Virid

This is something I was actually puzzling over the other day. MU inhabitants having a life span of 100,000 years or more is understandable, since they are biomechanical beings. However, since the Glatorian and Agori are organic beings with mechanical implants, amongst other augmentations, it doesn't really make sense for them to be able to live for that long. I would assume the changes made to them by the Great Beings included improved cell rejuvenation, but that doesn't explain whether they would remember all 100,000+ years of their life, how quickly they would age mentally or when they would be able to reproduce. Once more MU inhabitants having memories spanning 100,000 years seems more probable, since their brains could be more closely compared to computers, as long as they don't run out of storage space. But it's interesting to think about how 100,000 years of memory would effect an organic being. Then again, I seem to remember the Glatorian and Agori in Legend Reborn seeming to have no memory of the Core War, or why their world is the way it is, which could be put down to memory loss or just artistic licence. As for mental age, you could argue that humans of the same age aren't always of the same level of maturity, so perhaps some Glatorian/Agori just 'choose' not to grow up as quickly as others, if you were to put what I said on a much larger scale, like their lifespan. Reproduction I can't think of an answer for which actually works. I would presume that Glatorian and Agori reach that level of maturity fairly early on in their lifespan, but have an extremely long adulthood due to the changes made to their species. In this case Spherus Magna should be very over populated, then again it is far bigger than Earth and the majority of the Glatorian and presumably many Agori were wiped out in the Core War.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me.

Since submitting my first character I've come up with two more that I'd quite like to post. Then again, I'm thinking it may be worth waiting till this period of inactivity comes to an end, or at least until I've tried out this RPG with the character I've already submitted. Is inactivity like this normal? (Apologies if I sound impatient, this inactive phase just happened to start the day I discovered this RPG)

Name: Hush Variation: Power Scream Level: 2 Gender: female Gear: Hush carries a staff with a small, simple blade at either end. At first glance this is a somewhat boring weapon, however, upon closer inspection, there is a lot more to it. Running down the back of the staff is a narrow slot, from which can be pulled a string, like that of a bow. When the string is pulled, the staff bends back into a bow-like position, thanks to it being composed of multiple interlocking segments. The staff will lock into this form once each segment is properly angled, but can be returned to its original state by pressing a button above the handgrip. She also carries a quiver of arrows for use with the bow. Appearance: Hush is oddly small for a Rahkshi, the result of a deformation in the Kraata that would eventually become her armor. The limbs and body of her armor are a pale silver in colour, while her head, Kraata tank, hands and feet are varying shades of purple, from dark to light. The spines on her Kraata tank are short, narrow and numerous. Personality: Hush is naturally antisocial, generally avoiding others and the world itself. Those around her will often see her as having a somewhat vacant look in her eyes, or mistake her for being somehow upset. However, while there is rarely a lot going on the outside of her armor, there is always a lot going on inside. Hush spends the majority of her time thinking, be it about personal matters or what she read earlier that day. Hush will even run through her opinions on things in her mind, despite rarely talking to others. That is another thing that makes Hush somewhat... unusual. Despite what her power would suggest, Hush never seems to talk to anyone, except to give short, even one word, answers to questions. It is this silent nature that earned her the name 'Hush'. But, despite her reclusive nature, Hush does not in fact seem to enjoy total solitude and she will often linger around other Rahkshi, even though she will not participate in conversation, not verbally at least. Bio: Hush was seen as weak by her Makuta, due to her smaller than average size and refusal to participate in what was occurring around her. The Makuta even planned to have her killed, since she served no use to him. However, upon realising that she was yet another of those Kraata to be undergoing some form of evolution, it was decided that perhaps killing her was not the best idea and instead she was sent to the academy.

Set wise we'll no doubt get new versions of the Toa once again, which wouldn't be too bad, though hopefully they won't have to and get more gold masks... I'm hoping that, if we do get new versions of the Toa, they take what was started in 2016 and refine it to leave us with sets that have a good integration of CCBS and technic, I thought some of what we saw this year was great, but there's still room for improvement. As far as the small sets go I've no clue what we'll get, though some new Okotans (preferably not the younger generation) would be nice, as would a wave of small villains instead. Makuta and the MoUP will no doubt be in the summer wave, so presumably will get another skull villain type character, though a more unique villain would be nice. So far the villains in G2 haven't had a whole lot of character and most don't even have names, so something that breaks that trend would be nice. The Mask of Time could appear in the winter wave, though if Bionicle is successful enough and Lego extends its run then I can see that being the focus of 2018. With luck we'll get a good summer wave in 2017, the 2015 summer sets were not as good as the winter sets and this year's summer wave looks awful (though that might change). The only explanation I can think to be the cause of this is a low budget and/or most of that being spent on the winter wave. If next year is the big showdown and Makuta is a summer set, I'd be pretty disappointed if we got another unspectacular wave of sets. If Bionicle is doing well enough to continue in 2018 then hopefully the budget will be raised to allow better summer sets, but if Bionicle does end next year the chances of the last wave being as good as the winter waves is pretty low. I don't know what we can hope for storywise, but hopefully we'll get at least one big twist that will catch people of guard. I'd also like to see more exploration into the Toa themselves and a defeat on their part, or at least a victory that doesn't come easily.

Ok, time to get Netflix.

If you watch the second Netflix trailer, Umarak actually appears to summon in several 'elemental clones' of himself, when Gali says "he's using the elements against us!" I would imagine this is one of his abilities, something to do with him uniting with the creatures or possibly (though rather unlikely) he uses the mask of control to control the elements, though I doubt he'd have it by this point in the episodes (presumably he gets it at the end of ep2) so this last theory is probably wrong. Edit Oh wait, just found another of your topics and it seems you've already worked it out, so feel free to disregard this

I think "run" and "is that where we're going" were said by Onua, "it's closing up" I believe was Pohatu and "I know that place" I think was Lewa.

I agree, Makuta sounds great but Gali's voice doesn't sound how I expected it to sound. Ekimu's I'm not sure of, he sounded different when he and the Toa were walking along to how he did in the previous trailer. Pohatu I'm not sure of either, but it's hard to judge any of the voices from two short videos. But this is looking good, and Umarak seems to be able to make some form of elemental clones of himself, which is interesting...

Well, this theory does seems to have had some thought put into it (asides from Ekimu and Makuta being Mata Nui's descendants), and as a head-canon is pretty neat. However there is (as far as I can tell) no evidence that G1 and G2 are or could be linked, mainly due to the changes to the lore: Toa have no elemental power without a mask, masks are forged from 'magic', villagers being more organic than Matoran etc. I guess there's probably a counter argument to everything I just said, but if Lego were to continue the G1 storyline, they wouldn't make it so obscure.

I have to say when I first found out that G2 was going to be a reboot I was disappointed, then again I realise now that Lego wouldn't continue a storyline from five years ago, which started fifteen years ago, and then expect new fans to understand it. As for G2 ruining the G1 timeline, I can see it's been made perfectly clear that they aren't related in any way, so I won't dwell on that. What I will say, however, is that the G2 storyline is a little disappointing thus far. I know it's only the second year and we do have a Netflix series on the way, but last year's animations were too short to really explain anything. Of course there were the books and graphic novels, but I have yet to read those. In some ways I think the mix of media last year was a test to see what worked and what didn't, which I guess is also the case for the Netflix series, so hopefully it'll improve from now onwards.

Wow, these sets certainly have some unexpected features. I can't say I like this wave anymore than last summers, actually I think the Skull Villains were a lot better, but I can't make a final judgement till they've actually been released. The Beasts do have a very mutated, almost zombie-like appearance, in their lopsidedness (Quake Beast most of all). Ekimu doesn't look that great to me, having two gear functions is awesome, but I much preferred his villager form and prefer him being just another villager, rather than a 'Toa'. The Beasts aren't great, there're some weirdly done features, like Storm Beast's arms and hands, but their uniqueness might encourage me to buy them. Quake Beast's function looks like it'll be really cool; Quake Beast's sideways gearbox is interesting to say the least and Lava Beast's blades also look really great. Umarak... I don't like thinking of him as an evolution of Umarak the Hunter, it doesn't look like this 'mutation' was something Umarak wanted to happen, but the size of this model and the build is very impressive. I think my favourite part of Umarak would have to be the use of the 2015 gearbox just as a structural piece, rather than for an actual gear function, it's one of many techniques used in 2016 that looks like something you would usually only find in a MOC, and it works really well.

Oddly enough none of my Stars pieces have broken, despite me taking apart and rebuilding my sets on a regular basis. However, pretty much all my limb/hand pieces from 2008 onwards have varying levels of cracks, down to the unfortunate redesigning of parts from then onwards, though rarely has a piece broken enough for it to lose all friction and I've never had to replace a part thus far. As for breaking in the box, either you had a badly manufactured piece or perhaps it was put into the canister in an awkward position which weakened the joint, leading to it's ultimate demise when knocked around or while being taken out, that's what I would guess happened anyway.

Wow, this is a very impressive MOC and I like the use of CCBS limb pieces to fill out the body, not a technique I've seen before. This MOC may benefit from a little more metru blue here and there, but other than that it looks great!

Having the Toa's elemental power come from their masks is somewhat limiting, as if they have no other way of accessing their powers then they would be unable to use a specific mask power (say speed) and their elemental powers at the same time. It is interesting, however, that if this is the case then the users of other masks (such as those made by Ekimu) would likely be used by the villagers, meaning that those identical masks they all wear could have unique powers. Having read through this topic, and having thought about it, I'm wondering whether masks act similarly to G1 Toa tools? The Toa each have elemental power within them, but require a mask to access it. Therefore the golden masks can be thought of as Takanuva's lance, which instead of just channelling power actually increases it. And, to get round the issue of Tahu and Kopaka switching masks, perhaps each mask is specifically designed to channel one element, making it useless to a Toa of another element. Then the masks of speed and strength could either syphon of a portion of any Toa's elemental power to function (allowing the Toa to still use their elemental power, but at a weaker level) or use all of a Toa's power to function, stripping them of elemental powers while in use. As for the Protector masks, they probably are like Turaga versions of elemental masks, it would also explain why they didn't go to get the gold masks themselves, if they could not use masks that powerful. What I don't understand is why the uniters need to go and get more gold masks, instead of Ekimu just crafting gold masks for them or not scattering them in the first place?

I think just about everything has been covered here, but I might as well add my opinion to the pile. The MoT in the graphic novel is obviously a place holder, as has been pointed out a number of the above comments. Whether the G1 Vahi design will be used in G2, if the answer is that it will be it won't be as the top half of the MoT, as the mask shown is meant to be. A number of ways in which it could be the top half have been given, but none of them make any sense in terms of why Lego would do that. It makes no sense for the Vahi, a mask which covers the lower face, to be used as the top half of a mask, unless the lower half of the mask extends downwards even further.

This is pretty awesome MOC! The use of the Piraka torso for the wings is very interesting and I like the custom head design. I am quite interested in Dragons and I'm actually currently making sixteen Toa and a Dragon to go with each, so I may refer to this for inspiration

Oops, forgot to check if anyone had replied to me, bit late now I guess. Anyway, I guess I should've included Uxar's stinger since I was including Akida's tail, though re-reading my earlier comment it does seem rather aggressive, so please disregard anything I said above.

Mine is sent, I'll put it up on the forums soon.

Masks in G2 don't make sense, as has been said, Ekimu and Makuta can use masks, but perhaps they are 'above' regular Okotans. The Protectors also each have their masks which (I think) they use for terraforming their regions, so perhaps they could use a gold mask, but I guess if they could they probably would, same for the regular Okotans. Makes you wonder what regular masks, such as those the Toa wear on their arrival, actually do, and how Ekimu's masks can be better than Makuta's when everyone wears the same mask.

Hm, for G1 probably Le-Wahi, Ga-Wahi seems nicer but I'm terrible at swimming Karda Nui's also cool but I don't think I'd want to permanently reside in a giant cave. On Okoto I'd probably choose somewhere on the edge of the Region of Water, near the border with the Region of Jungle.

Can't wait for this wave, whether 2016 will be better than 2015 I don't know, but I like the new approach and the fact that Kopaka + Melum are £5 cheaper than was rumoured is very appealing, I wonder if the creatures will be any cheaper than the protectors? It would be great if they are, if they're not then they'll be cheaper to buy in the US than they will be in the UK.

Wow, people are being really harsh on this set, personally this is my joint favourite of the creatures, alongside Uxar. I like the fishlike shape and feel to this set and think it has enough articulation, granted it has less than the other creatures, but other than perhaps another ball joint in the body, how much are you hoping to get out of a fish character, who doesn't need it? I appreciate the technic build, not because I particularly like technic, but because I think it looks good and works better for the form of this character than a CCBS torso with some stuff attached would. The technic build, along with the twin stud shooters also illustrate the fact that these are biomechanical organisms. A normal, organic creature would look weird with twin guns on its back, but I see nothing wrong with a creature which is part machine having them, you could even argue that the ammo is elemental energy, meaning no 'bullets' are required. And while the function is not exactly much compared to the others, it helps for the unity mode. Speaking of which, some people have said Gali doesn't get much out of it compared to say Lewa, who gets some wings; Gali gets twin stud launchers fins and a tail, more than Lewa gets.

Well this looks like a good way to get to know some people here, count me in.

Tahu: I... don't like him, he's way too top heavy and his mask looks a but odd, his weapons are also strange. However his unity form does look awesome. Kopaka: my favourite of the large Toa, his weapons are good and he has a really cool looking build, and while the two gold pieces look out of place, they help balance out the gold distribution when in unity form. Onua: he's alright, I like him more than I did in previous images and his mask is growing on me, but I don't like his staff, it just looks odd to me. Gali: started out as my 4th favourite when the first images came out, now she's my favourite of these new Toa. Although I'm generally not one for asymmetry, and it doesn't make sense for a water character, I do like how it looks on her and think the orange looks very good on her. She also has a great mask and interesting weapon. Pohatu: Pohatu was my favourite, now he's my 4th favourite. His thigh armor looks two short, his mask is a different shade of brown, his shoulder design looks odd and he appears to have two shades of trans lime green. His weapon is cool though and he has a boulder again! Lewa: I like Lewa, he's probably my 3rd favourite. He has a cool design and his colours are good. His mask is alright and I'm beginning to like his weapons. Ikir: looks cool, ok build, good colours, odd feet and the wings flap which is nice. Terak: Terak's alright, looks a bit like a protector with big hands and small legs, they should've done an Ussal Crab for the CoE though. Looks like his function makes his arms move. Melum: just a smaller Terak, nothing to say really, shame they couldn't make a more unique creature for the largest set. Akida: this one looks to be the most substantial creature, very technic-y. This is probably my second favourite creature and in some ways has two functions (the stud shooters and ability to move those and the fins for untiy mode) Ketar: looks alright, tail's a bit odd but other than that it's a good build. From the looks of it the function works by swinging the tail to make the arms move. Uxar: my favourite of the creatures, I really like the look and design of this one. Some people seem to reckon it's an insect, but I personally see it as a humming bird. Wing flapping function like Ikir, nothing new there, though Uxar's wings look better. Umarak: looks very cool, I really like the mask and the antlers are a nice touch. The bow and 'hunting knife' arrangement makes a lot of sense. His build and colours look good, asides from the lower legs. The Mask of Control is not as good as I'd hoped, though, I preferred the version in the earlier preliminaries. Shadow Traps: way better than Skull Spiders, shame there aren't more of them. Final thoughts: Nuva symbols, G2 Rahi, Unity mode is great, why do the creatures all have the same head? Crystals have some significance, more custom builds, spare ammo holders for stud shooters, return of Skrall/Vorox armour, cool new blade piece, better mask pop-off function.