Of course, I’m not disagreeing with that, the issue is that many people take Faber to mean actual Bionicle, or a franchise similar to but distinct from Bionicle, when I disagree that this will be a franchise of the typical sort.
Overall, I think I get the sense that you’re not quite the kind of person the arguments I’m making are meant to be oriented towards, we’re just approaching the matter from slightly different angles. In regards to hype, I meant Faber’s vague and open-ended communication, leading to the rampant speculation about what this will be, which in some ways becomes a projection of the audience’s hopes and dreams for a perfect Bionicle-esque franchise. Thus I see my arguments as pessimism only insofar as they attempt to temper that speculation and wishful thinking by looking at what exactly Faber has said and what that might imply contrary to what people are wanting.
However, being that my arguments come across as pessimistic, I’ll bring them to a close here and apologize, because the world really doesn’t need any more pessimism right now.
My final point to whomever it might concern is just to remember that Faber probably won’t provide everything you hope for; if there’s something you want to see created the best way for that to happen is to try and make it a reality yourself. Being a creator instead of a consumer is something I do strongly side with Faber on, and that’s what I interpret to be the core of his project. But who knows! We’ll just have to wait and see what comes on Faber’s end and just keep keeping on on our own end.
But the Bionicle fanbase is small in the big scheme of things; would Lego really want to pander to them, over everyone else?
Enigma is kind of how G1 was marketed, too, so it makes sense. And as for the reboot part…eh, I think it could go either way. It could be a Bionicle reboot, it could be something else entirely.
I hope it is successful. I would love to have a Bionicle G3.
Unlike most of you, I haven’t been reading between the lines of Christian Faber’s statements. I’ve just rested easy knowing that he’s working on SOMETHING, and that it could mean Bionicle G3. But I fully agree with the above-quoted statement. We should just sit back, and be patient.
Phew, finally made it to the bottom of the topic, I’ll admit there was a bit of skimming, but that’s because the bzpower topic covered some of the content, very interesting so far…
This may not be far off. I wouldn’t be surprised if all Faber wants to do is produce Bionicle art and story on a website and make some kind of forum or creative mobilization behind it. It’s more of a Casey Neistat approach to Bionicle as opposed to the Disney version.
The problem with that idea is that he’ll be competing with existing community forums and infrastructure as opposed to working with them, an uncomfortable proposition for this community to say the least.
What I don’t understand is, if Faber can land these kinds of deals for his own project, why he wouldn’t be able to land them for Bionicle. Obviously he would have to get Lego on board with it, but that seems like a better direction than just producing web content. I think if he wants our contributions, we should level towards that direction instead of trying to organize the community.
The line between creator and customer in the Lego community has always been a blurred line, and Bionicle has turned that normal line blurring into a huge gray space, with all of the fan canonized MoCs and Greg answers and Faber producing semi-quasi-possibly non-official artwork. I don’t think we need an expansion of the gray space as much as we need something concrete to hang our hats on.
Sure, it would be great if we could put out our banners and say “This is what Bionicle stands for, and this is what we stand for, blah.” but since we can’t agree on that in general, it might be easier to just allow Bionicle to be a flexible concept idea to fit whatever theme is needed at the moment. Which I think Faber is thinking it is.
Recently I’ve been thinking about how Faber’s ideas have evolved thematically from Bionicle to Biovival. Faber clearly has something he wants to say about environmentalism using a world similar to the one he developed for Bionicle, and it has made me think about what themes are at the core of Bionicle and how Faber could be furthering them using the Biovival premise.
I made this comment a month ago on a different topic while thinking along the same lines:
What I’ve realized is that Bionicle has always been a story about survival. In the first three years of the franchise, the enemies weren’t characters, the enemy was the environment. It is a misconception that the Infected Rahi, the Bohrok and the Rahkshi are bad villains because they are simple hive minds; this would be true if they were intended to be characters, which they are not. Rather, they are an extension of the environment. The Rahi were beasts to be tamed, the Bohrok were infectious pests to be contained, and the Rahkshi were literal forces of nature. Even Makuta was likewise more of a force of nature than a character with specific motivations until Mask of Light. The two Metru years also had environmental villains; the Morbuzakh and Visorak were both invasive species.
Bionicle is about Man vs Nature, and is metaphorically about the survival element of Man vs Self because of the GSR’s creation as a metaphor for Faber taking medicine. Metaphorically, the Rahi were cells to be healed, the Bohrok were biological antibodies, the Makuta was a cancer and his Rahkshi were diseases which evaded destruction because the antibodies were not free to stop them.
Survival stories are stories about Man vs Nature, but Biovival appears to be about Man synthesized with machine learning to reconnect with- and ultimately synthesize just as well with nature. This is more interesting to me than a fight between the Toa and the bad guys of the year, and I think it’s a fitting struggle to coincide with Bionicle’s core themes of mystery and discovery. I hope this post isn’t too rambling to be followed.
Edit: This concept has a name: Biophilia
From Wikipedia:
The biophilia hypothesis (also called BET) suggests that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life.[1]Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book, Biophilia (1984).[2] He defines biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”.[3]
“Biophilia” is “love of life or living systems.” The term was first used by Erich Fromm to describe a psychological orientation of being attracted to all that is alive and vital. Biophilia describes “the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life.” He proposed the possibility that the deep affiliations humans have with other life forms and nature as a whole are rooted in our biology…
… American philosopher Francis Sanzaro has put forth the claim that because of advances in technological connectivity, especially the internet of things (IOT), our world is becoming increasingly driven by the biophilia hypothesis, namely, the desire to connect to forms of life.[22] Sanzaro applies Wilson’s theories to trends in artificial intelligence and psychoanalysis and argues that technology is not an antithesis to nature, but simply another form of seeking intimacy with nature.
Alright Bionicle fans! THIS IS OUR NEW RALLY! Faber is our last hope! He will finish what Sokoda’s started! We will join forces and conquer all naysayers and make this dream a reality! Oh? You say all endings are merely beginnings? WELL, THIS IS OUR NEW BEGINNING! WE HAVE ONE HOPE, ONE DREAM, AND ONE DESTINATION! THIS IS THE JOURNEY TO ONE! /s
I’m sorry, I don’t like typing in all caps but I feel the joke and my depression needed it
A BIONICLE project reaching the review stage on Ideas strengthens Faber’s pitch to LEGO and other potential partners, even if it isn’t made into a set.
It’s another example of the strength of the concept that people still care about it after so long.
It’s unfortunate for those who wanted that particular Ideas set made, but I think it wasn’t hard to see that it wouldn’t make it.
If you want BIONICLE to return, just keep the community alive, so that those who make the decisions can see. Enter / vote in the canon contests, post memes, support Ideas projects etc. Be patient with Faber’s project and don’t look for a repeat of the old story, but a new one.
Edit:
And a well-timed new Faber post, for those who might doubt the future:
No it wouldn’t, because it’s specifically been stated without any leeway that Biovival and Rebel Nature are not connected. Let’s consider: Rig21. From what I’ve been made to understand, Rig21 is some sort of software, or program, or otherwise. If this is the case, there’s every possibility that both Rebel Nature and Biovival will make use of Rig21, without being in any way connected to each other as far as storytelling is concerned.
In the description, it’s described as a setup working on “virtual film production and Rebel Nature. We are at Unity and steaming ahead on the showcases for this new technology that will empower storytelling like never before.” (That last part sounds a lot like what he was talking about with the new eras of storytelling and such, no? No longer a finished product given to you to watch on a cinema screen, but an interactive experience coloured by you, the player.)
And Rebel Nature. Not for Rebel Nature. And.
In the video itself he also specifically refers to the “Biological Chronicle” as a separate item towards the end as one of the things to look forward to with this new “platform”/“tool” Rig21.
In case you couldn’t tell, I was waiting for that one
Ah, ok, I thought Rig21 was specifically a part of Rebel Nature, I must have been misinformed. (Edit: looks like it was a part of the name of the app game, I think in-lore the name of the Rig the girl grows up on?)
That’s quite interesting, though!
