So I hadnt seen the results of that survey until now, thanks for sharing that! I’m happy to see that the majority opinion seems to heavily support the contests. I gotta say though, I really hope that the “timeliness” of the contests doesnt become a huge reason for people trying to wrestle control of the contests to someone else. Maybe it’s just the place my life is in right now, but I really havent minded the wait overall. Bionicle’s been dead for years, and while the wait between stages is certainly frustrating sometimes, I’ve kind of enjoyed the sense of anticipation it gives me for Bionicle in general. Sure, I’m bet there is someone who could run the contests well enough to burn through all the characters in a year, but then what? We’re back where we started with a dead theme and nothing coming out of it. That’s not to say the process shouldnt be sped up a little, but I dont think it’s as bad as it’s made out to be.
I don’t think the issue that most people had was necessarily the fact that the Hagah Contest took a long time (though that certainly was part of it for some people), but rather the fact that it took a long time past the announced (approximate) timeline without anyone knowing what the delay was.
About the rebreather on the Mask of Stealth- since it’s on both Nuparu’s and Mazeka’s, I think it can be assumed it’s not part of an underwater breathing apparatus. It seems more likely that, like scopes on Akaku’s, it’s a feature that enhances the mask power, and so is standardly added. Perhaps it silences the sound of the wearer’s breathing so that won’t give them away?
One of the quotes floating around implies that it’s an add-on, but other’s say it’s standard, and this seems to be the best marriage of the two concepts.
I will say, the whole Akaku-scope tradition does raise the question if why Kualsi’s don’t usually have scopes too, as it would be very useful for that power.
That’s my exact theory as well; the natural mask power can silence external contact sounds, but not “internal” sounds, such as breathing or talking.
Concept
I also have a cool idea that it can “twist” out of the way when not in use, so that the user can still talk normally:
EDIT: I animated it:
I also agree with this; even if it’s a non-forged add-on, is it any less standard if it’s still included on every mask?
You could make the teal face plate removable? under it a place for a mask. the face plate can be stored somewhere in the moc?
I love this! I am definitely making that my head canon now
Is is really necessary for Nidhiki to have an art contest？It can be handled like those G1 original contest. Krakua, for example.
Wait
This is a good idea
Since he shouldn’t have any 3d printed piece (except if someone upload a custom weapon) it shouldn’t be necessary. But I really like the art contest 
1: good point, the only reason we have the art contests after the moc on is due to the custom mask situation. Nidhiki’s mask is, objectively, not custom (unless you count the “has to be green” part)
2: I still want an art contest lol. The opportunity to get a cool piece of art of Toa Nidhiki in action is to good to miss
Maybe it could allow it to be handled slightly differently, though. Since Nidhiki’s MOC could be considered full-canon unlike the other contests, it could allow for some weird changes in requirements in art. Like him not fully equipped, or mid-transformation.
Probably not on that last part, but you know…maybe.
it’s a question about illegal connection.
Is this upper arm connection considered illegal in the contest? (Arm connection like Krakua)
Cursed idea: the Volitak’s “muffler” doesn’t have an off switch, so every time you see Nidhiki talking as a Toa, it sounds like he’s talking from behind a pillow. People can barely understand him.
BS01 didn’t want 3d printed pieces in the page, but I don’t know their stance with painted pieces.
Maybe the art contest could be made just to have the green mask, for all the entries that couldn’t or didn’t want to paint it, although with photoshop someone can easily change the color to green.
I’ll be satisfied with the winning Toa Hagah because I know there’s no way to change it and I’ve done my part with voting.
This doesn’t really matter, since TTV has said that they would never require custom parts, and will therefore never mandate a painted mask. Unless it’s a Krakua situation, where the official image is understood to be inaccurate in some known capacity, we will require an art contest for Nidhiki.
The more interesting possibility of Nidhiki’s contest is that after the MOC portion, there likely won’t be anything left for the artists to decide. Therefore, couldn’t multiple pieces of art be made canon, since they all show the exact same model?
Varying art style is still a factor. Having one moc win doesn’t limit artist in how they want to depict that build.
There are tons of art styles across Bionicle already: movies, templar, multiple different comic artists. They’re all still considered equally valid. There shouldn’t be any differences other than things like a hand recolour like Helryx or Kualus; and even the comics frequently miscolor a model.
Should Nidhiki’s contest be a free-for-all like the Hagah?
And if art wins we just end it there?
That does risk Nidhiki not having a recognizable build (unlike the Hagah, who we understood to be Metru)
But you know what? Maybe
Is that really, a problem, though? Even the characters that currently have official appearances were presented with wildly different stylizations. As long as all the artwork is stylizing the same thing, I don’t really see an issue with it.
If anything, having different stylizations is a good thing, since it would let us get a better grasp of what’s part of the “real” appearance, and what’s just stylization.
I’ll admit it’s possible that we might need to tighten up the rules on what modifications can be made (no Pouks-thigh-level changes, for example), but that seems like a fair exchange for the extra depth in appearances.
What makes you say this?
I mean, I’m totally down with all future contests being free-for-all in general, but I’m wondering why you’re singling out Nidhiki, specifically.