Blurr Transforms from robot to car without Incenerator just fine.

Blurr Transforms from robot to car without Incenerator just fine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BURRRRND!!1

also comparing poll choices to politicians is kind of silly - you can simply create another poll choice if the ones you have don't cover all the bases.. you can't magically grow another candidate...

 

i really think all Nebulans need to be counted...being robots gives Transformers a different way to interpret the concept of partnership, in that your partner might actually possess or be a part of your body.  That's something us organics can't really achieve... i mean think about it - how many times do we hear the phrase "I need you to be my eyes and ears, blah blah".

 

To us - it's a metaphor.  To a robot, an entirely plausible possibility.  And would that person cease to be his/her own individual person?  "Hey Gort, I need you to function as my head, but you're no longer GOrt, you're just an accessory."

 

:tdown

I think Triumph needs to do a whole sketch about you. Similar to the Star War Episode II one...

Yeah fair enough. I've always wanted to be humped by a puppet dog. d:

 

I don't "play-ball" with politicians, if I don't agree with them pretty damn close to 100% then I abstain from voting.

Well, that's only if you're lucky enough to live in a country where voting is optional. Australians don't have that luxury - voting is compulsory for all citizens aged 18 and over. We get hefty fines if we don't vote for Monkey A or Monkey B. (-_-)

 

These 4 categories all have serious flaws IMO and saying it's not open to debate on a public message board when there is a "Make Poll Only? (No replies allowed)" option available that you haven't used doesn't make sense. The topic has NOT been debated as far as it can go, hence the confusion & disagreement.

Dude... remember the debate? In the end we were all just reiterating our own opinions over and over and over and over and over and over again. It went on for pages upon pages with nobody coming to a common consensus.

 

FACT: Any system of classification is inherently arbitrary. Look at biological and zoological classication for example. Many people argue that humans are not members of the Homo genus but should be members of the Pan genus, which would put us in the same genus as Chimps and Bonobos - which share over 90-96% of their DNA with us. Others argue that higher order apes such as Chimps should be classified in the Homo genus instead of the Pan genus. People tend to perceive viri as living micro-organisms, yet many micro-biologists will argue that a virus is not a living thing, under the definition of a living organism being (1) containing DNA (viri have no DNA - only a single helix RNA) and also being able to self-reproduce (viri cannot reproduce outside of a host organism). So are humans a species of ape or are apes a lower species of humans? Are viri living or non-living? The fact is, there is no clear cut right or wrong answer, it is by nature arbitrary and subjective.

 

Classifying Transformers is even more arbitrarily subjective. Every Transfan has his/her definition of what a "correct" system of classification is - each of us holding a series of rationales as to why our own systems are "correct." The fact is, there is no real system that is more or less correct than the other, due to the inherent arbitrary subjectivity of TF classification. Therefore, attempting to argue which system is better than the other is fairly pointless, and as our last debate demonstrated, futile (we came to NO conclusion - in the end we just stopped posting on that damn thread because we got tired of arguing without seeming to reach any common consensus).

 

So really, I'm not claiming that these models are better or worse than anyone else's system of classification. The fact is that in order to conduct a survey, we need to agree on a common model. Last year, I made one model and asked everyone to stick by it. This year I decided to be a bit more democratic and give you folks a choice amongst four models and to choose one. Even if we offered more choices next year - based on suggestions presented here by yourself and others, there will be many more fans who would continue to vehemently disagree with those models. I could offer seven choices and we'd still have a lot of fans who go, "Meh, they all suck." For those of you who have pay TV, how often will you surf through over forty channels and find that none of them are showing anything you particularly want to watch?

 

The fact is, I cannot appease every fan here, because we all have our own individual definition of what a correct system of classification and counting should be. And hey, we are all entitled and welcome to use our own individual systems for ourselves - that's great - I for one am not trying to stop anyone from abandoning their own system of classification. But for the purpose of conducting a common survey, you can understand that we all need to agree to using a common form. And as I've already said, even though none of these forms may perfectly suit what you would perceive as an ideal system of classification, I would ask you to select which system is the most compatible with your system of classification.

 

The survey will be meaningless if we don't come to a complete agreement as I for one won't be participating if Beastformers are counted over Nebulans. I know I'm being unrealistic about this and I should just STFU & get over it, but I've never settled for half-measures in my life without putting up some kind of fight! thumbsup1.gif

Yeah, but what are you trying to accomplish with your fight? You've made your point, none of these systems are ideal for you - I admit that. But if I made a system that was ideal for you, you can bet that there'll be many more fans who would totally disagree with that system.

 

We all use our own customised method of classification and counting. Because of this, it's far more practical and simpler to either tell you what the rules of my survey are, and ask you to post your results - which is what I did last year - or offer you a choice of a couple of proposed models, and ask everyone to post their results based on the most popularly elected model, which is what I am doing this year.

 

The only consolation I can really offer you and others in your position is a wider choice for 2007, but it would be a lengthy process where I would have to conduct a series of surveys to refine what most of us agree and disagree with in a classification system. For example, I would conduct one survey about whether Nebulans should count or not. Another survey or Pretender shells etc etc etc. Considering that I want to post the 2006 survey results by the end of August/early September, it's just really not practical to be conducting all these surveys now. After I post the 2006 results I can start posting a series of surveys to help refine the 2007 Survey Protocol - but for 2006, I would ask that you select one of the choice of four.

 

Imagine that you've been invited to dinner at a restaurant and there is a choice of four set courses - none of them may be your ideal dinner, but you are asked to select one. :)

 

Mmm... dinner...