Airoski

Oh good, all my prefered choices are winning I'd also make a point of keeping the story's plot very simple, but the world-building very detailed. It was a detailed setting that I beleive got Bionicle off the ground, yet in its later years the complexity leaked through into the plot. Even back in the day I struggled to tell my Nektanns from my Nocturns and my Helryxs from my Miserixs, and that was with browsing S&T everyday!

I never finished 'Bionicle: The Game' as my PC was an ancient relic. Ran at about 5 frames per second. With serious persistance, I got to the minecart level, only for the track not to load so you couldn't see when there was an obstacle to dodge, or a lightstone to collect. That was the sorry end of Pohatu Nuva and his buddy.

Hi again all! I've been back for a week or so, and I've decided I'm going to stay. It's crazy to think that three years have passed since I've frequented this site, but I'm recognising more and more familiar names around the boards. Back in the good old days, I ran a Games 'company' where I made GameMaker/RPGMaker games with my friends here. Anyway, right now I'm here to help stoke the boilers on 20:15 train to Hypesville, but I plan to stay regardless of whether Bionicle returns

We need a third batch of recolored Bohrok, that's what would do it I'm really worried about the prices for the new sets; aren't the basic sets (not titans or whatever) like in the $14ish range nowadays? I haven't looked at HF in stores for years so I'm not 100% sure, but I know that they're definitely more expensive than canisters in the early 2000s Although if there's fewer sets overall, it would probably not be that big a deal. I'm hoping for tiny sets like matoran and turaga, I always loves those. Even in like, 2006, they were still super neat >third batch of recoloured Bohrok And I would buy them all on sight Yeah, I think Matoran-scale figures make a great deal of financial sense. When I first got into Bionicle, I didn't get all that much pocket money, so they initially made up the bulk of my collection. I imagine this was the case for a lot of youngsters, and that's probably partly why Lego gave them a lower recommmended age. Luckily, with the (possible) upcoming release in (the year before 2016) of what Makaru may edit out to be the [even smaller figures], it seems probable that Lego's bringing back this size category.

Yes and yes. This'll sound pretty negative, but I honestly think the presentation of HF since it went to market has been insultingly lazy compared to the Bionicle line's detailed marketing and story. Back in Bionicle's heyday in the early 2000s, the line was famous. Ridiculous statistics were released about how many kids and parents knew about it. Hero Factory has not reached that level of success, and I put it down to the lacklustre backstory/marketing. While I've interacted with other peoples' HF sets, I've never bought one myself, so I won't miss it. Bring on the Bonkles.

I was ahead of time in the UK, so when I used the forums the American kids were all at school. And it was still down all the time! Goodness knows when you actually got to post But yes, BZPower back in the day was pretty great. There was a time where I could check back every hour minutes and there would be new works in GA. I miss that bubbling, busy, kind of environment. Hopefully with the (likely?) return of the Bionicle line, those days can return.

Because the Dark Hunters, Barraki, Skrall remnant and pretty much every other villain left over from Bionicle's ten years were grouping together in the Bara Magna desert. Plus the Element Lords. Plus the Baterra. Plus Velika. If they skipped forward five years to the eventual ending of that war, almost everyone would be dead. There wouldn't be much story left five years into Bionicle's future. Although, I suppose that would be one way to get rid of all of the excess characters... I don't think having the Element Lords, Barraki or Dark Hunters as villains is a good idea, mind. To fully understand them, you'd need a knowledge of the previous Bionicle stories. I'd prefer new villains so new fans don't have to pick up any story 'baggage'. A subtle nod or two for the old fans would be a good thing, though. The best way to start fresh but keep the same canon would be a time jump into the future, when the events of the old story have faded into myth. That way you can reference the events, without requiring new fans to possess detailed knowledge of them. I don't agree with this, mostly. The Barraki and TSO could just be passed off as "evil warlords from the old universe" or something along those lines, and the Baterra, Element Lords and Marendar were barely introduced in the old story, so bringing them in wouldn't require any real background knowledge either. A continuation is entirely plausible, if they pull it off right. Sure, it's plausible just from the perspective of plot. But if Lego want to Sell More Toys!TM I think it'd be best to give the story a fresher start. Just look at the Barraki. To fully understand them, you'd be better off if you knew that they were warlords, that they were imprisoned in The Pit, that they probably resent Toa for opposing them, that they were mutated, that Mantax betrayed them, ect. There's a lot of baggage. I also think a story would be more interesting to follow if you don't already know the villains. Then throughout the course of the new story, you can build up a picture of who these characters are from the actions they take. I'd regard that as an important selling point of any story.

^This. Probably because of the serenity- it was the most peaceful Metru. The scholarly culture and the abundance of laboratories also appeals to me. Oh yeah, and it's populated mostly by females, that's a plus-point, right? If you want those females to be blue robots wearing masks. Good point If I was a Bionicle character I wouldn't necessarily see that as strange, right? Anyway, it's a shame that in many of our Earthly societies, males mostly run the show. So I think I'd find Ga-Metru more interesting simply for being different to that which we're used to.

Oh wow, this hit some nostalgia notes. Thanks for the video. As Trizzler's said, the canisters are sorely missed. I suppose cardboard boxes help the good ol' environment as they can be recycled. But is it really that hard to make a cheap, yet durable canister for play and storage that can be recycled? Get on it Lego! Just don't sell them in bags...

I'd like to stay open-minded about the possible new sets, and the new fans they'll bring. Yet I know myself too well to know that I'll probably quite vocally prefer the originals, as I have with other reboots/remakes of other franchises. The nostalgia is strong with me, and I imagine this will be true for many members. As a community, we're going to have to put in a lot of effort to not be those kind of fans (Transformers genwunners being the quintessential example!) Besides, it's a new world and Lego has its own message boards, so we have competition! If we're going to attract new ideas for the boards and new talent for the creative outlet, we're going to have to be forward-thinking and inviting.

I'd prefer a continuation too, if only to avoid having two canons in my head like the Evangelion movies. I've never really liked remakes. I don't think having the Element Lords, Barraki or Dark Hunters as villains is a good idea, mind. To fully understand them, you'd need a knowledge of the previous Bionicle stories. I'd prefer new villains so new fans don't have to pick up any story 'baggage'. A subtle nod or two for the old fans would be a good thing, though. The best way to start fresh but keep the same canon would be a time jump into the future, when the events of the old story have faded into myth. That way you can reference the events, without requiring new fans to possess detailed knowledge of them.

Me too, playing MNOG was the first time I really started to explore the internet on my trusty old Windows97 desktop, and I've been glued to my spinning chair since (a mixed blessing). Bionicle was also the first thing that really inspired me to write my own stories, something I've kept up since and now currently hold one of the national short story prizes. And of course, although my activity has waxed and waned, I've had a blast with you guys on BZPower.

I'd really question the whole 'Lego set the rule, not BZPower' stance. Lego does not and should not set the rules on what discussion takes place in spaces that do not belong to them, it's the staff's choice. I'd say that as a community, we should decide on the policy. I know this isn't a democracy (and we owe so much to our friendly neighbourhood admins), but perhaps it should be. It would be an interesting experiment for there to be, say, a big poll to decide whether we want the policy. I can't recall any other online spaces implementing such a system, so the results would be intriguing. Perhaps it would be something to consider when BZPower grows a bit following Bionicle's likely return? I'd say this is more relevant now BZPower is partly crowd-funded. What BZPower thinks about the policy is an important matter, and one that I reckon deserves a bit more than to be written off as whining. Anyway, back to Eurobricks I go.

^This. Probably because of the serenity- it was the most peaceful Metru. The scholarly culture and the abundance of laboratories also appeals to me. Oh yeah, and it's populated mostly by females, that's a plus-point, right?

As has been stated, the Metru heads are definitely technically the best. I really didn't like 'heads' that had no face beneath the mask (looking at you, Inika). The Glatorian heads had better articulation than the Metru, but looked like cheap plastic. But I definitely personally prefer the Mata mask connections, as the gimmick of the Rahi and Bohrok knockin' their masks off was excellent fun. Good times

Woah, Gali Nuva was also my first set, too! Anyway, welcome to the forums. Whether Bionicle returns, or else the hype train catastrophically derails, I hope you'll stick around. If Bionicle does come back, I also reckon that marketing is key if Lego want to get the 'smartphone' generation of preteens to buy the sets. I doubt simply swapping HF for Bionicle will increase constraction sales all that much. An Android/iOS game in the style of MNOG would be perfect.

I understand what you're saying, but the comparison between children and cats is just not even valid at all. Cats don't have the ability to understand human ideas.They will never be able to tell you anything. They can't talk. Whereas an eight year old may not understand sexism, but they have the ability to. And they are capable of understanding such ideas. A cat can't ever tell you if something is nutritious, but an eight year old can most certainly tell you if something is sexist or not, if he has the aptitude. -Rez Unless a majority of eight year olds these days have an understanding of sexism, the comparison of eight year olds neither knowing or caring about possibly problematic elements of media they absorb and cats neither knowing or caring about the nutritional value of the food they eat is perfectly valid. I'm not saying 8 year olds are like cats in every respect, simply that I'd trust an 8 year old's voice on matters of sexism like i'd trust a cat's "voice" on matters of nutrition. Also, if my cat cared about the nutrition of his food, he'd find some way to communicate he had an issue, just like he communicates being hungry or being lonely. Cats may not be able to speak, but they can still communicate. The analogy here is limited as a human brain responds very differently to media than a cat's digestive system would to food. If you fed a cat unhealthy food, that cat would become unhealthy. Implying that children will become sexist because the ratio of males to females in a fictional world does not match our own is not nearly such a simple causal link. I'd also be concerned about the results of applying this way of thinking when deciding what media we 'feed' to children. I wouldn't want to live in a world where all media is completely free of prejudice. Such a world would see media just reinforcing one way of thinking, without challenging us. If one views a slightly sexist piece of media, one is forced to address the the sexism. 8-year-old me thought it was strange that there was only one female Toa, and I imagine this helped to form my early opinions on representation. I'd introduce a further analogy, that viewing challenging media can boost one's defences to prejudice in the same manner that an immune system gains resistance to a disease only by being exposed to that very same disease. If we were only ever exposed to perfectly prejudice-free media, when something sexist did rear its ugly head, we'd have no argument against it other than that it was just somehow 'wrong' because it defies conventional wisdom. I don't want the thinkers of tomorrow to be anti-sexist because they were taught to be, I want them to be anti-sexist because it is right for many of the reasons highlighted so eloquently in this thread.

Greg wouldn't lie through his teeth. So either Bionicle isn't coming back, or it is and it won't have comics. Both of which would be disappointing. Time to turn down the hype levels, folks. ...Or they are just not working on Bionicle comics now. ...Or Lego is working on Bionicle comics, but his team (the 'we') aren't involved.

Sure, I can prove it: in year one we saw five different types of male characters, and one type of female character. You can argue this was a result of the draconian gender ratios (which were in and of themselves highly suspect) but the point is we had as much as six (including Takua) character archetypes for male characters, but ONE for female characters. Right, there was just one female 'type', the Ga-Matoran. Whether or not this unequal represenation is 'sexist' is debatable, and I can understand how it could be regarded as such. But there wasn't just one archetype. It seems like you're saying that all the Ga-Matoran/Turaga/Toa were all essentially the same character, a stereotype. This just isn't true. Just talking about character and not appearance, could you tell apart Gahli, Nokama, Hahli and Macku? Of course you could, that's what makes the story good.

A joint plot between SETI, the UN and HASBRO to train children to fight in the approaching war against the aliens they have accidently declared war on. The Eiffel tower.

The female characters actually tend to fall into a small range of female character archetypes, a majority of them being focused on being gentler than male characters. bionicle is hardly gender specific. it's marketed towards boys, yes, but that's only because people assume anything that isn't covered in pastel colors is meant for boys, hence people assuming LEGO in general is a boy's toy. things are marketed to boys so often, in fact, that the effect of something like MLP with an all female cast is negligible, because there is still such a disproportionate amount of things that have few female characters, if they bother having them at all. considering women are the oppressed group in this scenario, i find it odd that you immediately target one of the few things that has a primarily female cast in a world of primarily male casts to call it sexist. I'd say MLP is far more sexist than Bionicle. The females in Bionicle, while admittedly fewer in number, were shown to be just as capable as the male characters. In Ga-Metru the Ga-Matoran were primarily scientists or lab workers and had a scholarly culture, so arguably one could reason that they were superior in intellect to their male counterparts. In contrast, the very few males in MLP are shown to be dumb land workers, or else love interests with no proper character. Don't get me started on Spike's recent abuse! I'm not saying there aren't exceptions (Shining Armour), but to go into more detail would be to go further off-topic! I don’t understand your point. Whether or not one sex ‘oppresses’ another in the real world doesn’t change how sexist a fictional story may or may not be. If a work of fiction portrayed females as being superior to males, that story could be regarded as having a degree of sexism towards men, and vice-versa towards women. Regardless of what goes on in the real world, that would be the attitude of the story. Perhaps I’m adamant about this because I prefer to take an approach more akin to ‘death of the author’ when deconstructing media, where context outside of the text is ignored. If you want to analyse Bionicle’s impact on the real world, that may be a different matter. Yeah, I always thought it was weird. I went to a school where most students were female (it used to be a girls school and had just began accepting boys as I joined), so my kid-brain found it very strange that in Bionicle, most of the characters were male. I'd be interested to see the results of a 'boys' toyline that started having more female characters, and see what effect it would really have on sales. A reboot of Bionicle would provide a good opportunity for this, but alas, I can't see it happening. Sure, there were a few stereotypes amongst the female characters, but if you are going to convince me this stems from an underlying sexism you will have to show that they didn’t treat many male characters like this too. The 5 male types of Matoran were mainly stereotypes (we are strong Po-Matoran who can kick ROCKS! The cold logical Ko-Matoran archetype may also fall under this category). If anything, the female characters were handled more carefully, leading to some stories to hardly differentiate their behaviour from males at all. This isn’t how I’d write them, as it fails to appreciate all the things that makes the female sex awesome, but I think it shows that the writers were somewhat fearful of including any stereotypes and took steps to try and prevent this from happening. No, stereotyping can be sexist regardless of its effect on a society. If, say, all female characters were portrayed in a story to be weak, vain and obsessed with men, I would regard that as a sexist story regardless of whether they were discriminated against, or if people after reading the story discriminated against females. The fact is that story shows a prejudice against females, so could be argued to be sexist. I simply argue that Bionicle doesn’t do this all too much.

I imagine I'd pursue similar things on Metru-Nui as on earth, so almost certainly an engineer of sorts. I'd probably want to design one of those experimental transports Matau tested, looks like a fun project. Failing that I'd opt to be a lab worker.

As female Bionicle characters rarely act any differently to male ones, I'd ask why they bothered to have the concept of sex at all. I imagine that's because it would be difficult to find the correct pronoun without calling every character 'it'. Then the characters would seem like robots and the story would be far less compelling. But yes, it's a matter of marketing. I imagine marketing folks think kids are more likely to be interested in characters of their own gender as they can relate to them. As Bionicle was marketed primarily at boys, the characters are mainly boys. A less progressive company would have made them all male. If you don't like this, then your problem is with gender-specific 'pink vs blue' marketing and not Bionicle alone. Random brain-dump: The 6 primary characters in the opposite epitome of gender specific toylines, My Little Pony, are all female. Yet, nobody calls this sexist, rather it is celebrated. Not saying either position is 'correct', just pointing out the double standard in the interest of perspective.

Oh wow, very imposing! The header image is actually pretty scary. First thoughts were that she reminds me of Batman's enemy poison Ivy. You've got an innovative design there, it looks very organic. I particularly like the use of Piraka minifigure spines to create parasitic vines on the ponytail. And I always knew Gresh's mask had the evil eyes. Nitpick: I'd use a black pin instead of a red one to connect the ponytail- it sticks out somewhat. Also, I'm not a fan of the turquoise as it looks too artificial for a plant entity, though that's likely a personal preference on my part. Great job!

Story-wise my prefered way of doing it would be to set it either far into the past or into the future from the current canon. By that time the convuluted factions and canon would have dissolved into mystery for the planet's inhabitants. Though that may be my blantant nostalgia bias for the 'mysterious' early days talking. Just spent a while searching for said MOCs, is this the guy? https://www.youtube.com/user/DrScorpionX/ His stuff is awsome. No idea what the rules on YouTube are, I've been off-site for too long, can't find anything on the reference desk. YouTube's moderation has come a long way in almost a decade, so I doubt that rule's presently enforced.