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Intro The weekend already? I guess you're expecting me to do an update then. Ok, well here goes... something? Updates So there's two things I'd personally like to talk about, and then maybe some other stuff to discuss too. So, if you're a regular reader of my updates, you'll know that for a while back in maybe February or March I was talking about a few projects we were close to rolling out, and then after a while I shut up and stopped talking about them. The Staff Group Colors was one such of these projects. The new colors were discussed for a long time amongst the staff, and although there were some pockets of dissension that didn't like certain choices, one of the advantages of being an Admin is that I can ignore them and do things how I want to anyway. I hope you like the new colors and find it easier to identify staff now. The next long-overdue thing that happened this past week was BrickFest 2009 Pictures. Expect to see more this weekend. I know they're horribly late and irrelevant now, but I still want to post them! In other news, the first images of the Brickmaster-exclusive Click showed up. Click? Really? Click Klakk? What's next, Tick and Tokk? Aside from the name, it's good to get a glimpse of it. I don't think there's anything else important to talk about, so go check out the Mailbag now. Mailbag 1. I had an original Xbox (which I still have). Then I got an Xbox 360, which suffered from the infamous Red Rings of Death after less then a year. I got that replaced by Microsoft and haven't had any problems since. 2. My money would be on Omicron. 3. I'd go with the Ferrari I think. 4. C? I intend to make a living as a computer engineer, probably doing software development, possibly in the defense industry. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Well that was fun wasn't it? Leave questions, comments, feedback, etc. See you all next week!
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Intro Friday again. What fun! Let's see what there is to see. Updates First up, the Fourth Chapter of the Reign of Shadows has gone live. Hooray for you story gurus. Next, we found out that LEGO and RockBand are joining forces to release a new game this holiday season. The reaction so far has been mixed, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I'm definitely looking forward more to the Beatles RockBand game that's coming out, but the LEGO one will have The Final Countdown, which is a pretty big selling point for me. If you don't like music games, this probably won't be for you, but if you do, keep an eye on it. Finally, I have something I'd like to talk about, and that's respect. Whenever I promote a new member to the staff, one of the first things I make sure they see is a list of rules about being a staff member. It's a short list. To summarize: Respect yourself, respect the members, respect the staff, and respect the site. I think these rules are pretty good guidelines for everyone else on BZPower. BZPower is a privately owned site, and we extend an invitation to anyone and everyone to become a part of our private community. If you fail to show respect to others, however, it's a quick way to have that invitation revoked. I can't control what you do or say outside of BZPower, and I have no interest and don't really care about that. But while you're here I expect to see respect given and received. I don't care if you're lying through your teeth, but as long as you refrain from insulting other people and treat them kindly, that's what's important. As I've said before, you're welcome to disagree with the rules, and I'm always open to discussing them in a mature manner. But you should still respect them and those who uphold them, and everyone else on the site. Oh, and if you were banned once and managed to sneak back on, falling into your old ways and disrespecting people is a sure way of getting caught. That's a Black Six ProtipTM. P.S. - Bfahome and Exo-Fat were promoted. Congrats again! Mailbag Nothing this week. Please spread out your question sending. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So, I hope you enjoyed my little soapbox speech. See you all next week.
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Intro And we're back with this week's Weekly Update. Stay tuned for a recap of the fun times we have right here at BZPower. Updates So with my lame intro out of the way, we're in a little bit of a slow period these days. I know my schedule has been really crazy recently, but in a few weeks things should get better. This past week I was finally able to share my thoughts on the recent BrickFest 2009. People still want to see pictures for some reason. I admire their dedication. Still, it was a fun time and I hope some of that comes across in my writeup. Although we're done reviewing the winter 2009 sets, Gatanui still wrote a Review Rebuttal for Raanu. Be sure to check it out. The latest Empire of the Skrall chapter was released on Monday to many a shocked reaction. I'm glad the story seems to still be going strong. Not much else to say right now - but don't worry, just because not much is going on, doesn't mean the wheels aren't still churning in the background. Mailbag 1. Invision is nice because the Admin Control Panel gives you a nice GUI to change most settings on the Forums and Blogs, although some things have to be done manually. Everything on the homepage is done in HTML or PHP. 2. I use TextEdit, because I'm hardcore like that. 1. We have no plans of promoting another Administrator at this time. 2. Depends on the prank. Usually it's just the Admins, and sometimes the Global Moderators. I think promoting people to the staff team just might be the best part. Sometimes I wish I could see the look on their faces when they get the PM I send them. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Feedback and such is appreciated. Make me feel like I'm not wasting my time here! That is all.
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Intro Weekly Update time again. What am I going to talk about? Well I wish I had that answer too. Updates So things have been light this past week, as is wont to happen every now and then. There's a new story serial up on BionicleStory.com, the third chapter of Riddle of the Great Beings. They definitely aren't releasing these as frequently as they were last year, which is slightly disappointing, because I think it's a great way to get a lot of backstory and other content out there to the fans. Also be sure to vote in the Toys 'R' Us and Lego City Contest. I got to find out about this contest at BrickFest and talk to the guy who will be designing the set as part of a panel they had. There was a lot of good feedback given, and I think that whatever is chosen, the final set will be awesome. Speaking of Brickfest, I wanted to have a story about it today (finally), but I don't think that's going to happen. Later this weekend hopefully. So yeah, of course check out the BBC Contest that's still going on. They even have an unobtrusive ad on the front page that you probably wouldn't even notice if I hadn't pointed it out. Other than that, I think we're about finished here. Mailbag Nothing this week. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Questions, comments, and feedback are welcome as always (maybe I should make it mandatory?). See you all next week.
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Intro BrickFest has come and gone, and I'm still working on making a recovery. Hopefully this week's update will be meatier than last's. Updates The past week has been pretty rough. Coming back from BrickFest my flight was delayed due to some weather issues and I didn't end up getting home until ~3:30AM. Then of course I had to catch up on homework and other things during the week. Somewhere along the lines (I think at BrickFest some time) I caught a cold, which has been annoying. Basically what I'm getting at is that I'm making excuses for not getting any coverage up on the event yet. But while you wait, there's plenty of other stuff to check out. You can go vote in RPG Contest#13 or BS01 Contest #2. Once you've done that you can start working on an entry for BBC Contest #53. This one is really special, since it's the first BZPower contest that is being sponsored by Lego. The Bionicle set designers themselves are going to choose their favorite creations, and who knows where we'll see the winner's MOC in the future. At BrickFest, Kelly (Bink) gave me a huge bag of prototype parts (it wouldn't even fit in my duffle bag), so you can probably expect something from there (at least) to be awarded in the way of prizes. It should be a great contest, and I know Tufi is happy that she doesn't have to make polls! Other projects are continuing to be postponed of course, while I try to get BrickFest coverage up. But let's focus on the bright side, so go read the paragraph above again! Mailbag 1. Well, Dr. Manhattan is pretty all-powerful, but if he was in one of his not-caring moods then I think the Spartans would win. 2. I don't read things there too often. 3. Clones all the way, but clones with shiny silvery Krana! 4. Posting - it seems more interactive and conversational rather than one person just talking out to the masses. 5. As fun as it is to officially see all the new sets before anyone else, it's a lot more fun to hang out with my friends at events like BrickFair and BrickFest. 1. The fonts you can use depend on what's installed on your computer. You can specify any font you want when you post, but if the people viewing the post don't have it they'll see the default font. 2. See above. 1. The only 360 games on the horizon that I'm interested in are Halo 3: ODST, Bioshock 2, and Mass Effect 2. This year seems a lot lighter than last year. 2. There's a lot to list. I'm not going to bother separating between the original Xbox and the 360: Halo, Halo 2, Halo 2, Halo Wars Knights of the Old Republic, KOTOR 2, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Gears of War, Gears of War 2 Fable, Fable 2 Fallout 3 Bioshock Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Rock Band, Rock Band 2 Dead Rising Lego Star Wars Bionicle Heroes Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Crimson Skies Stubbs the Zombie Morrowind Unreal Championship The House of the Dead III As for favorites, I'm a huge fan of the Halo series, as well as Bioware. I also am a fan of music games, and somehow keep buying more even when things seem like they're going overboard. 3. As long as you tell me who you are, yes, I usually do. 4. Is there something wrong with that? Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So that's it for this week, hope you enjoyed. As always, comments, feedback, and questions are welcome. See you all next week!
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Intro I'm at BrickFest right now, and there's lots to do, so not much time to talk right now. Updates I spend most of today hanging out with Shilo (Omi), Breann (Roa), and Kelly (Bink). Kelly had lots of interesting stories to share about working at Lego, and some cool stuff I can't really talk about. He has plans to try to reveal some of it to you guys though, so look forward to some sweet stuff in the future. Mailbag 1. Fun. 2. Google and an interest in Bionicle. 3. Never trust robots. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Back to BrickFest!
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Intro Well, we were offline last Friday so there was no update then. But we're back now! So let's see what we have. Updates First up, the forums were offline, but now they're back. I apologize once again for the downtime and the data loss. We did the best we could, and hope now to be better prepared for the future. We're already quite recovered though, thanks to the hard work of all our members and staff. I don't know if there will be time for an update next week, since I'll be at BrickFest! I'll be there, along with Binkmeister, Roa McToa, Omicron, and probably some other familiar faces too. We'll be sure to give you plenty of coverage on the event. Speaking of Binkmeister, he recently sat down with the Bionicle Set Designers yet again to ask them your questions. The reaction to this set has been overwhelmingly positive, with lots of good content and tidbits. We also have a new review today, check out Toaraga's thoughts on Fero & Skirmix. One more 2009 Winter set review to go! I've been pleased this year with how efficiently and quickly we've done them. If you think about it, three months is pretty quick, especially in BZPower time. Finally, a bit of sad news. Due to some job-related conflicts, Bionicle Rex has stepped down from his position on the staff. He has shaped this site with his character and views - we wouldn't be who we are without him. This isn't goodbye, he'll still be around, watching and listening, but he will no longer be a part of the Administration making policy decisions. It's been a good run old friend! Mailbag No questions this week. Send some in! Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Now, back to the Battlestar Galactica series finale. See you all next week!
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Intro Seriously, it's been a week already? You guys get an early update this week since I'll be busy this afternoon (Watchmen!) and tonight. Updates Unfortunately we've recently had several members abusing the PM system to send out inappropriate images and content to BZPower members. Please read this topic about what to do if you receive a suspicious PM. It's likely that these members had their accounts hacked by a malicious individual. We're doing what we can to prevent this from happening and in the meantime urge you to make sure you have a strong password. Microsoft has some good guidelines for this, and also a place where you can check to see how strong it is. If you receive an inappropriate PM, forward it to myself, Tufi Piyufi, or another staff member so we can take care of the issue. As a result of dealing with the above, there hasn't been much time to work on other projects, but don't worry, they're still coming. We also have at least one more review to be posted soon, with hopefully a couple more on the way. Finally, as a personal plug, go check out the Bionicle RPG Forum RPG Contest #13. There's still plenty of time to write an entry and submit it, so go check it out! Mailbag 1) In a perfect world everyone on BZPower would be well-behaved and we wouldn't need any rules or staff. I'd like to think we strive for that, so when someone does something that warrants a Proto deduction they're pulling us further away from our ideal state, and that's not cool. 2) Tahu Mata, because I'm old school like that. 3) Too much, usually at least 2 hours, sometimes more like 2^3 or more hours. When I joined the only staff member was Dimensioneer. Shortly afterward, he promoted Lego Mecha as the first Moderator. Since I had experience running a small Bionicle community before (and during, until BZC dwarfed it) being a member of BZCommunity, I offered my services to Dimensioneer as a second Moderator. He accepted, so now I'm the second longest-running staff member after big-D. 1) Hmm. Iron Man has lots of cool technology and can fly, but the Master Chief has recharging shields and plenty of his own tricks. I think if Iron Man didn't just fly away, Master Chief is probably stronger and has a higher endurance and would win. 2) Pridak, maybe. 3) Randomly. I use Excel to generate a random number from 1 to however many entries there are and then count down through the entries to that number. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion And with that I leave you for today. I hope you enjoyed it and, as always, questions, comments, and feedback are appreciated.
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Intro Hopefully there will be some more meat for you here this week in our update. Updates So, the most important part of our Toy Fair coverage went up over the past week: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Check out all my amazing pictures! Thanks again to Julie and Lego for inviting us. Also, the Glatorian Arena game has finally been released. Now everyone can go play and battle among the warriors. Be sure to log in to your Lego account if you want your progress to be saved. Next, the promotions I mentioned a couple weeks ago happened last night. Be sure to congratulate Than: Matoran of Anger, ToM Dracone, and Sisen. I think we're plenty promoted for the time being. The project that will take us offline is still in the pipe, maybe it'll happen this weekend. Aside from all of that awesome stuff, things have been boring. Mailbag I usually get between 50 and 60 submissions per entry period, which translates to 3-6 per day. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So that's it for this week, we'll see what next week holds!
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Intro This is going to be a very boring update. Updates Toy Fair Toy Fair Toy Fair Toy Fair Toy Fair Toy Fair Toy Fair Toy Fair The above are why you haven't seen the promotions made yet or any other announcements. Dealing with all these pictures is hard work! Mailbag Nothing this week. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Hopefully I'll finish getting through the Toy Fair stuff soon! Then on to other exciting things.
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Intro So apparently I have to update you on BZPower stuff. I guess... Updates So this week was a fairly slow news week, the highlight being Part 3 of our Bionicle Designer Interview. Bink is awesome for putting this together, and apparently there are still a lot more questions to be answered. So ToyFair is Sunday, at very early in the morning. Rich (Bionicle Rex) and I will be there taking lots of pictures and asking questions and such. Hopefully we'll get pictures up later in the day and more coverage during the week. I'm very much looking forward to it. On the BZPower front, yes the projects are still rolling along. One is going to require us to turn the forums offline for a little bit, so I need to find a good time where I can do that and make all the necessary changes at once. What could I possibly be talking about? Another project we've been working on should prove to be much bigger and better and even more awesome. I just need to coordinate some things with certain staff members and then throw the whole mess together. Should be superb. I hope... Oh, and then there will be some staff promotions soon too. I have to go send out some PMs after I post this. Mailbag 1) Tons. I was a Lego fan long before Bionicle came out. 2) I'll be a frontrunner and say Gresh. 3) Only if programming languages count. I took Spanish in high school, but I've forgotten so much that I'm nowhere near fluent anymore. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion What, that wasn't enough for you? Well I'm sorry that's all you're getting. See you next week!
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Intro Here we go, here we go, here we go again. Another weekly update has come. Let's see what's in store. Updates On the review front, Kohaku reviewed Zesk and shortly thereafter Takuta-Nui rebutted that review. Check them both out to see the two opinions of this tan little guy. We had some interviews too. First Bionicle.com webmaster Binkmeister continued his talk with the Bionicle set designers. BS01 then interviewed Bionicle comic artist Pop Mhan. Check them both out to get some interesting insight. Finally, on the news front, Brickfest 2009 is coming! I'll be there, along with a bunch of other BZPower staffers and members. It'll be a great time if you can make it! On the BZPower side, we have a couple of projects still coming. It's just a matter of waiting until we have time to roll it out. Sorry to keep you all waiting. Oh yeah, because I can't stop talking about it, ToyFair is next Sunday! Mailbag That account is a generic Administrator account used for performing upgrades and other maintenance. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So that's it for this week, now it's back to the movies for me! Questions, comments, or feedback are always welcome.
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Intro Lots of stuff to look back at this week, but not so much moving forward. Anyway, Weekly Update ahoy! Updates So, first and most importantly, I finally interviewed someone in our awesome Member Interviews feature. Read what FireDawn had to say.. Also, head over here if you'd like to be interviewed yourself. Lots of news this week. Ray reviewed Strakk and Yannick reviewed Berix. And of course there are more to come, with the next hopefully being sometime this weekend. Then there were two new story serials over at BionicleStory.com that began. You can read Chapter 1 of Reign of Shadows or listen to the first podcast of Riddle of the Great Beings. Now I'll admit I haven't been keeping up with the serials other than a broad overview, but I'm still not really happy. I thought this year was going to be a reboot, with the only thing crossing over being the Ignika and Mata Nui. In my opinion the original story had gotten very convoluted and overly-intricate. It was hard for many people just beginning to fully understand what was going on. I saw this year as a nice fresh start. But instead one of our serials this year focuses entirely on the previous universe and another seems to be trying to bridge the gap between the two, which is unfortunate. What was wrong with just taking a break and working on something new? Leave us with a cliffhanger with the Toa Mata, it's not like it hasn't been done before. Oh well, I guess any real hopes I had for the story this year are slowly being dashed. We'll see how the sets do to make up for it. And speaking of sets. We got our first official peek at some of the Summer 2009 sets this past week courtesy of Kris Abel at the Canadian Toy & Hobby fair. Along with Bionicle, there were pictures of a bunch of other themes as well, showing a lot of promise. We also saw the names of the remaining sets at ToyWiz. I'll reserve my judgment until ToyFair in New York in a couple weeks, where my new camera will come in quite handy. I look forward to seeing all the new vehicles up close and personal. Hopefully they included all the great playability-style features many of the vehicles last year had. Only time will tell. As far as BZPower projects are concerned, they're moving along just fine. More on them at a later date. Mailbag No questions this week. Send some in! Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion There you go, now leave me alone until next week. Oh, unless you want to send in some questions, that you can do. Hope you enjoyed!
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Intro So welcome to our latest installment of the Weekly Update. Not a whole lot is new this week (so what else is new? ) but read on to see what we do have. Updates So this week was a pretty review-filled week. To mixed reviews, we debuted the Review Rebuttal system, starting with Adventurer's Atakus Rebuttal. Remember, reviews and rebuttals are just people's opinions in addition to some facts, so you're not going to agree with them all. Next up, Dinobot the Maximal shared his thoughts on the fourth Papercutz Graphic Novel. Big thanks go out to him for covering this for us. Finally, we go back to our normal set reviews with Ta-metru_defender's Malum Review. We should have another set review this weekend, so there's something to look forward to. So finally for real, I'm hoping to roll out one of our projects soon. We just have to figure out how to modify one little thing to make things easier for you. Give you a hint, you look at it every time you look at a post. we'll see if you can figure it out. Mailbag That varies from time to time. Officially for the past few years I've been an engineering student pursuing a couple degrees in Computer Engineering. In the past I've done some internships, which basically meant I was working full time and not taking any classes. Right now though, it's back to the grind. I'm taking a full load of classes as well as working for my school as a Teaching Assistant and as a Tutor. Then of course I help run a little website, you might have heard of it, called BZPower. And every once in a while I actually go out and have some fun. As you can see above, I'm an engineering student, meaning my strengths lie in the fields of mathematics and sciences. With that in mind, I always had the most trouble with literature and history. That's not to say I did poorly in them, just that I had to try a bit more. Enjoy it while you can. Do your work and get good grades, but have fun, because the work will get piled on even higher when you hit college. I'll go back to the good grades now, they're important so you can get into a decent college and get a good education so you can get into a good job when you graduate. So yeah, that should hopefully be some impetus to put effort into it. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So that's it for this for this week. I'm going to go back to watching Andromeda now. I hope everyone has a good weekend, and that I see you all again next week for more boring updates!
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Intro Welcome back to our Weekly Update; not a huge amount on the ticket for today, but some decent tidbits are inbound. Updates So we had a couple of reviews this past week, Darth Vader reviewed Tarix, and ToM Dracone reviewed Vorox. It's good to get some varying opinions on the sets. Not everyone is going to agree with what the reviews say, there's always going to be some differences of opinions, some people need to learn to accept that. Next up, the first new serial of 2009 has been posted. Looks like we'll be getting some interesting insights into the world of Bara Magna this year. Also, we released some information about a new set possibly coming out later this year. SPOILER WARNING AHEAD: You can read about it here. Finally, we have a couple projects we've been planning behind the scenes, and one should soon see the light of day soon. It's nothing huge, but it should help clear things up in general on the forums. Mailbag It's not unlimited, but it's big enough for my needs. The number of PMs I get each day varies, but on average I'd say it's between 5 and 6. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So time will tell (all of you, at least) what we have up our sleeves. Meanwhile, we'll still keep working on what we're not ready to reveal. Have fun and keep posting!
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Intro So this week's update should be on time, but whether or not it's as informative as last week's is another matter. Updates Three big stories this week, I suppose: First, Pekel returns and weighs in on Metus. Be sure to read it if you like reviews that make you laugh while telling you everything you need to know about the set. He's one funny guy that Pekel... Next up, an announcement was made about entertainment company Digital Blue partnering with Lego to create Lego and Bionicle-themed MP3 players, digital cameras, and more. As I suggested in the news story I'm not a big fan of such marketing. Products like these are generally lower quality than similarly priced non-branded goods, so you're paying a premium for the name. Now if you want to immerse yourself in a Bionicle lifestyle and snatch these up, go right ahead. It's just not for me (and by the looks of the Talkback, many other members). As Greg Farshtey pointed out, we're not exactly the target group for merchandise such as this, which is very true. And I understand that Lego wants to get their name and the Bionicle name out there so it gets more recognition and increases sales, and the merchandising is one of the ways to do that. It's not something I think is good for Lego in the long run though, and I'd rather see them focus their time and resources on making a high-quality toy that's loved by children of all ages. I'm sure there was much discussion and debate within Lego before this decision was made, and at this point we'll have to wait and see how it pans out. Based on past experiences with Bionicle merchandise though, make sure you keep your eyes on the discount aisles. Finally, the new Bionicle.com website went live earlier this week. Congrats to Binkmeister and the rest of the team for their hard work! I'm liking what I'm seeing so far, and the game promises to be amazing, possibly rivaling the Mata Nui and Voya Nui Online Games. The MLN integration is quite nice and thanks to InnerRayg has sucked me in. (I'm Black6 in case you're curious.) But anyway, the layout and graphics are quite nice and I look forward to how the year will unfold. In other news, the staff have been working on a small project that may see the light of day if we ever manage to all agree on how to do it. Mailbag Back when I wasn't planning things it was great. For the past few years though, it seems like we either go too far or not far enough. I guess there's no pleasing some people, although we'll see how this year goes. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion And that's all we have for this week. Hope you enjoyed it. Also, if you live in the parts of the country that are getting a lot of snow or will be getting it this weekend, enjoy!
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Intro So I just realized that I completely forgot about this yesterday. That's ok though, because there wasn't much to talk about. Updates In the past week we posted not one, not two, but THREE set reviews! So if you haven't already, go check them out. Aside from that, Happy New Years! Mailbag Nothing this week. Send stuff in! Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Yep, that's all I got. It's been a slow week.
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Intro I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, I know mine was pretty good. But now it's back to business. Updates So the 2009 sets have been appearing in stores, so get out there and pick them up if you're a fan. We already have reviewed one of the sets, and have two more in the pipe that should be posted in the coming days, as soon as I have some free time. Next up, the long-running project finally came to an end (for all intent and purposes). The new rank images are here! It took hours upon hours upon hours just for me to upload the pictures, add the ranks, and change all the post counts. That doesn't include the time Takuta Nui spent keeping the list of new ranks updated for me, all the discussions amongst the staff over the names of each rank and the appropriate images, and most importantly, the time all the staff put in to making the actual images. It really was a whole team effort and in the end I'm proud f the results, even if it did take us a long time. Truth be told, there's actually a couple images that we still have to finish, but I don't think anyone is getting to those anytime soon. Next up, please don't forget our Leaked Image Policy. Pictures of the summer 2009 sets have been leaked and they do not belong on BZPower. Of course, what update would be complete without telling you to vote in the RPG Contest #12 Final Poll The Beatles. It has an awesome name, you should check it out. We have another small project we're working on that affects mainly the staff, but should have a visible impact on the site. That's about it for now though. Mailbag This topic, while a bit old, is still a good guide to what we look for when picking staff. Being an admin is hard work, 'nuff said. Yes there are buttons. We have an Administrator Control Panel that allows us to do that. Most things we do with topics and posts are done with buttons and such normal members can't see. Everything else is done in the control panel. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So that's about it for now. Things are probably going to be pretty slow, except for set reviews. So keep an eye out for those and check back next week!
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Intro It is time for yet another Weekly Update. Come check out what we have to discuss. Updates Probably the biggest news this week is the the 2009 sets have been spotted across the United States and elsewhere. So if you've been eagerly waiting for next year's sets (and seriously, who hasn't?) get checking at your local Target, Toys 'R' Us, or other fine retailer. Just try not to get trampled by the holiday crowds. And of course, with 2009 sets appearing that means it's time for 2009 set reviews. The firs one went up today; check out Toaraga's review of Skrall. Keep checking the front page for another review this weekend and more to come in the future! Another headline was that LEGO has announced that a LEGOLand theme park will be coming to Malaysia. This is the first one outside of Europe and North America, and hopefully there are many fans that will love being close to such an attraction. LEGO also put out a request for ideas for new play themes for future toy lineups. I've already got over 60 suggestions, but if you have something you think would be great feel free to PM me. Last weekend, I introduced a new feature to the board, Twitter Integration. Check out my other blog entry to find out more about Twitter and how it can be used on BZPower. Sending Tweets is a lot of fun, and can almost be addicting. So check it out and sign up if you want! Finally, because I can, check out RPG Contest #12. Thre's only a few more days to submit entries! Mailbag No questions this week. Send some in if you want them answered! Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Wow, this was a pretty big update this week. I figured things would be slowing down with the holidays upon us but I guess not. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading and as always please leave comments and feedback. Thanks!
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Intro Welcome BZPower Members to this week's update. Let's see what we have this week. Updates So first up, we have a new Reference Keeper. Congrats again to Adventurer on his new position. Posting ranks are coming along, they will be live in some form or another before long. Patience, my friends. Aside from that, I hear some 2009 sets have been spotted recently at a Target. There should be a news story on that soon. Mailbag 1) About as many as you see posted. 2) Members that act more mature and that are helpful on BZPower have a better chance of becoming staff. 3) Yes, quite a few. 4) Back in the day I made one or two. My current avatar was drawn by Schizo Kaita and colored by me. B - That's all up to interpretation. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion The holidays are upon us, so don't expect things to move too quickly for a while.
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Intro Welcome back, faithful readers, for another issue of the Weekly Update. Don't you have anything better to do? Updates So, we still have no new rank images. We're working on them, and I saw a few new ones this morning that made me shiver with glee (that may or may not have been an exaggeration). While you're waiting though, you can check out our new Gallery Avatars showcasing many of the sets from the past few years. They're made with 100% awesome. In other news, we had some new staff promotions last week. Congrats again to Watashi Wa and Zeddy. I'm sure they'll do a great job. In other news, we'll be having even more promotions coming up soon. Crazy, I know. Seeing how it's December once again, it means it's time for our quarterly RPG Contest. This is our 12th contest, so be sure to go check out the entries and write an RPG and enter if you're feeling up to it. We don't really have anything else planned right now. It's getting to be a pretty busy time of year, so I think it's better to focus on a couple of things rather than spreading ourselves too thin. Mailbag I ask this myself sometimes. It requires a lot of prioritizing and time management. But I've been an admin for over three years now and you just get used to it after a while. 1. I wake up in the morning, get ready and go to work. Work all day. Come home, eat dinner, catch up on what's happened in the land of the Internet and BZPower. Go to sleep. Sometimes I'll play some videogames or watch TV or a movie. 2. I try not to ask weird questions because I'm afraid of what the reply may be. 3. We don't talk about banned members. 4. The decision to prune the forums was pretty big, but it wasn't made by just me. 1. Nope. 2. Yep, and still do. 3. Empire Strikes Back, without a doubt. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion And that would be it for this week. Please leave feedback and comments. Talk to you all next time.
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Intro I'm posting this early this week, before I get distracted with other things. I hope you all had a tasty and happy Thanksgiving yesterday! Updates We're holding off on the ranks, hopefully tomorrow or Sunday we'll have something else new for you. I'm going to tell you what it is, so hopefully it will make sure I actually follow through and roll it out. In addition to rank images that haven't been updated in a while, BZPower also features an avatar gallery of default avatars that people can use. One of the cool things is that some of these are 80x80, which is larger than the standard member avatar size of 64x64. So you can get a bigger avatar than otherwise if you use this feature. The issue though is that these haven't been updated in a long time. Later this weekend we hope to update the gallery to have many of the characters up to and including 2008, which should give a LOT more choices. Looking at the current gallery setup, I may move some stuff around so it's more organized as well. So then we'll still be waiting on the ranks, like I said though, there aren't too many left, we just need some time to work out all the kinks. We should have a couple new staff announcements later this weekend too. Who's it gonna be?! Maybe you! (On a side note, the people involved already know who they are, so if you haven't heard anything, it's not you, sorry.) In other news, the next McDonalds promotion will be starting soon, with the same low-quality toys we've come to expect. Oh well. The good news though is that apparently 2009 sets have been popping up somewhere, so we should be getting pictures and information soon! Mailbag Nothing this week. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion That's all for this week. Hope you enjoyed it. As always, feel free to send we questions and feedback or leave them in the comments!
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Intro You wouldn't imagine how hard it is to come up with an intro that's not either: a) incredibly cliché, or B) something I've done before repeatedly. Here we go. Updates So, rank images. They're getting close. All the rank names and post counts have been decided and the former have been entered into the database. About two thirds of the images are complete and have been uploaded. Now the question is, do you want to wait until all the images are done before we roll them out, or get a few more and then roll them out as-is, with some ranks not having an image for now (though it would be added later)? Let me know what you think! If we do decide to wait on the roll-out, we have another project that came together rather quickly that we introduce while we're waiting. Ranks weren't the only things that haven't been updated in a while. So, those of you that visit COT often have surely noticed our new method for approving RPGs. As with any new system, there are some kinks, and after some discussions with Kex I think we're going to be shutting things down for a bit while we work things out. It's only temporary though, so no worries! In other news this is not going to be the last promotion in the coming weeks. There's at least one more you'll be seeing soon, with possibly more after that. Oh, and it seems a bunch of you guessed about the possible new forum feature. Time will tell if it comes to pass or not. Mailbag The posts needed to achieve ranks have been and will continue to be a secret. Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion Hooray that was fun. Now back to Stargate. See you all next week!
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Intro And now we return to your regularly-scheduled Weekly Update. Updates Well, first up, there's only a couple days left to ask the Bionicle set designers your questions. It's been a big hit so far and I'm sure the designers are going to have some interesting answers. So apparently Bionicle will be returning to Happy Meals once again. I can't exactly say I'm excited for them, based on the most recent attempts at fast food toys. We've yet to see any product shots yet, so there's still hope. New member ranks are moving along, but I don't think there will be a huge amount of progress this weekend. Last weekend I got most of them added into the database and planned out the new post counts, so we're mainly waiting on finishing up some of the images. I had an interesting idea show up on my (virtual) desk today for a change to one of our more popular forums. I think it warrants some discussion behind closed doors but maybe something will come of it. I really want to get BZP 101 off the ground. Some day maybe... Mailbag No questions this week... Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion As per usual, comments and feedback are enjoyed. Have a good weekend everyone, see you all next week.
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Intro Hey, we're on time this week, imagine that! So let's see what we have. Updates The biggest news I think is that BZPower, in conjunction with Binkmeister and Bionicle.com, is allowing you to ask the set designers questions. This is a pretty big opportunity and a big thanks go out to Kelly for organizing it. You can ask your questions here. In a departure from the past few weeks, there will NOT be a set review this weekend. I know, it's sad. Hopefully before the end of the year we'll be able to get the couple special edition sets reviewed, but no guarantees. Some progress has been made on the ranks! A bunch of them are in the system and the new post count limits are being worked out. Hopefully more will be done with this over the weekend. So back from the 10/24 update, BZP 101. I'm still thinking about doing this, but I just need to find the time. I think you guys would rather have new ranks than a new feature in my boring blog. Mailbag Me, as rendered by Schizo Kaita. 1. I haven't been following it too closely, there have been a lot of other games that have captured my attention. 2. Oh sure, make it an easy one. I guess it depends on what part of me they've influenced. My dad has influenced me most with my career choice, teaching me how to use computers when I was young. My friends all influence my personal tastes, such as music and movies and literature. One could even say BZPower members influence me as an organizer and leader. So, lots and lots of people. 3. Dragons rock. 1. Yes, but the books are far superior to the movies and are the reason they're not on the top of my list of favorites. 2. They're ok, but there's a lot of other movies that I like better. 3. If I didn't would I still be here? Want to see your questions answered? PM them to me and put 'Mailbag' in the subject line. I'll pick the few I like the best and answer them in the next update. Conclusion So that's it for this week. As always be sure to leave feedback and ask questions.
