How High Moon Saved the Dinobots?

I'd rather think of it as their own continuity and nothing else.

Originally Posted by Meta777 One day, he will return. Yes, he will return, and we all of us shall behold the ultimate glory of Aggron Archer!

I think you guys raise an interesting point.
The [G1] Transformers story 'bible', to my recollection, held character profiles and designs within.
The alleged Aligned 'bible' probably just holds a series of historical and narrative points that each of the properties are to adhere to, but delegates the majority of character specific information to each project. Likely exceptions being Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee, however.

I guess it is difficult to compare the concept of 'Aligned' to 'G1 continuity'. Not only because Aligned has a dependent relationship to G1 (Being a 'child' of sorts), but because Aligned seems only to be a series of guiding principles and elements to ensure each of its 'children' (Prime, WFC, Exodus, to a small extent, IDW) don't stray too far from each other, and confuse and alienate their modern audiences.

So really, I don't think Alignment is comprehensive enough to be considered an actual 'continuity' in itself. We've already seen the inconsistencies. I'd consider it to be more of a 'constitution' for the state of modern Transformers.
It is used for the purposes of continuity, but allows non-restrictive creativity to each of its developments.

High Moon are free to make FOC consistent with much of G1, but it is subject to 'Alignment', and cannot conflict with its major points.
(apparently Cliffjumper's head is fanwank).

Alignment, in my mind, is just a tool to make the varied modern Transformers more accessible to younger modern audiences.

^ The Aligned business completely nailed and summed up, everyone.

Somehow, despite half a dozen new-mold Dinobot figures in the last decade, one of which cost $100, and a franchise that routinely releases products such as Masterpiece Thundercracker, the Dinobots were "gone" until one video game developer brought them back from extinction.

One of the most lazy and uninspired alt modes in TF history. Thanks for proving my point.

Oh, that's what you meant! I thought you were saying that AHM, Ongoing and the new twin series should be independent from each other. Naturally, I consider the IDW G1 to be separate from the other G1 properties, comics and shows... but IDW still represents a single G1 continuity in of itself (well, excepting their movie series).

That may be the idea, but I don't think that really works that way. Taking someone who is, for all intents and purposes, G1 Bumblebee and turning him into Bayformers Bumblebee is sort of a bad move... it just creates more confusion as I see it when you try to cram a G1-based continuity into a Prime one. I don't mind establishing a new continuity as their "main line" with Prime. But considering that a big part of WFC's appeal was in honoring that G1 cast and aesthetic, it feels like trying to force WFC and Prime together feels... uh, forced.

We'll see how that works out, I guess.

I think the problem with FOC is that by pushing the games in the Prime direction, they're trying to appeal to two different demographics (which already overlap) at the same time, but the effect may actually be the opposite.

Y'know... back in the day, when I first saw Scourge's alt-mode, my response was "What the hell is this..?"

Now, shell-forming be damned, I think that flying iron/slipper/bar-of-soap has really grown on me, to the degree that I'm really disappointed that Generations Scourge doesn't retain it. It actually has a really appealing deco simplicity to it.

But of course, the point was more taking exception to your characterization of the WFC alt-modes as looking like bars of soap (which they certainly do not... I'm not always sure WHAT they look like, but soap ain't it). I think those designs are a mixed bag. Some are really striking, others are an awkward jumble (the Seeker alt mode kind of sucks, Bumblebee's "space-bug" is sweet).

Though personally, I think that the old G1 Scourge hovercraft mode is actually much more elegant than pretty much anything in WFC/FOC. To me, a lot of those vehicles just look like chunks of shrapnel, or engine blocks on glowing wheels.

zmog

Personally, I think the whole "aligned continuity" thing is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

I feel the same way. While I fully see where Magnus is coming from I have come to see a certain elegance. If done right, the shell should form a cloak. Too bad the new Classics version kinda missed the boat on that. Withtoday's techniques, it could have been wicked cool.

Sometimes it seems they go out of their way to be insulting- as iftrying to provoke.

I think Hasbro wants to have their cake and eat it in regards to the whole "WFC/FOC is Aligned/is not Aligned". They repeatedly say that it is part of the foundation for their new continuity (which seems to have themes of dark energon, Megatron as Orion Pax's mentor, Optimus being the first bearer of the Matrix since Prima, mute-Bee, and galactic exploration before ending up on Earth), but allow High Moon to make the designs nostalgic to G1 fans. They then market the toys of WFC/FOC characters to collectors of the Classics line, which is supposed to be just "updated G1", despite the fact that they consider these designs to exist in a totally different continuity with an already different aesthetic.

So, basically, Hasbro wants us to think of the games as prequels to Prime and set in that universe, but still go out and buy Generations Shockwave to fill the void in our Classics collections.

I think the whole point is to break down any segmentation in the properties, but not to homogenise. We have fans that may identify themselves as movie only, G1 only, BW only etc, with shrinking overlap as varied simultaneous properties develop. Hasbro would be wanting to appeal to all of them at once for maximum exposure and profit.

You're right, they differ in demographics, and aligned is acting as a sort of bridge between the current products. If Hasbro allowed too much segmentation, they'd limit their returns and spread their resources thinly.

I agree that there is a risk of influence in FOC, especially when the movies are still familiar, and Prime is currently the central Transformers property. But I don't think it will be as overbearing as many people worry it will. the younger market's familiarity with Prime will be exploited in order to maximise the user base, but that doesn't mean the developer's vision is being compromised.

I'm not all that fond of blatantly direct parallels to Prime, and many people agree with you that it seems forced. But without the tether to the other current properties (By way of Alignment), Hasbro wouldn't have been likely to have taken a chance on allowing a nostalgia based game.

As you said though, we'll see how well it works out.

Or sometimes people are just trying to see aggression and insults in everything that goes against their opinion.