55555

My sister was talking about how annoyed she was about alternate universes in Bionicle, because in alternate universe characters behave very differently and them behaving in those ways is just as 'real' as their standard behaviours. So for instance, Onua is evil in the Toa Empire alternate universe, making Onua just as truly evil as truly good, something that understandably would frustrate someone emotionally engaged with that character.Buuut, I figured out something that resolves that and makes a lot more sense.The usual theories about branch universes is that branches are created in a couple different ways; one, alternate results of random factors (like Schrodinger's cat), and two, alternate decisions made by people.To clean things up a little, I'll go forward with these hypotheses.First, that there's no such thing as the Butterfly Effect, a theory in which tiny factors, such as the movement of a butterfly's wings, can effect gigantic factors, such as a hurricane.Second, that random factors DO NOT create branch universes. So I'm saying that the universe is an entirely predictable entity, that will always act exactly the same way in the exact same set of circumstances.Which leaves only one thing that creates branch universe; important decisions made by the people in them.Back to my original thing. What defines a fictional character, or a real person? What makes them who they are? Really, how they use their free will. AKA the decisions that they make, especially the important ones.So I theorize that the Toa Empire Onua and the original Onua are entirely different people, kind of like identical twins. They look the same, sound the same, in some ways they think the same but they are different people and make significantly different choices under identical circumstances.WWhich presents and interesting picture; zillions of Onuas spanning the whole range of possible combinations of important decisions. A moral and mental spectrum of Onuas.Now this doesn't work for humans, because we are real people and are not mass produced to neatly fit every slot in a multi-dimensional spectrum, but it works pretty well for robots.Anyway, I hope that was clear. Stomp on, gaze in wonder at, or snort derisevely regarding my theory as you see fit. - 55555

So the quote must come from either the Lord of the Rings trilogy or from The Hobbit? Hence the silmarallion (sp?) is off-limits?Edit: Also, what constitues a quote? If I had the term "eleventy-one" in my story, would that be enough? Does it have to be a full sentence? A phrase?

A full sentence.Though if you really want to use part of a sentence, PM me or Velox with it and we may make an exception.'Eleventy-One' is not enough, no.- 55555

I have another question...I know we need to say what chapter the quote comes from, but where should we do that? If a character says the quote, should we insert the citation right then and there, or wait until the end, restate the quote, and then tell where it came from?I'm sure I'm over analyzing this, but I can't help myself.

]Citing it in the story body would most likely disturb the pace of the story. I recommend putting it at the end. - 55555

I've only read The Hobbit

That shouldn't stop you from entering, personally I prefer The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings. There are plenty of good quotes in it.

Quick question: Does the title of our short story have to be a LotR quote as well? Or can it be whatever we want so long as we use a LotR quote in the story itself?-TNTOS-

The minimum LotR content in your story is one quote in the body or title. You're encouraged to do more than that.

Yeah, I was surprised. However, I think I should leave this to the people that honestly love the trilogy. I read it once and that was it.

That's better than a lot of people. Heck, just enter. At least skim through LotR and see if anything jumps out at you, or read The Hobbit if you haven't.

Not having touched a LotR book, I'll probably give this one a miss. Good luck to those who have bothered to read a classic

Entirely out of context quotes are entirely permissible. Feel free to Google up some random excerpts, or whatever, you don't actually have to read LotR or The Hobbit.Though every human should really read The Hobbit.- 55555

I will do my darndest to enter this contest.I have a suggestion; why not just have the thumbnails in the polls link to the artwork image? This will make it easier for voters to view the imagery, and eliminate non-artwork factors that could effect voting, such as poor formatting, text presentation, and writing quality of the "Artist Comments". This would be more in the tradition of past contests.- 55555

The reason it is circular is because there is nothing else to be said, but the topic is still active because it's an issue people really care about. There is really nothing we can do but wait.

...And because people posting haven't read the earlier posts in the topic. :PAnyway, I wouldn't be surprised if Greg returned to BZP once Lego sorts out the bureaucratic mishap that has held all of their staff incommunicado.- 55555

Morality wanes and waxes through the centuries. I'm inclined to think we're close to the bottom of one of those curves, but that could be due to the idealization of past decades.(I haven't read much of this topic, FYI.)- 55555

....I love collaborative works. Just...amazing the talent we have here. Great job....I must go to kinko's with this and print it out.

Pretty sure this was a one man band. Phyoohrii is so good he collaborates with himself.Anyway Phy, great job on this. Interesting figure constructions system. Had a fun time looking at this, scrolled through the whole thing at 100%. I like the Vezon one a lot. :PYou could release a truckload of banners from this. Maybe userbars?- 55555

Oh man, I didn't know you guys still needed voice actors. I can definitely help with that--I can do a wide range of Matoran voices if needed.I could probably help with music, too--I've been considering remixing the MNOG soundtrack for a while, so would that be of any help?I'd really like to be able to contribute something to this, as this is one of the neatest projects I've seen on BZPower, and because I really haven't done anything for TTV, so I feel like I owe you guys big-time. So if I can do any of the above, let me know. I'm more than willing to.

While we appreciate the offer, as of this moment we require no further assitance at this moment. The only voice actor we need is one for Nokama, and that is being taken care of. Thank you for your interest and we hope you enjoy the finished project :)Heads up to everyone - We will be continuing filming on the weekend, and we're almost done voicing the second script! We're gettin' work done!

Great to see one of these ambitious projects that isn't being abandoned.KUTGW, like the trailer, will be interested in the final work.- 55555

I'm familiar with paintball and airsoft, but I was unaware of this. Sounds like a lot of fun.- 55555

Would it be allowed to entry for anyone arund the globe or only for US?

Anyone from any country may enter. You're fine.- 55555

I'd say at most, a canister is worth $10.

If a complete set with instructions and canister is worth at most $10 USD,and even then that is pushing it, I doubt the canister alone is worth $10 USD.I would say at most, you could get those canisters for $3 USD each.

Yeah, $10 would be pretty high. I agree with Reya.- 55555

ok

Make sure to contact Black Six for permission before selling them, at one point it was taboo to sell the Bink supplied protos.The black Pakari may be a prototype. Compare the numbers and other details to another Pakari.- 55555

Ok i was not planning on selling them on bzpower but i would like a rough estimate on how much they would be worth. and i will check the number. thanks

The reason you'd ask B6 is because he should know if Bink does not want these parts sold, where you'd sell them is immaterial.But, if you are allowed to sell them; I imagine the limb piece will go fairly low as it is not a mask and not visually attractive. $30 tops, $15 minimum is my guess for that.And the Pakari If it is a prototype, it would be an undramatic ultra-rare. I'd guess $20 to $40.- 55555

Make sure to contact Black Six for permission before selling them, at one point it was taboo to sell the Bink supplied protos.The black Pakari may be a prototype. Compare the numbers and other details to another Pakari.- 55555

How about Betrayal as a theme? Someone must betray someone at some time.Similar to the death theme, but a little less grim.- 55555

Portal 2, though I only played a few 2011 games.- 55555

Completed my deal with Golden Kanohi for Copper Komau, UK Copper Huna, US Copper Huna and 20 Orange Vahis. All went well, highly recommended.- 55555

Excellent:Golden Kanohi - Sent quickly, minor communication problems on my end, items arrived quickly and as specified. Smooth and fast transaction.I'll probably update this with my old list from the archived forums.- 55555

Intriguing concept and execution.Your work will never cease to interest and confuse me. - 55555

I have a bit of an outlandish idea, but hear me out. What if the contest was based around who could create the most entertaining story? To start out, the authors would create a (short) comic that introduces their story, and people would vote on their favorite comics (kind of like the idea you're presenting). However, after the first voting round, the remaining contestants would have to create another comic continuing the story. The people would then be able to vote less on how humorous a comic is or how good the author is at using Photoshop, and instead vote based on how good the author is at creating an entertaining story. This would cause some problems, I understand, but it's just another idea. Voting on a winner based on just one comic would be difficult, because you can't really tell how good a comic author is based on one comic.

A contest is not necessarily about who has the most skill, it's more about who came up with the best entry.That said, this theme sounds like it could be good.

On another note with the whole "someone dies" idea I had: if you want a comedic twist to it, try having a punchline as the theme. The comic that best works with that gets the prize/title/etc.

The same punchline might become repetitive.- 55555

I will never forget Bump Missiles.- 55555

So, anyone care to explain why stealth in space (sensor visibility, not visible) is impossible?

I don't see why standard stealth faceting would not work in space. Radar would still be largely useless against faceted objects.However if your accelerating with any of the known ways of doing so, you would be giving off light in various forms that would be detectable.I think.- 55555

Winner of a Greg contest2nd in BBC #483rd in BBC #511st in BBC #561st in HF building Contest1st in BBC #62Learned graphics manipulationOPBZPshipPromotion to ReporterInstigator of Member Creations FeaturingJudging Organizer for SSC #8BZpower has helped me learn a lot of stuff over the years.- 55555

Congrats to the winners!Though I regrettably did not manage to enter this contest, hopefully I'll enter the next one. May it come soon!- 55555

I think a few of these themes can be entirely eliminated.

• [*]Christmas theme: Christmas is not entirely relevant in February, and I believe something like this was done with the Comics Advent Calendar recently.[*]Sports theme: Unsupported and I think not a good idea. Many people are not very interested in sports and the range of possible jokes may be too limited.[*]Four seasons theme: Eliminated.[*]Panel limit theme: Not very thematic, uninspiring.

I'd recommend the following 8 themes be considered as the only existing options:

• [*]War theme[*]Catastrophe twist theme (2012-related disaster?)[*]Death twist theme[*]"Quest for the Masks" theme[*]MNOLG theme[*]Downtime theme (in before 180 blank panels)[*]Dramatic tension theme[*]"Anonymous", Work-within-chosen-series, or emulate-an-original-comic (Should be considered one theme for now. If chosen details then can be worked out.)

Trying to simplify the theme selection process for ya.And I have to say Wind & Ziko, I whole heartedly approve of your handling of this so far.- 55555