Thoughts on This Community

[~ShadowBolt~]

Hey guys! I'm sure most of you won't recognize or remember me seeing as I joined a while ago and haven't been really active the past 2 years or so but I just wanted to say I'm really impressed by this website and community.Not many internet forums can take a subject ( a toyline devoted to a specific group of children) and blow it up to a successful online community. And the fact this website went down for a long time soon after the news broke that Bionicle ended, I expected this site to die out quickly or do some renaming to become a generic Lego forum and attract new people. But you guys have managed to still keep going strong after all this time and for that I have to respect all of you.Here's to another 10 years of good memories. :)Edit: What do you guys feel about this community? Do you see it going downhill or making a rebound or that things need to change for things to "return to the glory days"? (Thanks for the suggestion)

Edited August 2, 2012 by ~ShadowBolt~

[Ballom Nom Nom]

Yep, I very much agree; this is a very impressive community.Still, there really isn't much left to discuss, as you mostly seemed to post a message for the community as a whole. If so, then this may belong more in your signature than in its own topic.~B~

[Shadow Kurahk]

You could phrase this as a question (like "What do you think of the community?") and make it a discussion. That would be enough to keep it open.And in the case that you do edit it, I'm pretty impressed that it's lasted this long. And though we're drifting away gradually (which is a good thing--we shouldn't stay too attached to BIONICLE), we're not losing sight of what we used to be.-SK

[Makuta_of_Oz]

Slowly it is becoming a general LEGO site. The news section has started focusing on all things LEGO and the forums have become more generalised since the upgrade.Oh, and the BZPower logo above now has "LEGO news, reference and discussion" instead of "Bionicle news, reference and discussion".

[InnerRayg]

BZP is a little slower these days, but I think we can bring it back. The key would be finding a way to bring in a new audience without abandoning our roots in Bionicle.

[Solaris Magnus]

The community on the whole is great. It is understandably fading, but I think that it can still stay strong with the right circumstances.-Star

[Let's Henshin!]

BZP is a little slower these days, but I think we can bring it back. The key would be finding a way to bring in a new audience without abandoning our roots in Bionicle.

These have been my thoughts as well, but honestly I do feel as though a BZPower Renaissance is coming, and soon.

[Waffles]

I'd hate to be negative (actually I love being negative, but w/e) but I think BZP's glory days are over. This is not to say BZP is on a slow drawn-out path of death, but just that there will never be replacing the days of huge amounts of members.Instead, we should see today's community as a more mature, albeit smaller group of members. Have you noticed that there's less drama and flaming here on BZP? I think this should be seen as one of the advantages of a smaller, older community, which should be an idea BZP shouldn't reject in favor of a new era just yet.

[Lyichir]

I love the BZPower community. Our Bionicle roots give the site a unique perspective among Lego fansites. The members of this site generally have a more favorable disposition toward action figure themes like Hero Factory, as well as story-driven themes like Ninjago. The moderation of this site is top-notch, and the site continues to roll out new features like the gallery on top of existing features like blogs. At risk of sounding overemotional, I love BZPower, and see myself staying here for a long time.

[Gatanui]

BZPower is the only website I really love. I've never been as dedicated and active and a staff member on a site before, let alone for seven years (got my spinny today as a matter of fact ) in addition to a few other things I owe to it. And besides, the community is so great, even more now that the forums have become sort of more calm. It's a site I always feel home on.-Gata

Edited July 31, 2012 by Gatanui

[Riisiing Moon]

I'd hate to be negative (actually I love being negative, but w/e) but I think BZP's glory days are over. This is not to say BZP is on a slow drawn-out path of death, but just that there will never be replacing the days of huge amounts of members.Instead, we should see today's community as a more mature, albeit smaller group of members. Have you noticed that there's less drama and flaming here on BZP? I think this should be seen as one of the advantages of a smaller, older community, which should be an idea BZP shouldn't reject in favor of a new era just yet.

BZP's glory days are over because PEOPLE LIKE YOU WON'T MAKE NEW ONES :spank:But in all seriousness, I think a lot of the loss of faith in BZP is due to boredom. Everyone on here is just so used to BZP, and it's the same routine posting and blogging and RPing and interaction, all that junk. Before the reboot--and even more so before Bionicle's end--we had both updates in the Bionicle storyline, and activity by relatively newer members to give us the energy and vitality we needed to keep BZP monstrously interesting. Now that both of those things are gone, we have to pick up the torch ourselves and do something different. I get how cheesy that sounds, but I really feel like if you want to have some great memories on BZP like the ones you have about the old one, you gotta make 'em.On a more general note, BZP is really an incredible place, to put it simply. Gata put it best--It's really the site I've ever actually loved, ever felt a personal connection to, and was genuinely sad about leaving. It's like when there's a lull in activity there's a lull in that part of me that's tied to it. There's just so much to do on here, and in every facet of BZP there's an immense sense of community--the writing community, where everyone offers advice to everyone who needs it and offers reviews to everyone who asks for it (and pretty dang often doesn't ask for it); the RPing community, where everyone brings life to a world through interaction with each other, which in turn creates this awesome sense of unity; the blogging community, where everyone just lets all their thoughts on the world and on the thoughts of others loose, in a manner far more respectful and precocious than I've literally seen anywhere else on the Internet. You just don't see respect anywhere else like you do on here, and in pretty much every other website disrespect is accepted and unsurprising. For friends, strangers, and staff. And in every facet of BZP there're these amazingly talented individuals who voluntarily act as role models to everyone else in their community--it mows my blind.That's my rant. Hope you enjoyed it.

[~Shockwave~]

i really like this place. i could make small complaints about a few of the rules, but really it seems to be for the better.i really do wish cot post would count in my post count though.

[Obsessionist]

We've got good people here, and Bionicle drew in a lot of mature, devoted fans. We're still enchanted by the Bionicle line- story and sets- so we still hand around. Plus, of course, we're a pretty close community.Bionicle is my obsession, so BZP pretty much is my internet. If you want to enjoy Bionicle to its fullest, even after its demise, this is the place the do so.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I think that BZP does have fewer active members than it used to. But I still think it is a great site with awesome members and contests.

[Athmos]

The number one thing I love about this community, is the fact that there is so much diversity among the members, and I've yet to see massive flamewars. It's a very nice change from the other forums where you could throw a stick and it hitting a flamewar.

[FrozenFlash]

This community is great! Everyone is nice, helpful, and mature. This place is great to hang around with the Bionicle fans. I'm glad I joined this site. Also, there aren't that many flamers around here.

[Daiker]

I'm thoroughly impressed at the community- It's survived numerous raids and even a 6-month downtime, and still it thrives, though not as much due to the decline of the main subject, nevertheless still lives.

[fishers64]

It is rather friendly and incredibly resilient.

[Grantaire]

A lack of focus is what I feel is lacking in this place. Many other people have touched on this, and I agree with them: before the end of Bionicle, we had the story of Bionicle to unite us, drive us forward, and provide new content for stories, FCGs, and RPGs. Now Bionicle has ended, and because of this the community is becoming more and more stagnant. Like Innerrayg said, it's crucial that BZPower find a theme to follow while still keeping our Bionicle roots.

[Tenebrae Invictus]

I feel the community got generally smaller, but it's been about the same for a while. It's a lot smaller than I've seen before, and I think the community could improve somewhat. Not to the highs we've had back when Bionicle had been around for a few years, but a bit higher.

[iPenguin]

I think BZP's biggest days were 2007-2009. Our community isn't as energetic and vibrant as it once was, but it's a lot cleaner and more matured. I mean we've lost some of our old energy, but on the bright side, I feel that I'm starting to see less spammy and significantly more meaningful posts than before. Plus, I see a lot less banned members. I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon, but if we want to rekindle that energy, we need more kids joining. Before, the median age of a bzp member was problably 11 or 12. Now it's probably 17 or slightly younger. Then again, having a bunch if kids might annoy our aging population.

[PDPsi HAN]

Definitely slower than it used to be. It has adapted to the times, and has become more and more a general LEGO site. It'll be interesting to see how it changes as time goes on.Btw, I thought this was a community, not website discussion topic.

[Protodite Karzahni]

The community is generally rather nice and helpful to one another, though I can't say I've been that immersed too much in it lately. I know the site definitely isn't as active as it was in its prime, but at least it's not turned into a ghost town.

[Overlord]

I used to love BZP.There, I said it. I used to love BZP.I came here in the beginning because it was a great place to discuss BIONICLE. In a way it still is, but in a way it isn't. And, more importantly, I just don't often feel like discussing my still-abiding interest in BIONICLE.I eventually stayed here long-term because I made friends through the site. I still stick around mainly because I do still have friends here, but many (if not most) of my friends from BZP are no longer here on the site.The truth is that my presence has faded along with BZP's glory. I know how many members here are optimists, but I just don't see BZP ever attaining much greatness again. It's a solid site, true, with (dare I say it?) a great complement of staff members. And yet... I can't possibly see BZP making it big as a LEGO-based site. That's just not happening very quickly, anyway, and someday I think I'll see the last of this site, just as it'll see the last of me.BZP was a model site in my mind once. If its decline is to be turned around, I can't offer any concrete advice (yeah, I'm so helpful that way), but I do know it'll take more than just a shift towards LEGO.There's my hundred cents that no one asked for. :|~

~

[vataki]

It's certainly not as active as it used to be, but it's incredible that it's active at all with Bionicle being "dead" and whatnot.It's a great community and even as my interest in Bionicle and Lego continues to decrease, I still find myself coming back every day just for the community and friendly people who you can have a nice discussion with about common interests. (Whether Lego related or in the COT or whatever.)Definitely a great community.

[Portalfig]

As somebody who joined BZPower only a few years before BIONICLE's end, I have to say that I do, well, love BZP. At least, as close as possible when it is a website. =PThe community is amazing, and I feel that here is the only place that I have ever even considered just talking to others. Topics will come up, and people will discuss it in a polite and flame-less way. One of my favorite parts are the staff however. They are always there, but they aren't the faceless horrors that patrol any other site that I have gone to. They are all polite, always willing to answer questions or listen to your thoughts.It might be stagnating, but I feel as if we do just need a focus. If we could find that and attract more mature and cohesive members, I think this place could indeed stay alive for another 10 years. However, we would defiantly need new members.That would be my rant. Thanks BZPower!