How long does it take to think of one story.
i was browseing the bionicle discussion and why has the sticker on the bonicle discussion saying bionicle never coming back has been removed no big deal but just wondering thanks
hey Greg
would you go to Comic Con
Hey Greg,
A few years ago you wrote a short story called The Crossing for the Polish Bionicle books published by Ameet. It was never published in English, and as such the only way someone like me could read it was through translations - and you know how inaccurate those can be sometimes.
My question is - since the Bionicle line is currently defunct, and I'm sure those Ameet books are no longer being published, would you be allowed to share the original text if you wanted to? Or do the laws of copyright and such prevent you from legally doing this?
Thanks.
Greg, di d you ever write the Exo-Force book Golden Doom? I have heard that it had a limited release- is this true?
SprinkleOtter wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
1) No
2) I was asked specifically about images of sets which people have said are leaked or could be leaked. And I have answered that I cannot discuss anything to do with anything might be leaked. IF BIONICLE, or PotC, or Space Police, or Power Miners, or any other line was coming back in 2015 or 2016 or whatever, I would not be allowed to discuss it even to say no, it's not, because it has to do with future product plans. I can't discuss anything having to do with future plans until official announcements get made by LEGO.
3) No idea, that would not be up to me.
4) If it were my decision to make, no. The old story is great, and it's vast, and it's complex, and very few kids in the 8-11 age group the sets would have to sell to knows much of anything about it. Expecting them to study up on 9 years of story to be able to play with the sets is asking a lot.
5) Again, no idea. I work for LEGO and i do what they ask me to do and what's needed.
6) That would depend on what the marketing budget was. The comics were really, really expensive to do, and a decision could get made that the money could be better spent elsewhere.
7) My main job is the same as it always was. Most of my BIONICLE work was done at home, not at work.
Okay, thanks.
4) If it were up to you, would the main concept still remain (Toa, Glatorian, etc...)?
5) But would that be a possibility? LEGO has continued to include pull-out comics (or something like that) since Bionicle ended (and I have to say, they've felt like a third wheel for a while...)
1) I would definitely keep Toa in the mix, because that is so central to the concept.
5) I can't speak to whether they would do comics again or not. Comics cost a lot of money to produce, and a lot has changed in the 13 years since BIONICLE launched -- it might make more sense to do things that are purely digital, I don't know.
Mace3739 wrote:Hi, Greg! Were you surprised to see that most every question, with the exception of Ninjage spoiler requests, was about Bionicle? Were you expecting that?
Yes, I was expecting it, because that is what I am primarily known for.
maletoaofwater wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
Voxovan wrote:Hey Greg,
Just a quick question, if Bionicle came back, would the story serials be finished?
No idea. If it were up to me, BIONICLE would not come back by picking up the old story, but as something new (a reboot or something else like that). As someone else pointed out in one of the threads, the original BIONICLE audience is mostly in high school and college now, and to succeed, the line is going to have to appeal to today's 8 and 9 and 10 and 11 year olds, who know nothing about it. So picking up old story and forcing them to have to go back and do all that research to know what is going on probably wouldn't be a good strategy.
What if there was a way to market the story to the original fan group? No idea how to do that, considering most/all wouldn't buy the sets, but...
I think the ideal situation for bionicle coming back would be to make a "sequel series", kinda like what "legend of korra" is to "avatar: the last airbender". (have you heard of those, greg?) Legend of korra is set in the future of the old series, so the old fans (who, if bionicle comes back, will mostly still want to keep up with the story) can have an interest in it, and also set far enough in the future that the new fans don't have to read up on all the old lore in order to enjoy the new story. While knowing the lore of the first series is helpful, it's certainly not necessary.
Your thoughts?
1) Thing is, the story existed only to promote set sales. The book publishers relied on the toys as free marketing for the books, so doing story that had no sets to support it probably wouldn't garner a ton of interest on the business side of things.
2) That is certainly one direction you could take, but by no means the only one.
Voxovan wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
Voxovan wrote:Hey Greg,
Just a quick question, if Bionicle came back, would the story serials be finished?
No idea. If it were up to me, BIONICLE would not come back by picking up the old story, but as something new (a reboot or something else like that). As someone else pointed out in one of the threads, the original BIONICLE audience is mostly in high school and college now, and to succeed, the line is going to have to appeal to today's 8 and 9 and 10 and 11 year olds, who know nothing about it. So picking up old story and forcing them to have to go back and do all that research to know what is going on probably wouldn't be a good strategy.
That's not really what I meant. I understand that all old Bionicle fans are almost adults now, and LEGO needs to focus on the younger audience, however the unfinished stories could still be updated on an website or something like that for the people who are still interested in them, and they don't really need to be connected with the "main" story line made for the new Bionicle series. It would be a shame to left those old stories unfinished and start new ones (I believe that Jaller said something like that to Takua in the "Mask of Light" movie ;p)
I do see your point. Here's the issue:
1) Even if BIONICLE came back, there would be no official LEGO site where the stories could live, since they wouldf confuse new fans.
2) LEGO wants me focused on things we are trying to market, so again, if BIONICLE came back, the emphasis would be on new story. I have talked to a few people about the idea of resurrecting the old story to finish them off and there just hasn't been much interest. Story always existed to promote set sales, so something that is not going to do that isn't going to be a high priority here.
Akuumo wrote:Do you like zombies?
Nah, not really. Too much like Bohrok, no personalities.
jonahbug02 wrote:How long does it take to think of one story.
Varies, based on the theme and especially the length of the story. The stuff I do for Ninjago and Chima can be anything from 650 words to 2000 words, and you need different amounts of plot to fill that space, so you always have to be aware of that.
Tahu2011 wrote:
i was browseing the bionicle discussion and why has the sticker on the bonicle discussion saying bionicle never coming back has been removed no big deal but just wondering thanks
I don't know what you are referring to, but no one at LEGO has ever said it was never coming back. Part of the reason for ending it while it still had some sales was so that we could bring it back someday, if we wanted to. If we had waited for it to die in stores, it would have been much, much harder to bring it back again.
offir217 wrote:hey Greg
would you go to Comic Con
I went to San Diego Comic Con for several, years, between 2003 and 2009. Now that BIONICLE is over with, there is no reason for me to be there for LEGO. My colleague, Rachel Lareau, is going to be there this year.
TheSkeletonMan939 wrote:Hey Greg,
A few years ago you wrote a short story called The Crossing for the Polish Bionicle books published by Ameet. It was never published in English, and as such the only way someone like me could read it was through translations - and you know how inaccurate those can be sometimes.
My question is - since the Bionicle line is currently defunct, and I'm sure those Ameet books are no longer being published, would you be allowed to share the original text if you wanted to? Or do the laws of copyright and such prevent you from legally doing this?
Thanks.
I would have to get permission to do that, because you cannot reproduce copyrighted stories in any form without permission from the publisher. I also doubt I still have the text -- that was a few computers ago.
SprinkleOtter wrote:Greg, di d you ever write the Exo-Force book Golden Doom? I have heard that it had a limited release- is this true?
It doesn't ring any bells. I did see the entry on the Exo-Force Wiki, but that makes no sense. If the book was published at all, it would have been out in bookstores so Scholastic could make their money back on the printing, etc. They wouldn't have published it and then not released it. It was more than likely cancelled before it was ever written. I can't recall writing any Exo-Force books and having them axed after I wrote them.