ScribeGT6817 wrote:
BrickConductor wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
*shortened*
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.
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?
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.
i totally agree!
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
tiche9999 wrote:Hey Greg-Sama, in which year (BCG) did the Raid on Artakha take place?
I don't have a timeline for BIONICLE.
Karz, I was really counting on that. Any chance you can make the time up? I reckon it happened somewhere around 300-400 years bcg.
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
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?
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.
Did you have any ideas for new antagonists at the time?
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
ShadowEmperor7 wrote:Greg, what's your favorite Bionicle movie and why?
The last one, because it was the only one I got to work on.
Makes sense. However, I don't think "Web of Shadows" was really that bad. Heck, it couldn't have been, since HDNet Movies kept showing that movie and the last one over and over this past summer.
tiche9999 wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
tiche9999 wrote:Hey Greg-Sama, in which year (BCG) did the Raid on Artakha take place?
I don't have a timeline for BIONICLE.
Karz, I was really counting on that. Any chance you can make the time up? I reckon it happened somewhere around 300-400 years bcg.
Actually, BIONICLESector01 has a timeline for G1 with all the dates Greg gave for events in the past. It gates the Raid at about 2500 Years Ago, which--given that Years Ago is in terms of the present--that it occured approximately 1500 Years Before the GC...
DavidM96 wrote:
tiche9999 wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
tiche9999 wrote:Hey Greg-Sama, in which year (BCG) did the Raid on Artakha take place?
I don't have a timeline for BIONICLE.
Karz, I was really counting on that. Any chance you can make the time up? I reckon it happened somewhere around 300-400 years bcg.
Actually, BIONICLESector01 has a timeline for G1 with all the dates Greg gave for events in the past. It gates the Raid at about 2500 Years Ago, which--given that Years Ago is in terms of the present--that it occured approximately 1500 Years Before the GC...
Ohh... Thanks so much David-San! That's really useful! Really really useful! Thank you! 
tiche9999 wrote:
DavidM96 wrote:
tiche9999 wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
tiche9999 wrote:Hey Greg-Sama, in which year (BCG) did the Raid on Artakha take place?
I don't have a timeline for BIONICLE.
Karz, I was really counting on that. Any chance you can make the time up? I reckon it happened somewhere around 300-400 years bcg.
Actually, BIONICLESector01 has a timeline for G1 with all the dates Greg gave for events in the past. It gates the Raid at about 2500 Years Ago, which--given that Years Ago is in terms of the present--that it occured approximately 1500 Years Before the GC...
Ohh... Thanks so much David-San! That's really useful! Really really useful! Thank you!
You're welcome! BS01 is a great resource that I recommend to all BIONICLE fans...hope it helps you out in the future!
Hey, Greg? Do you ever wonder what would happen if the Toa Mata's canisters hadn't malfunctioned? Well I do, and thus I ask, oh scribe of LEGO:
What If
The Toa Mata's Canisters Worked Perfectly?
BrickConductor wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
BrickConductor wrote:
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
*shortened*
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.
Thanks for answering! Just so you know, bionicle is my favorite LEGO theme, followed by ninjago. Thank you for helping make those themes!
Do you agree? If you could make any changes to that story, what changes would you make?
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.
i totally agree!
Yeah, me too. I think Matau would have worked better. Although I do think that it could have worked if Vakama had a minor internal conflict compared to Matau.
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
[...]
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.
Wow, Greg... That's amazing. I'm taken aback by your awesome wisdom. Thank you.
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
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.
Being an amateur writer myself, I know exactly what you mean. There ARE too many stories in books, comics, and most especially movies that take the redemption turn. You've got the super-bad villain who, with just a little reasoning, can turn super-good and stay that way. Flowers and butterflies. BLECH! 
Let's face it, kids - life is hard. You can't point to your Looney Tunes Show and say that this is based on the real thing. While it's okay to have bad guys be bad and good guys be good, it would be better, I think, if we showed why the bad guy is bad. Perhaps he had a bad childhood suffering abuse from bullies at school, and even his parents. Perhaps he has always been poor, and stealing expensive things gives him more of a sense of comfort. He could even be sick in the mind, and needing proper treatment. Who knows?
Greg, you've done the right thing with Bionicle. I appreciate your works very much, and I hope LEGO can get you involved again. God bless you.
Mr. Farshtey:
What is Takanuva's destiny?
ShadowEmperor7 wrote:1. Do any Agori or Glatorian currently alive remember the Great Beings or the construction of the two giant robots?
2. When was it decided that Teridax would take over Mata Nui's body?
3. What is the canoncity of the Quest for the Toa GBA game and the Bohrok/Bohrok Kak Online Animations?
4. Would it be acceptable to refer to a Toa of Fire as a Ta-Toa, a Water Toa as a Ga-Toa, etc?
5. Why did the Toa Metru separate the Matoran into villages after becoming Turaga instead of banding together as one society?
This got buried.
I know you're not in charge of it in anyways, but what would you want to fix in the 2015 story?
Also,
I DIDN'T SLIP
ClutchPowers99 wrote:Hey, Greg? Do you ever wonder what would happen if the Toa Mata's canisters hadn't malfunctioned? Well I do, and thus I ask, oh scribe of LEGO:
What If
The Toa Mata's Canisters Worked Perfectly?
That's a good question.
1) They probably would not have had the memory problems they had, and so known right off what it is they were there to do.
2) Interesting to speculate what impact this would have had on the "truce" between the Turaga and Makuta.
3) It's reasonable to speculate that the Matoran would have returned to Metru Nui a lot earlier. \
4) Mata Nui would probably never have died, as they could have repaired the damage long before it got as bad as it did.