Many people who voted for Hoseryx did so to protest the contests being held at all; not every person, but certainly a large number as shown by numerous posts across various different social media sites and discords. A vocal minority trying to rally support from people barely even involved in the BIONICLE community proper in order to sabotage something they disagreed with. Following that, people vote for Double’s because they want a legitimate entry to win; common voting practices detail that being the case, and it has always been the case in BIONICLE community polls, even as far back as BZPower. Hoseryx isn’t the only “meme entry” to ever make it into the final polls of community contests, and even aside from the meme angle of things, people do sometimes vote for things they’re not necessarily crazy about to stop something they would prefer much less from being victorious. That’s a common failing of the voting system, and someone we’ve addressed with a much superior system in the artwork contest.
My point is though: You’re using a movement at least partially spearheaded by people who want the contests to stop, a movement you PERSONALLY are irritated by because it contributed to an entry you don’t like to win) as evidence for why the contests were mismanaged and should stop. That’s circular logic, and I don’t buy into it one bit. Improvements have been and should continue to be made to the formula to prevent issues in the future where we can, we shouldn’t give up wholesale.
Additionally, the Makuta thing… isn’t remotely confusing to anyone familiar with the material at all, and no Makuta-esque MoCs made it super high in the voting processes. The quote was included as part of the full scope of description we provided for Helryx, and the full context is available to anyone who is a BIONICLE fan; as such, if they’re interested enough to enter this contest, they know who Helryx is, and can go read the full scope of her appearance for themselves (heck, they probably already HAVE read the story serial and so know the context for why that Makuta bit is in there!). Only a handful of MoCs even had Makuta-esque imagery, one made by @Connor_Hoffman which had been worked on as early as 2018 as part of his own separate AU project and as such, wasn’t related to the quote being taken out of context at all. I don’t think a lack of clarity on our part played any role in the contest or created any problems whatsoever regarding this Makuta bit.
Regarding including MoC contests and art contests; that is a key cornerstone of this entire initiative, the entire premise. Being inclusive. BIONICLE is a LEGO property, and LEGO is the centerpiece of its very existence and that of the community formed around it.
To deny MoCists the opportunity to create and be a part of this because of… what? Some desire for simplicity? One contest being easier to follow than two per character? That’s not worth it to me. I’ve seen arguments about separating the custom mask from the character art portion, and I’m willing to entertain those on a conceptual level, because there are arguments for-and-against. Eradicating MoCs entirely though? Forcing everyone to either learn to draw or get out? No thanks. I have zero interest in disregarding the majority of BIONICLE fans and prohibiting them from contributing in any way except artwork because of a misguided attempt to make something easy-to-follow even easier.
Additionally, I’m not opposed to the concept of a survey, but I do take great umbrage with the notion that people “should be allowed to have a say.” They already have, man. We conducted the poll about these contests for weeks, and even though the winning majority was massive, there were a lot of dissenters and people who objected. If after every roadblock, every subjective failing, every “entry winning that ____ person doesn’t want to win,” every minor, personal gripe that someone may have towards the process, we reopened the polls to give those same people an opportunity to raise the same objections that have already been addressed time and time again… we’d never get anything done.
I didn’t like the winner? Time to call for another vote. People in the community being trolls? Revote. Vote brigading? Revote. Take issue with a rule? Time for a revote. Don’t think Greg should have the power to canonize things? Revote. Didn’t like the contests in the first place but want to use peoples’ subjective issues to cast doubt on them and hope public opinion swings towards the negative? Well we GOTTA have a revote.
I’m not saying your grievances aren’t legitimate (there were tons of issues with the MoC portion, and I look forward to digging into all of them in a Nak & Jay on Wednesday), but I just feel it’s a slippery slope. Again, I’m not against a survey to gauge current feelings in a post-Helryx atmosphere, but I do feel that the community has spoken quite clearly about their views on these contests, and the wealth of participation and creativity displayed throughout the Helryx portion has more than proved their potential and the success of the whole initiative.
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