The Energon Pub

ZeroWolf wrote:I personally didn't find it that jarring, as to me it's the same as when characters just turned up for no reason in the original cartoon, I mean where did the protectorbots come from? Omega Supreme just appeared and the constructacons just appeared...and then built megatron in the past...

But it's not the same though. See, to me there were many new characters that turned up out of nowhere in IDW that I was ok with. Aileron, Rung, the DJD etc... these were all new characters, but it's largely understood that they came from Cybertron at some previous point in time. Whereas characters form already established other continuities such as BW, RiD, just pop up randomly...it was jarring.

It would be like if in the next DC Cinematic Justice League film that Stephen Amell just showed up as Green Arrow. You know that the TV DC continuity established by Berlanti Prod. (aka Arrowverse) and the Cinematic one are completely separate, but now here he is, with no explanation.

Ah I understand now, but I have to ask, why couldn't rattrap and cybershark have been on the ships that came to cybertron, just like Metalhawk? Would a shot of them exiting a ship been enough for you to explain where they were?

Burn wrote:

Amelie wrote:As an aside - I really want IDW to stop doing the previews. Sometimes you can actually keep up with the plot developments just by putting 2+2 together from two months of previews. That really needs to stop....

100% agree with this, and it's something I've bitched to Va'al about on numerous occasions. Quite often there's a small window between when the latest book is released and previews for upcoming books. Discussion about the latest book is quickly replaced by discussion about the previews, one reason I stopped discussing the comics on here.

just because its there
doesn't mean u have to read it.
doy?

Z3ROhour wrote:

Burn wrote:

Amelie wrote:As an aside - I really want IDW to stop doing the previews. Sometimes you can actually keep up with the plot developments just by putting 2+2 together from two months of previews. That really needs to stop....

100% agree with this, and it's something I've bitched to Va'al about on numerous occasions. Quite often there's a small window between when the latest book is released and previews for upcoming books. Discussion about the latest book is quickly replaced by discussion about the previews, one reason I stopped discussing the comics on here.

just because its there
doesn't mean u have to read it.
doy?

Just because you think you're being smart, doesn't mean you are. You're just being nasty for no reason, and in the face of a legitimate point of criticism. Give up.

Z3ROhour wrote:

Burn wrote:

Amelie wrote:As an aside - I really want IDW to stop doing the previews. Sometimes you can actually keep up with the plot developments just by putting 2+2 together from two months of previews. That really needs to stop....

100% agree with this, and it's something I've bitched to Va'al about on numerous occasions. Quite often there's a small window between when the latest book is released and previews for upcoming books. Discussion about the latest book is quickly replaced by discussion about the previews, one reason I stopped discussing the comics on here.

just because its there
doesn't mean u have to read it.
doy?

Which is why I don't read it. I even said so. Not sure what point you're trying to make.

So.. Much as early IDWverse did with the Spotlights, is there anyone you would like to see given some focus in the New continuity that was absent or overlooked from the previous run?

Ramjet or Punch, perhaps?

For example, such emphasis was given to the first generation Jets in IDWverse, yet the Coneheads were sidelined for the most part. Although a case could be made for Astrotrain and Blitzwing to a lesser extent too.

Punch could be interesting, I would like to see more non-g1 bots get a boost.

I really wish "Legacy of Rust" would have made it out, I want to see more of Punch, he and Doubledealer both are double spies, so let them both use that gimmick and make an impact! Especially since P/CP didn't even cameo in IDW, and is one of the few bots pre-21st century in origin to not do so.

Also wouldn't mind some more focus on the combiners. Defensor was criminal, and Predaking deserved more. Oh and Computron and Abominus were complete no shows, what?! Wouldn't mind a Raiden or Piranacon either

It would be nice if someone acknowledged Raiden. Plus, the Seacons deserved better than an insulting "cameo" in MTMTE.

That said, I would like the New Continuity to respect power levels. No single bot should be able to even dent a Gestalt IE Prime's laughable Falcon Punch against Monstructor..
Likewise Triple and Six Changer's should be able to overwhelm armies single-handedly. These character's represented the escalation of the War, any lone Transformer going against them should be a death sentence.

Also, I was recently watching a video on YouTube (Top 10 Toylines ready for a Reboot) and I saw this interesting comment that I thought apt to share here:

Borrb _10 months ago wrote:I know this is a dumb statement but they Should remake the transformers line and I mean like new remake with new characters new designs a new show I don’t want a semi truck or a yellow car to be the face of the franchise anymore I mean yes it has to be but we need to see the potential of what Hasbro could do to the Line

As much as we want it we'll never get it due to it being too risky for business and all the fans who'll kick off demanding things stay the same as they want

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:It would be nice if someone acknowledged Raiden. Plus, the Seacons deserved better than an insulting "cameo" in MTMTE.

That said, I would like the New Continuity to respect power levels. No single bot should be able to even dent a Gestalt

I agree with all of this 100%, but I doubt it will ever come to pass. I mean for all the hype the IDW comics CW arc got, it really had little to do with the combiners themselves. It was more about Starscream, and hyping Windblade and Victorion than anything else. I'd actually love to see a limited issue series that REALLY focused on the combiners.

As for changing the face of the franchise itself. It's been done before. Beast Wars was all about change, and very nearly could have ended quickly and disastrously, if not for the spectacular animated series and all parties involved.

I'd admit, having a new series though without Prime, Megatron, SS, BB would be refreshing at this point, heck even set it on an alien world or worlds, not Earth or Cybertron.

This has sort of been attempted before. TF Victory created mostly new characters, though it was still set on earth, and BW II & Neo created new Heroes and Antagnists, though it was a mix of newly created toys from Takara, and previously released ones by Hasbro.

A new series about one of the many other groups that fled Cybertron during the War would be interesting. A New set of heroes and antagonists set on a new world would be intriguiing to read about.

Indeed. When I first read that comment Beast Wars came to mind and it worked. I watched the subbed version of the TF Zone OVA not too long ago. Although I thought the Decepticon designs were terrible (why would Gestalts need capes???), I liked the fact that every Autobot face, including the leader: Dai Atlas, was new. Admittedly it was too late for Zone to gain any kind of traction, but I do commend the Takara Series and Beast Wars for having the guts to retire the old cast and bring in change.

The gestalts needed capes because capes were cool though more of a question is predakings brain Burn floated an idea in either this thread or the other one where he said it would work best were we just have prime and megs there but not. They can be part of the mythos, the background scenery

Yes! The brain thing was so weird....

They could have started the Great War, a generation or two prior and be revered in that way. Yet the war is supposed to have been going for at least Four Million years. It always required a bit of suspension of disbelief that they held their role of leaders, fighting from the "front line" too, as no other Leader would legitimately do in actual war and didn't die?

Z3ROhour wrote:

Burn wrote:

Amelie wrote:As an aside - I really want IDW to stop doing the previews. Sometimes you can actually keep up with the plot developments just by putting 2+2 together from two months of previews. That really needs to stop....

100% agree with this, and it's something I've bitched to Va'al about on numerous occasions. Quite often there's a small window between when the latest book is released and previews for upcoming books. Discussion about the latest book is quickly replaced by discussion about the previews, one reason I stopped discussing the comics on here.

just because its there
doesn't mean u have to read it.
doy?

I'm not sure what your point is, if you even have one.

Often previews get mixed into the current discussion, usually with the preview coming not long after a lot of us actually get our comics and with the previews being almost spoilerish - it deflates your enjoyment not only of the comic in your hand, but also (in my experience) - the enjoyment of the comic that will be coming.

Amelie wrote:

Z3ROhour wrote:

Burn wrote:

Amelie wrote:As an aside - I really want IDW to stop doing the previews. Sometimes you can actually keep up with the plot developments just by putting 2+2 together from two months of previews. That really needs to stop....

100% agree with this, and it's something I've bitched to Va'al about on numerous occasions. Quite often there's a small window between when the latest book is released and previews for upcoming books. Discussion about the latest book is quickly replaced by discussion about the previews, one reason I stopped discussing the comics on here.

just because its there
doesn't mean u have to read it.
doy?

I'm not sure what your point is, if you even have one.

Often previews get mixed into the current discussion, usually with the preview coming not long after a lot of us actually get our comics and with the previews being almost spoilerish - it deflates your enjoyment not only of the comic in your hand, but also (in my experience) - the enjoyment of the comic that will be coming.

Aaaahhh...
now i see ur point!
even if avoided,
the spoiled content leaks into forum discussion,
ruining the entire barrel,
as it were.


i too, regret such rotten apples.

I feel like internet discussion of fiction or entertainment in any medium is dangerous if you want to avoid spoilers. If I haven't beaten a video game yet and care about the story, I'm going to check an FAQ, not forum discussions. Gotta be smart!

That said, not everyone can keep up with the latest material all of the time. I've been an opponent of comics mega-threads for a long time due to this. Staff convenience should not supercede the user base's experience. I hope after the reboot we can have individual issue threads, an ongoing spoiler discussion one if needed, but also a "trade waiters"/non-spoiler thread.

This might seem weird coming from an Admin, but know that I have not won these debates internally so that should explain why this hasn't happened already

I don't know I think it'll still get unwieldy after a time. Imagine if they done a thread per issue now? The forums would be flooded with threads and if recent activity were anything to go by, a lot would be underused with only a few posts per thread.

Though to counter this, is there other forums that use this approach?

I've been within about six forums over the years, including IDW's own one sometime ago, and I don't think anyone has used such an individual approach when discussing comics, TV show episodes, books etc

As you said it would get very messy, very quickly. Spoilers are the nature of the beast as far as the Internet is concerned. If you don't want to be spoiled, cold turkey is the only way.

I am a trade-waiter, yet I don't overly care about spoilers for individual issues. As most of the time by the release of the trade, I've forgotten whatever out of context spoiler I've heard before.

It doesn't have to be dozens of threads. It really only has to be two -

- One to discuss the current issue.
- One to show previews and discuss those.

Then fans can avoid the potential spoilers of a preview without having to avoid the community at large. That is, naturally - if people respect what each thread is for.

So it would've like now except all previews and reviews will be in a different thread?

I dontknow that reviews would necessarily need to be in a different thread, seeing as they drop on the same day the comic itself does. Perhaps a "released comics" vs "unreleased comics" dichotomy could work- provided, as Amelie says, that people stuck to that! Of course anyone who was behind or unable to read on release day would be a bit stuffed, but typically people steer clear of threads while they're catching up. IDW's tendency to not stick to release schedules could also make things interesting, but I was impressed at how spoiler-free the Lost Light thread stayed when the latest issue was briefly released early!

Well we already have two threads for whatever is decided. As this one is Mod run, it would lend itself easily to news/unreleased discussion. As Va'al for one is pretty on the ball with news in general. Whereas the other thread I started could lend itself to reviews and spoiler chat. Naturally this thread would get itself off the ground a lot faster than the other, again taking into account IDW's release "schedules". So the groundwork is already in place, all we need now is The Reboot itself.

Why is this even being discussed still ...

Burn wrote:Why is this even being discussed still ...

I probably enabled it, sorry!

To get us back on topic a bit, and for reasons - considering prior Transformers reboots/relaunches/etc, if you had to pick one for IDW to emulate in some way, what would it be?

I wouldn't mind seeing something like TF: Prime that leverages The Brand power of OP, Megatron, Bumblebee, etc while telling a story aimed at the "Young Adult" demographic. That is, something young fans can follow but older fans can take seriously as well.