This just dropped btw:
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He could have raised awareness for his project to prove a point to the men in suits simply by saying he’s trying to get the funding and/or rights for something rather than just shouting “BIONICLE BIONICLE BIONICLE” over and over.
Shouting “BIONCLE BIONICLE BIONICLE” over and over is what it means to equate the brand with his name. The “men in suits” aren’t typically satisfied by campaigns wherein the creative tells the fans to help him AstroTurf visibility. The hype over the Bionicle aesthetic needed and needs to be legitimate for Faber’s brand power to be legitimate. It’s the nature of the beast.
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I understand that much, but what I mean is that he hasn’t exactly said anything of substance, only the word “Bionicle” in big, silver letters. He’s given only quiet signals to temper our expectations and hasn’t really given us any idea of what we should get hyped for, or even if there really is something in the works beyond “something.” This is disingenuous because it just sounds like he’s making G3 outright, but it’s not really clear if that’s what’s happening.
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“Look at all these people who follow me because of bionicle! Ignore the fact that two-thirds of them will lose interest if it isn’t bionicle.”
“I don’t need the hype” -Faber
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Aight I’m replying to pretty much everything since my last post in this one so bear with me.
You’re absolutely right, project development is, in essence, an uncertain hell. I’m in my final year of a Bachelor of Commerce degree. My Major is marketing, but my degree also requires me to engage in product development. I have also brought projects to market. Need I remind you that TTV was started by a bunch of 12 year olds who spend the better part of a decade building it into what it is today?
We’re very aware of what it takes to make things happen.
I broached this on my original long-post but the fact of the matter is that there is more than just product development at stake here. You are developing your product in a vacuum, for school. Do you have a marketing component of your coursework where you are supposed to start actually marketing the product? Because rule number 1 of marketing is don’t market what doesn’t exist.
How do I know this? My Major is marketing. I’ve worked for Marketing/Communications firms, Promotional Consulting Firms, The largest media corporation in Canada. Marketing a product that does not exist is risky at best, irresponsible at worst.
Pakari and Meso both echo the main points here, which are ultimately that you are misunderstanding a lot of the statements being made. No one actually cares that Faber hasn’t delivered anything, because again, we all understand how involved the process of product development is. The issue that people have is with how progress, or lack thereof, is being communicated. In essence, as Pakari stated:
This is fine if all you are is a random creator, but unfortunately Faber’s status means that he has a responsibility to the community to conduct himself in a way that an obscure team of university students putting a product into the world ultimately does not have to worry about. Just like Meso and Myself and everyone else in TTV must be aware of what we say and how we say it (though we don’t always achieve the requisite self-review) so too should Faber recognize the impact that he has on the fandom and its’ more impressionable or hopeful individuals.
That criticism has absolutely nothing to do with the product or lack thereof, but with the method of communication. I genuinely couldn’t care less if whatever he’s doing takes off or comes to market or whatever, i enjoy the concept art for what it is and generally move on. I take issue, however, as stated before, with how the communication constantly shifts from “Get excited” and “things are coming” to “it’s not my fault you thought something was coming” and “I don’t need the hype.”
I’m sorry, you blasted this on Social Media. You made the hashtags, you’ve done the work to promote this, you’ve fed into the hype at every turn. Just because it’s turned on you doesn’t mean you aren’t still responsible for its’ existence.
First off I just want to point out that Cannes and TED Talks (specifically TEDx talks in this case) aren’t exactly that hard to secure. Him having a TED talk has more to do with his Career experiences/Rebel Nature Tech Advancements than any current project he’s working on.
This is exactly what I’m trying to say though. This Bionicle Hype isn’t legitimate because right now no one knows what he’s actually trying to accomplish, and thus the hype is ultimately purely for Faber himself. Which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing - You can be hyped for a creator’s new project without knowing what the project is, but when it comes to pitching to investors that you have an existing fanbase who’s excited for what you’re pitching them… it helps to be able to demonstrate that the fanbase actually knows about what you’re pitching.
Ultimately the fact that Faber has most recently stated that he had no intention to bring back Bionicle in any way and that everything was intended to inspire the fandom implies, heavily that there isn’t a product. This is obviously something that will disappoint individuals - claiming that they cannot be disappointed to learn that what they hoped would come to pass likely won’t come to pass is disingenuous at best.
Finally I wanna tackle these:
I respect your stances on plenty of things but you have a horrible habit of doubling down and getting pissed off when contrary opinions or information are presented. Just as every post you make is defending why you feel people shouldn’t be disappointed, every opposing point is to defend why people feel they can be disappointed.
There is no right or wrong here, everything is subjective. If you want to support Faber, support Faber. Just know that the width and breadth of experiences on these boards vastly outnumber any individual one of ours. If you can’t handle dissenting opinions, it’s probably best to stay out of the controversial topics. Ultimately, Majority Consensus is always going to be hard to be on the other side of. That doesn’t mean TTV is a “Hive Mind” nor does it have anything to do with “Council Overlords.” If you think for a second that TTV is some united front on any issue I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklynn.
As for me, everything about this is what I have gone to school for. Marketing. Law. Product Development. Artist Management. Economics. Business. So just know that I absolutely agree with you from a product development perspective. I do not, however, agree from a marketing or PR perspective.
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Forget about knowing if he can provide a G3, Faber doesn’t know what media he even can work with. He has limited access to a VR and digital design studio, but he does not have funding and his team appears to be comprised of friends who are working with him out of goodwill. What he knows he does have is minor brand recognition and a fanbase that is loyal and creative. I think he had high expectations that the fans would feel enlightened by his creative spark and run with the concept of there being a #biovival, but buy and large instead of going out and lighting fires, many Bionicle fans got hung up on endgame specifics which Faber could not and cannot possibly know at this time. This is like Stage 0 of development. Many people expect specifics now but unfortunately have been betrayed by their own naivety.
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This is probably entirely likely. In fact i’d be willing to bet money that this is the exact situation. However, the specifics people are asking for aren’t “When can I buy the product and what can I buy and what will it cost and look like and beeee” but rather “What are your intentions.”
If you cannot convey your intentions clearly to your audience, that implies you don’t even know them. At which point, what/why are you even developing?
People want to know if his goal is to inspire or if his goal is to actually make a “product.” That shouldn’t be hard for him to say, nor is it unreasonable for us to ask.
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Then it’s still irresponsible for him to promote a product when he can’t even be certain it’ll fall within the IP he wants it to. Like Kini just said, it’s not good to pitch something which you yourself can’t even describe for multiple reasons. He’s hyping people up for something that very likely will never happen, and that’s simply unethical.
Again, if this is all done with Faber’s best intentions and he really is striving to revive Bionicle, that’s one thing, but he hasn’t exactly communicated that in clear terms. Does he want to start a movement, or give us something concrete?
Couldn’t have said it better.
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We aren’t his pitch audience, we are his fanbase. You have to understand that he is equating the Bionicle brand-aesthetic with his own name to attract investors. There are NO SPECIFICS right now. They just don’t exist. That was never the point. The point was and is to generate support for the brand. That is all. I get that people are disappointed, but if they want any product eventually, they must first participate in this process because Faber is trying to start a forest fire by rubbing twigs together. I must be blunt; Bionicle fans who believed they were getting a product soon or could know what it would look like are naive. Faber is desperately trying to generate a product/franchise into reality via hype and fanfare because the Bionicle community is relatively large compared to his personal resources and thus could offer much support. If it ends up not working, then people will have reason to feel disappointed, but he cannot know if it will work and neither can we. This is why he said patience is the fourth virtue.
That often you’re contractually not allowed to discuss having that sort of meeting.
To do so would be treated like leaking future products, tipping off competitors. Same reason LEGO tries to stop set leaks being discussed. Same reason Faber had to get permission before sharing his original concept stuff.
Anyway, that’s my last post for today. Night all. 
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Case in point: Eljay has stated that he was skeptical of this since the beginning, while Meso was always willing to give Faber the benefit of the bought until now. I don’t think its fair to say TTV is a hive mind simply because the only three members who have weighed in agree right now.
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I’ve gotta say I’m a bit confused where this whole “is it a product or is it just inspiring fans” thing came from. I thought the livestream had cleared up that he wanted to create something bionicle related, or inspired by bionicle, albeit in a form we wouldn’t be used to. That implies a product. Was it a vague unscripted ramble, yes, but that sounded like he was trying to say product (just not a product product, whatever that means). What changed?
Not pointing any fingers here, I’m just a bit lost 
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You are correct.
We are his instagram audience though. He has been making statements specifically to Bionicle fans. We may not be the audience of his Pitch but we ARE the audience of his internet presence and, ultimately, the intended consumer.
In the end this comes down to a fundamental difference in opinion for what Faber’s doing. If you believe Faber is solely trying to show off what little he’s got to show off while preparing his pitches, then I can 100% understand why you’d assume that people are just naive. However, there’s a compelling argument to be made for the fact that Faber is specifically trying to leverage our love of his work, current and previous, to improve said pitches.
Personally, I subscribe to the latter and find the lack of clarity disturbing and ultimately, it turns me away from both Faber and his project. Does it have to be so for everyone? Absolutely not.
But at least meet me in the middle here. There are absolutely justifiable reasons for people to be disappointed or dislike Faber’s approach to community building.
What you are describing is exactly what I have been saying Faber has been doing for well over a year.
However, If i’m going to be used as a metric for why someone else’s product or project should go to market, I want to know what I’m endorsing by proxy.
This is true. You can rarely discuss specifics, however vague phrases like “I’ve been in talks” or “I am aiming to pitch something to a couple of interested parties within the next [insert timeline here]” are generally not covered by contracts like that.
Nondisclosure contracts prevent you from disclosing specifics like “I am a beta tester for a new game called X by Bioware” or something like that. They do not, and generally cannot, prevent you from saying something like “My long term goal is blank”
EDIT: My point with all of this is not to say that anyone who supports Faber is wrong, or that if you do you’re stupid, or anything of the sort. My point is simply that there is a middle ground between “Faber is beyond reproach” and “Faber is the literal devil.”
You’re absolutely allowed to have your personal views and your personal interpretations of things. So is everyone else.
EDIT 2:
I just want to touch on this because there are actually ethical obligations placed upon marketers. As a marketer, you are ultimately working to sway public opinion and influence people - in my view, Faber has done a poor job of properly living up to the standard of care he should have for the fanbase, especially as impressionable and content-starved as it is.
Once again, not everyone has to feel this way. But I will beat this point half to death: EVERYONE has the right to the way they feel, especially when the justifications are as numerous as have been presented here.
Ultimately, everyone just wants this to work out the way they want it to work out. I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t support Faber putting out new Bionicle content, product or not. I have, however, met plenty of people who dislike the way he’s treated the community during the course of the last year to two years. That is just as valid as supporting Faber because you feel like he’s done nothing wrong.
Funny how we’re all individuals like that.
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N-no…? That’s not at all how any creative endeavor, or any product for that matter, gets made.
The exact details of the project can change and evolve over time, but they do not influence the nature of the project.
If you have an idea for a story-based project, for example, you don’t immediately go and start setting up pitch meetings with a video game developer, a comic company, a movie studio, and a book publisher. How in the world can you pitch a concept to a company if you don’t know what it is you’re even pitching?
“Hey, I would love to meet with you and pitch you an idea, Mr. Movie Company.”
“Okay, what kind of movie is it? Action movie? Horror movie? Who are the characters?”
“Oh, you see, I actually don’t even know if I want it to be a movie. I was hoping I could just tell you the story concept and you can turn it into a movie for me and we can start there.”
“Goodbye.”
That’s how that pitch would go.
If you have a concept, the very first thing you do is decide what form it’s going to take.
Suppose you have an idea for a story. Does it involve a lot of visual elements, but a need to go into people’s heads? It might work best as a comic or graphic novel. Are the visuals the only important thing? Then it needs to be a movie. What if the only thing that’s important are a character’s inner thoughts and feelings? Then a straight up book is best for that. What if it’s something that really only needs a single moment to tell? Then it’s a drawing, or a painting. Does it need some degree of interaction? Then it’s a game.
Once you know what it is, then you pitch that idea to the proper entities. You simply do not make partnerships first to determine what a project is going to be.
And do note this is likely a case of that company coming to them and not because Faber happened to like the idea of Rebel Nature being a TV show. If Toon2Tango was invested enough in Rebel Nature to want to make a TV show, then they’re the ones who need to make the pitch to make it a TV show. Faber didn’t just go around asking anyone who would listen, “Hey, do you want to do something with my vague shadow of a concept?”
I get you’re trying to say here that Faber is better off not saying anything because it will cause backlash from people who want Bionicle, but the fact is he’s already getting backlash from both sides and he will get it either way if he keeps doing it up until the project has anything to show.
It’s not okay for him to not say anything. He doesn’t need to promise anything, he needs to ditch the effort to rope in absolutely everybody and focus on getting support from people interested in the project for exactly what it is.
Quality over quantity.
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His recent discourse about the project has had an aura of implication that there either won’t be an “end result” or the end result isn’t the most important thing, but rather the “journey” to get there. Check out my rant video for a full breakdown as to why, but it’s basically sparked a debate from people as to his intent and whether he’s just looking to inspire creativity or ultimately make a product of some sort.
(The answer is, yes, he absolutely is making a product; he’s said that multiple times in the past and referenced meetings with multiple companies. Any recent posts he’s made that imply the contrary are him either saying something he doesn’t fully intend or perhaps signifying changed plans behind the scenes, etc. Either way, more clarity from him is needed.)
Released a follow-up video updating everybody on Faber’s reply and addressing some general feedback!
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Tis late and I am sleepy.
I will harp on your dulcet tones in the morning.
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Ah, so we have a better idea of what that is than we do Biovival
This only proves that Faber can do a slightly better job with not-Bionicle. Also, there’s less community kickback because that isn’t Bionicle, it’s Rebel Nature, a (hopefully) fully disconnected project.
I wuld have more thoughts but Meso literally said everything I could possibly say on the topic so instead I’ll just quote this:
Let’s call Guinness and get this one on the books and then undo it when someone makes a Metru build topic
Kini is my favorite not-council member
A bunch of kids getting on BZP under the age limit
Time to dox Kini
ok I’ll stop being off topic
After all of this - and adding in that Faber has dumped all sorts of content which typically comes after people know what they’re investing in - I can answer this question.
No. Even from the perspective of product design, I still think your reaction is an overreaction and your argument argumentative. Frankly, if Faber was following the product design path, we wouldn’t get the flipping logo tease as the first indicator of something happening.
“I want to get a commission done with people. I want to explore the idea of being an AI Hero Factory. I want to inspire, spark creativity, collaborate with the community, and shape my concepts.”
None of this says what he’s thinking about, what he’s trying to do, or why he’s even here doing it. He hasn’t been transparent. And being opaque about these things isn’t inherently bad, if you aren’t dumping post-launch resources left and right and hissing at people who question you.
Here’s a more direct example: I’m an individual on the internet who has taken part in an online community about various forms of media. I’ve worked with some of the biggest names in my field, including the largest company of its type in my country. I’m a white adult male with experience in business above all else, and specifically I am in a position to criticize and analyze the practices of other businesses, including ones that hire me. I’m popular wherever I am known, my stature in the white-collar world continues to grow, and I have the power of uninhibited influence in very specific circles. And you’re likely at least somewhat a fan of me.
Who am I?
Elon Musk, Christian Faber, and Kini Hawkeye. Or none of them. You don’t know. There’s stuff in that description, sure, but no way you can actually tell who I am based off what I’ve listed there. All you know is that I’m a person. A white male.
Christian Faber has done the exact same thing, except even more cryptically. It’s about Bionicle, it’s a passion project, it has similarities in resources used with Rebel Nature, it’s important enough to talk to other companies about, it’s gained enough internet points to obtain the influence necessary to schedule a Ted X talk, and there’s even a logo - likely two.
What is it.
You don’t know.
And that’s what I’m upset about, because I’ve been waiting two years to know and I still don’t.
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Doesn’t this show that he has an actual thing?
The most valid criticism that I’ve seen is that Faber isn’t saying if he has an actual plan or if #biovival is just an “inspiration” project.
But what you just said seems to prove that he has an end goal.
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We already had the Skrall shield of 14b2020, remember?
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Oh, Faber must have a plan. You don’t schedule business meetings without a plan.
But he’s not telling us even the slightest indication of what it’s about or even if it’s about something tangible. Two years and we still don’t have the remotest idea what Biovival is.
Also, the Ted X talk. I haven’t seen it yet, so there might be some surprise Biovival info included there, but there almost assuredly isn’t, I would guess. Because others who saw it would’ve mentioned it by now, and Faber wouldn’t waste time in his talk about Turning Human Weakness Into Creative Superfuel to make his instagram followers happy about his pet project.
Biovival got him the status to make that talk. It isn’t connected to Biovival in any other way.
But what is it?
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