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nekaTydaerlA wrote:

 Congratulations, folks! You have bugged Greg Farshtey the most with Bionicle questions! But did you also know he had some work in Hero Factory?

 

 It's time that someone asked Greg about that five-year period that HF took place while Bionicle was being reinvented. Greg, are you reading this?

 

1. For the storyline called "Breakout", the Nicktoons short ended with the blueprints of the Hero Factory being stolen. How was this storyline finished? Where can we find the real ending to "Breakout"?
2. The "Brain Attack" episode ended in very much the same way as "Breakout" - with a cliffhanger. Again, how was this finished, and where can we find the ending?
3. "Invasion From Below" seemed to not flow with any previous material for Hero Factory. The Heroes looked different; there was little reference to Makuhero City, Mr. Makuro, Professor Zib, or most any of the familiar faces and places that HF fans were familiar with; the voice actors changed; it was never shown on Nicktoons; etc. Why is "Invasion From Below" so different from the others?
4. The central focus of those five years were always on the Alpha team. Have you ever considered, or at least suggested, any other team(s) to focus on?
5. Because Von Nebula was such a good "bad guy" of the first year, people hoped to see him in later HF episodes, books, comics, etc. Did you ever think of him as the main antagonist, or did you try hard not to focus on one villain?

 I'm not sure just how much involvement you had with HF, but I just thought I'd ask!

 

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Sorry, but my only involvement with HF was the few novels that I wrote. I was not on the story team or involved in any of these decisions, so I can't answer these questions.

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MooCowsRock wrote:

Mr. Farshtey:

 

Are you content with the way Teridax died? If not, how would you have changed it had the original BIONICLE not been cancelled?

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Yeah, I am. I'm not sure what we would have done had it not been cancelled, but I am pretty sure we would have wanted to get rid of him at least by 2010. We were all feeling he was played out and it was time to move on to new antagonists.

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BackCap wrote:

Hey Greg,

 

I had a question about a quote from the Rahi Beasts Guide.  Not sure if you remember it, but thought I'd check.  It's a quote by Rahaga Pouks on the Kanohi Dragon entry:

 

"I asked Vakama about this beast.  The Kanohi Dragon has evidently not been seen for generations.  According to Vakama, Toa Lhikan and ten of his comrades fought a great battle against the creature and drove it away long, long ago.  More than that, he did not know, and Lhikan never cared to share more of the tale."

 

Does this mean that Vakama was not yet "born" when the dragon attacked or is it just that he was somewhere else when it happened?

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Or it could simply have meant that Vakama, along with probably most of the other Matoran, went into hiding during this fight and so did not see it firsthand.

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BrickConductor wrote:

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ScribeGT6817 wrote:

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*shortened*

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1, 4, 10) Not involved with new BIONICLE at all, so I can't answer questions regarding it.

2) Declining set sales.

3) No

5) No

6) There have been too many sets over the years for me to remember them all

7) The Nuva symbols were the key for the lock that kept the Bahrag imprisoned

8) I don't look at fan-generated content

9) It's what's called a "co-promotion." Certain toys are sold exclusively through restaurants - every kid who goes in sees the toy, and it drives traffic to the restaurant.

11) No

12) BIONICLE was just getting established in 2001 and 2002, no one knew if it would be successful, so there was no movie deal until 2002. And the 2005 movie did not sell well, so there was no interest in movies for a while after that.

13) No, I really don't MOC.

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Thanks for answering! Just so you know, bionicle is my favorite LEGO theme, followed by ninjago. Thank you for helping make those themes! I can see why web of shadows didn't sell well. It wasn't that great. (Sorry, I didn't really like it) it is probably the ABSOLUTE WORST year of bionicle.

 Do you agree? If you could make any changes to that story, what changes would you make?

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I would not have had Vakama turn bad. It didn't fit his character. Both the web producer and I fought hard against that plot development, but we lost.

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tiche9999 wrote:

Hey Greg-Sama, in which year (BCG) did the Raid on Artakha take place? 

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I don't have a timeline for BIONICLE.

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keiththelegokid wrote:

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keiththelegokid wrote:
Well, currently I am trying to find out how powerful light is. So I have a few questions for you.

I know light and shadow are equal but which is more powerful a makuta of shadow or a toa of light?
Can a Toa of Light take out a Makuta in two (or three) shots? (Assuming the makuta can fight back.)
Which of three types of light can incenerate anterdermis? (Solid, Elemental, or Laser.)
Can a Makuta feel Elemental Light in thier Protodermis shell?
Is light dangerous to other species beside Makuta?
Can Toa of Light move and think at the speed of light? (Kinda like the Flash or Quicksilver)
How much Light can a Toa of Light use in say an hour?
Thanks

P.S. I saw that you said LEGO would prefer you not to post in other topics. I think alot of us fans would love for you to be able to.

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Buried. Unfortunately

 

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Thank you for being so patient.

1) That would really depend on things like battle experience, how much time they have spent mastering their element, etc. So there is no one single answer to this. It would depend on who was involved.

2) I don't think that easily, no

3) I am not sure what the difference is between elemental light and the other two?

4) See answer to #3

5) No one particularly likes being hit by a laser

6) No. Flash and Quicksilver need to be able to do that because their power is super-speed. Somebody like the Living Laser or Photon or Dr. Light doesn't need to be able to do that.

7) No idea.

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Nexo81 wrote:

THANKYOU

for responding

but I'm still a bit confused

1) what did happen to the great beings?

2) why didn't they help the people of bara magna? Were they too busy? Or something else?

3) what do you mean by clean off the face of mata nui? We're the Bohrok going to wipe out all of the matoran, or literally clean off Mata nui's face?

4) how did the queens gain control of the Bohrok? Did they take control of the Kraana?

last question

5) were the Kraana a hive mind or individuals? 

Were the queens controlled by Kraana?

AND FINALLY!

6) looking back at bionicle, what are you proud of, and what do you regret? 

(Like, did your job make you miss out on something important that you wish you could have done?)

NOTE: you don't have to answer these if you don't want to. I don't want to bother you, just have so many questions, after all, I'm a huge fan

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1) Well, we never really revealed that. They are somewhere, doing something.

2) I don't think anyone wanted their help. A lot of people blamed them for not stopping the Core War to begin with. And they were never really "hands-on" leaders.

3) Remember, no Matoran were supposed to be living on the island of Mata Nui. What was there was the camouflage created to disguise the robot's face when he was on a planet. That is what the Bohrok were supposed to clean off.

4) They were designed to lead the Bohrok. They didn't have to take control.

5) I don't recall off the top of my head

6) I regret that it ended when it did. I am proud of getting a chance to expand upon what was a great universe.

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ShadowEmperor7 wrote:

 Greg, what's your favorite Bionicle movie and why?

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The last one, because it was the only one I got to work on.

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nekaTydaerlA wrote:

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ScribeGT6817 wrote:

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nekaTydaerlA wrote:

Greg? Hello? Are you taking sick leave again, or did we bore you with too many questions?

 

Did you get to play any of the Bionicle and Hero Factory games related to the stories that you wrote?

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Um, as you can see, I have been back to answering questions the last couple days. I was on vacation last week for Thanksgiving.

There was only one video game drawn from one of my stories, and that was a BIONICLE one, and no, I never played any of the BIONICLE or Hero Factory games. I was too busy writing at the time.

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Sorry about my first remark, Greg. I forgot to update my list of posts!

Ask a stupid question... get an answer, anyway. I am sooo ashamed...

 

So anyway, which Bionicle game was it - or do you know?

I believe the book was Maze of Shadows, not sure what the game name was.

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OnionShark wrote:

Hi Greg, I have some questions:

 

1. What do Ussal Crabs eat? Are they carnivors?

2. Are all of the Toa Mangai from different islands, or do some of them come from the same one?

3. Does a Ba-Toa have more control over gravity than the Kanohi Garai or vice versa?

4. Approximatley, how old is Annona?

5. Was she born before the Agori species?

6a. Do Glatorian and Agori have the same lifespan?

6b. If yes, do Great Beings have a longer lifespan than them?

7a. Do Glatorian and Agori descend from the same species?

7b. If yes, are they related in any way to the GB's?

8. Does any Agori or Glatorian know about Annona, beside Sahmad?

9a. I've heard that you don't think that redemption stories are unrealistic, is that true?

9b. If yes, why?

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1) I believe they are herbivores

2) It is certainly possible that two may have come from the same island, but we never established that.

3) Not sure if "more" is the right word. But a Ba-Toa would have a lot of time spent mastering the element in creative ways. The mask is only going to be able to be used as creatively as the wearer (who may not understand the element at all) can manage.

4) Ancient

5) Unknown, because we never established how old the Agori species is

6a) Glatorian, on average, have a shorter lifespan because they have a more dangerous occupation

6b) Not to my knowledge, no.

7a) Unknown

8) I doubt if they know of Annona by name. May have heard legends

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9a. I've heard that you don't think that redemption stories are unrealistic, is that true?

9b. If yes, why?

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9a) Not so much unrealistic. But I believe villains become villains for a reason (if they are not just crazy), and unless that reason is addressed, you are not just going to stop being a villain. See, something like Christmas Carol makes sense to me, at least somewhat, because his reasons for being bitter and miserly are addressed and he is given reminders about how joyful life was when he wasn't behaving that way. Someone like Makuta just suddenly going, "Hey, I'm totally okay with being subservient to Mata Nui so I'm going to be good now" does not make sense, because his issues with it have not been addressed.

There are villains who will do good things because it is temporarily in their own self-interest, but that is not redemption. There are villains who will switch sides because being a villain has led them only to misery and they are self-aware enough to see that (which most are not). And then there are villains like the Red Skull who will NEVER turn good because they are driven by an evil ideology.

I have read good redemption stories. But I believe that if you are going to do one, you have to know your villain's motivations and have the time and space to address them. A villain driven by the idea that he was treated unfairly by someone or something might reform if shown he wasn't treated unfairly ... a villain driven by ego won't be that easy to change. A guy who robs a bank on impulse might realize he made a mistake and never do a bad thing again; someone whose whole life has been devoted to crime might be less likely to switch.

More in next post ...

My issue with redemption stories is that too many writers think they can just flip a switch -- "Oh, that guy who destroyed a planet and exterminated a race and unleashed a plague on the galaxy ... he's good now," solely because that is what they want to have happen in their stories.

No. Characters are not chess pieces and they don't move from side to side because you tell them to. If you are going to have a three-dimensional villain with believable motivations, then you need to explain why someone with those motivations is going to change his behavior. And it can't be abrupt ... you need to take the time to focus on that character's journey. You CAN do a good redemption story -- but you have to take the time to do it right. If you don't have the luxury/time/space to do it right, then don't do it at all.