Differences

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--- lb:mask.of.destiny [2025-04-30 17:27:14] – ↷ Page moved from playground:mask.of.destiny to lb:mask.of.destiny ninjasr
+++ lb:mask.of.destiny [2025-08-09 16:17:20] (current) – [Personal Evaluation] ninjasr
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 ====== Mask of Destiny ======
-{{ :img:bnr:r:mask-of-destiny.png?460 }}
-Mask of Destiny is a fan website and ‘federation’ of [[playground:Bionicle]] fan creators. They started as a news site,((:fn:>Which is a half-guess on my side when I looked into what the Hell it was.)) but ended up inexplicably assimilating many other entities.
+{{ img:b:r:mask-of-destiny.png?460 }} Mask of Destiny is a fan website and ‘federation’ of [[lb:bionicle]] fan creators. They started as a news site,((:fn:>Which is a half-guess on my side when I looked into what the Hell it was.)) but ended up inexplicably assimilating many other entities.
 {{tag>bionicle creators}}
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 ===== Personal Evaluation =====
-I'm gonna quickly note that I don't like Mask of Destiny due to their //obvious// ‘Social Justice’ leanings, though I'm not gonna get too much into specifics outside of noting that their writers express these views openly and they already demonstrated their [[https://www.maskofdestiny.com/news/what-is-the-spirit-forge|willingness]] to play [[https://www.maskofdestiny.com/news/statement-on-takua-64-developer-controversy|cop]].\\  Putting that aside, Mask of Destiny is also very arrogant. I cannot fathom how, but they've somehow convinced themselves that //they// are the center of the Bionicle fanbase. You can see that in the two examples above, where the language really indicates that.\\  Now...to play devil's advocate for a second...the reason they probably think they're the center of the Bionicle fanbase is because their little federation is composed of many of the biggest creators/projects. They even have some of those ‘big boys’ as affiliates, even if they aren't directly a part of Mask of Destiny.\\  Though it's notable that, for example, **TTV** is not affiliated with them...nor is **BZPower**. The latter is //the// Bionicle forum and the former is a big deal as well. And, well, they're affiliated with, for example, the **r/Bionicle** community...which, for those not in the know, is //**evil**//.\\  Let's move on from that to talk about the stuff they do that is actually **good**: The BioMedia Project. The BioMedia Project was initially separate from Mask of Destiny, but eventually got assimilated. They're currently getting absorbed into the main site. The BMP is an archive of Bionicle content, including everything from games to promotional material to internal design documents.\\  I'll briefly go over Litestone Studios and Team Kanohi. They're each working on a Bionicle fan game and...I realized that they may be direct competitors, so it's weird they're both in Mask of Destiny. Also, the former (Litestone) is //definitely// SocJus, though I'm not sure about the latter. The last thing that concerns me with these fan games is possible copyright infringement, though not enough to actually, y'know, worry.\\  Since I suddenly remembered this, I'll just say it here: Mask of Destiny's web design is pretty bad. Now, the main site is //okay// and some of their projects have //okay// designs as well...like, the BMP's new site is probably //better// than their old one, but not fantastic. Some are just awful, like the Spirit Forge. How does this happen?\\  Oh and their ‘UX’((:fn:>I don't really like the term, but it's for convenience sake.)) is pretty awful. For example, to access the new BMP site, you have to go to the old BMP site first, then go to the new one...instead of just having a link to the new one somewhere on the main site. Granted, you //can// just type it into the URL, but still. Here's a suggestion for them...instead of having the dumb triangle in the corner...just use a Gbar-like navigation between the projects. Look at [[https://vorapis.pages.dev/#/|YouTube Vorapis]] for inspiration if you don't know what that looks like.
+I'm gonna quickly note that I don't like Mask of Destiny due to their //obvious// ‘[[lb:SocJus|Social Justice]]’ leanings, though I'm not gonna get too much into specifics outside of noting that their writers express these views openly and they already demonstrated their [[https://www.maskofdestiny.com/news/what-is-the-spirit-forge|willingness]] to play [[https://www.maskofdestiny.com/news/statement-on-takua-64-developer-controversy|cop]].\\  Putting that aside, Mask of Destiny is also very arrogant. I cannot fathom how, but they've somehow convinced themselves that //they// are the center of the Bionicle fanbase.((:fn:>It seems that a significant part of the Bionicle fanbase also came to believe this, if recent events are to be believed. First of all, Lego sent them a Cease & Desist regarding some archival material, though that didn't produce any significant noise. Second, and this is the most recent even, Lego shut down Team Kanohi's project, which is explained below. The reaction of the fanbase was actual doom and gloom, with many thinking this was the end of all fan projects.)) You can see that in the two examples above, where the language really indicates that.\\  Now...to play devil's advocate for a second...the reason they probably think they're the center of the Bionicle fanbase is because their little federation is composed of many of the biggest creators/projects. They even have some of those ‘big boys’ as affiliates, even if they aren't directly a part of Mask of Destiny.\\  Though it's notable that, for example, **TTV** is not affiliated with them...nor is **BZPower**. The latter is //the// Bionicle forum and the former is a big deal as well. And, well, they're affiliated with, for example, the **r/Bionicle** community...which, for those not in the know, is //**evil**//.((:fn:>For those not in the know, r/Bionicle is //**all-in**// on the SocJus ideology, specifically the Queer part of that whole mess. They will actively ban anybody who doesn't adhere (I got banned for making a (bad) joke) and now proudly flaunt this bias for everyone to see. This started when the previous head mod noticed this spreading, attempted to stop it, only to get himself ousted with the previous mod team returning. All this is still accessible on Reddit, so you can take a look yourself.))\\  Let's move on from that to talk about the stuff they do that is actually **good**: The BioMedia Project. The BioMedia Project was initially separate from Mask of Destiny, but eventually got assimilated. They're currently getting absorbed into the main site. The BMP is an archive of Bionicle content, including everything from games to promotional material to internal design documents.\\  I'll briefly go over Litestone Studios and (the former) Team Kanohi. Each were working on a Bionicle fan game and...I realized that they may be direct competitors, so it's weird they're both in Mask of Destiny. Also, the former (Litestone) is //definitely// SocJus and the latter is as well, evidenced by their lead writer being an asshole. In a previous version of this article, I stated that one of my concerns with these fan games was copyright infringement. This turned out to be somewhat prophetic, because Team Kanohi was asked by LEGO to stop developing their game.((:ref:mopw>[[https://masksofpower.com|Masks of Power website]])) It's during this announcement that they also claimed they'd rebrand and work on a new game instead, obviously just taking what they made before and stripping all the Bionicle from it...unless they're really dumb. Also, they made a claim that I find suspect: 8 years of development.((:fn:>Plus it's obviously being brought up to score pity points. Like ‘oh we were developing for 8 years and LEGO was fine for the whole thing’. At most, LEGO knew about it for maybe 5 years. Though I think the actual time LEGO was aware about the development is around 2-3 years.))((:fn:>There are a few theories as to //why// LEGO changed their minds. The leading one is that their stance on fan games simply changed, but there are a few others. One spread on 4chan is that LEGO didn't like Team Kanohi's SocJus inclinations because, apparently, they were spreading that ideology in some form. All I'm directly aware of is the (apparently former) lead writer going after Kirsche. My own theory is that LEGO discovered the Steam Page (very recently) and thought that was a step too far. I suspect this because: 1. When it first came to Steam, I thought it was a stupid idea and would make shutdown inevitable; 2. Team Kanohi claims that the reason LEGO killed the project was because people might mistakenly believe it's an official product. So I lean very hard on this one, though that doesn't discount the other theories, I think this one has some foundation.)) This is probably an exaggeration or an outright lie, though I don't have the patience to figure out whether it's true or not yet. I just know that they had to re-do development at some point.((:fn:>Which is relevant mostly because the second (and current) iteration of the game started development later. I think it's a little dishonest to frame this as ‘8 years’ when that current iteration is probably less than half that time.)) Litestone is still in the game, but for how long?\\  Since I suddenly remembered this, I'll just say it here: Mask of Destiny's web design is pretty bad. Now, the main site is //okay// and some of their projects have //okay// designs as well...like, the BMP's new site is probably //better// than their old one, but not fantastic. Some are just awful, like the Spirit Forge. How does this happen?\\  Oh and their ‘UX’((:fn:>I don't really like the term, but it's for convenience sake.)) is pretty awful. For example, to access the new BMP site, you have to go to the old BMP site first, then go to the new one...instead of just having a link to the new one somewhere on the main site. Granted, you //can// just type it into the URL, but still. Here's a suggestion for them...instead of having the dumb triangle in the corner...just use a Gbar-like navigation between the projects. Look at [[https://vorapis.pages.dev/#/|YouTube Vorapis]] for inspiration if you don't know what that looks like.
 ==== Wall of History ====
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 ==== Tryna Initiative ====
-The Tryna Initiative is basically a promise made by Mask of Destiny, their members and some of their affiliates to archive old content (which they were already doing...) and create new content for Bionicle fans...y'know, do what LEGO isn't doing.\\  Personally, I think that the second point (new content) is a pointless pursuit unless they create their own Bionicle canon to maintain...which may be a death sentence since that would make it difficult to be that ‘center of the Binoicle community’ thing they want, but I don't care. It would make more sense to use the original canon as a foundation to build upon, rather than to keep expanding on it. Basically, treat the Bionicle stuff as a mythology to pilfer from.\\  Honestly, the Tryna Initiative just looks to me like Mask of Destiny's arrogance at play. Y'know, this ‘archive and create’ thing //for// Bionicle fans really makes it sound like they think of themselves as the center of the universe. Like, just think about it, what makes Mask of Destiny especially special in the fanfiction department compared to the rest of the Bonkle fanbase? Is it just that they also maintain the archives, giving them more legitimacy?\\  Actually, it's kinda funny that a member of the Tryna Initiative, [[lb:red.star.games|Red Star Games]], was at one point doing a better job than Mask of Destiny at this. RSG made their own canon, which they maintain through their own fiction (text, audio logs, videos)...and they also released table-top games set in that new continuity. They're also semi-regularly updating all of those. RSG is even selling custom Bionicle parts, which seems to be particularly successful.\\  And, to add onto that: RSG isn't claiming or implying they are the center of the Bionicle fanbase...or that their content is ‘greater’ than what the rest of that fanbase produces. Though...Red Star Games //is// part of the Tryna Initiative, so I guess you could make the argument that RSG //is// arguing that by extension.
+The Tryna Initiative is basically a promise made by Mask of Destiny, their members and some of their affiliates to archive old content (which they were already doing...) and create new content for Bionicle fans...y'know, do what LEGO isn't doing.\\  Personally, I think that the second point (new content) is a pointless pursuit unless they create their own Bionicle canon to maintain...which may be a death sentence since that would make it difficult to be that ‘center of the Bionicle community’ thing they want, but I don't care. It would make more sense to use the original canon as a foundation to build upon, rather than to keep expanding on it. Basically, treat the Bionicle stuff as a mythology to pilfer from.\\  Honestly, the Tryna Initiative just looks to me like Mask of Destiny's arrogance at play. Y'know, this ‘archive and create’ thing //for// Bionicle fans really makes it sound like they think of themselves as the center of the universe. Like, just think about it, what makes Mask of Destiny especially special in the fanfiction department compared to the rest of the Bonkle fanbase? Is it just that they also maintain the archives, giving them more legitimacy?\\  Actually, it's kinda funny that a member of the Tryna Initiative, [[lb:red.star.games|Red Star Games]], was at one point doing a better job than Mask of Destiny at this. RSG made their own canon, which they maintain through their own fiction (text, audio logs, videos)...and they also released table-top games set in that new continuity. They're also semi-regularly updating all of those. RSG is even selling custom Bionicle parts, which seems to be particularly successful.\\  And, to add onto that: RSG isn't claiming or implying they are the center of the Bionicle fanbase...or that their content is ‘greater’ than what the rest of that fanbase produces. Though...Red Star Games //is// part of the Tryna Initiative, so I guess you could make the argument that RSG //is// arguing that by extension.
 ==== Conclusion ====
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   * [[https://www.maskofdestiny.com|Website]]
   * [[https://www.biomediaproject.com/|BioMedia Project]]