collector1100 wrote:1Hey, Greg, I have a question regarding the BIONICLE storyline. Since you have stated that there are more Element Lords than the usual six we've know for the past 3-4 years, could there be an Element Lord of Air or Plasma out there somewhere?
2I kind of lean against that. The story team didn't want to do Air as a tribe on Spherus Magna, and Plasma sort of seems more sci-fi than the Spherus Magna setting is.
ScribeGT6817 wrote:
1I have to admit, this is something I enjoy. Working on a team, I mean - everybody brings their own unique and interesting perspectives and mindsets to the table, and when people are willing to let everyone have their say, you end up with an enjoyable and intriguing experience.
2One more thing that occured to me: Velika may have felt that it would be easier to blend in with a society-machine where all the beings were sentient, like him. Otherwise, he might be like a germ in our own bodies - an outsider, something that the machine might eventually eliminate in self defense. Does this make sense?
3One other, slightly unrelated thing - do you think that some Great Beings would have favored different elements? In the same way, for example, that some LEGO Designers might favor different sets that they made, or different themes? Might Velika have favored the Element of Stone, seeing as he took a Po-Matoran's body, or was this unimportant to him?
41) Yes, it does. Velika would not have been able to just follow a pre-programmed way of life for 1000 years.52) It's possible, certainly.
61) This makes sense. Are there any of these theories that we've come up with that you like the best? Do you have any preferred reason for Velika giving them sentience as of yet?
72) In a related area, I've been wondering: Just how benevolent are/were the Great Beings? Mata Nui himself seems to imply that they were wise and good - were all the GB's benevolent at the start, and then, like humans, some became bad or went insane? Are some GB's still good and would want to stop Velika, were they to know what he wants to do?
83) On that thought, have the other GB's thought about where Velika went? They probably would have missed him after a while.
94) Lastly, what exactly is Velika's moral situation? Is he bad through and through, like Teridax, or is he just confused, or (I find this idea interesting) does he genuinely believe that he is doing the right thing?
ScribeGT6817 wrote:maletoaofwater wrote:1So it seems to me that if they have one, then they have the other. When takua was talking to gali in karda nui before Mata nui originally booted up, he sure seemed like he had sapience - mere nanotech can't aspire to become something greater (he wanted to become a toa). So as for how they gained that trait, I think they always had it, but due to the way they were treated by the GBs, they behaved the way they were expected to, aka as a machine would. Then when they were in the robot away from anyone who might bring behavioral expectations on them, they began to realize they were thinking, rational, independent beings - their creators had effectively genetically engineered a new species. I think the role velika played in that was that he was the first individual to begin treating his fellow matoran as real people, and so people who interacted with him realized their true nature, and as more people interacted with those people, the effect spread, and the self-oppression exponentially ended.2I think I disagree. I think something did change at some point down the line ... if not, when events caused the Matoran to forget their original purpose, then there would have been nothing to replace it. I see the Matoran as nanotech capable of a) communication among themselves and b) capable of problem-solving. But the idea of breaking away from their programming, of being "good" or "evil" would not have been part of their original design. Something caused that to happen.
3This is interesting - in regards to Takua's behavior, wanting to become a Toa himself may have been a result of his "problem solving" program. The original purpose of Toa was to solve a problem, after all - does this make sense, Greg?
4(Speaking of which, I recently read Swamp of Secrets. Thanks for that book, Greg - definitely my favorite bionicle book yet, along with Time Trap.) 
maletoaofwater wrote:1Can't quote on my phone... Responding to the whole thing about matoran and others being sapient... You've said several times that they were sapient from the start. But to be sapient means they couldn't be "pre-programmed" to do something, unless it was some sort of psychological programming, like what I described in my last post. (Conditioning or some similar phenomenon... I need to brush up on my psych readings). Like that conditioning would be part of their creation before they went to work in the robot, then by the 2004 timeframe they would have broken free of that.2Also about the mask of life... Couldn't it manipulate the mechanical parts, considering they are anatomically part of a living being? More on that, if they were mere nano tech, then the mask wouldn't have been able to work on them at all... So they have to be more than that - genetically engineered or something, using energized protodermis.3also, nanotech refers to tech that is really, really small - as in machines only a few nanometers in measurement.(1 nanometer= 1 billionth of a meter)... so why is that term used, considering the toa are about 6 feet tall?
41) Compare the size of a Toa to the size of Mata Nui. In that ratio, the Toa and Matoran would be considered nanotech, and they were intended to serve the same function.
52) No, mechanical parts are non-living inanimate objects that have never been alive, and there is no proof the Mask of Life works on those. If it could, then it could not only change lifeforms, etc., but it could build buildings and construct vehicles. Having a cyborg implant does not change the fact that the implant is not alive.
63) I disagree. The Vision was sapient when he was created in the comics,but was programmed to kill the Avengers and he then broke that programming. The Matoran were intended to do one thing -- work -- and not to aspire to more, but they did aspire to more (Takua was basically glitched from the start).
1Hello!
2In “Brothers In Arms”, it is mentioned that Mazeka had a mentor with whom he was doing research with on the “origin of all things”. The mentor later was killed by Vultraz.
31. Has the mentor been a Ko-Matoran like Mazeka?
42. If he had a different element, could you specify, which one?
5Thank you for your time!
ScribeGT6817 wrote:maletoaofwater wrote:1Can't quote on my phone... Responding to the whole thing about matoran and others being sapient... You've said several times that they were sapient from the start. But to be sapient means they couldn't be "pre-programmed" to do something, unless it was some sort of psychological programming, like what I described in my last post. (Conditioning or some similar phenomenon... I need to brush up on my psych readings). Like that conditioning would be part of their creation before they went to work in the robot, then by the 2004 timeframe they would have broken free of that.2Also about the mask of life... Couldn't it manipulate the mechanical parts, considering they are anatomically part of a living being? More on that, if they were mere nano tech, then the mask wouldn't have been able to work on them at all... So they have to be more than that - genetically engineered or something, using energized protodermis.32) No, mechanical parts are non-living inanimate objects that have never been alive, and there is no proof the Mask of Life works on those. If it could, then it could not only change lifeforms, etc., but it could build buildings and construct vehicles. Having a cyborg implant does not change the fact that the implant is not alive.
43) I disagree. The Vision was sapient when he was created in the comics,but was programmed to kill the Avengers and he then broke that programming. The Matoran were intended to do one thing -- work -- and not to aspire to more, but they did aspire to more (Takua was basically glitched from the start).
52. but if the mastk of life can't work on mechanical parts, how was it able to transform the inika into the mahri? their mechanical parts definately changed during that transformation.
63. right, but that doesn't mean the programming can't be psychological. in fact, if they were sapient from the start, the programming would have to have been psychological.
ScribeGT6817 wrote:maletoaofwater wrote:1Can't quote on my phone... Responding to the whole thing about matoran and others being sapient... You've said several times that they were sapient from the start. But to be sapient means they couldn't be "pre-programmed" to do something, unless it was some sort of psychological programming, like what I described in my last post. (Conditioning or some similar phenomenon... I need to brush up on my psych readings). Like that conditioning would be part of their creation before they went to work in the robot, then by the 2004 timeframe they would have broken free of that.2Also about the mask of life... Couldn't it manipulate the mechanical parts, considering they are anatomically part of a living being? More on that, if they were mere nano tech, then the mask wouldn't have been able to work on them at all... So they have to be more than that - genetically engineered or something, using energized protodermis.3also, nanotech refers to tech that is really, really small - as in machines only a few nanometers in measurement.(1 nanometer= 1 billionth of a meter)... so why is that term used, considering the toa are about 6 feet tall?
42) No, mechanical parts are non-living inanimate objects that have never been alive, and there is no proof the Mask of Life works on those. If it could, then it could not only change lifeforms, etc., but it could build buildings and construct vehicles. Having a cyborg implant does not change the fact that the implant is not alive.
5another note on this that i thought of: the mask of life did construct a vehicle: the skyboard thing that "toa" ignika flew on in karda nui.
Firox555 wrote:ScribeGT6817 wrote:maletoaofwater wrote:1So it seems to me that if they have one, then they have the other. When takua was talking to gali in karda nui before Mata nui originally booted up, he sure seemed like he had sapience - mere nanotech can't aspire to become something greater (he wanted to become a toa). So as for how they gained that trait, I2I think I disagree. I think something did change at some point down the line ... if not, when events caused the Matoran to forget their original purpose, then there would have been nothing to replace it. I see the Matoran as nanotech capable of a) communication among themselves and b) capable of problem-solving. But the idea of breaking away from their programming, of being "good" or "evil" would not have been part of their original design. Something caused that to happen.
3This is interesting - in regards to Takua's behavior, wanting to become a Toa himself may have been a result of his "problem solving" program. The original purpose of Toa was to solve a problem, after all - does this make sense, Greg?
4(Speaking of which, I recently read Swamp of Secrets. Thanks for that book, Greg - definitely my favorite bionicle book yet, along with Time Trap.)
5I hope I don't butt in to this conversation, but I also want to add to Firox's statement that Takua was destined to be the Toa of Light- so maybe this was a subconscious awareness of his future function?
ScribeGT6817 wrote:ElementFinn wrote:1Hello Mr. Farshtey! I am a HUGE fan of your Bionicle books! I love the storyline and detail!!!!! Is it okay to ask: What book did you most enjoy writing?
2Time Trap.
3Time Trap? Cool! I love that one! Is there a particular chapter you enjoyed writing, Mr. Farshtey?