by Bumblevivisector » Thu Sep 01, 2022 2:21 pm
To be clear, I'm not trying to crap on anyone's ideas for gestalt power configurations, I'm just pointing out that the reason this concept still hasn't been implemented across even Scramble-style combiners in general is that someone would have to put a LOT of thought into it to square it with what's already been established about TF gestalts, and to incorporate future teams that might use the CW system.
Note that Menasor gives wiggle-room for stat-inspired power configurations because none of the Decepticon gestalts in the Sunbow cartoon had a real explicit unique power (despite Soundwave's assertion that he had "special powers" in 'Masquerade'). All 3 of Hasbro's Autobot gestalts, on the other hand, did:
SUPERION: Flight (wouldn't be a "special" power for a Sunbow 'Con, but still)
DEFENSOR: Force Field
COMPUTRON: Analytical Abilities
Now, attach 4 bots from the same team to G1 Metroplex in bot mode using the toys's connectors, and the corresponding power-ups seem obvious (or at least, this is how I interpreted them as a kid): Aerialbots let him fly, Protectobots give him a force-field tailored to Autobot City, and Technobots allow Computron's analytical abilities to access Teletraan 2's database. Fans may never agree on the effect exactly (or care, since that toy configuration is tough to translate into fiction due to scale issues), but start switching the limb-bots around or swapping between teams, and what happens to the gestalts' established powers? Anyone would have to make a LOT of s#!t up to answer that, and even then it'd be partly dumb luck if enough fans accepted it for the system to stick in our collective consciousness past the next few reboots.
Titanmasters might provide an even better example of what I mean. Someone at Hasbro came up with a lot of neat powers for them to bestow on the stats of whoever they headed onto, all fun and good for personal play, but will that mean much of anything even if Legacy has a few figures return to the Headmaster gimmick? And what does that mean for all the characters used in TR who went back to not being Headmasters afterwards? Did any of that translate into fiction? And to the few who played the TR expansion in the TF CCG game before its unfortunate demise, how well did it square with the rest of the game?
Point is, lots of fans have wanted a gestalt-configuration power system over the decades, but even for fandom to come up with a large scale one that stands the test of time, it would take a LOT of us overthinking and playing around with it, then creating some fanfic or game that conveyed it to other fans for the system to actually mean anything, AND it would have to not be too at odds with prior TF mythos. If HasTak tried it officially, they'd just cast it aside after 3 years, tops. Heck, it took several years of 3rd party gestalts screaming at Hasbro in $700+ voices before they even did new official versions of them in Combiner Wars.
But if anyone wants to prove me wrong and show it can be done, I'd love to hear more. TF fiction never settled on consistent rules for gestalt endurance, what it takes to knock them apart, etc. (except for Bruticus's three dots, I guess), so there always will be enough official wiggle room. I just don't see it happening in a meaningful way for established TF combiners. Newer teams that want to try something similar, like the elemental powers of the female 'Cons that form Megatronia (still no actual team name for them?) giving her the ability to slice planets in half, sure, keep that coming! But do different limb configurations for Megatronia mean much of anything? Will they ever? Outside of every fan's personal headcanon, not likely.
Sorry that turned into a rant, but I just wanted to be clear that I'm not down on the concept, I just think there isn't a scraplet's chance in the Arctic Ocean of it actually working. Given this unique take on Menasor, I'm mostly curious to see how Legacy will handle its next gestalt team.