Moratorium on Canonization?

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I'd consider what he says canon unless it contradicts official sources. If you don't want to acknowledge that as canon, you don't have to, it won't affect the rest of the story. Some like having new tidbits for G1, and G2 is a hard reboot so I see no problem.

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

I'd consider what he says canon unless it contradicts official sources. If you don't want to acknowledge that as canon, you don't have to, it won't affect the rest of the story. Some like having new tidbits for G1, and G2 is a hard reboot so I see no problem.

 

well yeah, problem is this topic is talking about things like the toa cordak decision, which is contradictory to previous uses of the term cordak. things like that. y'know?

 

a fikou nui or something is definitely not going to hurt anyone... i'm pretty sure anyway. :0

[Shadow Destroyer]

I'm kind of weird, but my head-canon says that the 2010 serials never happened, and I just consider the G1 story to have concluded after the last comic. (I mainly think this way because I thought the story got way too convoluted and weird shortly after.) Anyway, I may be biased because of that, but it is in my firm belief that the G1 story additions should be stopped, UNLESS they are to clarify on something that had already been established.

[toa kopaka4372]

I think there's an element of arrogance to thinking that BZPower should be the one to decide this issue (not accusing anyone specifically). We're not the only fans asking Greg questions; there are BIONICLE fans out there who don't visit this site. Nothing decided here will affect anyone aside from ourselves. Yes, I think for those of us here, we should present our questions to the members of the forum and have them discussed and any potential problems eliminated before actual submission to Greg. But we don't get the say on this issue. As long as Greg is open to answer classic BIONICLE questions, small things may continue to be organized.

 

And as mentioned by several others here, Greg is no dummy. He's a little more lax with canonization since the story is over, but he's not just going "whatever" ncan canonizing whatever comes his way. Just go through the LMB and look through them. The reason it seems Greg canonizes everything is because people here about what he made canon, and not the many things he refused to canonize. Give the man a little credit.

[Quisoves Potoo]

I think there's an element of arrogance to thinking that BZPower should be the one to decide this issue (not accusing anyone specifically). We're not the only fans asking Greg questions; there are BIONICLE fans out there who don't visit this site. Nothing decided here will affect anyone aside from ourselves. Yes, I think for those of us here, we should present our questions to the members of the forum and have them discussed and any potential problems eliminated before actual submission to Greg. But we don't get the say on this issue. As long as Greg is open to answer classic BIONICLE questions, small things may continue to be organized.

 

I don't think it's necessarily arrogance. We are the largest BIONICLE fan site in existence, to the best of my knowledge, so I can see why some would think that BZPower is the most suited for the task. Though I'm not saying that I think we should have the ability to decide the issue, I'm undecided on that matter.

 

I do think that the hypothetical site continuing the Gen1 story (for which BZPower seems the likeliest candidate) should have some sort of priority in regards to canon, but I'm not certain how far that should extend (certainly not over minutiae like the existence of Fikou-Nui.)

Edited October 21, 2014 by Quisoves Pugnat

[Boidoh]

I don't mind any of the things Greg has canonized. Toa Cordak is cool, and Turaga Lhikan = Gold Good Guy makes perfect sense in my opinion. You can't tell me that polybag set was made with no inspiration from that existing character. (Maybe I'm biased on Gold Good Guy because I'm the one who suggested it, but yeah.) Greg only seems to canonize stuff that makes sense. He wouldn't canonize something silly like 7217 Duracell Bad Guy = Baby Piraka or something. So I'm ok with all the canonizations for now. And besides, it's his decision to canonize something, not ours.

 

Give me a few days... But that being a Baby Piraka just sounds terrible..

[Quisoves Potoo]

There were, I seem to recall, some who considered that Bad Guy a Brakas Monkey. I'm not certain how widespread that conception was, though.

[bonesiii]

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).

I see. Well for whatever it's worth, I'll apologize anyways myself, for somehow taking what you said in the opposite way of what you meant. >_<

 

Anyways, what I'm talking about isn't so much a "limit" in the sense that less canon actually prevents anything, but rather that more canon (generally) inspires or fuels more fan content. So, less canon just fuels it less.

 

But I doubt it's only that simple either. There are probably other factors that could make a simpler world inspire more fan imagination too. Just saying it seems to be a major factor.

 

I think it's more a matter on how things are being put into the worldbuilding than the fact that there's worldbuilding, bones.

I agree, but my point is that pinning down exactly what makes one "how" better than others" is difficult, and should be thought through carefully if we want to have "rules" (or guidelines ).

 

like, for instance, the toa cordak thing, Lesovikk is still alive and kicking, and heck, he even had a cordak blaster mounted on his sea sled, don't you think. if it was a canon thing, all these people hearing/saying "cordak" without acknowledging that have been a little... odd?

Sure. Unless they felt it was common knowledge and didn't need said... or the opposite, that by that time everybody had forgotten it.

 

My problem with it would be more that it's odd Lesovikk would have no reaction to any use of the term in his hearing, and maybe he wouldn't want one personally as it might seem too disturbing to him. (Not sure about that... arguably maybe he would want it as a symbol/reminder... anyways, my MAIN problem with it is just that it doesn't fit the English etymology much; the idea of Cordak was supposed to be that they were used to blow up the stone cord under Mahri Nui. Seems too much of a stretch to me to get from that to the first Toa team name. Whatevs.)

 

Now maybe there could have been good answers to all these objections but the problem is that we didn't have a chance to hash them out.

 

So, let's take an example; asking Greg "Was Toa Dume's team called the Toa Kanoka?" is not a good idea, because it adds nothing substantial to canon. But, if we took a theory like mine over at the Protodermis thread and got that canonized, it would be a good idea, because it clarifies the creation of the Matoran Universe and establishes a relationship between Krana and Matoran. Is that what we're saying?

But this is why I'm trying to emphasize just how hard it is to objectively pin down what makes one good and another bad -- I don't know the answer to that. It kind of depends on taste. Personally, I think it's far better at this point if Greg doesn't try to establish science questions, as he isn't good at the subject and when he has tried before it has usually just made a mess of contradictions with related details he has forgotten. That's why I've made not even the slightest attempt to get any of my protodermis theories canonized even though I have scoured every bit of canon evidence I could find to make the most consistent ones -- if I gave that to Greg, he wouldn't read it, and even I might miss something and make an unexpected contradiction.

 

But somebody else might like that getting canonized just to settle something down. How do you tell who's right and who's wrong?

 

Obviously it ultimately comes down to Greg, but I think we're trying here to come up with some idea of what Greg should do, rather than what he CAN do.

 

And as mentioned by several others here, Greg is no dummy. He's a little more lax with canonization since the story is over, but he's not just going "whatever" ncan canonizing whatever comes his way. Just go through the LMB and look through them. The reason it seems Greg canonizes everything is because people here about what he made canon, and not the many things he refused to canonize. Give the man a little credit.

Agreed there. But I think some of the people who are saying that are just simplifying it to get the point across. Some of his errors HAVE been rather strange to people with just a little knowledge on subjects like it, like the planets-not-moons thing which contradicted something just about anybody who followed 2009-2010 was well aware of. On the other hand, I myself know what it's like to have a shockingly stupid memory so I can't really blame him. (Plus he keeps so many facts rattling around that brain, it's inevitable some things will get lost.)

 

But you're right -- overall he analyzes questions and suggestions extremely well, probably better than any of us could, and we don't give him enough credit for that.

 

Sometimes I worry that some people judging him only read a handful of secondhand quotes in things like the Compendium (my bad if my part in making that contributes to that ), and don't actually read the LMB regularly, so they may have a distorted idea of how Greg handles things. Honestly only a tiny percentage of what he says in there ever gets posted (at least easily noticeably) on BZP, and what we do discuss here is much more likely to be his few mistakes, as when he gives more obvious answers we all expected we tend not to notice as much.

[Zeb]

 

I don't mind any of the things Greg has canonized. Toa Cordak is cool, and Turaga Lhikan = Gold Good Guy makes perfect sense in my opinion. You can't tell me that polybag set was made with no inspiration from that existing character. (Maybe I'm biased on Gold Good Guy because I'm the one who suggested it, but yeah.) Greg only seems to canonize stuff that makes sense. He wouldn't canonize something silly like 7217 Duracell Bad Guy = Baby Piraka or something. So I'm ok with all the canonizations for now. And besides, it's his decision to canonize something, not ours.

 

Give me a few days... But that being a Baby Piraka just sounds terrible..

 

I can already see it now...

 

*Toa Inika walk into a room*

Jaller: WE'RE READY TO FIGHT THE PIRAKA- wait whaaaa?

Baby Piraka: Ga ga goo goo!

*Baby Piraka pulls out his little hook and attacks the Toa*

Jaller: WHAAAAA???

*The Toa Inika are defeated because they were too shocked to fight*

 

 

Oh, and let's not forget Baby Piraka Duracell Bad Guy's brother... 6935 Disney Bad Guy!

 

And let's also not forget his arch-nemesis... 6934 GOOD GUY!!!

 

They ALL need to be canon!      But seriously, there's no way Greg will canonize Baby Piraka.

[Boidoh]

Oh my God... Didn't even know about Disney Bad Guy. Good Guy is epic, breaking through the wired fence. 

 

There were, I seem to recall, some who considered that Bad Guy a Brakas Monkey. I'm not certain how widespread that conception was, though.

 

PM me. Let's talk.

[toa kopaka4372]

Honestly only a tiny percentage of what he says in there ever gets posted (at least easily noticeably) on BZP, and what we do discuss here is much more likely to be his few mistakes, as when he gives more obvious answers we all expected we tend not to notice as much.   

Exactly. It irks me when people dismiss Greg as "not caring" about the original story because they think he canonizes everything indiscriminately. 

 

Here's an example of Greg rejecting a canonization request (sort of) just today, from the LMB:

 

Question:

2. Can non-canon (but LEGO-licensed) material like BIONICLE Heroes be considered alternate universes?

 

Answer:

2) I would prefer not to do that

 

Edited October 22, 2014 by toa kopaka4372

[Dorek]

Sometimes I worry that some people judging him only read a handful of secondhand quotes in things like the Compendium (my bad if my part in making that contributes to that ), and don't actually read the LMB regularly, so they may have a distorted idea of how Greg handles things. Honestly only a tiny percentage of what he says in there ever gets posted (at least easily noticeably) on BZP, and what we do discuss here is much more likely to be his few mistakes, as when he gives more obvious answers we all expected we tend not to notice as much.

Most definitely not my intention to make it appear as such; reading the LMB (once you set you internal language to "10 year old", for all the good and bad that implies =P) can range from uninteresting or self-evident to interesting or impressive. Some things you read you'll know, some you won't know, and some will genuinely pique your interest and get you thinking. It was that way on BZP and has translated fairly well to the LMB, minor adjustments aside. But, as you say, it's not those that catch our attention. The problems and issues are even more apparent when they're less regular in nature.

 

Ultimately my issue is that, for all intents and purposes, the LMB functions as well as OGW (the W stands for whatever because there were too many Official Greg things in my time) with the key difference of lacking oversight. And again, normally it isn't a problem... until it is. There was a reason things like the BSS were established, and without that we encounter the problems that existed before.

[ALVIS]

Well, there you have it.

 

 

 

There's been a debate going on about the canonization of things for old BIONICLE story, and I thought I would share my thoughts on this.

1) First of all, the notion held in some quarters that I no longer care about old BIONICLE and will just canonize anything is wrong and a little insulting. If I did not care about old BIONICLE (or Gen1 as some people call it), I would not be spending my time answering questions on this board. I invested 10 years of my life in Gen1 and wrote over 800,000 words on it. So yes, I care.

2) That said, one of the reasons NOT to add much to canon in the past was the possibility that Gen1 might come back in some form someday. With new BIONICLE officially a reboot, that option is extremely unlikely to happen. So allowing bits into the story here or there is not going to ruin any official plans for the future. Also, since it is also extremely  unlikely that authorization will ever come to write new chapters of old story, the only additions there can be to  old story are these minor canonizations.

3) There are things I do  not want to do. I am not going to add new Toa elements, and I do not want to start doing a lot of retcons which is why I made the rule that if one of my answers is contradicted by pre-established canon, canon takes precedence. The kind of things I have been canonizing -- an extra Rahi for Mata Nui, a name for a Toa team -- are minor and do not ruin or retcon anything from past story. I think the hue and cry over them is a little overblown.

4) Please keep in mind that I do  not own the story -- LEGO Company does, as they own everything to do with BIONICLE. Anything I do is done with their sufferance, and they can, at any point, declare that nothing else can be canonized if they choose to do so. They are the  only ones with the authority to do that. Any segment of the fanbase can choose to  ignore whatever they like, but they do not have the authority to shut the story down

 

Normally, I'd feel compelled to add a witty remark, but I think Greg Farshtey is more than capable of speaking for himself.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Yaldabaoth

[Regitnui]

Now that's pretty definitive, I say.

[Shadow Destroyer]

The man has spoken! I'm happy that he took the time to address our concerns.

[Dorek]

Superbly put, and better than anything I could have asked for from him. It was never my intention to accuse him of anything, and anybody who reads the LMB can tell how much he actually cares about interacting with the fans.

 

But canonization was, and will continue to be, a controversial part of the fanbase, and I thought (still think!) that merited talking about.

 

Ultimately all I can do is implore people not to take advantage of the way Greg is generous in his interactions, or otherwise use it for their own ends and purposes. Some people invariably will, but it's still good to see how people think about BIONICLE.

[Quisoves Potoo]

Does Greg still have the ability to permit story-contests?

[Boidoh]

Well, there you have it.

 

The kind of things I have been canonizing -- an extra Rahi for Mata Nui, a name for a Toa team -- are minor and do not ruin or retcon anything from past story. I think the hue and cry over them is a little overblown.

 

Normally, I'd feel compelled to add a witty remark, but I think Greg Farshtey is more than capable of speaking for himself.

 

 

Bolded is the best part.

 

Did someone ask him a question or something. How did he find out about this?

Edited October 23, 2014 by Boidoh

[toa kopaka4372]

Well, there you have it.

 

 

 

3) There are things I do  not want to do. I am not going to add new Toa elements, and I do not want to start doing a lot of retcons which is why I made the rule that if one of my answers is contradicted by pre-established canon, canon takes precedence. The kind of things I have been canonizing -- an extra Rahi for Mata Nui, a name for a Toa team -- are minor and do not ruin or retcon anything from past story. I think the hue and cry over them is a little overblown.2) That said, one of the reasons NOT to add much to canon in the past was the possibility that Gen1 might come back in some form someday. With new BIONICLE officially a reboot, that option is extremely unlikely to happen. So allowing bits into the story here or there is not going to ruin any official plans for the future. Also, since it is also extremely  unlikely that authorization will ever come to write new chapters of old story, the only additions there can be to  old story are these minor canonizations.1)

First of all, the notion held in some quarters that I no longer care about old BIONICLE and will just canonize anything is wrong and a little insulting. If I did not care about old BIONICLE (or Gen1 as some people call it), I would not be spending my time answering questions on this board. I invested 10 years of my life in Gen1 and wrote over 800,000 words on it. So yes, I care.

There's been a debate going on about the canonization of things for old BIONICLE story, and I thought I would share my thoughts on this.

 4) Please keep in mind that I do  not own the story -- LEGO Company does, as they own everything to do with BIONICLE. Anything I do is done with their sufferance, and they can, at any point, declare that nothing else can be canonized if they choose to do so. They are the  only ones with the authority to do that. Any segment of the fanbase can choose to  ignore whatever they like, but they do not have the authority to shut the story down

 

Normally, I'd feel compelled to add a witty remark, but I think Greg Farshtey is more than capable of speaking for himself.

I cannot express how satisfying it was to read that. Thanks,Greg, for commenting on the manner. The bolded segment especially was exactly what I wanted to hear; I've been sick of people throwing that claim around carelessly on BZPower in a completely unwarranted manner.

 

It's interesting how specific some parts of his response were. It almost feels as if Greg read through this thread himself...

Edited October 23, 2014 by toa kopaka4372

[ALVIS]

 

Well, there you have it.

 

The kind of things I have been canonizing -- an extra Rahi for Mata Nui, a name for a Toa team -- are minor and do not ruin or retcon anything from past story. I think the hue and cry over them is a little overblown.

 

Normally, I'd feel compelled to add a witty remark, but I think Greg Farshtey is more than capable of speaking for himself.

 

 

Bolded is the best part.

 

Did someone ask him a question or something. How did he find out about this?

 

 

I was wondering the same thing. Keep in mind, though -- Greg isn't legally prevented from reading BZPower material, only from interacting with members who might be under 13 years of age. He could be reading this thread as we type...

[Boidoh]

GREG, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, CAN YOU MAKE IT CANON THAT BOIDOH RULES THE FIKOU?

 

I'm glad though, that he has responded to this. Especially after those comments about "shutting down canon".

Edited October 23, 2014 by Boidoh

[Thormen]

While I agree 100% with what Greg posted on this subject in the LMB and about the fact that TLG owns BIONICLE and not BZP, I don't think the case is closed on the idea of somehow influencing what BZPers ask Greg. Of course we can't tell Greg what he should and shouldn't do, but we could set up guidelines on how we, the BZP portion of the fanbase, would ideally go about asking him questions.

 

The thing is, as Greg pointed out the very fact that he is on the LMB shows that he still cares about the Gen 1 story enough to spend a significant portion of his free time on it. He does not however have the time to go over everything that has ever been said about anything related to the Gen 1 story, which is why from time to time his answers contradict what was established in previous canon, and from time to time his answers have weird implications due to previous canon. I think what Greg has said on the subject on the LMB make it pretty clear that he expects us to be responsible when asking questions. He cares about the story but it's only reasonable for him to expect us to care as well, otherwise what's the point of it all?

 

I'm not thinking about any binding rules. Obviously BZP doesn't control the LMB and I think punishing people on BZP for what they do on the LMB amounts to abuse of power (plus what I said earlier about telling Greg what he should and shouldn't do). I'm thinking if we work together we can draft some kind of general advice on how to word our questions. People are free to ignore this kind of advice, but really, don't we all have the same goal here? We love BIONICLE and we want the Gen 1 story to be awesome. If we take that goal as the starting point for drafting the guidelines, and we stress that everybody is welcome to contribute to these guidelines, I think we will be able to get people to ask their questions more responsibly.

 

I also think that a set of guidelines would weed out the objections that people have to canonizations that are simply based on their tastes (the objections I mean, not the canonizations). Take the Toa Cordak thing for example: I don't like it but I can't think of a reason why it can't be canon. As far as I know Greg was aware of all the relevant facts surrounding this decision, the only thing I can object to is that he made a decision I don't like but hey, I didn't like the Kal either and here they are. If we draft a set of guidelines people with objections will be forced to either point out how a decision they don't like conflicts with the guidelines or how the guidelines should be amended.

 

Personally, I think the best thing would be for people first to ask their questions on BZP to see if they aren't answered by previous canon, and to discuss how we would go about asking him in a way that provides enough context. That way we can avoid contradictions with previous canon (which are now invalid anyway) and we can avoid his answers having unappealing implications. If we attempt to explain to Greg what exactly the implications of his answer will be, I think we can make sure that both we the fans and Greg himself get what they want out of the thread on the LMB.

 

What does everybody else think?

 

Edit: Replaced the word "moratorium", mostly with "(a set of) guidelines".

Edited October 26, 2014 by Thormen

[Dorek]

Perhaps a dedicated topic for suggestions that can then be discussed? Might get a bit unwieldy, but it could be a good starting point. It's an interesting idea.

[bonesiii]

If we take that goal as the starting point for drafting the moratorium

Let's get something straight that's been a sort of nitpicky elephant in the room in this topic; "moratorium" implies "ban" (although sometimes partial or a delay). Greg has made it clear that's not happening. Let's please not use that word. What we should be talking about is "guidelines".

[Thormen]

Perhaps a dedicated topic for suggestions that can then be discussed? Might get a bit unwieldy, but it could be a good starting point. It's an interesting idea.

I posted the idea in this topic since it's directly based on your original idea of a moratorium, but you're right that people might want to discuss it in a dedicated topic instead of scrolling through the first two pages of this one. If nobody objects to the idea I'll start a dedicated topic for it, I'm thinking of having people suggest changes to the guidelines and if their suggestions are not argued against in the next seven days they get incorporated in the guidelines.

 

 

If we take that goal as the starting point for drafting the moratorium

Let's get something straight that's been a sort of nitpicky elephant in the room in this topic; "moratorium" implies "ban" (although sometimes partial or a delay). Greg has made it clear that's not happening. Let's please not use that word. What we should be talking about is "guidelines".

 

OK we'll just say guidelines, I'll edit my post to get rid of that word.

[Boidoh]

The only way this is going to stop is if BZP starts banning people for asking 'no-no' stuff on the LMB...

 

Do not take that suggestion.

[Dorek]

 

Perhaps a dedicated topic for suggestions that can then be discussed? Might get a bit unwieldy, but it could be a good starting point. It's an interesting idea.

I posted the idea in this topic since it's directly based on your original idea of a moratorium, but you're right that people might want to discuss it in a dedicated topic instead of scrolling through the first two pages of this one. If nobody objects to the idea I'll start a dedicated topic for it, I'm thinking of having people suggest changes to the guidelines and if their suggestions are not argued against in the next seven days they get incorporated in the guidelines.

 

It feels a bit weird to have a hard and fast rule system when the gist is still "you can go talk to Greg anyway".

 

I mean, I'll suggest and harangue 'til the cows come home, but bonesiii can attest to my high threshold for these types of things already, so hopefully I won't need to :U

 

 

The only way this is going to stop is if BZP starts banning people for asking 'no-no' stuff on the LMB...

 

Do not take that suggestion.

I... don't see why they would do that? You are still free to go and ask Greg questions as much as you want. The hope is that you, and others, will bring your suggestions to BZP to discuss them before asking, to see if others think that the idea has merit, or perhaps if the idea has a previous history that someone might otherwise be unaware of. The recent staves question, for instance, could have been placed in this hypothetical topic (even though the idea had migrated from BS01 in the first place). Edited October 26, 2014 by Dorek

[Thormen]

The only way this is going to stop is if BZP starts banning people for asking 'no-no' stuff on the LMB...

 

Do not take that suggestion.

I don't think banning is necessary to achieve something and in any case I think if BZP is going to ban people for what they do on the LMB, they're taking things too far. I do think we could achieve something by drafting guidelines since everyone is invited to join in: it seems reasonable that people wouldn't violate guidelines if they themselves had a hand in drafting them.

 

Also Boidoh, when I say everyone is invited to participate, that means you as well. In fact I am especially hoping you'll join in because of the huge number of posts you make on the LMB. Not only is it obvious that if people ignore you, you'll ignore them (that's a completely reasonable reaction), but I also think it wouldn't be right to exclude you since the fact that you spend so much time on expanding the Gen 1 story shows that it's important to you. So when I say everyone is invited, I really do mean everyone.

 

It feels a bit weird to have a hard and fast rule system when the gist is still "you can go talk to Greg anyway".

 

I mean, I'll suggest and harangue 'til the cows come home, but bonesiii can attest to my high threshold for these types of things already, so hopefully I won't need to :U

It's not that hard-and-fast since everyone can still post their opinion and everyone counts. The only thing is: if we don't have a procedure for when things will be accepted in the guidelines and when things will be removed, people are bound to accuse each other of personal bias and then the topic will most likely miss its point and descend into a flame war.

[bonesiii]

Just to be clear, nobody's talking about banning people (or anything else; this would just be voluntary, but still very good advice).

 

Anyways, I'm all for a new topic directly about making guidelines.

 

And BTW, we can summarize/link them in the Greg Compendium and S&T rules to help get them attention. (Again to be clear, this would not be as rules; the S&T rules topic does also include guidelines for other stuff, after all. But since it's still best for people to follow them, that might help (sliiiightly lol) people see them in the first place and make it more likely.)

[Seaborgium]

There were, I seem to recall, some who considered that Bad Guy a Brakas Monkey. I'm not certain how widespread that conception was, though.

Maybe this is just Deja-vu, but I recall that as well. I remember reading one of the 2006 books which mentioned Braka Monkeys. Then I came across something that stated that that thing was a Braka Monkey. I was a wee bit perturbed.

[Regitnui]

May I make a request to be sent to the LMB?

 

1) Can protosteel be magnetized by a skilled Toa of Electricity?

 

2) Could a Toa of Magnetism or Electricity disrupt Rhotuka spinners, as Rhotuka are held together by a magnetic field.

 

3) Could Takanuva, or another Av-Toa of sufficient skill, bend/absorb light to become effectively invisible?

[Boidoh]

Why not...

[Dorek]

May I make a request to be sent to the LMB?

 

1) Can protosteel be magnetized by a skilled Toa of Electricity?

 

2) Could a Toa of Magnetism or Electricity disrupt Rhotuka spinners, as Rhotuka are held together by a magnetic field.

 

3) Could Takanuva, or another Av-Toa of sufficient skill, bend/absorb light to become effectively invisible?

I think you might have to wait until we have a more dedicated topic (one without such a drama-llama title :U), but noted.

 

Why not...

See, this is precisely what I would try and avoid. "Why not" should never be a reason for "why", period.

[Boidoh]

Sorry RegitNui, I keep getting "an unexpected error" occurring...I tried about 10 times.

 

 

 

Why not...

See, this is precisely what I would try and avoid. "Why not" should never be a reason for "why", period.

 

Why?

[ALVIS]

I think what Dorek is saying is that there should at least be some tangible gain from asking questions on the LMB thread. Before leaping to ask the question, think about where or if that information will be put on BS01 and what clarity or benefit it offers to fans.

[Dorek]

While that's certainly a benefit, I'm coming from a slightly more idealistic standpoint; canon should be canon on its own merits, not just because somebody had an idea that one time. If you can't back up your thought process with any kind of reasoning or logic, then to me that's incredibly frustrating. The burden of proof should be on the one who comes up with the idea. That's not to say just because someone can't come up with reasons for the idea that it's a bad idea, but by using "why not" as the reasoning, it telegraphs that not much thought went into it at all.

 

I also tend to lump in "because it looks/sounds cool" under the same general banner of "why not", but I'll admit many people disagree with that =P.

[bonesiii]

May I make a request to be sent to the LMB?

 

1) Can protosteel be magnetized by a skilled Toa of Electricity?

Let me use this as an example of how I'm thinking things should go (and you've already done this for this specific question so bravo, but just to be clear). To me the first thing should be to post a topic asking that question of fans (check).

 

Then, after discussion (and specific guidelines we come up with come into play here... now I'm assuming that we're past that stage and a question has cleared... NOTE: I'm NOT saying this example is cleared), the main thing to do is to list the biggest objections to it.

 

It's those that I feel Greg most needs to be made aware of. In this case "perhaps the GBs included a ban on the spiral-electricity electromagnet ability in Toa of Lightning to prevent them from overlapping Toa of Magnetism too much and being overpowered." So, the question shouldn't be an open ended "Can Toa do this?" But "Do you think this is a reasonable limit for something they can't do?"

 

(At least in this example.)

 

Also you should explain clearly what the good reasons for it would be. As you worded it right here, that's not clear at all. Your topic explained this well, but if you sent just this question in the quote here to Greg, who knows whether he knows or remembers the spiral trick in physics? He's not, after all, often an expert on all things physics-related. (But to treat this as an example, it's not even about the subject of physics, but any question on any subject might be unclear as to what positive reasons there would be.)

 

In short, a question should at least list one major reason FOR and one AGAINST an idea.

 

IMO.

 

(Now this doesn't need to apply to every possible question! If you were just asking something that seems obvious already in the canon but you just want to confirm, like "Tahu could burn up a Matoran if he was evil and wanted to, right?" then I would personally not have an issue with just posting the question right away. I'm talking about things like this example that seem more "obscure" or "not obvious" or "exploring new ground" or however you wanna say that.)

 

Make any sense?

[Regitnui]

Which is why I posted it here first. I guessed I may as well begin the new tradition.

[fishers64]

3) Could Takanuva, or another Av-Toa of sufficient skill, bend/absorb light to become effectively invisible?

 

1) Would a Toa of Light be able to push light away from himself to make himself near invisible in low light?

 

 

1) Technically, yes, but we don't let him do it in story because an invisible Toa who can fire lasers kind of unbalances the story

 

5. Could a Toa of Light become invisible by warping the light particles around him?

5a. Could he also use that to create an illusion?

 

5) Theoretically, yes, but we don't let him have that power. An invisible guy who shoots lasers is a little too powerful

5a) He has been working on making holograms, yes