The short answer: “Fun”. Same as with just about any other LEGO related endeavor, it is a toy after all.
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Honestly, as long as people are enjoying themselves and spending time doing what they love, it’s not really a waste of time. Even though constraction/bionicle may never come back as a Lego theme, it still exists in the community as a cherished part of the culture and that’s what’s most important.
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Interestingly enough, Tolkien himself was also accused of wasting his time on LOTR in place of his academic pursuits, though he didn’t see it that way…
@thewimpykid Doing things that you enjoy is only a waste of time if you feel that time has been wasted. If you get something out of an activity, no matter how miniscule, it wasn’t a waste.
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worthit.
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I contemplated providing my own response, but you just nailed everything on the head.
@thewimpykid You’re going to find that this is a recurring problem for everybody, in every aspect of life. This sort of feeling is normal and never goes away.
Like Kini said, there are always “better” things we could be doing with our time. If people dedicated as much time and effort into their careers as they did their hobbies, we’ve have a much different world, an arguably more productive world.
But that’s not what we want, or even really need. People need escape, people need things they enjoy. No one can be 100% productive and efficient all the time.
As a bit of an anecdote from my own life, I’m in a college art class where I’m making a graphic novel. That’s a huge amount of really important work that I can (and maybe should) be dedicating all of my time to. But like Kini says, doing that sucks. So, I get on Minecraft and spend hours digging out a hole for a farm. I would much rather spend hours doing the tedious task of digging a hole than working on my much more important graphic novel.
Do I sometimes feel guilty about that? Of course I do. It’s called procrastination. But I wouldn’t ever question the validity of Minecraft because of my own guilt. If I feel so strongly that I should be doing something better with my time, then I need to make that decision to do the right thing and not waste my time. It’s all personal and relative.
So, the question you need to ask is to yourself. It isn’t about if we as the Bionicle community are wasting time. Again, like Kini said, we don’t have something better we should be doing in terms of Bionicle. You should be asking yourself “Is there something better that I should do?” And if there is, and you think being here on the Boards is in the way of that, then you have the power to make your own choice.
Regardless, this is a normal feeling. You aren’t in the wrong for asking this question, it’s just being asked of the wrong target. Bionicle is important to you, to all of us, and we’re here enjoying it when we want to or can. It’s one of our passions.
I didn’t mean to write so much, I basically just echoed Kini’s response, but I hope this solidified his words.
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I’m sure it has already been said, but I’ll say it in a way people will actually read. We’re here, because we like Bionicle.
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I know you’ve got a ton of replies and most of the points have been touched on but I just want to say this: “how do you know you’re not dead? You know you’re alive if you’re still fighting.” Tbh I can’t remember where I got that quote but it is my point. As long as we keep building, as long as we write, as long as we hold collaborations like these contests. We’re not dead (as a fandom) and we’re not wasting our time.
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Cause it’s fun. Nuff said.
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That’s non-canon to me. 
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People still write and produce fan art, etc about TV shows and movies no longer in production.
We’re lucky in that we’re now getting to fill-in gaps have have new canon models (or as good as) to add to our collections.
Or, if you wanna go really broad…
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Im going to keep it short, as many here have summed up my feelings on the subject pretty well. but if Bionicle is a waste of time or not is up to you and what else you could do with your time. I have many hobbies, perhaps too many, but for me, Bionicle IS NOT a waste of time because it is something I enjoy.
on a side note, Bionicle is still going strong for me as a result of the cannon contests and me helping a freind get into the theme, so I will get to partially live through the story (something I missed due to being born in '06) alongside someone I know in person.
so, to summarize: you are only wasting you time if you could do better things that would bring you more enjoyment.
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Good question. The main thing I enjoy right now is playing (and looking forward to) the fan video games, many of which are either still in development or were only released recently, so none of them could have brought Bionicle G1 back to life much earlier than now. I’m of course talking about the fan rebuilt of Legend of Mata Nui as well as the built-from-scratch fan games Masks of Power, Trials of the Great Spirit, and Quest for Mata Nui. 
The Toa Mata never had a video game dedicated to them, which is quite a shame. So much so that apparently it sparked the desire to create such a game in at least 2-3 different programming communities.
I hope this trend continues, and that we might also get fan games covering the Bohrok and Mask-of-Light period eventually. While the first official Bionicle PC game technically covered everything from the arrival of the Bohrok to Takanuva defeating Makuta, that game was extremely rushed and thus very unsatisfying.
Maybe somebody also picks up the cancelled game “City of Legends” and expands it in a similar way as “Legend of Mata Nui”, so then there would be a game about the Toa Metru as well. “City of Legends” was sadly cancelled in a much earlier state than “Legend of Mata Nui”. So there would be a lot less to work with, but that would also mean greater creative liberties for the programmers. Plus, Legends of Metru Nui (the second movie) is considered the best of all Bionicle movies by a lot of people, so I think there might certainly be an interest in the fandom to play as the Toa Metru for the very first time, even if they might not be as iconic as the Toa Mata/Nuva.
Websites like the BioMedia Project also make the old content much more easily accessible now, like all the comics, the Mata Nui Online Games (now even downloadable, thankfully, since Flash is no longer being supported as of this year), and even here on the forum there are links to get your hands on PDF versions of the books. In short: It is only now that we get access to some of the stuff we did not have access to when we were kids following the toy releases.
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, though. Especially when it comes to canon debates, I’m increasingly getting the feeling that, the more I found out, the less I want to know. 
Sometimes I think I should stop looking for this stuff, lest the “official” information might destroy ever last good memory I had of Bionicle. And thus the nostalgia along with it.
It’s funny in this context that the opening post stated “Greg doesn’t care as much as you (=we) do”. 
If even Greg no longer cares as much about his own canon, I don’t see why we should. Especially when it comes to widely contested issues such as whether love is canon or not. I think CallanLoF really knocked it out of the park when he had Hewkii cover Eric Stewart’s and Graham Gouldman’s “I’m Not in Love” (Thanks to Greg) for Valentine’s Day. 
The hints are clearly there, both for Hewkii-Macku and Jaller-Hahli, and retro-actively de-canonizing things we’ve all seen in the movies and Online Animations won’t make us able to unsee those things.
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From the off-the-cuff esoteric references, to their ridiculous air of erudition (to legitimize the fact they are grown men playing with children’s toys and reading comics) and the way all four of them will defend canon as fervently as a samurai defends his master… Between the laughs, nostalgia and the silly drama, there’s a profound sadness here. These boys are essentially throwing their lives away being ultra-consumers of the geek culture. Something that should be an accent in their life is in fact their whole lives. And as the boys creep towards middle age, we see they aren’t changing. They’re going to be the same man-children their whole lives.
This quote comes from, of all places, an Amazon review for an Evan Dorkin comic book called The Eltingville Club. This paragraph has stayed with me as a member of fandom, as did the comic, and I think it expresses clearly what might be happening or what might have already happened in your life.
Many people in the first world in the twenty first century are so inundated with media and “content” that they forget that they are alive in the real world and instead seem to live to consume and appreciate products made by other people. This is certain to offend members of this board, but it is true that as LEGO fans we might be among the saddest of this subsection of the population. Like superhero comic book fans, many of us remain obsessed with material products which we first became addicted to as children when our parents purchased them to keep us distracted for an hour. In my own life, I have struggled to temper this addiction though I recognize it to be one even if it is not a physical addiction. It is important to remember that “fun“ and “enjoyable” are not the same as “good” or “healthy.“
If you feel that this quote applies to your life and you relate heavily with it, then I advise that you forget about Bionicle and prioritize knowing yourself over discussing a decades-old toy, and only come back once you have a solid baseline of understanding yourself as a person as opposed to a “fan” of media. This goes for anyone reading this, not just the person I am replying to.
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Nah. We’re having fun.
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You must be fun at parties.
Since when do I have to cut all entertainment out of my life in order to “understand myself”.
How about instead of just calling us “the saddest of this subsection of the population” you enlighten us all with your examples of “grown-up” entertainment?
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Since when do I have to cut all entertainment out of my life in order to “understand myself”
I didn’t say anyone has to cut all entertainment out of their lives, only that anyone who considers a franchise or product to be their entire lives should take a few steps back from said franchise. A little bit of escapism won’t kill anyone, but a lifetime of it would consume most people.
How about instead of just calling us “the saddest of this subsection of the population” you enlighten us all with your examples of “grown-up” entertainment?
I am sorry that you feel personally attacked, I am not insulting anyone for finding Bionicle entertaining. As I said, I do as well. But this isn’t a question of childish or adult entertainment, it is an issue regarding all entertainment. It is not healthy for a person to make any franchise a core part of his or her personality/interests/passions. This is especially true for a franchise the person first became interested in as a child, as he or she might have been spending too much time immersed in a fictional franchise during years which are meant to be formative. This danger is not isolated to Bionicle fans or even to LEGO fans, it is evident among superhero comic book readers and Star Wars fans as well. (I fit all four of these categories by the way.)
If it wasn’t clear, my previous comment was mostly responding to this part of the topic:
But no matter what I do, a fact remains that I cannot escape… Wise people like to say that, if you get too caught up in the past, then you’ll never have a future. And maybe that’s what’s happening here.
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I can’t argue with that.
I guess just, given the context of the original question of the topic (and me not remembering every single response), your point seemed to be aimed at anyone still spending time on Bionicle at all.
In light of this new clarification, I can see that my initial response was also perhaps a little more harsh than was necessary, and I’d like to apologize for that.
To be honest, I think the point that you brought up is so far beyond the scope of the original post that this is a new discussion.
While the orignal post was about us ignoring other entertainment in favour of Bionicle, your point goes way beyond that.
At the end of the day, I completely agree with everything you said, and I’m happy that you’ve made me consider these things.
(Also, sorry again for the original misunderstanding)
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uhhhhhhh
Yeah …
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I appreciate your courage for putting this out there, @VonDoom 
. I can totally see where you’re coming from.
This is why I for one have never been content “just” being fan of something (I’m not accusing anyone here that they were the doing this, nor that it is necessarily a bad thing, I’m just describing my personal preference). I’ve always wanted to be on the creative side just as much, if not even more, than on the consuming side. If consuming is “taking”, then being creative yourself is “giving something back”. Even though it’s not really selfless, because it’s just as, if not even more rewarding. You haven’t just enjoyed something (=as in consumption), you’ve achieved something (=as in contribution).
The irony of creativity is, though, that what you’re contributing to is still often that same pile of distractions that other people draw from. What’s a serotonin source for the creative person (giving them the sense of achievement etc.) is just another dopamine hit for the consumers. YouTube videos for example take way longer to create than to watch. The person making a video can experience the joys of delayed gratification, the build-up of anticipation before finally completing their task and uploading the video, the result of their work. For the viewer, however, it’s over as quickly as it has begun, and the algorithm sets them up to look for the next “kick” right away.
Oh yes, absolutely. However, some of them have gone so far down the rabbit hole that they’ve turned their fandom identity into a source of income, so it’s no longer as “useless” as doing something as a mere hobby might seem to outsiders. 
Several people have built an entire brand and business on basically just trashing a single movie, The Last Jedi. Because Star Wars has such a huge fanbase, and a large portion of them still has not “healed” from the damage that movie caused, these channels can basically keep making the same video over and over again, and live on the ads revenue plus Patreon support.
Of course, there is a certain cynicism to this, as these channels basically thrive off preventing other people from moving on with their lives. At least as long as those other people keep falling for it - or for the power of the algorithm that keeps suggesting the same content to them that they’ve enjoyed previously.
This! 
I for one like to poke holes in canon if I see things that don’t make sense to me. Of course, that’s basically what the Star Wars fans are doing with the “canon” movies of Episode VII - IX, too. So that can just as easily turn into an obsession.
For me, it’s definitely not my main pasttime, but more of a way to practice my own critical thinking, worldbuilding, and writing skills. Of course, nobody’s creative writing gets better from just trashing on other people’s creative work, and criticism should always be delivered respectfully. But looking for the “hair in the soup” in creative works you don’t or no longer enjoy, identifying what it is that’s bothering you about those creative decisions, and then as a consequence being able to avoid the “mistakes” another creative franchise made in your own creative work, that can be very valuable for developing your own skills in a way that’s applicable to the real world.
That is assuming your own creative output can be considered “real” - it can be useful and enjoyable to others, of course, but if it’s a videogame, a piece of fiction or other type of media, it’s of course still a source of escapism at the end of the day. But then again, what isn’t? Who actually wants to live completely in the real world? “Sleep spares him pain; awake, he suffers…”
I’ve come back to Bionicle at the moment because of the fan games, as I said, but also to examine the story and characters more critically in terms of writing. For example, I tried to see whether the movies had aged well, or whether my judgement was just clouded by childhood nostalgia. And I for one found, no, I was not biased, these movies still work. So the question was “why do they work?” What character development do Takua and Jaller actually go through, what are the themes of this movie, what sentences went completely over my head as a kid, yet still served to make the movie enjoyable to me both back then and now?
And in turn, with things I don’t like about the story, what’s the cause of that? In recent years, summing up one thing I’ve learned from the Star Wars sequels, Game of Thrones, and now also Bionicle, it’s that the notion of “subverting audience expectations” usually carries more risk than good.
As a hobby writer myself, I can totally relate to the ambition to feel “smart” as an author and incorporate some great twist into a story that nobody in the audience will see coming. But precisely for that reason, the only person that twist might satisfy in the end is the author him- or herself. Terrible Writing Advice on YouTube made a great depiction of this, with the word “plot”, then the word “plot twist” shoved in at the very end, causing massive friction in the word “plot” itself, while the writer stands next to it with the speech bubble “I am so smart”. I think this encapsulates the problem perfectly. The writer forgets that the audience is the customer, and the customer is king.
Which takes us back to the topic of consumption. Some people will readily cosume everything an author offers; others want their consumption to be “easy” and will object if an author tries to introduce something more complex and thought-provoking. So I’m not saying entertainment should always be simple and mindless, and that plot twists are always a bad thing. I’m just saying “don’t do plot twists for the sake of it.”
Heck, I didn’t see Takua’s transformation into Takanuva coming at all when I first watched Mask of Light. I was even slightly bothered by it, because it once again meant that one toy replaced another instead of the two existing side-by-side in the story. But then looking back, it made sense, because Takua had to earn becoming the seventh Toa. That immature kid who tried to put his responsibility on his friend and then left him hanging, that Takua wouldn’t have deserved to become a Toa yet. He needed to recognize his mistakes and start making efforts toward fixing them.
Also, Mask of Light was probably the first movie ever to make me consciously aware of foreshadowing - because it was so blunt in its way of doing that (with the Kolhii game at the beginning and the repeated attempt at Takua’s trick in the fight against Makuta) that even a kid could notice it . But that’s what made it ideal: A kid could recognize it already, and think “wow, that’s cool”, and a grownup can realize that it’s kind of a cheap and on-the-nose way of setting up an arc, but that it’s also ingeniously simple, because it just works. Like a four-chord song in music. Gotta know the rules before you can break them on purpose.
Game of Thrones for the longest time was similarly good at foreshadowing things - even though usually tragic ones. The early deaths of important characters usually came out of nowhere at the moment, but then in hindsight, it made sense how the deceased characters had brought themselves into that situation. Then the film authors started rushing things, flying through the plot towards the end goal instead of hitting the stepping stones, and introducing random surprises out of nowhere into the plot - apparently thinking that it had been the plot twists themselves that made their show interesting, instead of good setup and payoff.
Applying this to my own writing, I also have a major plot twist at the very end that basically turns one of the main villains into a good guy retroactively - “good” in the sense of “serving the same ultimate goal as the protagonists, but using evil methods to get there”. While I do make clear that it’s usually the methods that differentiate between good and evil, more so than the goal itself, in this case it is implied that some of his evil acts were necessary, because the main characters wouldn’t have succeeded without him. I write all parts in parallel, so that I can carefully place hints at his actual motivation in the earlier parts of the story.
However, now that I am observing my own reaction to having my “expectations subverted”, including by Bionicle’s Great Spirit Robot, I am very cautious about how I want to pull this off.
- The Last Jedi and the final season of Game of Thrones are examples for me how not to do it. Those plot twists were made for the sake of it and hit the viewers out of nowhere, without any proper foreshadowing.
- Bionicle had its central twist planned from the beginning, so there were hints planted throughout the sections leading up to the twist. Yet, they were very subtle. Too subtle, I would argue. At least too subtle for the great twist at the end to look like the obvious and only plausible explanation once it hits.
- The early seasons of Game of Thrones are probably the best example of how to do it: Set up clues, get the viewers’ heads spinning with their own theories, then either confirm those theories I’ve they’ve “earned it” by paying close attention to all the right cues - or surprise them with something new, however still something that you’ve done all the proper foreshadowing for, and that will be easily plausible for the audience at least in hindsight. A good plot twist makes the viewer feel stupid for not having seen it coming; a bad one makes the viewer regard the author as stupid for pulling something random out of his… donkey.
In short, I don’t think I’m personally wasting my time by delving into Bionicle again, because I want to learn from its storytelling, by being critical about it at the same time as I am still enjoying it, and hopefully not just due to nostalgia. 
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are we seriously bringing this argument over here I thought there was a topic for that
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