes, BIONICLE was brilliant and epic. That doesn't mean that something without a rich, epic narrative can't be enjoyable, especially for kids within the target age range of BIONICLE and Hero Factory. I loved BIONICLE, but that doesn't mean that I can't love Hero Factory for its simpler, more lighthearted story. I often like to make the comparison between the Star Wars original trilogy and the Star Trek original series. One has a deep mythology and backstory, gradually revealing the answers to mysteries and introducing complex plot twists. The other has a campy and episodic storyline that's easier to jump into at any point. That doesn't mean that one is necessarily better than the other (although I know some Trekkies or Star Wars fans might disagree).

My little brother, for some time, has been unable to make an account on BZPower. He has tried multiple times, using a legitimate email address that is different from mine, and several of those times he has used a username that is vastly different from mine. He even uses a computer that is different from mine, and he can view the forums without trouble. But no matter what, no matter how many times he has tried, BZPower has automatically deleted his account. The only thing that is the same is our internet connection. Does BZPower have some sort of prohibition on having two accounts from the same internet connection? Does anyone know what else could cause this problem?

Introducing the fishers64 Master plan to Reboot Bionicle! In responding to your Ruthless Hypothetical, I would take the following steps:1. Bribe Greg Farshtey to accelerate serial publicationI'm sure we can work something out.2. Make Generation 1 Bionicle more accessibleBasically, I would throw all the web videos, DVD Movies, story serials/blogs/podcasts, old Bionicle games, comics, and maybe even the text of the old books on a single website. They are no longer making Lego any profit, so all of them should be available to the public free of charge in case anyone of the younger generation wants to find the old stuff, they will be able to find it in a less confusing format. This is key; the website must be organized well.If I did not place the text of all the books on the website, or even if I did, I would likely push for an omnibus book to be published of all the books of Gen1 Bionicle, simply because I want one. 3. Make a major motion picture with little ties to the old storyWhat I would aim for would be a futuristic Spherus Magna tale told several decades in the future. I was thinking about a war between the Toa and the Great Beings because the GBs do not know the denizens of the MU are now sentient, and each side has to out-innovate the other in pursuit of victory; however, I would be willing to take suggestions. The environment would be the newly high-tech city of New Atero, and I would likely have it done in CGI.The reason I would do a theater movie: people still go to the movies, and if you do a good job of it and publicize it well, it will be hard for people to ignore. They also tend to generate money.I believe that Bionicle still has enough creative talent at Lego and in the fan base to pull off an awesome movie that will appeal to a younger audience, with new main central characters. Even older characters could be brought back without too much backstory if we wanted.The movie could be serialized, but I would go no further than a trilogy and would insist that each new movie be better than the last. 4. Allow the serials to operate in the pastWhile I would change the time frame of the movie (series), I would not change Greg Farshtey's serials, and because he has a few decades to work with in terms of time, he will be able to write pretty much whatever he wants. This is primarily for the benefit of the older fanbase, who will not want the reboot to enhance the serials rather than impinge them. The other benefit of this is that there will be eventually no continuity gaps in the storyline, so less explanation will have to be given for that space in time, because there is story to cover it. 5. MMORPGs and Hero Recon style stuffWhen the movie(s) end, if Lego wishes to continue the line for longer, or even if I have the money while the movies are running, I would consider using Makuta_of_Oz's idea and making a semi-canon MMORPG with characters that you can make sets of; I would expand the idea to include Vortixx, and perhaps allow users to make their own custom Rahi (perhaps to keep as pets in the game?) to purchase. Revealing in-story the Matoran reproductive process would help immensely on these matters. 6. Create a Bionicle iDevice/Android appThis would allow access to the archive mentioned above, the currently running serials, theater movie trailers, and the MMORPG. People will be able to buy standard and custom designed sets right from their mobile devices, and play MMORPG anywhere. I'm actually considering adding a fansite toolbox that will allow you to link to places like BZP, BS01, BioMedia project, etc. The one problem with this is that some of the newer fans will not desire the archive portion because it is confusing and old and some older fans will wish to forget it exists. So the app will be offered with the archive and serials, and without, thus enabling all to get to what they want. And before you say all this isn't possible, remember, this is 2021. The idea of just playing Glatorian Arena 3 on a iPad is enough to send me pacing in circles; the idea of a MMORPG, well, it just might get me off my hover board. Maybe.I haven't decided whether the app will be paid or free yet. Maybe the app with the archive will cost less.7. Sets Obviously, we are going to have the main cast members of the movie as sets, but, thanks to the movie, we are going to have some more money, and I think that money should go into set design.We are going to have a lot more flexibility to do what the fans want. Surveys will be taken, polls made, suggestions considered. Mata Nui robot set? Done. A historical character that didn't get a set before? We can do that. 8. Books, ComicsThese are going to have to be largely ditched, mostly because a) they are not profitable (less people read books these days) and http://www.bzpower.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/cool.png they are drains on GregF's writing time, which would slow down the serials and c) one of the problems of the old Bionicle was that the story was spread over three or four different mediums and it was hard to follow. Limiting it to two mediums will help eliminate that problem. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Notations?

"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

I imagine only about another year or two. I was starting to lose interest in BZP after Bionicle died, and the downtime certainly didn't help any.Besides, now that Bionicle is done, this is really just a Lego forum, and there are some much better Lego forums out there.10001010 BC 10001001

Personally, I like BZPower post-downtime a bit because, given its origins, it approaches LEGO from a very different perspective. I'm a member of some other online LEGO communities, and most of them don't take "story themes" nearly as seriously-- much less "constraction themes".As an example, here on BZP in the LEGO Discussion forum, there is a topic about Knights' Kingdom with a lot of people posting how fondly they remember the theme, or how they wish they had gotten more sets. In many general LEGO communities, Knights' Kingdom is hated by a lot of people for the so-called "jellybean knights" who formed the main cast, the plentiful fantasy elements, and the action figure sets. Hero Factory and BIONICLE have earned some respect with the general LEGO community since they started, but there are still a lot of AFOLs who in general don't consider action figure themes "real LEGO".BZPower's history as a BIONICLE site therefore gives it a sort of uniqueness. Themes that break from LEGO traditions are often celebrated rather than condemned. The perspective of the most recent generations of LEGO fans is appreciated, even if back in the days of BIONICLE people often blamed seven-year-olds in focus groups for all the decisions in that theme which they disliked. And of course in general LEGO discussions fans of BIONICLE are often used to not being taken seriously, so they won't necessarily assume that their preferred LEGO themes are the only ones that people can enjoy.

So, if it's legal to use content from most wikis, does that mean that someone could take all the online serials from BS01 and put them in a book legally?

Hmm...when we bring the old,flawed, boyish Bionicle back...Then we'll talk about modifications. (This is coming from a girl.)

Sounds like Lego is going through some hard times. What did they do last time to fix it? Start Bionicle. What led to their downfall? Ending Bionicle.

Ninja'd! :PNow that Bionicle's no longer running, Lego can barely afford to keep anything else running!

no, lego still get all the money they need from other themes, truth is DbM was too expensive and people for some reason assumed LU wasn't a good game (witch was wrong because it's epic win even though F2P was fail)I also have a theory. A while back there was a devilment branch of lego called "LEGO Software" (remember that any one?) and apparently the games were doing great but lego wanted to focus on the actual sets more then the games so they stooped production. This could be happening again.

LU I understand, but two such announcements has got to ring alarm bells!Then again I suppose November is the month of announcements. You'll remember the announcement to end Bionicle was made in November.

If TLG is trying to use the same style to tell Ninjago as they are to tell Bionicle, then I'm afraid the storytelling style wasn't the problem, at least in general. They might have needed a different storytelling style for Bionicle specifically, or a less cantankerous one, but they haven't abandoned that style completely, which seems to indicate to me that Lego doesn't think that storytelling medium or style is a problem. Now what works for Ninjago may not work for Bionicle; it may be that Ninjago is more relateable to kids than biomechanical creatures and giant robots. That may be a factor, instead of the story style.

I never had a huge fondness of the artwork/comic forums, and the Marketplace I usually avoid.COT is my least favorite. I don't like it. Useless.

Page 102. So I'm in the top 5%.I'm on page 102. So I'm in the top 5%.Off topic, but how do some people have negative posts?

I welcome the publicity. Bring it on! (it's not like I'm making much money off this anyway)

Could you imagine the spam that would be created by doing such a thing?Right now, posts do not count in the voting booth. There is a reason for this - most posts state what option the member voted for and nothing more. Since it does not contribute to post count, some people don't even post - they just vote.If there was the ability to create polls in every forum, then it would be hard or impossible with the forum to make it so they don't count towards your posts. That's part of the reason why polls have a different forum - you can set whole forums to not count in post totals. (Contest polls, probably to encourage voting, count towards post count.) If the current mostly-anywhere-else-on-the-forum-it's-spam posts that populate the Voting Booth would become counted - thus encouraging the spam. If they ever were integrated, the staff would have to make it a requirement to discuss your answer. I have often thought that if they made it a requirement to discuss your reasons why, made posts count, and eliminated simple statement posts, then the Voting Booth could turn into a forum full of great discussions. This sometimes still happens, but a few rule tweaks could improve it. (It would make sense either way, from an aesthetic perspective - either have them all in one forum or have them spread out.)On another note, COT polls wouldn't be too bad - if, again, the now-spam posts are eliminated.