RahiSpeak

Oh yes! This is going to be my first entry into a BZPower contest and I love the theme! Now if I understand correctly, the winning entry will be the one that most emulates the Gen1 character in the Gen2 style, not whoever makes the biggest and coolest build. That means that people like me who don't have many CCBS pieces have a chance at this, right? I mean, too big or intracate and it loses the Gen2 style. Do I see hope?

Vezok.

 

Put back together by the Shadowed One to be neither living nor dead.

The Shadowed One.

 

In an alternate universe he invented a way to get to space to escape the collapsing ground.

In my opinion, it would certainly make sense to split Gen2-S&T from Gen1-S&T. Think about how much of a story there was for Gen1. If someone who is completely unknowledgeable about BIONICLE prior to Gen2 were to see any of the conversations going on about The Dark Mirror or a planet-sized robot created to fix "The Shattering" they would be thoroughly overwhelmed. Just go to BIOSector01 and from there search anything. Clicking on a link leads to ten more and each of those ten leads to another ten; and all of these are for a generation that is irrelevant to the current one. How would a new fan know the difference between Gen1 and Gen2? They may very well think that they have missed something when a post mentions "bohrok" and go on a whole tangent of "discovery" about what Tahu and the Toa Nuva did and all the seemingly hundreds of things that happened, but without a story for Gen2 they would simply assume that the perfectly good and working story they found is the actual story.

 

For that reason, I do not think it would be to early to split Gen1-S&T and Gen2-S&T, just do it as soon as possible.

I don't think going over children's heads is really much of a problem simply because I do not think that younger children as a majority look into the story with that much detail or scrutiny; most probably never knew about any of this. However, for those who did know about it, there are two trains of thought regarding how much they understood. On one hand, it's a pretty simple concept going from one universe to another. In one world it's like this and in the other it's like this. On the other hand, there brains are not quite as developed and may find the idea of two different worlds with the same characters confusing. The most likely option is probably a mixture of the previous two: they did not completely understand  it but simply accepted it and maybe even forgot about it later on.

 

Too dark? That is highly dependent on who you ask. Let's face it, some parents just don't put enough of a filter on what their kids see; they probably wouldn't be phased at all. As far as whether Tuyet's deeds and death are actually too dark for BIONICLE's target market (8-12 years old), it is not likely to scar them, but it is a little inappropriate. It may just be one of those times where Mr. Farshtey forgot who his audience was and just went with writing whatever story he thought was best. After all, this was the climax of the story and things had to get darker to create the suspense and the atmosphere to properly characterize the final events.

I looked it up and it appears that an ldf. file has something to do with SQL servers; probably not what you need.

 

I was actually going to give you the same advice as Quisoves Pugnat above; you can probably find a 3D-visor file within LEGO Digital Designer. It should not be too difficult of a process but give a yelp if you are having problems.

Hmm... Could you perhaps specify what you need this for? I can say that there is no official digital file of a Mahri-visor, but maybe that is not necessarily what you need, or maybe there is an alternative.

 

As a side note, I recommend that you follow topics you have started and expect an answer to. Also be sure to change your notification settings to inform you when someone has posted in a topic you are following.

Ekimu.

 

Traitorous Barraki.

I myself am still trying to learn CCBS, but I have found that the new BIONICLE masks can actually be attatched to several pieces other than the new heads. Any piece that is two studs wide and with axel sockets on either side is a viable attatchment point. I once put a skull spider on the front-side of my Protector of Earth's foot and it actually made as a perfect piece for leg armor.

NOTE: For those monitoring this forum, above are the rules and premise; here is the starting post. In other words I am not double-posting since this is only the first one.

 

Southern Continent to Voya Nui:

 

It is best to get started bright and early in the morning because (most) all of the dangerous sea-rahi are active at night. Trust me from experience, you do NOT want to be out after the "safe time". Now, pack your bags. You need a lunch (I prefer makuta fish myself, but my peers say they are inedible; go figure), a metal hook, something to write with, something to write on, money (just bring all of it), fireworks, and twenty-five feet of rope if you have that metal hook (don't bother leaving if you don't). 

 

For those of you a bit farther inland, you definitely are going to want an ussal. Thankfully, I know a guy, actually several. You can tell who they are because they are all half loners, half insane, and half sketchy (perhaps a bit more than half). Anyway tell 'em RahiSpeak sent you and they should set you up nicely. If that doesn't work then it's off to Plan B, which is essentially set off some of the fireworks in the offender's hut and run off with the ussal. Do not feel bad about it (they were probably stolen anyway) and don't bother spending your hard-earned cash; you would probably be cheated out of most of it (I suppose that is just the price of free). Leaving all that behind on your new ussal (be sure to name it!)...

The three great masks of power: Time, Life, and Creation, respectively. That was a tricky one.

 

Framed for the murder of Karzahni.

Makuta Teridax is the most powerful being; none even rival him. For one he is a makuta and possessing 42-kraata powers, all makuta are incredibly powerful. Second, he is mentally head and shoulders above the rest, which is a factor that appears to have been ignored by the previous posts.

Mata Nui is actually rather low on the power list by comparison. He may have gravity-control powers and control over the inside of his body, but there are several limiting factors. He has shown himself of to be rather ignorant of most happenings within his body and since he needs to have multitudes of beings inside of him and since intelligence and awareness are pretty big factors in determining the power of a being, he is not as powerful as he first appears; being big and all, which is really all he has going for him. He also cannot really be considered for a powerful being because again, he needs many beings inside his body to function and is rather useless on his own. He is more of the culmination and leader of a society he is willfully ignorant of.

The Great Beings have shown themselves to be powerful in the engineering respect, but we have to remember that there were many more than one. Alone, it is likely that that one would have failed miserably at his/her mission. Since that is the only reason why they are considered powerful, the reality is that individually they are not powerful at all.

The Toa Nuva should probably not be considered among the most powerful beings. After all, the Piraka clearly and thoroughly whooped them while a team of newly created and inexperienced Toa were able to defeat the Skakdi.

I do not have enough time to comment on the others or clean up the current ones, but it is clear that no being even comes remotely close to Teridax.

 

EDIT:

I take back what I said above. Really, something as abstract as power is unequivical from one being to the next. Power is a qualitative measure rather than a quantitative, meaning that it cannot be logically compared to something else. Case and point, Alexander the Great originally started as someone with what would be considered very little power compared to the rest of the world. And yet, who ended up ruling the world? Power comes in so many different forms and its effectiveness can be altered by so many different factors that a power ranking system is nigh impossible to create. Perhaps it would be wiser and more fruitful to list BIONICLE's most legendary figures but without ranking one to be more legendary than the other.  

There are a lot of interesting places scattered all over the Matoran Universe; places of beauty and of terror. However, that doesn't mean much to the inexperienced traveler. How would you know the (nearly) best way to get from A to B? Even if you could do it, what wonderful experiences would you miss without a handy guide to show you where to go? Enter the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the MU.

 

Object:

The point of this game is to get from one place to another. Write some instructions for our wandering fellows and help them get to their destination safely (well, maybe "safely" would be a little boring; try "in one piece").

 

Rules:

-The first step is to state where to start and where to finish. The format is "A to B". So just insert that before starting a new journey. Remember that it has to be within the MU (unless it's Voya/Mahri/Mata Nui). Example: Po-Koro to Macku's house

 

-Next, how are the travelers supposed to get there? Do it however you wish. Deal with Dark Hunters, ride a proto drake, or just walk up that dang mountain. Bottom line is that the travelers don't get injured.

 

-In keeping with the hitch-hiker theme however, you are not allowed to finish the journey you started; someone else has to do that. Just end with "..." to signify the destination has not yet been reached.

 

-If you are continuing the journey for someone else (or yourself if they have not finished for you), don't begin with "A to B". Instead, begin with "..." to signify that it is a continuation of the previous post.

 

-You do not have to finish a journey that someone else started, but you cannot post a new starting point and destination until the previous destination has been reached. In other words, a journey can daisy-chain several posts, but no new journey can be started until that one is finished.

 

Those are the rules for now. However, they are due to change over time if there is a need for adjustment (or in the event that I forgot something).

Skull Slicer.

 

Only NAMED character older than the Great Beings.

Toa Tuyet?

Eh, no; actually it' Vezon.

 

Skull spiders.

 

Mata Nui's ultimate clean-team.

Pohatu?

 

Greg Farshtey's favorite character.

The Zone of Shadows is in Chuck Norik's shoe.

 

Chuck Norik is so fly that he grew a propeller out of his back.

 

Norik knows best. Norik never knows less.

 

There is a potted Morbuzakh plant on Chuck Norik's desk.

 

Proto drakes learned to fly when Chuck Norik invented swimming.

 

The Great Beings went to search for Chuck Norik to prevent the Shattering. Norik got annoyed. Mata Nui went to search for Chuck Norik to repair the Shattering. Norik got annoyed.

Karzahni.

 

Former Dark Hunter who is missing an eye.

Yes, it's certainly possible that "The Mask Hoarder" was given to Makuta later. Perhaps there's a reason for "mau" being changed to "mu" in one name and "ma" in the other?

Well, we haven't seen succesive vowels in a word yet; I believe that has been mentioned before. So in that case the usual ending is "u" but when succeeded by another vowel both morph together into "a", unless of course that next vowel is also "u".

 

Anyway, "krata" is definitely a good word for "spider"; I mean, why not? My suggestion is that "kra" should mean "twitching/crawling" while "uta" is used as the second part. So: kra+uta>krata; "many crawling-things". Now, that would mean that the interpretation of "lord/ruler" would also have to be different but no big deal: uta+eki>utaki; "influencer of/influences many", or: mau+uta+eki>mutaki; "power to influence many".

 

EDIT:

I think that maybe "uta" should also end in "u" when not followed by a vowel other than "u"; so "utu". The new construction of "spider" would now be: kra+utu+ha>krat-ha; "many crawling-things (that are violent/dangerous)".

Akavakaku, I actually really like tour ideas, but unfortunately I don't have time to comment on all of them right now. I do have time for Ekimu and Makuta however, so I'll start there.

 

The problem that I see with the way you interpreted those names is that it may be harder to fit some of those words into the names of the Toa than the interpretation that we already have. Of course, we don't NEED them to fit, but since the Protectors more or less named the Toa, it may help. Also, we would still need to explain why "mu" is placed before "eki" in one name and after in the other.

 

So anyway, my new interpretation prompted by your post is that "mau" still means "master/mask", and "eki" means "maker/forcer". Also, I am beginning to think that "Makuta" doesn't mean "mask-hoarder"; partly because I don't remember him being called that; partly because of his mask: the Mask of Control. Think about it, Ekimu is called the "Mask/Power Maker" and wears the Mask of Creation; it stands to reason that Makuta would bear a similar relation to his mask as "Forcer of Many Masks/Powers". Here is exactly how I have interpreted their names. When placed before the noun, "eki" takes on the literal meaning of "maker", but it takes on the abstract meaning, "forcer/influencer", when placed after the noun. So, eki+mu>ekimu means "mask/power maker". If "uta" means many, then ma+eki+uta>makuta means "forces many masks/powers". At this point, I would like to point out that "mau" refers to masks/powers in general as a concept, while the addition of "uta" specifically means multiple masks/powers. It should also be noted that "eki" may have different beginnings or endings for different uses such as an "occupation", for lack of a better word (maker, writer, fighter, etc.) or as an actual verb (makes, writes, fights, etc.). Aside from all of that, earlier IcarusBen had come up with the word "ha" to mean warrior, so if our villagers are feeling like they especially dislike Makuta they could pronounce his name as Makut-ha, which sounds exactly the same but with an emphasis on "ha". For the Toa we assumed it to be a good thing, but it could be used in a derogatory (forget how to spell it) way as well; perhaps able to be translated as "violent" or "short-fused" based on context.

 

I'll respond to the other suggestions you made some other time, but I really like most of them; especially "Okoto". For now, I'm interested to see what you think of my comments so far.

 

I don't think it is possible to influence a wave function, but since I'm not too knowledged in things that advanced, I'll leave confirmation to the guy with a picture of a partical accelerator for his avatar.

A few posts ago (#129) I introduced the idea of using higher dimensions to create the effect of intangibility. Still difficult to use but at least we know that it's possible.

 

I don't think it's possible either. But it's a cool idea.

 

The problem with using higher dimensions is that it would render the intangible object/person invisible as well, which isn't consistent with what we've seen in the canon. But it would theoretically work.

 

-Letagi

As far as being invisible goes, I was thinking that the mask or device would control the effect. If something was about to collide with it, simply move an infintesimal amount into a higher dimension to avoid collision.

 

Using higher dimentions really depends if string theory is true, or if we even have higher dimentions. But even if we did, I dont think we would be able to use them. In string theory, all the extra dimentions are extreamly small and curled in on themselves, and every particle is constantly vibrating through all of them. I guess you might be able to leave our dimension entirely (like in the story flatland) to go around walls, but this is so hypothetical, we couldn't even begin to understand how and if it can be done.

My knowledge is still limited, but I've been reading a book about NASA's history and it has mentioned something called Torsion Physics. How exactly it works is beyond me. Essentially though, rotational (or angular; I always forget) momentum causes energy to be pulled in from higher dimensions. It can do a lot of other things too like "spooky action at a distance" as Einstien phrased it and as I am too lazy to rephrase. The point is that we can interact with those higher dimensions. Perhaps energy pulled from a higher dimension can be directed toward the same higher dimension? I really don't know; just trying to introduce some new concepts here.

I don't think it is possible to influence a wave function, but since I'm not too knowledged in things that advanced, I'll leave confirmation to the guy with a picture of a partical accelerator for his avatar.

 

A few posts ago (#129) I introduced the idea of using higher dimensions to create the effect of intangibility. Still difficult to use but at least we know that it's possible.

 

Anyway, I was looking through some of the above posts and it got me thinking; if we had some pictures of agori/glatorian pulling pieces of Mata Nui (and I know there are some) and if we knew the strength of said agori/glatorian (and I think BS01 says it), then assuming the friction of sand for the ground, we could calculate how much the individual pieces weigh.

Lots of people have mentioned the rapid release of videos and attribute that to Gen2 feeling rushed. Really though, LEGO could release a new video every other week and that would not necessarily make for a rushed story. They are just 90-second videos after all. The problem is the content of those videos and the lack thereof anywhere else. Mysteries are good, but now we just have nothing to go off of. One of the great things about reading a good book is that you can take the little details the author provides and use them to infer about the world and the direction the story may take in the future. Unfortunately, there is nothing to infer from this story; there is nothing deeper than what we have. The story goes that on the island of Okoto things got bad (we don't know how bad or for how long), so six Protectors (who the heck are they?) summoned six Toa to fight hordes of enemies that are really too weak to pose a threat to a well-armed Protector. Regardless, they decide to search for some powerfull masks anyway (there is no description of the journey; it can be summed up in: they came, they saw... and they walked out with the mask). Oh, and somewhere in there these two brothers who used to make masks fought each other. That is all we get. There are no little details that we could take advantage of and add to the story; that's it. We don't even know anything at all about Okoto other than it has six regions.

 

I understand making the story more accessable to young kids, being the target demographic and all, but that doesn't mean that it has to be dumbed-down to that level. Think about BIONICLE in previous years; 2007 for example. There was a big story there for those who were interested, thus pulling in some older fans. The little ones (like me at the time) didn't need to know any of the intracacies; the Great Spirit is dying, the only thing that can save him is a mask that is for some reason at the bottom of the ocean. So, our intrepid heroes go down to get it and fight ugly monsters. Kind of like the story that we have for Gen2, but with extra stuff for the people who want it, which is what made it interesting.

 

Now sure, we didn't know all that much about the story for BIONICLE in 2001, but we did have MNOG. Because of that, there was at least someplace for the story to take place. Right now, the characters are just floating in empty space; it is a blank universe given the name "Okoto".

 

Ever see the movie Eragon? That certainly felt rushed, which makes sense considering the book was 600-pages. As a result, they had to cut out the ever important inbetween scenes and details; there was only enough time for the stuff that has a direct effect on the story. Had these scenes been kept, it may have run smoother. The BIONICLE clips we have now are the same in that we have jumped from one thing to the next with nothing of substance to chew over and carry us along with the story. The short videos are more on par with advertisements which are not meant to create a story, but are just meant to pull in the unknowledgable who want to know more. This is fine, but there is nothing else. Commercials don't have substance to them and it is the lack of depth that makes it feel rushed. Think about it; someone here must watch a TV-series that adds a new episode every weak. Each of these episodes can be anywhere from 30-minutes to an hour and yet despite each being longer than all nine BIONICLE episodes combined it doesn't feel rushed. They are not summaries but complete stories. If Shakespeare was to have his plays summarized in the way BIONICLE is now, we would have "these people loved each other, these people hate each other, and everyone died anyway". Summaries are fine, but everything feels rushed because that is all we have. We don't have a real story. I'd say it comes down to money, since those few BIONICLE geeks who actually care do not make up even a mentionable number of sales; so why bother?

Wow. A few weeks ago I also tried to calculate the size of Aqua Magna without having seen is topic. I don't have the original work anymore, but it was something along these lines:

Based on the below image

 

I figured it was safe to assume that clouds no longer formed at about 1/10 the MU's height. (≈1200 kilometers) On earth, the highest clouds form at an altitude of up to 85 kilometers. I assumed that planetary radius and highest cloud level are proportional,  meaning Aqua Magna would have a radius of about 90000 kilometers, which is around twice the size of Jupiter. After calculating that, I realized that the much larger mass would just drag the clouds down, making the entire thing a waste of time. On the other hand, now I know that every representation of the great spirit robot depicts the clouds completely wrong.

Physics!

 Well, that might have been an easier way of doing it. I don't know enough about the atmosphere or the formation of clouds to say whether all the pictures of clouds are wrong, but if I remember correctly that is just about the size of Aqua Magna that we had estimated.

 

Any hoo, "Welcome to the 'Real-life Physics in Bionicle' topic"!

Hmm... it actually just occured to me that skeletons seem to be a favorite enemy in LEGO themes. Let's go through the list:

 

-Castle

-Ninjago

-Factory: Space Skulls

-The LEGO Movie

-Alpha Team

-BIONICLE

 

There are probably others too. I guess nothing says bad-guy like a skull.