Following the announcement that LEGO Author Greg Farshtey will be leaving LEGO in July, after being laid off, the final Generation 1 BIONICLE Canon Contests have officially come to an end.
This topic is meant for the discussion of any further plans or interest that community members have in continuing any future contests, discussion about the future of the community after this news, and for anything related.
Wowā¦itās a shame it had to end this wayā¦it was too sudden. Itās sad that there are so many loose ends that will probably never be tied up anymore.
On the bright side, however, the winners of the Hagah contests are forever enshrined as the final canon contest champs!
Can I just throw this out there? What if we just do the contests anyway? The only real difference is that Greg wouldnāt be there to say OK, but none of us even saw him do that. Nothing else would actually be different, except that the winners might not appear on BS01.
Technically yes, I am proposing a fanon contest. But after the huge popularity of the last three contests, I think the fan response would be the same. Will anyone really say ānope, Iām sitting this one out because Greg isnāt watchingā? Weāre talking about a level of popularity and perceived legitimacy that no other fanon contest could dream of. Why would we throw that away?
I think being the TTV-recognized winner without Greg acknowledgement is practically as good as being the Greg-acknowledged winner. Heck, many fans would probably headcanon the winners anyway. My point is, if the builders still build, the fans still vote, and some truly incredible MOCs still come out of it, and a good time is had by all, donāt we owe it to ourselves?
Iām curious what people would think about the possibility of having a ācommunity headcanonā contest be run. Weāve been discussing it over at the DuckBricks discord and some other channels over the past couple of days, and would be curious to hear what everyoneās thoughts would be from as many different Bionicle communities as possible. The contests would be run in a potentially similar fashion, probably with less restrictions, and winners would be awarded actual Bionicle prizes and be voted as the ācommunity headcanon models.ā
Made a survey and video on the matter and would love to hear peopleās thoughts on this. Many thanks to Eljay and Meso as well for giving your advice and blessing on the matter!
Iād also like to see the contests continue in a hopefully more relaxed fashion. Iād imagine the loss of canonicity for future winners would help to tone down the, less positive discussion. (Not that humans really need a reason to argue with each other). And take a load of pressure off of Elijay and Mesos shoulders. Seriously you guys have been amazing.
Honestly, from the start I saw the contests as more of a building challenge than an actual contest. āBuild the coolest canon compliant version of X you can!ā And was disappointed I only got to actually enter the Helryx contest. Iāve actually already got Tuyet and Lariska lined up. And, yes I could and probably would just end up sharing them as regular MOCs. Iād also love to see how they compare to everyone elseās designs in the eyes of the fandom. (And maybe get some cool fan art out of it).
Honestly Iām fine with them ending personally, never voted to support them to begin with since I preferred fan interpretations anyways. It is sad to see these end but after some testy situations with the last few, perhaps it is good riddance? (And perhaps a relief on Eljay for having to run these things, considering how stressful I can imagine it was on him. I would know, I used to moderate the 2016 topic.)
Well said. Iām 50/50 on these Contests, because from what Iāve seen, theyāve brought out both the toxicity in the fandom, and the abundant creativity in the fandom too. Soā¦
ā¦ if a community-voted MOC Design showcase is something the fandom would love to have, then Iām all for it. I see it as more of a big talent show for beloved fans than a battle royale for who gets to be on top.
Wow, itās been a long time since Iāve been here.
On one hand, Iām not too bummed out about the contests being over. I find that the joy of having characters without set appearances is that they can be whatever you want them to be, and the contests restrict that a bit. Itās also nice that all the drama can be put to rest and TTV can finally breathe again.
On the other hand, it was the contests (specifically the Artakha one) that gave me the confidence to post my mocs here in the first place. Posting my creations, getting feedback on them and making them even better as a result really helped to get me through lockdown, and if I could find both the time and the creative spark, I would continue to do so again. Thank you to Greg and to TTV for making all this possible.
welp
rip the canon contests.
They were fun while they lasted.
though I really wanted to join the Tuyet contest, I had the moc built physically and everything. I should probably get around to posting that
To be fair, you could do that before anyways. The end of the contests doesnāt affect the past winners.
Unless Lego specifically bars him from it as terms of his contract (for some reason), yes.
He couldnāt/wouldnāt read or write fanfiction in the past since it could have hypothetically caused legal troubles, but that would no longer be a concern.
Whether or not he will actually do it is another question though, especially with the new story that heās in the middle of writing.
Iām really glad that hosting non-canon canon contests is being at the very least, considered. I think that these contests would invite less vitriol due to the fact that all of the results would be unofficial.
Since BS01 is no longer a factor here, the remaining contests could all feasibly be FFAs, with artwork and mocs alike having the opportunity to win.
But Iād also really like to see ācharacter designā contests or āreimaginingā contests. This community got soooooo lost in the sauce over Metru torsos and armor colors and sword barbs. Itād be so incredibly refreshing to see a contest where every pre-conceived notion can be thrown out the window and every minute detail doesnāt have to be looked at under an electron microscope to make sure itās 100% whole-wheat, non-GMO, Kosher CANON.
Iād like to see a contest where entries like those from @PoorDisadvantaged and @CZQ actually stand a chance in the running, because not only are interpretations like those technically impressive, but theyāre just phenomenal character designs.
Just look at these beautiful Helryx designs that were essentially non-factors because they were nowhere near canon compliant:
Or take a look at basically any of the Bionicle wave collabs from Flickr. Some of my favorite interpretations of the characters in a long time that go beyond revamps.
Everyone was saying āwe can have more impressive MOCs once we get to the characters that are more unique.ā Well, I say why not have them now? And why not apply them to all characters, regardless of if weāve seen them or not?
People have this very narrow idea of what Bionicle characters need to be. For a very long time Iāve wanted to see something done that throws all of that away and really tries to elevate what was already there.
Yeah, the TTV crew didnāt really approach mandating rules in the best manner.
A big issue with any sort of contests like these ever happening again on the boards is that, unless staff heads it, only masters can make them, and they MUST provide a physical prize of some kind. The canon contests had a far bigger kind of prize involved - the opportunity for your design to become BIONICLE Canon - and itās kind of hard to match something like that with a realistic budget.
Now I would be willing to start up some kind of frequent contest with a much lower-stakes prize, like a LEGO gift card or something, and Iād definitely change the theme up frequently, but how many people would be interested in something relatively low-stakes in comparison? Would it generate the same kind of turnout?
Itās an interesting concept, to be certain. But I think thereād be a disconnect between the people who like to build Metru clones and the experienced Flickr builders who build wacky enough to wipe the floor with their competitors.
I see it as more of a big talent show for beloved fans than a battle royale for who gets to be on top.