Why should they? Modern armies have standard weapons and gear. Do we call them clones?

 

This James Roberts guy sounds like a god, maybe I should start reading the More Than Meets the Eyes comics.

 

Scrooby Scrooby Doo Where are yoouuu

 

LMAO. Good to know xD

 

You're able to relate to the characters better.

For example, I will use one of the, if not the, greatest animated series ever, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Every single character had a real, human problem that we all deal with.

Aang - doesn't want to kill Ozai, because he was raised to not kill any life. That fits with the argument of whether we should or should not kill, even criminals or evil overlords like Ozai, as well as the fact that sometimes you don't want to do something against what you were raised against by your parents.

Sokka - he has a inferiority thing deep down that was highlighted in Sokka's Master and The Day of Black Sun. He feels that he doesn't contribute as much as the others on the team mostly due to his being a non-bender. How many times have you been forced to say, take part in a soccer game, or competition, and you feel bad because you feel that you can't pull your own weight, since you aren't as good as your teammates?

Katara - she is seriously wounded by her mother's sacrifice to protect her, and in The Southern Raiders she goes on a rampage with Zuko to find her mother's killer. This is like a much more well-done version of Arcee's "MY PARTNERS ARE DEAD" shtick. Not only does her mother die for her, but she is essentially abandoned by her father Hakoda, and is betrayed by Zuko and Jet among others as the series goes on. She doesn't take betrayal well - can you say that you would be okay with being betrayed by your boyfriend, close friend, or abandoned by a parent, or losing a parent?

Toph - she had to abandon her parents who believed she was a frail, helpless little girl, despite being perhaps the most badass Earth-bender in the world bar Bumi. Would you like it if you proved what you really were to your parents yet they still didn't accept you fully, even if they loved you? This could apply to any person struggling with their identity in their teen developmental years, or even coping with their sexuality.

Zuko - he had half of his face burnt off by his father for fucking speaking against an idea. And is shipped away from home for a wild goose chase to essentially get out of his father's way. Do I even need to go on about a crap father like Ozai with any kids who were abandoned by deadbeat dads? And it doesn't end there. Is it really worth it, to endure such pain to gain your father's love?

Iroh - he lost his son years and years ago, but no doubt was just as power-hungry as Zhao or Ozai. For adults or grandparents watching, this could hit home in The Tales of Ba Sing Se, or even anyone who has lost a loved one to war. And seeing how kind Iroh became following his son's death (it's implied he became the lovable Iroh he is thanks to post-traumatic growth), it's pretty heartbreaking to see how much pain Iroh clearly went through before we see him today. Plus, he gets betrayed by Zuko at the end of season two. Similar to Katara, this applies to anyone who was stabbed in the back after loving someone. But especially for Iroh, who after accepting Zuko as a son following the death of his own son, and Ozai's parental and all manners of abuse, you really feel for Iroh following Zuko's betrayal. What's even worse is Zuko's subsequent pain and guilt following his betrayal. How do you make up to someone you stabbed in the back after they supported you?

Appa - his episode Appa's Lost Days will speak volumes and guilt anyone who may have or is mistreating their pet, or even if you see a stray animal on the street.

Azula - tragically, her loss of sanity in the series finale was attributed to the loss and betrayal of her two best friends, who until that point had shown no real love for them as friends. And what's worse is that Azula caused it all on her own. Her very loss of sanity thanks to her mistreatment of friends simultaneously makes her defeat a lot more tragic and less satisfying than we've been expecting all over the series for her being a heartless bitch, and will make you think twice of trying to be overbearing to your friends.

All these characters in a show all had very real problems and dilemmas that they all dealt with, and subsequently, I personally really felt for all of them, even the irredeemable Azula. That's another reason the Tales of Ba Sing Se was such a highlight of the show - it showed real human characters (well, not so much Momo, but still) interacting with each other or their daily lives. Real people. I could watch a whole day of say, the gang making Lost Posters for Appa, thanks to the great interaction in this show. Or Iroh running his teashop all day. Or even just Mai and Ty Lee. These characters were all so fleshed out and built upon, you could watch and never get enough of them, even without action sequences or something. It made when something really did happen, like Iroh scolding Zuko in Lake Laogai, or Aang blowing up at everyone in Sozin's Comet, even better than it already was. Hence why Airbender was regarded as such an amazing show.

Prime fails here. All they do, as Split Lip points out, is make epic speeches, find ancient signals, fight generics, and occasionally a joke. I could watch Aang and his friends chill around Iroh's teashop all day, or the Animated Autobots sit around and watch TV, or the Rescue Bots play with Robo-Baby again, or the Maximals chill around base. But no free time is ever spent with the 'Bots or 'Cons. If it is, it's just a brief second or two of the kids playing with their guardians. Everything has to be epic. Arcee has to go hunt Airachnid and scream about revenge, and everyone is supposed to be understanding and quiet while she does so, and Optimus never scolds her bar once in Partners. Optimus has to make a speech. Fowler calls in to yell at people. Ratchet finds some signal. Miko does some stupid line.

Prime refuses to try to be fun or have great character interaction to be "mature and epic". Hence why so far in this thread, Split Lip and Mechafire are winning, and Kaju is failing, with his white-knighting Prime and defending it against people who see problems with it.

 

And LSTOW, and Death of Optimus Prime.

 

  I need to start reading MTMTE, i've always loved the look of it

 

haha, lol. Typo.  

You won't regret it if you do. By far the most enjoyable Transformers story for me......

 

It's true. Prime's characters do suck. I have hope in the twinkling beacon of Starscream, however.

 

Read Robots in Disguise as well by John Barber. He's excellent as well.

 

I don't think it's that, bud. I think that if negative opinions were removed from the board, we'd be left with 2 posts a day.

Also, if you compared the negativity in these boards over the last 10 years of existence, you'd see that overall people have just become cynical about everything.

I don't care about higher standards or any of that hippie nonsense. I just like something or I don't. I don't compare prime to Pan's Labrinth. I find it highly entertaining, and I do so without feeling less-intelligent or more-easily pleased.

I too can sit and pick the shit out of it apart, but there are better things to spend my time on. I watch an episode, I enjoy it less or more than the previous one, but overall, it's enough to keep me coming back.

Don't martyr yourself. The negativity on the prime board far outweighs the positive reactions. You aren't a minority and you aren't oppressed. People just like taking about the show they enjoy, not trying to convince some cynics about why they should like it.

 

Have the Vehicons speak to each other about Starscream going rouge, have them wonder if Soundwave talks, have them break the news of Breakdown to Knockout. Have them do something to show us they aren't clones or drones.

 

Disguised as Nick Roche most likely. Ever notice how they're never in the same room together?

Again, I don't pick it apart. This is my immediate reaction apon viewing. There is no time between seeing a scene and thinking "wow, that's bad."

If people didn't aspire to higher standards we'd never move forward and Transformers would be dead and burried long before now.

Also, how is higher standards hippie nonsense? Isn't "just love everything and don't be so cynical, man" more hippie than "I like this and I want it to do better because I feel it's not reaching it's full potential."

 

He wrote Last Stand of the Wreckers? Now I should start saving some money for the tradeback.

 

LOL!!! Good point  

 

He also did 2 issues of Chaos Theory with feature origins for Megs and Optimus.

 

Just so you know I think Kattra was even more wosre with dealing with ehr problems. I find her to be at times obnoxis. At least Arcee's not pushy. Arcee is devlopeing just so you know.

Okay you win. I fail big time. Prime stinks altogehter end of story let's get it cancled already. Go ahead and say it already.

I give up! You're all right. Prime does a VERY poor job at it now that I look back at it. I thought that it did a good jon but you people prove me wrong. I just can't win at all.

 

This. Every show has flaws and I am the type who can point them out to people and still enjoy the show. It doesn't mean I have a lower taste, it just means entertainment has nothing to do with pitch perfection. I don't care about any of those things while I'm watching the show, it's later when I think how could this be even better? Same with every transformers series and every series in general.

 

However, I do wholeheartedly enjoy the show. I believe you do too, from what I've heard. It just trades good characters for good story.

And, upon thought, I think my single greatest criticism of Prime is that it's so rushed. For example, Armada. Starscream finds a buncha clones, and doesn't even get to kill anyone with them until they're gone. Orion Pax could've been a five-parter, and it should've been. People have pointed to Darkness Rising as the best part of the series, and it is, when you look at it—it's nicely paced, with equally matched characters and plenty of suspense.