Weaknesses And Strenghts Of Hero Factory Story

[Millennium]

I don't particularily follow the story, but for what I know it is not (yet) like Bionicle, or the other LEGO themes with story (Knights Kingdom, Exo-Force, those were good).The only flaw I see - set-wise Hero Factory is a lot better and more "complete" than Bionicle was- is that every year's story is disconnected with the previous, except for the heroes. Recurring villains and connection between them and the heroes would be a nice touch.The strength of the line is its very basis: an intergalactic association that assembles and trains heroes to defend all known planets. Sounds so Green Lantern-ish. It would be better if this Hero Factory could be analyzed more in depth.What dou you think?

[Aedai Rivin]

A lot (pretty much all) of the villains this winter are homages/whatever to villains we've had in the past. But I agree, an overarching storyline lasting, say, three segments would be nice. part 1: Villain does something, heroes stop him, he escapespart 2: Heroes investigate some sketchy stuff that's happening in Outer Ringpart 3: Villain has corrupted several heroes and assaults the city. Heroes defend and defeat him. THAT'S something that I could get behind. Rivin

[Master Inika]

My biggest complaint with Hero Factory is that, somehow, Stormer always knows the bad guy from some random event before. The first time, with Stormer and Von Ness/Nebula, it was pretty cool. It explained Von Nebula's motives and why Stormer was so hard on rookies. But with Fire Lord, it was random, hadn't influenced either of their characters, and was overall unnessecary. With Witch Doctor, it was a bit better. I liked that Aldous Witch was a former Hero Factory worker, but not that he knew Stormer specifically. Thresher could have been his student.

[Daiker]

I would say a strength it's more vague allowing for creativity. With things like BIONICLE there was a solid storyline, and if you created say a rahi, it would be pretty much impossible for it to make sense for another to come into existence. But, with HF, you can create a villain and pretty much any villain would fit in and be able to be fought by any hero. The room for creativity draws in more kids.A weakness would have to be repetitiveness that's been going on. Furno's been released what, 5 times? And when a hero is introduced, they are always put on Alpha Team 1. Excuse me, but isn't AT1 supposed to be for the best heroes? Not for rookies like Nex and Evo?

[Master Inika]

I would say a strength it's more vague allowing for creativity. With things like BIONICLE there was a solid storyline, and if you created say a rahi, it would be pretty much impossible for it to make sense for another to come into existence. But, with HF, you can create a villain and pretty much any villain would fit in and be able to be fought by any hero. The room for creativity draws in more kids. A weakness would have to be repetitiveness that's been going on. Furno's been released what, 5 times? And when a hero is introduced, they are always put on Alpha Team 1. Excuse me, but isn't AT1 supposed to be for the best heroes? Not for rookies like Nex and Evo?

Well, Nex, Evo, and Rocka are currently only in the Rookie 1 division. If they don't prove themselves, they could be moved to other teams.

[Meiko]

This should either be discussed here (This topic is for the story and everything else not related to the sets), or as a separate topic in LEGO Discussion.

[Aanchir]

I'd disagree a bit with the first post and argue that the disconnectedness of the separate Hero Factory waves' stories is probably an advantage it has over BIONICLE in some ways. While for BIONICLE the epic, continuing story was one of its greatest assets, it was also one of its greatest weaknesses as it made it hard for new fans to jump into the story. Another strength of the story is that many aspects of it are a lot simpler for new fans to understand. Robot heroes fight robot villains. It's much easier for me to explain Hero Factory to an adult than it was for me to explain BIONICLE, where the story changed so dramatically over time and involved so many complicated species with detailed characteristics that made them unique. I'd say one weakness of the Hero Factory story is that its main story medium-- the television episodes-- is a lot more compressed than BIONICLE's main story medium, the books and comics. This leads to instances like in Rise of the Rookies where Von Nebula's motivations are never clearly spelled-out, requiring you to infer that somehow he felt wronged by Stormer because of his own rebellion. It's possible to interpret it meaningfully, but it's not actually stated clearly in the story. Similarly, Ordeal of Fire had pacing issues that are generally agreed upon. Savage Planet didn't suffer from as many pacing problems, but it did have some absolutely dreadful dialogue-- another weakness of the story IMO. Hopefully the upcoming wave will not have so much pointless and out-of-character banter.

[Meiko]

The Hero Factory Story is much wider-spread than the BIONICLE story, letting fans to create their own heroes and teams that go on their own missions, without the official story interfering with it. I had a BIONICLE fan-story I came up with that was destroyed when the 2005 story was introduced. Also, the television episodes go along with the wave at the current time, which helps the fans understand the current sets.

[Akuna Toa of Sonics]

OP, I agree. The story has a lot of potential, but it isn't really that in-depth.

[Touko Fukawa]

Person-ally, I like the premise of it, but I think it should be more like Power Miners or some-thing, with just a premise and no proper story be-cause the the TV show and comics suck. One tends to think it would be cooler if more were left to the imagination.

[Ids5621]

Person-ally, I like the premise of it, but I think it should be more like Power Miners or some-thing, with just a premise and no proper story be-cause the the TV show and comics suck. One tends to think it would be cooler if more were left to the imagination.

I agree. I'd rather them keep it simple like another lego theme, than attempt to make it a continuing epic like bionicle.

[Meiko]

Person-ally, I like the premise of it, but I think it should be more like Power Miners or some-thing, with just a premise and no proper story be-cause the the TV show and comics suck. One tends to think it would be cooler if more were left to the imagination.

I agree. I'd rather them keep it simple like another lego theme, than attempt to make it a continuing epic like bionicle.

It really isn't a continuing epic, as BIONICLE had been. Instead of continuing the same story throughout several waves and years, Hero Factory has a separate storyline for each wave, keeping it more simple; having a looser storyline where fans can add there own twists easily, sets that come out at the same time as the storyline (no repeats or main characters get left out), and it is easy for a new fan to start at any point, and go in any order they like. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.

[GeluNumber1]

The story is the most obvious problem. There's no re-occuring villains, and the heroes that do come back do so in random order. Also what story there is, isn't detailed. Another problem is the 2.0 build. It's a great stride in building, but the sets will become repetitive in a few years. The types of armour are limited, as is the core build. I realy like hero factory otherwise. It's givin us that 2.0 build, which can allow MOCists to further their imagination, and the looks of the sets are quite nice, IMO.

[Aanchir]

The story is the most obvious problem. There's no re-occuring villains, and the heroes that do come back do so in random order. Also what story there is, isn't detailed. Another problem is the 2.0 build. It's a great stride in building, but the sets will become repetitive in a few years. The types of armour are limited, as is the core build. I realy like hero factory otherwise. It's givin us that 2.0 build, which can allow MOCists to further their imagination, and the looks of the sets are quite nice, IMO.

On the contrary, I personally feel TLG can make new parts for the new HF building system just as easily as they did with BIONICLE. And the new building system doesn't become repetitive for me at least because frankly it has more versatility than BIONICLE, which in most cases couldn't stop being repetitive without introducing new super-specialized elements. At least not until 2006 when they came out with a wonderfully versatile new building structure... Toa Inika ring any bells?That said, HF is not BIONICLE and naturally a person who liked BIONICLE has every reason not to like Hero Factory if the things they liked about BIONICLE are the things HF abandoned, like the rich, expanding storyline and the high-detail part designs. Personally, I liked these things about BIONICLE, as they made it very unique-- but I like HF's differences from BIONICLE for the very same reason.

[Dark_Stranger]

But I agree, an overarching storyline lasting, say, three segments would be nice.part 1: Villain does something, heroes stop him, he escapespart 2: Heroes investigate some sketchy stuff that's happening in Outer Ringpart 3: Villain has corrupted several heroes and assaults the city. Heroes defend and defeat him.THAT'S something that I could get behind.Rivin

Something like this would be wonderful. It would be an exellent compromise between Bionicle-style epic stories and the newer self-contained waves. Also, it's reminiscent of the short story arcs from Justice League, which just makes it sound even cooler.

I would say a strength it's more vague allowing for creativity. With things like BIONICLE there was a solid storyline, and if you created say a rahi, it would be pretty much impossible for it to make sense for another to come into existence. But, with HF, you can create a villain and pretty much any villain would fit in and be able to be fought by any hero. The room for creativity draws in more kids.A weakness would have to be repetitiveness that's been going on.

I strongly agree on both points."That is not dead which can eternal lie, / And with strange aeons even death may die."

[Thunder on the Mountain]

One nice thing about Hero Factory is it's got kind of an 'episode of the week' kinda thing going with it. Don't get me long, I love the Bionicle storyline with a passion and how it worked, but it's kinda neat having a change, with Hero Factory's strategy of keeping roughly the same cast of Heroes while changing up the villians every time 'round. It works well for the line.

[Sumiki]

I like the fact that Hero Factory's story is much more episodic in format. Let's face it, one of the reasons the BIONICLE sets were canceled was that the backstory was so long and convoluted that new fans had a harder time getting into it. I don't think that would have worked for BIONICLE, but it's a boon to Hero Factory because it can last longer.As far as a weakness goes, it seems like the fans are getting spoon-fed the same story. Like clone sets, I term this the clone story. Change the characters, villains, and objective, and boom, you have the next year of Hero Factory. I hope this eventually changes.

[-Blank-]

Let's face it, one of the reasons the BIONICLE sets were canceled was that the backstory was so long and convoluted that new fans had a harder time getting into it. I don't think that would have worked for BIONICLE, but it's a boon to Hero Factory because it can last longer.

I got into Bionicle in 2001 and I still don't understand the whole story! It got so complicated in 2006-2008 that I stopped caring about the story. I sitll refuse to believe that Mata Nui is a huge robot. To me he is always an island.

[HordikaMode]

I would say a strength it's more vague allowing for creativity. With things like BIONICLE there was a solid storyline, and if you created say a rahi, it would be pretty much impossible for it to make sense for another to come into existence. But, with HF, you can create a villain and pretty much any villain would fit in and be able to be fought by any hero. The room for creativity draws in more kids.A weakness would have to be repetitiveness that's been going on. Furno's been released what, 5 times? And when a hero is introduced, they are always put on Alpha Team 1. Excuse me, but isn't AT1 supposed to be for the best heroes? Not for rookies like Nex and Evo?

Evo and Nex were put in Alpha 1 because they were built as expert Heroes. Rocka was accepted because Stringer and Bulk knew him as 2.0 heroes, and he was as good a Hero as Furno.

[Dorek]

I would say a strength it's more vague allowing for creativity. With things like BIONICLE there was a solid storyline, and if you created say a rahi, it would be pretty much impossible for it to make sense for another to come into existence. But, with HF, you can create a villain and pretty much any villain would fit in and be able to be fought by any hero. The room for creativity draws in more kids.A weakness would have to be repetitiveness that's been going on. Furno's been released what, 5 times? And when a hero is introduced, they are always put on Alpha Team 1. Excuse me, but isn't AT1 supposed to be for the best heroes? Not for rookies like Nex and Evo?

Evo and Nex were put in Alpha 1 because they were built as expert Heroes. Rocka was accepted because Stringer and Bulk knew him as 2.0 heroes, and he was as good a Hero as Furno.

I wouldn't say they were built as "expert" Heroes; they're still rookies. They just happened to be the most capable of dealing with the threat at the time, and became Alpha 1. And I don't think it's said anywhere that Rocka knew Stringer and Bulk specifically, just the Alpha 1 team in general.Anyway, the repetitiveness is probably a strength for it, because it's a lot easier for small kids to keep collecting their favorite Heroes. We, as the older generation, think that it's boring seeing the same characters over again, but it definitely works for them; makes it an anchor to recognize what's going on. Even though the story is more episodic, it makes more sense from a narrative structure, to have the same person be the main character all the way through.

[Bambi]

My biggest complaint with Hero Factory is that, somehow, Stormer always knows the bad guy from some random event before. The first time, with Stormer and Von Ness/Nebula, it was pretty cool. It explained Von Nebula's motives and why Stormer was so hard on rookies. But with Fire Lord, it was random, hadn't influenced either of their characters, and was overall unnessecary. With Witch Doctor, it was a bit better. I liked that Aldous Witch was a former Hero Factory worker, but not that he knew Stormer specifically. Thresher could have been his student.

This. Something else I don't like is the fact that the outcome of the stories is the same:A bunch of bad guys make a small group to destroy HF. They seem tough, but the heroes somehow beat them in the cheesiest ways. (see Rise of the Rookies Episode 4: Von Nebula)

[Aanchir]

My biggest complaint with Hero Factory is that, somehow, Stormer always knows the bad guy from some random event before. The first time, with Stormer and Von Ness/Nebula, it was pretty cool. It explained Von Nebula's motives and why Stormer was so hard on rookies. But with Fire Lord, it was random, hadn't influenced either of their characters, and was overall unnessecary. With Witch Doctor, it was a bit better. I liked that Aldous Witch was a former Hero Factory worker, but not that he knew Stormer specifically. Thresher could have been his student.

This. Something else I don't like is the fact that the outcome of the stories is the same:A bunch of bad guys make a small group to destroy HF. They seem tough, but the heroes somehow beat them in the cheesiest ways. (see Rise of the Rookies Episode 4: Von Nebula)

That has pretty much nothing to do with the Savage Planet storyline. In that, the only reason HF is involved is that Witch Doctor sent out a distress beacon to lure in Heroes whose ship he would steal. "Destroying Hero Factory" didn't even factor into his plans.In fact, Ordeal of Fire also has nothing to do with destroying Hero Factory. In that instance, the villains are only attacking the fuel station out of self-interest. Only Von Nebula was truly acting out of revenge, even though Witch Doctor and Von Nebula both had grudges against Hero Factory.Additionally, I think Surge's dramatic return that allowed the Heroes to take out Fire Lord was not cheesy at all.

[Xalen: Shadowed Spirit of]

My biggest complaint with Hero Factory is that, somehow, Stormer always knows the bad guy from some random event before. The first time, with Stormer and Von Ness/Nebula, it was pretty cool. It explained Von Nebula's motives and why Stormer was so hard on rookies. But with Fire Lord, it was random, hadn't influenced either of their characters, and was overall unnessecary. With Witch Doctor, it was a bit better. I liked that Aldous Witch was a former Hero Factory worker, but not that he knew Stormer specifically. Thresher could have been his student.

This. Something else I don't like is the fact that the outcome of the stories is the same:A bunch of bad guys make a small group to destroy HF. They seem tough, but the heroes somehow beat them in the cheesiest ways. (see Rise of the Rookies Episode 4: Von Nebula)

That has pretty much nothing to do with the Savage Planet storyline. In that, the only reason HF is involved is that Witch Doctor sent out a distress beacon to lure in Heroes whose ship he would steal. "Destroying Hero Factory" didn't even factor into his plans.In fact, Ordeal of Fire also has nothing to do with destroying Hero Factory. In that instance, the villains are only attacking the fuel station out of self-interest. Only Von Nebula was truly acting out of revenge, even though Witch Doctor and Von Nebula both had grudges against Hero Factory.Additionally, I think Surge's dramatic return that allowed the Heroes to take out Fire Lord was not cheesy at all.

My biggest complaint with Hero Factory is that, somehow, Stormer always knows the bad guy from some random event before. The first time, with Stormer and Von Ness/Nebula, it was pretty cool. It explained Von Nebula's motives and why Stormer was so hard on rookies. But with Fire Lord, it was random, hadn't influenced either of their characters, and was overall unnessecary. With Witch Doctor, it was a bit better. I liked that Aldous Witch was a former Hero Factory worker, but not that he knew Stormer specifically. Thresher could have been his student.

This. Something else I don't like is the fact that the outcome of the stories is the same:A bunch of bad guys make a small group to destroy HF. They seem tough, but the heroes somehow beat them in the cheesiest ways. (see Rise of the Rookies Episode 4: Von Nebula)

That has pretty much nothing to do with the Savage Planet storyline. In that, the only reason HF is involved is that Witch Doctor sent out a distress beacon to lure in Heroes whose ship he would steal. "Destroying Hero Factory" didn't even factor into his plans.In fact, Ordeal of Fire also has nothing to do with destroying Hero Factory. In that instance, the villains are only attacking the fuel station out of self-interest. Only Von Nebula was truly acting out of revenge, even though Witch Doctor and Von Nebula both had grudges against Hero Factory.Additionally, I think Surge's dramatic return that allowed the Heroes to take out Fire Lord was not cheesy at all.

In fact, I would think it would be a favorite moment for BIONICLE fans - ramming a huge spaceship into someone and smashing their arm off in the process? And people say Hero Factory isn't dark enough! You guys probably love Breakout - a two-part arc with a story that differentiates from the norm.

[Hahli Husky]

Revivals make me a sad husky. Closed.