Ikki o' Moopyville

EXACTLY! *sweet* The comics? Greg, has always been -- only, he wasn't nearly as much in charge at that time as he is now, since the major story parts were being decided by a Story Team. Now, however, Greg's in command, for the good and for the bad. :-| Oh, and happy New Year! -Ikk

Count the main teams (Nuva, Metru, and Inika) again -- that's 18, and if you add Takanuva, the Hagah, and Lhikan's team of 11, that's another 18, 36 total. ;-) Meaning it is Greg's fault that 3000+ Toa have existed in the Bionicle Universe, as that was an idea of his, nothing deemed necessary by sets or the majority's desires. In fact, we could easily have had less than 50 or 100 Toa total ever to exist, so I believe 'twas a good example of Greg's negative influence on the story. Heck, I even remember him comparing Toa to police, having them placed as sentries, knocked out by a single eye beam, and so on... I think most people have accepted the idea of various Toa teams -- I know Helden has, too -- but that does not justify 3000+ Toa, and that's where I see the complaints coming from. :-) -Ikk

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m239/an...9/IMAGE_162.jpg http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m239/an...9/IMAGE_163.jpg Yay for transparency and GITD stuff. -Ikk

With a fanbase like that, what can you expect, Zandur? *sweet* -Ikk

The Barraki are shaping up to be somewhat better sets than this year's canister sets, so the future looks brighter in those aspects than it has since 2004. Which is, of course, a great thing. BTW, giving up any BZP arguing -- see here why. :-/ -Ikk

Won't be happening as long as Bionicle stays as succesful as it is now. I mean, take a peak at BZP, they basically treat him like a god, so I doubt anything's going to change soon. Though, of course, the intelligence of that can be questioned, being that the vast majority of BZP's members writes 'u' instead of 'you'. :-/ -Ikk

Well said! *crowd goes berzerk* I personally enjoyed the 2004 part of Metru Nui quite a lot, maybe due to the mysteries it seemed shrouded in, with little hints here and there to greater revelations. It also went behind the legends of Lhii, the creations of Kanohi Masks, the Vahi, the Turaga's tools, the treason of Makuta, and more good stuff. It was especially good after the massive let-down that was MOL. 'twas more when 2005 came along with its endless number of islands, Toa, Dark Hunters, species, just to name a few. Made it feel like the entire focus on Metru Nui and Mata Nui was less important, as it was but one of many places. This was even more emphasized here in 2006. Greg was at his peak of storytelling in 2004, IMO. Now he is forcing unneeded violence, cheesy dialogue, and an overload of stereotypish characters into his stories. I still don't get why every last combiner has to get screen time instead of just a nice, little bio somewhere on Bionicle.com or in the mags. Doesn't help it much when there in Greg's world pretty much are only two character types, good and evil. It would've been much better to have just one Piraka instead of six to cover that personality. Also, an amusing thing is how Greg strictly forbids the slightest use of silly humor, religion or feelings between characters of the opposite sex (IE, love), yet comes up with all sort of arguments for why to include blood, guns, slaughter, and what else he spontaneously comes to think of. All while the fans are hailing LEGO for being oh so mature. Ironic. :-| Even more ironic is the off-topic-ness of this thread. :-D To be frank, I'll get the lot of the 2007 small sets, and then probably Ehlek. Pridak has those awesome white double joints, but the rest of him is quite a letdown, I'll say. Not sure the other Barraki are good enough to be bought, but we'll see... they could have useful parts hidden in the current pics we've seen. -Ikk

Besides the fact that he was but one of many writers of the universe the first three years, after which he took over the entire line -- Greg came in AFTER Bionicle was invented. The ideas were not layed out by him anymore than they were by C.A. Hapka. Sure, he played some role in the beginning, but nothing compared to now. Heck, half of the fanbase probably did not even know the comics existed wayback. -Ikk

Yep, that was quite discouraging... and actually, that's proof Bionicle does indeed have bad influence nowadays, as it attracts the wrong kids. Not the ones you'll see grow up to be sophisticated debates on forums such as EB or BZP, or develop their MOCing or storytelling skills. The drones, as BR put it. -Ikk

Pretty much the same reason as many other old-schoolers, including me -- the world of fanfiction. *sweet* I enjoy building up Mata Nui adventures with the Matoran and Toa, exploring the world MNOG hinted at, and expanding with mask powers, characters, and whatnot. After all, that's what Bionicle was invented for, was it not? Just a note, I enjoy reading this debate so much more than those on BZP. No Greg, no 5 year olds (at least not stupid ones), and just friendly stuff. ^_^ -Ikk

Well, I made those posts almost simultaneously, so that would explain it -- I was in the wooden stick mood. :-D -Ikk

I could not agree more with Tilius -- the Inika fail so much to the McToran, set-wise and story-wise. X-D As for the Barraki... I can certainly see some useful pieces, especially those double joints in Ehlek and Pridak -- good stuff! Each set seem very unique too, probably the most differentiated ones since the Olda. A great plus there as well, of course. However, overall? I think I'll prefer a wooden stick over those... things, if you look aside from the number of good pieces. But hey, this year had great Titans, maybe we'll have luck on that part next year as well. ^__^ -Ikk

As the saying goes, 'Always look at the bright side of life', so I'll do that -- those things make even the Inika look brilliant, which is saying a lot. -Ikk

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PoisonKi...e07/carapar.png http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PoisonKi...le07/kalmah.png http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PoisonKi...le07/mantax.png http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PoisonKi...e07/takadox.png http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PoisonKi...le07/pridak.png http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PoisonKi...cle07/ehlek.png New, clear pics of the Barraki... I expect people's opinions on these will be even more divided than they were with the Piraka and Inika. -Ikk

Well, while not as good as the VoyaToran, I can certainly see some uses for them -- and the Barraki seems, if nothing else, very different from each other, so that's a plus by far. However... first we had Hewkii's vibrating axe head... then Nuparu's old man grin and claws... then a Bionicle set of a sperm collection... and now the Barraki have whips... Do I see a disturbing pattern here? -Ikk

At that time, the Toa's articulation was quite revolutionary. Besides the Slizers and to an extent the RoboRiders, few if any sets had had such features. These would most definitely go under Cons, I say. Action just for action's sake is a sure story-killer. Of course 2006 has its great points... but they are just so overwhelmed by the terrible points, I'm afraid. -Ikk

Bionicle 2001 - 2005. Rest in peace. At least they had the sense to end it rather quickly. Heck, the idea was sorta good, reminds me of Lost... then again, maybe not. I think I speak for us all, though, when I say this is merely the beginning. On the bright side, it was good prizes, sorta. -Ikk