Lind Whisperer

There's a difference between honoring something and using something because it's cheaper/quicker/easier than to create something new.

Thank you very much! Also, not sure if it counts as a reference or not, but I'm guessing "JULU" on the Tremor Track sticker sheet is a reference to the other Graphic Designer Julian.

I'd imagine that any online games would be Hero Factory style Flash/Unity shooters. LEGO Universe was a huge undertaking - more than most people might think. It actually had been in progress, in one form or another, since the very first MMOs, all the way back to 1999. Technology was still coming together, though, and the project didn't really start to gain traction until around 2005. Around then, they reached out to a few select members of the much smaller AFOL community, and what would become the very first concepts began to take murky shape. At first it was mostly people sitting around in a room, building anything they wanted to with tubs of bricks. Slowly, the core ideas of Pirates, Knights, Builders(to some extent), and Ninjas/Witches began to emerge. It wasn't until around beta that the story even really began to be finalized. Up till then, they were constantly re-writing it, and even then, minor continuity changes kept happening until release(and after!). Granted, real "construction" on the game probably lasted only six years or so, so one could argue that there's a chance that Bionicle might have a game of the same size. But, in order to have done that for a 2015 release, they would have had to start work back in 2009 immediately after Bionicle was cancelled*. There's a chance it could be a game in the vein of Minifigures Online, but the top-down view doesn't really work for Bionicle. Bionicle and constraction figures in general are much more of a first/third-person view style environment, and any other just doesn't quite work. So, the chances of there be a Unity Hero Factory style game? Quite high. A Bionicle LU? Not quite so much. *The timing is hard to calculate exactly. The point is, even with Happy Flower* already programmed, it's a huge undertaking, and the cancellation pretty much rules it out. **Happy Flower is the legendary program that was used to create LU. Every LU recreater that knows their stuff dreams about just being able to see it once.

Two questions of my own: Is Ultra Agents officially(or internally) supposed to be a continuation of the 2008-9 Agents line, or is it a separate group of Agents, as the Astor City location would seem to suggest? Or, are they supposed to be a specific branch inside the overall Agents line, with their lightning A logo being their own designated variant of the Agent's A? And, to the best of your knowledge, is Ultra Agents supposed to take place in the future, or in the present*? Thank you very much, and I'm sorry if I come off as a bit pushy. One of my favorite things to do is create a timeline of what themes canonically exist in the same timeline, and it's the first time I've ever gotten to ask an actual LEGO designer. *I was presuming it was in the future, because of Solomon Blaze's inclusion, but there was nothing that said that it couldn't be in the present, with hovercraft technology existing in Clutch Powers-era(2009) spacecraft.

It might be cheaper, but I'm using my Decks as my primary weapons.

Speaking of the Shadeaux: How do you get a dragon? Do you just enter the training room, and come out with one? And are they strictly for battle rolls, or is it alright to RP them a little bit?

Darn. I could really use those for my Ethereal Deck...

It's only a plan at the moment, not physical bricks, but someday my city will have fully fleshed out forest and country areas.

I personally stand on the fence when it comes to Combiner models. On the one hand, they can be a bit of a nuisance, and I fully hear what people are saying about how the mishmash of colors just doesn't look right. On the other, though, they can do a lot for canon. Hiker Mike, for instance, although not perhaps the greatest of models, gave definitive proof that Slizer was populated by at least one more character than was shown in the set line*. Mixels I think are perhaps where Combiners really work. It's the only one where they really fit into the theme and make sense. All in all, though, I think that Combiners, mishmash of colors as they may be, have a distinct plus in having more canon characters to have on display. Also a severe drain on our wallets. *Probably not that important a fact to very many people, unless you may or may not be trying to create a theme line continuation set for Ideas...

Thoughts: AntiMatter: Whatever his vehicle is, it will be dwarfed by the Ultracopter. Let's not forget Loki's chariot... Spyclops: I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, it's not the most obvious name. I believe Josh Thunder was confirmed to not be related to Johnny, despite the same last name. But, Spyclops is a very specific punny name. So it seems almost unlikely that they'd just use it twice. But, then again, nothing in this line seems to be related to previous lines, other than Blaze. Let me explain what I mean by that. Ninjago is connected to both Clutch Powers(TV series) and Exo-Force(Sticker on the side of the Mech-Dragon). By extension, it's also connected to SPIII, Power Miners, City, Castle(Fantasy Era), and Pirates(The Brickbeard's Bounty can be briefly seen in several shots in the City and credits from CP). If you feel industrious(and you spend long hours drawing out lines like I do.), you could come up with even more connections. But, this is simply the ones that it is connected to. Ultra Agents has only one partial connection, to Galaxy Squad. You can take that, and drag it out a bit more, connecting from Galaxy Squad to Monster Fighters, but I am not aware of any connections beyond that. Certainly no connections to the original* Agents theme, other than the "Ultra," which seems to more be saying that they are more skilled than the normal MiBs of Astor City, rather than the Agents. Astor City, wherever it happens in the timeline, is a totally new location. LEGO has no previous connections to any other themes in this**, and it's been long enough since Agents that the name "Spyclops" has entered the "re-use" domain. That's not to say that Astor City can't be considered in the ranks of the "main***" continuity. DROME Racers was a "?" as to continuity until the Detective**** specifically mentioned it. *That would technically be Alpha Team, if you want to be fully accurate as to the 'Original' agents, but I think you get my point. **I've always wondered to what level they kept in mind connections... ***I use Clutch Powers as a baseline. It was pretty much the first LEGO media release that clearly showed two separate themes existing in the same world(other than the 2005 Christmas Club Magazine, and leaving the Time Cruisers as a question mark.). ****The CMFs have been surprisingly helpful in that way. Although the Sleepyhead did suggest that the Time Cruisers were supposed to have just been a dream. . Subverted by the fact that he also "dreamed" about Knights Kingdom II, which is a confirmed portion of continuity*****. *****Yes, the brightly colored knights are LEGO canon, and existed in the same world as LEGO City and Space. It's a big LEGO Universe****** out there... ******Which brings to mind the question of whether or not LU exists in the main continuity, seeing as it never exactly violated any canon rules and was located beyond "searching countless worlds". Johnny Thunder was a bit of stretch, but so are dinosaurs...

:drool: Wow. That is gorgeous... You managed to build a beautiful ship, while still remaining true to official building styles and legal connections/parts(two things that I regard very highly in any MOC)! My hat goes off to you, sir. This is a masterpiece!

I was wondering what they'd be also. We did get a Kraken in 2009, in addition to the crocodiles...If you can count a dark red octopus as a Kraken.

Unless we see otherwise, I'm guessing that "warship" is more of a generic term, resulting from the translation. So, probably no Armada. Captain Blockbeard. Well, it's nice to see that they're continuing on the naming tradition, if nothing else. Although I think my captain's name would have worked better overall. "All shiver in fear, of the mighty Bleybeard!"

"Claps." Good job! Excellent story-based explanation. And don't worry, you're not the only one saying how it could easily be a continuation.

EDIT: How the heck did I get those mixed up...

I think that they are supposed to be in the Bota Magna section of the reformed Spherus Magna.

Not to criticize, but I severely doubt that the actual amount of sales is as low as 5%. A few years ago, as recent as 2006? Quite possibly. But the numbers of new AFOLs constantly joining the ranks keep swelling, and for every two hundred that join, only two or three ever 'take a break/go into a Dark Age*.' And for every new AFOL that joins, LEGO's sales to AFOLs go up another $$. *The implication being that both will eventually return back to the hobby.

Probably not hundreds, unless you specifically use hundreds of different parts. From what I've read, most sellers either put each individual type+color in its own bag, or put them all together in a mailer if it's a small order. The U.S. is actually one of the best countries to Bricklink from, after Germany. I'd advise that you wait on actually buying the parts until you've built and are satisfied with your planned modular in LDD. If you have trouble finding a specific part, try to find a set that you know it was included in(just has to be the same part, doesn't have to be the same color), and then use Bricklink's Set Inventory feature to track the part down and find the right page.

I love this. I'm really hoping we get to see the interior, soon. Previous incarnations, except for Jango's, have always been rather disappointing in that regard. But, a USC and a huge, gaping hold, give me hope that they at least included a walk-way to the pilot's seat if nothing else...

I think the article said that they're exclusive to the US.

^Continuing on the speculation, with inspiration from your ideas/previous toy ideas LEGO seems to like re-using: "Makuta, although his body is crushed underneath hundreds of tons of rock, still lives. Craving the Golden Masks* hidden over Spherus Magna in the ancient days by the Great Beings, he has joined the Dark Lord of the Skull Spiders, seeking more power to defeat the Toa, and reclaim Spherus Magna for his own." *Of course, that begs the question exactly why didn't anyone seek these Masks sooner...maybe their location was hidden away in his software banks, and no one knew about them until Mata Nui turned on again? It also presumes that Makuta has Joker Immunity, but for any extremely popular villain, that's kind of a given anymore...

Just throwing out a random idea I had after seeing LN-01354's comment about mask corresponding: What if the Mask of Life got split into several different masks, somehow? Toy themes certainly enjoy having the Macguffin be spilt up between all sets, and this would certainly fit that bill. Of course, exactly how they would work that into a story line, since they are all separate masks, who knows. But it still makes some degree of sense... Maybe it's split up into multiple masks, each corresponding to an element, and the Toa have to collect them out of a forest haunted by Skull Spiders, and each mask has a guardian or something...

My personal opinion is that they all are wonderful buildings, and this is one line that I personally hope will continue to be an evergreen theme(I know that I for one will keep collecting them as long as they are released, and I'm sure that I'm not alone!). Sure, some styles work better than others, but you know what? I think that's it's wonderful that more than one person designs the line. You know why? Because, to quote a little movie that came out earlier this year: "Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you're part of a team!" LEGO and fans are supposed to be, at our best, like one big giant team, all building together to create a wonderful experience. And the MOC-worthy modulars are perhaps the best example of this fact that is still in existence(and will hopefully continue that way towards infinity!).

Your baseplate should be either 16x32 for a single building like one shop from the Pet Shop, or for a larger square, 2 16x32 baseplates/1 32x32 baseplate. My suggestion is to first construct your building in LEGO Digital Designer: http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/ This will give you a chance to see how your ideas will work out in real life without paying for a bunch of parts that you may or may not need to use. Granted, it does have the downside of occasionally having a part that is not existent in that color in real life, but unless it's a really old part, this is generally not as big a problem as people make it out to be(And if it's a new and not entirely one-themed part, and and a currently in-use color, there's a good chance that you'll see it in that color sooner or later!). Once you've built your building*, I would suggest then using Bricklink to pick your parts. It's far less expensive than Pick A Brick, and it also has the benefit of having a huge range of both old and new parts. It has a slight learning curve to using the site, and not all parts are located where you'd think they'd be, but the extra effort is by large and far worth the result: http://www.bricklink....asp?itemType=P Hope this helps! *If you'd care to share your .lfx, I'd be glad to critique it. Although, when I'm MOCcing, I tend to try and lean as much on "official" styles of building as much as possible. Not that that's a bad thing...

I really like it! My only issue is that it doesn't really work very well as a modular, with the windows being squashed up against any buildings next to it... Would you mind if I took the .lfx and modified it so that it was now a corner building with a working elevator?