DJrasmo wrote:Beast Wars = Phail.
What? This is news to me. How so?
DJrasmo wrote:2. Smooth transition from "last-gen" to "next-gen". The movie and G2 failed at this, and Animated did okay...turning Ratchet into a "Kup-esque" character and constantly reminiscing about the Great War was a great bit...but it was totally washed by having ANOTHER Optimus Prime paradoxically present.
Another Optimus Prime? I only ever recall the one Optimus Prime in Animated. Don't tell me you still think Animated is a continuation of G1, everyone else already figured out it isn't long before season 1 even ended.
DJrasmo wrote:3. Re-invent, but dont OVER-reinvent. AkA "The reason Beast Wars failed". GET AWAY from "ZOMG Unicron might stiiiiiilll be around"; "Prime/Megatron could stiiiiill be resurrected"; etc.
Once again, I don't know what you mean. People complained a lot about Beast Wars because of TRUKK NOT MUNKEY but they got over it when they realized Beast Wars actually told a
really damn good story. (Code of Hero makes G1 look like a kids show...well, more of a kids show, you know what I mean) Complaining about BW is almost a cliché in the fandom at this point.
Beast Wars didn't fail, by the way, it's still fondly regarded as some of the finest storytelling in Transformers by many, many fans. And they didn't even need Simon Furman, but he wrote the series finale anyway.
DJrasmo wrote:4. Plot devices = GOOD; Mcguffins = BAD (*cough* Animated Allspark Key *cough*).
MacGuffin = plot device. Whereas a Deus Ex Machina is a plot device that ends the story, a MacGuffin is a plot device that pushes the story forward.
DJrasmo wrote:the importing of G1 from Japan
You mean the importing of G1
to Japan, right? Well...no, you couldn't, could you, because Japan didn't get G1 until after season 2 was underway over here. You could mean, headmasters, but that wasn't imported, in fact, no Japanese-made TF series was ever brought over to America until RID.
DJrasmo wrote:G1 was basically a laundry list of bots in a cartoon designed to SELL TOYS...how many of you can remember anything note-worthy ever done by the likes of Powerglide or Cosmos? Even Reflector was little more than a Red Shirt Star Trek Ensign included only to increase the ranks of the Decepticons and sell his associated toy, and he had the most screen time of almost all the "junior varsity" bots. On the other hand, I bet most of you remember the flashbacks of how Elita 1 became Blackarachnia or Ratchet's first meeting with Lockdown.
People will buy G1 Powerglide or Cosmos simply to "fill in a slot on the G1 shelf"...but they actually WANT to get Animated toys because they are part of the storyline...part of the UNIVERSE...which is the entire reason behind why my personal collection concentration has shifted from G1 (which is admittedly only about 2/3 complete) to getting the entire Animated line FIRST.
That was the idea. Have the characters look awesome on the show, and the kids will buy them. Kids didn't buy Optimus because he was on shelves, kids bought Optimus because of how awesome the cartoon made him look. That's the entire reason Transformers exists in fiction.
And don't forget how many characters were in Animated to simply be in Animated. You remember Rodimus Prime and his team fighting that small band of Decepticons? It lasts all of five minutes, it's never brought up again, and the characters all have toys.