StillRaindrop

This is quite a bummer. I wasn't nearly as invested in this line, but it's still sad. Can't say I didn't see it coming, though, and I think a few of the reasons have been touched on here. VahiHolder02 and doodleloot make two excellent points, I think: the in-depth world wasn't really present in the media (despite being in the concept art), and the price of the Toa was more prohibitive. Something about the $10 barrier, for me, put the Toa out of the "inexpensive" range. I think that was incredibly important for the original theme's success, and I know I bought far fewer Toa this time around than I would have if they were, say, $8 and $12 or $10 and $15 instead of $15 and $20. Inflation hasn't gone up drastically enough to make $15 the new $7 for me (I know the 2015 Toa were bigger, but they also used fewer new molds, had cheaper packaging, and didn't include a mini-cd). Speaking of the in-depth world that was created--it's a shame that something like the mini-CDs didn't come with the 2015/2016 sets. I know that the CDs themselves would no longer be practical, but perhaps a special website link or something. I dunno. In any case, the lore and the feel of what was on those CDs sure helped immerse 12-year-old me in the line. These aren't signs that Lego didn't care, or anything like that. Simply that things are different than they were.

How much creative freedom were you given? Was there anything you wanted to do that Lego nixed--or anything you didn't want to do that Lego required?

True and the Piraka animations a bit also but still i think this animation is good but i still have a problem with the Protector of Fire in the prologue i mean wheres his mouth where IS IT!?That was one of the few things that bothered me. Knowing the mechanics of the heads underneath, the added throat piece didn't quite seem to work. This is particularly noticeable with the protectors, since their masks usually leave part of their heads uncovered--but not here!

What were everyone's thoughts on Lewa's speech patterns? For me, it took a bit of getting used to, but I liked it. It hearkened back to treespeak without carrying some of the oddities of that jargon (at its best, treespeak/chutespeak was great--but I always thought that, when it used terms that took longer to say, like "Toa-hero" or "hate-sorry", that kind of defeated the purpose of the jargon). I've heard of people who disliked his speaking pattern in JtO, though.

I loved Onua! He was everything I had hoped he would be.

Sometimes when I'm at work and I get nostalgic, I'll listen to the MNOG music. Looks like I've got a companion soundtrack to listen to now--these are great!

There are many places where the backgrounds remind me of the MNOG, but none more so than when Gali and Akida are jumping out of the water. I'm excited, and look forward to giving this a watch.

Sorry for the lack of clarity--I meant that I saw lots of fan-made Johnny Thunder/Adventurers comics and stories, so a world that's less fully defined doesn't necessarily limit fan involvement or imagination (again, these weren't as prolific as Bionicle, but there have been quite a few). The theme wasn't continuous, and it didn't last for as long as Bionicle did--and indeed, it was less story-focused and worldbuilding-focused-- but there was enough character information and enough basic information to inspire fans to create.

Actually Bionicle itself is a testament to the opposite. Less established canon in previous LEGO stories should have inspired more fanfics and more alternate versions by that reasoning, but it didn't. The more there is in a canon (albeit probably with a limit you described well as "if done well", with a note that "well" is somewhat subjective), apparently the more it inspires headcanons and extracanonical stories. I remember seeing quite a lot of Johnny Thunder comics, fanfics, etc.--probably not as many because it didn't last for ten years, but still a lot. I still agree that worldbuilding is good until it becomes too restrictive (which is what the original poster seemed to be saying), but a less thoroughly built world doesn't mean that people will be less creative.

I think that "Okotoa" is a good choice when we need to differentiate, in that it's clearly a nickname.

I'm really not a fan of the "Omega" terms, honestly. It's an old joke that people have been using for way too long, but it's also very much confusing insider lingo in an era when I feel that we need to be especially open to new fans. Heck, I've even seen old fans who missed the joke and thought that "Omega Tahu" or "Toa Omega" were the actual, official titles. I think that I like Aanchir's solution best, at least until we get an official name.

I think just "Toa" works well enough for now; after all, there is currently no generation 1 team that we just call "Toa" any more.

Are there any plans to make antranscript of the video? I'm excited to watch it, but not sure when I'll have the opportunity.

He's not in charge of the storyline. As far as references...there are a lot. Really, a whole lot.

I voted 2001--although the story was more together in later years, 2001 was where it all started for me, and I remember playing with my Toa for hours and hours, making new adventures for them. Plus, my dark ages were from 2004-2008, so while I like the story from those years, I experienced it more as a way to catch up with where the story was rather than experience it as it went along.