GregF

Consensus is important, I think -- I mean, shortly after getting impassioned pleas to do Kinetics as an element, I got impassioned pleas from other members I respect NOT to. That sort of puts me in the middle on an issue that really isn't vital to what I am doing now.

I don't think anyone wants the entire periodic table represented in BIONICLE, and I think some of this is coming about from a misunderstanding. Someone wrote today and said I was "more at liberty" to canonize things now -- which sort of confused me. What has changed is there are no sets in summer 2010 and onward that I have to work into story. That's it. That has nothing to do with whether or not new elements can get added into story, etc., or what the explanation for some previously unexplained 2009 set issue is. I'm neither at more or less liberty than I was a year ago on that sort of thing.

One suggestion that has been made is that I come up with any new elements that get added into story, which is fine, except that I probably won't because I see no real need for a mess of new elements.

My hope is that I will do a good enough job on the serials that you guys will find new things to MOC. And yes, we are going to Bota Magna in summer 2010. Maybe some other places too ...

Personally, I love the bio-mechanical dinosaurs, they were my favorite thing about the picture.

To those saying the movie should be made, etc., sadly it wouldn't make sense to do -- because the way first half 2010 events shape up, none of this could have happened. So at best it's an alt. universe story now.

Wrinkledlion -- Not to my knowledge. That does not mean "no," it simply means that if the set designers had done any work toward 2010 along these lines, I was not made aware of it.

No BIONICLE 6 movie outline exists. Had we done one, it would have been written in 2009, but by 2009, we knew there would be no 2011 movie -- so no need to write an outline.

Also, just to answer the couple folks who brought it up -- you don't get "character depth" in a screen treatment. That's what the actual script is for. The treatment is to give the studio an idea of the plot and a way to estimate how much making the movie will cost. Character interaction, etc. is not the point of this exercise.

Couple of things --

1) I don't think I can share the 2009 treatment, because I don't own it. It was written under contract with Tinseltown Toons and purchased by them,so they are the only ones who can share that. The 2010 treatment was never purchased by anyone, which is why I could show you that one.

2) The whole "Earth" thing was simply because we had not yet decided what the plague tribe's element would be at that point, so Earth was a placeholder.

3) Some of this most likely will be canonized if we go to Bota Magna in story (as we most likely will, post spring 2010 .. no reason not to)

Brutaka is not a Toa, so I don't think that's relevant. Skopio is red, that doesn't mean we can't have red Toa.

Yes, you could duplicate many of the things this Toa can do wit a variety of masks, but you have to be able to constantly switch masks in the midst of battle to do that. What if, as a non-Psionics Toa, you simply don't have time to do that?

As for the Toa of Gravity -- actually, the potential exists for elemental masks of any of the elements. You could put on a Mask of Fire and do much of what Tahu does, does that mean we don't need Toa of Fire in story? No, because a Toa of the element is going to be better able to control it than another Toa just wearing a mask.

Blue and gold was suggested by a BZPer a week or two ago. I liked it, so I went with it. Purple is nice too, but I felt there were not enough purple Toa-style pieces in existence to allow for a good MOC of the character.

And it's "ce" as in "cerebral" and "cerebellum"

Night Terror is on point -- while I am not planning a "name dump" into the story in 2010, if I decided, say, to do a flashback story, or to go into the red star, or to go to Bota Magna, I really can't do that if I have no new names.

Nuhrii -- We are going to all brainstorm a big list and send it to Legal and see how many we end up with. I am hoping to wind up with at least 30 names I can use.

55555 - I've actually never been invited to any of the BrickFair, BrickCon, etc. sort of thing. I think probably because they tend to be very AFOL-geared shows, and most AFOLs have little interest in BIONICLE.

Hi Ignition -- And I can see your logic. But for the record, BZP does not take time away from serials, etc., it's a leisure time activity for me. A lot of time what happens is I will be writing, and then take a break and come here, and then do more writing. If I wasn't coming here, I would just be going elsewhere on the web, cause I would still need the break

Well, again, Wrinkledlion, doesn't this then go back to a larger issue on BZP -- the constant pursuit of spoilers? That is very much a definition of what BZPower (and a lot of other sites) are about. If you feel that definition needs to be changed, then it is something the membership needs to resolve among themselves. The alternative is people basically saying to me, "Stop me before I read spoilers!" BZP's history is one of (whether I say anything or not) knowing everything months or a year ahead of time -- dating back at least to 2003, when people were parsing the interviews with the cast of MOL trying to figure out who the seventh Toa was, then broadcasting the news all over the site.

In my case, I am a fan of Dr. Who and Torchwood, and I have friends who visit sites and get great spoilers about upcoming shows, casting, etc. I don't want to know that stuff, so I don't go to those sites. As a fan, what I do or don't get exposed to is my responsibility. On the other hand, I do read Previews, so I can get an idea of what is coming out in comics in the next couple months, story-wise, so I know which series I want to buy and which I don't. I don't mind some spoilers there, because it helps me plan my budget.

We also have to keep a sense of perspective here, too -- the only people getting any spoilers given here are, say, 40,000 members and let's add maybe another 100,000 casual visitors to the site. That leaves millions of fans who either don't know BZP exists or don't come here because they don't want to see the sets a year before they come out, etc.

In the end, wanting spoilers is not "bad" or "wrong," and not wanting them is not "bad" or "wrong." But this site was about spoilers before I came here, and would still be about it even if I left, just in different ways ... so this is a question of the site's identity, which is why I shared this message to begin with. If the site as a whole resolves that they DON'T want to know anything ahead of time, I will gladly stop teasing ... but I do not then want to still be getting 50 PMs a day asking about next year.

Aanchir -- Put simply, I was not aware of any kinks. I got submitted a suggestion re: the Kanohi from people on here I respect, and okayed it. I frankly did not have time to worry about every possible interpretation of the info, and assumed the people who were making the suggestion would have concerned themselves with that. I will take the blame for that one, though.

With regard to online contests for "canon" elements -- if you have an issue with the number of them, etc., this is something you need to take up with the staff at BZPower and BS01. These contests are run at their request and under their auspices, not mine, and if they concern things that I don't plan on showing/explaining, I see no reason not to okay them. BIONICLE.com does not run these contests. I have also rejected suggestions to do a number of contests because they dealt with things I could not or would not be able to make canon.

I do think, though, that all this may be leading into a larger debate among BZPers about what questions they ask and why. There is an insatiable hunger for future info on here, and even if it is stuff I can't answer, I still get constant questions on it. The poster who wrote me focused on me as the issue, and maybe that's fair -- but at the same time, I do not provide set images months before the sets come out, which always seem to wind up online (though not officially, as BZP staff are good about that sort of thing). Basically, a lot of people are on a spoiler hunt 24/7, and that's okay ... but if other people on here have a big issue with that, maybe the discussion needs to be among members.

Greg

I gotta disagree on Vakama -- as you said, he had this deep connection to Lhikan and felt he had failed him. Wouldn't turning evil and attacking his fellow Toa be failing him even worse? Why, then, would he do that? Captain America blamed himself for his sidekick's death for decades, he didn't turn bad and attack the Avengers as a result. He fought harder to honor his memory. Keep in mind all that foreshadowing you refer to was done BECAUSE we already knew what the plot of the '05 movie would be at that point. Otherwise, his character would have been developed differently.

One note -- I contacted the Brand Manager re: the Target web site, and they will be contacted and asked to take the Stars sets down as it is too early to be featuring them.

Greg

If you did not receive your comic with your July LEGO Magazine, contact LEGO Customer Service and they will get you a copy of it.

The magazine thing is sort of a long story -- has to do with something we are doing for one of the new 2010 lines and budgets and delivery dates (basically, nuts and bolts publishing stuff). Moivng the release date up ended up making the most sense as a course of action.

Right now, it looks like this issue will focus on one of our big new lines, plus new BIONICLE, new LEGO City, new Racers, new Star Wars, Toy Story, and most likely some more info on LEGO Universe.

Greg

I will see what I can find out, TK.

Nui Toa -- I don't have an answer for that one. You may want to write AMEET directly at ameet@ameet.com.pl and ask them.

Greg

Quick answers:

1) As far as I know, it will be the hardcover edition.

2) I don't know if the activity books will be made available as well

3) It will be in LEGO stores and on LEGOShop ONLY. The reason for this is that LEGO licensees can sell their goods through LEGO outlets anywhere in the world, but the rights to sell in other stores belong to the licensee for that territory. In this case, Scholastic has publishing rights for the US, so AMEET cannot sell BIONICLE books in Barnes and Noble, etc.

Greg

There are no plans to end the serials. I honestly don't know what impact the lack of books will have overall -- we have about 1.5 million people getting the comic every other month, just in the US alone, but only about 30,000 copies of the books were selling, so I am not sure the majority of the fanbase will notice they are gone (sad to say). I would really have liked to have at least one book for 2010, but it is what it is ... that's just the nature of publishing. One year, they want 16 books because they can't keep them in stock, and a few years later, there's just no interest at all.

To Jimmybob's point, it is certainly a logical question to ask (and I have asked it myself on a number of issues) -- at the same time, I don't think they saw a big boost in sales in 2005 or 2006. Personally, I think the 2009 movie is going to be a big shock to a lot of people -- I think it is miles better than the other ones and is going to do well enough that it is going to catch a lot of people associated with BIONICLE unprepared. Maybe I am just being optimistic, but that is what I would like to see happen.

Greg

Hi guys,

A few answers:

1) At present, there are no books planned for 2010 that I know of. That includes BIONICLE Level 3 readers. Originally, Scholastic was toying with the idea of not doing the movie novelization in 2009 and instead doing it in early 2010 as a super-sized book with a bunch of post-movie story in it, but they opted to go for the 2009 route.

As for comics, the lack of books won't have an effect, positive or negative, on the number of comics in the year. The comics are paid for by LEGO marketing and their budget for that is what it is, it's not affected by what Scholastic does.

2) My usual MUA team is Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Wolverine, though I switch out the Cap slot now and then if I get bored. This is actually my third time playing it, but I have never gotten all the way through for one reason or another. Right now, I am doing Murderworld, which I think is one of the weaker levels overall.

BFN - I didn't write the script, actually -- I did the story for the movie. Sean Derek wrote the script.

Greg

AZ Blue - I believe the first chapter book is in stores in June.

As for the Makuta Guide, I think -- not sure -- they are doing an English language version for publication in the UK. I have to check on that. I know the book is doing well and they are translating it into some other languages as well. However, it will not be available in the US, AMEET does not have US book rights for BIONICLE, Scholastic does.

Greg

A few answers:

1) No, they are not "born" with the implants.

2) I have no idea how they will deal with this in the movie or if they will deal with it in the movie. I have not seen any movie animation.

3) This was a story team decision, based in large part on our wanting to distance BM from old BIONICLE. If we just did "Toa" again without calling them Toa, that would be pretty dull.

4) The whole "ocular implants" thing was an example -- I'm not saying every bone hunter has that or even that most do, it's just an example of something they might have that would be useful.

5) It is always going to be difficult to do organic with Technic pieces. At the same time, if you look at a 2001 Toa set, you can't tell he has organic muscle tissue and organic lungs or anything organic at all, but he does. You just use your imagination.

Greg

My guess would be that it varies -- for example, some bone hunters might have ocular implants for better vision. Glatorian might have implants to help their muscle endurance, agility, or even some kind of implanted body armor to protect them in a fight, etc.

Greg