This is very very nice and good

A glimpse into how the Mata Nui Online Game and Bohrok Online Animations were made, posted by a Templar Studios employee on the now non-existent Gezamo.com

Source: Toa of Mirrors on the BioMedia Project forums http://biomediaproject.com/bmp/board/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=393&sid=d1e9c0e4ea50ba600208b83f6df3e014

So... Asidisi from Battle Tendency then?

So, given Vezon took Vezok’s calm exterior away and made him more impulsive, would that reduce his impulse control in more areas than aggression and violence? Other drives like hunger, hoarding? Other emotions, even?

Leaked image for scrapped reimagination of the bohrok

don’t do this to me

Matoro STARs

Haaaard left.

There are two kinds of persons. Which one are you? Left or right?

Give me the boy who pets the animals and I will pet him

how were the toa metru the wourst team bruh?

a cry baby fire toa that betrayed everyone

a teacher who was the only competent one there, but almost died when she was bit by a plant

a scholar who had a huge stick up his ass that made him the tallest

green bean meme

and slightly unlikeable bob the builder

and the boy who pets the animals

Headcanon: When Ekimu takanuva’d himself, it messed with his circuitry and brain. He shows up disoriented, like a confused, lost, elderly mental patient. Agil doesn’t actually exist, the Toa just humour him.

Bionicle Gen 2: a Case Study and Post Mort with the Most Mort

(DISCLAIMER: if you’re “triggered” by big scary academic terms like colonialism, structural oppression + Postmodernism then it’s probs better to sit this one out. For the sake of ethics in games journalism.)

Part 1: What the fuck happened?

With the cancelling of the line I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how bionicle could have gone differently.

I don’t want to claim to know why it failed per se, but I mentioned in a previous post about a year ago that there was very little consistency and multi-media experiential design for the story. It would have been wise to just follow their demographic and appeal to the 18-30 year olds that had income. For a while, roughly one in six male children in the US had a set, and I’m sure a good amount of them would love to spend a bit more to have a good quality lil’ desk buddy to rile up the nostalgia and harp on the aesthetic. I’m gonna be lazy at this point and recommend this video by Good Blood Games regarding the Sonic franchise and how it could have gone so much better if they’d been more tactical with their demographic. I’m not trying to say Bionicle has or is going the way of Sonic Boom. But there are pitfalls to be noted. Bionicle had a really crazy bunch of aesthetics, and the one that launched it is the most unique - there aren’t many blatantly postmodern approaches to scifi/fantasy these days. I think the Advance team was right to try and preserve that feel.

Part 2: Okay smarty fuck, what do you suggest?

Frankly, if they were going to do a reboot, one that still appeals to a younger demographic, I think they could have learned from the mistakes the first iteration went through. They did on a few points - making the figures more robust and posable and making the mask feature heckin’ awesome. However, they could have capitalized on what really worked for them:

absolutely ripping off indigenous cultures.

Bionicle’s primary success wasn’t entirely down to the use of exotic sounding names, no, but a hell of a lot of that aesthetic was lifted from tribal and native aesthetics and imagery. If Lego hadn’t gone about doing this so belligerently back in 2000, maybe they could have avoided that lawsuit. But they did! So how could they have reinvigorated that charm without getting into hot water? Maybe they could have consulted actual pacific islanders and polynesians? Get some fuckin’ artists and knowledge-keepers from those cultures to actually come in, get paid, and give you some tips and ideas? This wouldn’t have broke the bank. Not if the bank had a budget for like 18 solid gold masks. In fact, why stop at just the pacific? There are so many amazing indigenous cultures from around the world, from the Sami to the Haida to the Ainu and beyond! Artists from these cultures, who tend to have very little agency in how they are portrayed, could have contributed some really neat perspectives to this scifi biomechanical story. Even the Avatar series, with its lauded tweaking of indigenous imagery, would seem thematically weak in comparison. If you’ve ever heard of the game “Never Alone”, I highly recommend it as a case study for how well these kinds of collaborations can work out.

For example, try to imagine Gali designed (at least in part) by a Haida designer. The Haida people have generally been a coastal, fishing community, with a fantastic multitude of supernatural cryptids and animals that appear in their myths. Perhaps instead of loose, unpopular themes like “scuba”, or “mermaid”, she could have been more akin (designwise) to the Natsilane, a mythical orca: 

(Idk. People really liked the notion of Shark Gali, I think this could have played to the same ideas.) Furthermore, this coming together could have been a force for good. Portions of profits from this line could have been donated to funds that seek to aid struggling indigenous communities around the world. The website side of things could have included spotlights on these cultures that are often neglected and made invisible in most school curricula. The fantastic PR could have been fucking Y U G E.

Moving forward in the line, the story could follow a underdog wins-the-day retelling of colonialism and colonial events. It’s a tough topic to broach, but the reality is if you’re gonna use indigenous perspective and imagery in your IP yer gonna have to acknowledge that they got fucked over, and rather than skirt the issue, folding it in the story is the only real way you can work through it. For example: the first line of baddies could have been robo-conquistadors, carrying rahkshi-like powers of disease and pestilence, while filling in that sweet sweet Dark Souls aesthetic quota. Scouring the island - or islands (lets not try to squish such diverse ecosystems together) for sacred masks of power, the toa would have to fight to protect them.

The masks themselves should have a clear importance to the story. 2001 might have gone a bit overboard, but 2015 didn’t really talk about why each mask was important, or what it did? Have them be connected to the land - without the mask in its altar, the trees turn to ash and the rivers to dust. Without the land, the villagers are doomed. Makuta wants their prosperous power for himself... Something like that.. STAKES.

Makuta himself could be a conquering emperor, leading legions that resemble not just European empires, but Babylonian, Chinese, and African ones too (#notallempires).

As the story unfolds, maybe there could be newer themes to mix into this melange, keeping it fresh and bizarre and mysterious. There could be a year of seafaring pirate toa taking the fight to makuta’s navy on the high seas! Street-rat toa darting through web-like alleys in massive cities fighting Makuta’s empire from within!

I mean, to close off:

I’m kinda disappointed about the IP’s expansive potential was kind of narrowed down to transformers + dark souls. For the most part, it just felt like no one knew what they were doing, or there wasn’t much in the way of interpersonal communication or charismatic management. Something was up, and it must have sucked to be there and watch it all fall apart and know that it just wasn’t gonna pan out. I’ve been there, and it’s never fun when the house you built burns around you.But still - low budget or not, I feel opportunities were missed, and Bionicle could have come back from its hiatus as a true pedagogical force for good. I dunno.

I am the big dork with too much time. Except I also have no time. Also I just bought me last bonkle today (lava beast). Really hope the weird dreams about going to toy stores and finding bizarre bootleg sets stops now. G3 when?

not dead just doodling with a fucking trackpad on a shitty online mspaint

I'm not dead. I just should be. School and work've been kicking my ass. But somehow I managed to rig up this lil' diorama with some lighting. I've been following y'all as well - excellent memes all round three thousand A+s to everybody

The friction joint on her ankles kind of impedes a little bit on her super-athlete water-bender type attitude, so I switched it up to her knees, whereas I left the build alone for the sturdier pohatu.

But yeah other than that she's a great build both alone and United. The circus of people complaining about robot femininity is p. entertaining tho.

i’ll never get why i see so many people say 2016 gali is a terrible set, she’s by far my favourite of the $15 2016 toa

she has a really cool contrasting color scheme (something sadly rare in Bionicle), and has a dash of asymmetry that i really like (i find it funny how many MOCists try to “fix the problem” by shoving her orange thigh armor onto her shoulder, it just makes her look a bit more boring)

I liked her 2015 mask a bit more, but she still is better than the other $15 toa (Lewa is good but a bit generic, and i still am struggling to like pohatu’s color scheme, its growing on me but still not fully getting there) 

Pls make way for good rocks

THIS IS A STONE FRIENDLY BLOG

Reblog to show support for this under rated element.

I am not dead. Kind of keeping on the DL and watching the circus of inane shit-flinging.

I don’t think that game was cancelled - it acted as a mana gauge refill iirc.

#Kanohi #Bionicle

Hey duders congratulations nonetheless! On time too!

I have returned half-dead and ready to reblog

all-nighters never get any easier

especially when dinner was the first meal I’ve had today

buuuuut I have pulled through and I am victorious and all my stuff is turned in on time and I can finally rip in peace

I'm not 100% against akida. Loss needed an actual head. Or face.

Scorpio needed to be designed.

They haven’t learnt, have they?