Mesonak
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Everything posted by Mesonak
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While that may very well be true, I don't think it's for the better. I appreciate the whole "storyteller" thing but I'd rather see a wider voice acting range for BIONICLE. The grand majority of memorable things from these animations have stemmed from the voice acting, be it "oh this voice acting was pretty good this time instead of terribly corny" or things that are just so bad they've become running jokes (MASTER OF FIYAAAH). I would've preferred had they not gone this route.
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I want to buy like 10 LoSSes Then I can combine them all to form OLoSS (OverLord of Skull Spiders)
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I am Onua, Master of Earth. I always stand firm yeah i'm not doing this
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EPIC It's been a grand ride thus far, everybody. :D
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Well, I said it a couple posts ago; I don't dislike the set at all! Subjectively, it's probably my favorite set from the first wave. However, that doesn't mean the set is exempt from criticism, and I think that non-humanoid sets like LoSS and Scorpio should be designed with the same care that was given to all the humanoid sets. I don't think we should excuse or look past a severe lack of poseability just because there's a lever you can squeeze. :P
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Not once in my post did I bring up HF, so I'm not really sure what you're talking about. I'm drawing comparisons strictly between LoSS/Scorpio and the rest of the sets in 2015 BIONICLE that have managed to incorporate functions successfully. If you want to pull HF into the mix, then yes, sets like Tunneler Beast and Thornraxx are prime examples of how non-humanoid sets with creative builds can be made without the need of functions. Heck, you can also take a look at Dragon Bolt, a set which featured superb poseability and a creative function to boot. It's not like Lego's incapable of doing this. I think others pretty much summed up my thoughts on this so I won't rehash too much. It does indeed mean something when this is supposed to be the primary villain for wave one (and yes, I'm aware, he's really just a glorified servant). There's a reason, after all, why they increased his size to such a large degree in the animations and the Mask of Creation game; like it or not, he is supposed to be a fearsome enough foe to stand a chance against all six Toa. The way he is in set form, however... he could maybe take on a couple of Protectors, at best. Also, yes, lack of poseability, by definition, creates limited play value in comparison to sets like the Toa who have both. I won't bother arguing gappy construction because that's a subjective flaw, really. As I said earlier, just because I recognize these things as being possible causes of the problem does not excuse the flaws the sets have. I'm pretty positive they made LoSS how he is because they didn't want to upscale the set to $20; same with Skull Scorpio. Having a weaker set that just so happens to be cheaper, however, doesn't make their issues invalid. That isn't even a factor I really need to consider in appraising whether a set is good or not. :P
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Considering that the "two sets that even go towards supporting that point adequately" are literally the only non-humanoid sets we've gotten thus far in BIONICLE, I think it's more than fair to believe such a thing until an exception to the rule exists. The simple fact of the matter is that history has shown functions and poseability tend to be mutually exclusive. They clash often, and tend to be at odds with each other; the advent of BIONICLE's shift into more poseable figures, after all, came directly in conjunction with the disappearance of traditional functions. The single greatest innovation that BIONICLE 2015 has made is the ability to reconcile both of them and have the best attributes of both. The Toa, Skull Villains, and Ekimu all personify this wonderfully. The two non-humanoid sets, however, do not. The reason why LoSS and Skull Scorpio are frowned upon by many is because the designers' need to include a function is detrimental to both the appearance AND poseability of the sets. LoSS and Scorpio sacrifice both playability and appearance for their functions. LoSS has as much articulation as Nui Jaga, a set released 15 years ago, and Scorpio has literally no articulation in his legs. LoSS suffers from a gappy construction, limited play value, and a small stature; Scorpio's biggest flaw, personally, is the giant abomination of a tail which distracts from the overall appearance of the set. Let me make this clear: I do not dislike LoSS or Scorpio. In fact, subjectively speaking, LoSS is probably my favorite set from the first wave and by no means do I think Scorpio is a bad set. I can appreciate the work that went into their functions because I enjoy complex and creative builds/designs. I don't play with my sets often, so the limited articulation doesn't even really affect me personally. It's inexcusable, however, for non-humanoids to have to choose between poseability or functions when literally every humanoid character can balance the two perfectly. The Masters, Protectors, and Skull villains have displayed that Lego is perfectly capable of making sets which can handle both aspects of design. I understand things like parts count limitations are probably to blame for certain aspects of LoSS and Scorpio's designs, but that doesn't make the flaws invalid.
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See I'd be down with seeing some more Rahi so long as they revise the concepts displayed in both LoSS and Skull Scorpio. I like both of those sets, but they have plenty of undeniable flaws that stem from Lego's instance on prioritizing functions before all else in non-humanoid builds.
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I've said it from word go, the Skull villains are totally going to be part of an army. The only individual character I think we'll receive is Skull Grinder.
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Yeah, Luke's head is downright terrifying.
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I'm perfectly okay with the printed armor pieces, considering I've got a plethora of those armor shells from Black Phantom anyways.
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Oh, I'm with you! I'm no fan of Stormer XL at all. I'm just saying, to give him the benefit of the doubt, Stormer XL was a break from the norm. I was just making the point that future titan sets built upon that formula and, in hindsight, Stormer XL doesn't really hold up.
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12/10 would buy
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I refer to it as a combo pack.
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Don't get me wrong, PERSONALLY I do prefer the first three years of HF to its last two, but I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment that the designers "stopped putting effort into designing sets." I mean, let's directly compare 2012 to 2013. The heroes had about the same level of complexity. The Breakout wave had redesigned launchers and hero cuffs as their unique aspects, but other than that, they were fairly rudimentary in design. Stormer XL was the exception. In contrast, Brain Attack featured more complex heads, chest pieces, and some design aspects which helped to set them apart from the norm (Stormer, Surge, and Furno XL immediately come to mind). That's not to say Breakout didn't have subtle design variations in the heroes as well; Furno, Rocka, and Bulk all had some intricacies which helped spice up their builds, but it's not like those just went away the next year. Also, Furno XL is an immensely better set than Stormer XL design-wise so there's that. As far as the villains are concerned, I'd argue they're about the same level of quality. Breakout definitely had more unique designs, such as Jawblade, Thornraxx, Toxic Reapa, and XT4, but Brain Attack featured a return to technic-based functions in Bruizer, Scarox, and Dragon Bolt. I'd argue that were it not for the experiments done in Brain Attack to test if such a thing was viable with CCBS we probably wouldn't have gotten any in BIONICLE 2015. The only thing which truly drags the 2013 villains down in terms of quality are those terrible Brains. Also, Dragon Bolt is better than any singular set from 2012 in terms of design so there's that. Regarding 2014, I think Invasion from Below interested quite a lot of people. I'm sorry if the mechs didn't really grab your interest, but they were a fun, fresh new take on the CCBS formula and featured some interesting and unique sets, like Furno, Breez, and Bulk's machines. The Beasts were way more straightforward, but Tunneler Beast was definitely a stand-out and I don't really see anything "terrible" about Splitter and Queen Beast. Enlighten me, perhaps? Ahh, it feels good to talk about HF again.
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Ninjago: Masters Of Spinjitsu TV Show Thread
Mesonak replied to Lance's topic in LEGO Media and Gaming
Any ETA on episode 43, legozebra? :D -
I firmly believe the Skull villains are no more than reanimated zombie guardians of the city. Those looking for any degree of character to come out of them are unlikely to receive it, although they may have subtle hints towards personalities.
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Ninjago: Masters Of Spinjitsu TV Show Thread
Mesonak replied to Lance's topic in LEGO Media and Gaming
No problem, we appreciate the work you're doing in order to get the episodes viewable to the masses, even if it takes a while. :D -
Ninjago: Masters Of Spinjitsu TV Show Thread
Mesonak replied to Lance's topic in LEGO Media and Gaming
Thanks for uploading! I have to say, though, the audio desyncs from the video pretty severely at around the 6:45 mark. It continues on and off throughout the reset of the video. Not sure if that's a problem that can be fixed or not. -
Ninjago: Masters Of Spinjitsu TV Show Thread
Mesonak replied to Lance's topic in LEGO Media and Gaming
You'll have to mark it as unlisted rather than private if you want people to be able to access it via the link. -
Ninjago: Masters Of Spinjitsu TV Show Thread
Mesonak replied to Lance's topic in LEGO Media and Gaming
Oh? Now that sounds very awesome! Thanks much. -
Top notch! I think this holds up a lot better than some of the other summer sets. The transparent blue really works with the flow of the model. Thumbs up and stuff.
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Woah! Prototype MoCR sighting! That's awesome. I already feel nostalgic thinking of the display days. Thanks for the pictures.
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Agreed 100%. The gappy torso design has long since plagued figures who use the grey liftarm with the ball joint in the center to extend their torso outwards. It's absolutely atrociously handled in Skull Grinder's case.
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Ninjago: Masters Of Spinjitsu TV Show Thread
Mesonak replied to Lance's topic in LEGO Media and Gaming
If we can actually get good-quality recordings of the episodes, yeah, we'll probably review them. If not, we'll wait in order to preserve the experience.