I'm beginning to wonder if all the people calling for a more mature TF story remember the last time that happened.

 

If it happens, it will end in failure as 60% of TF fans are assmunches.

I knew BM would come up.

A couple of points....

 

1) A more mature TF story, at least in the context of this thread, refers to the possibility of a Hasbro web-toon. If that's the case then there's no need to worry about alienating the kiddies.

 

2) If a more mature TF story was broadcast on television as the brand's flagship show, I would prefer it to be along the lines of Batman: The Animated Series, which did quite well and was almost universally praised for its mixture of kid friendly content and a more mature story and setting. Something similar for TFers could work, and I would love to see it attempted.

 

3) Beast Machines didn't fail because it was a more mature story. It failed because its setting and story were radically NOT Transformers. You had Maximals who were organic on the cellular level, who didn't transform but morphed, the most annoying TF character ever in Nightscream, and a Megatron who's motives were far removed from what we had previously seen from him. Not to mention the toys didn't match up to the show in scale, or often appearance. Plus you have to factor in the alleged pushing of a political message on the part of Bob Skir. Whether there's any truth to that or not is unknown, but there was the perception that it was present.

 

A more mature TF story, done in the format of a more traditional TF story would be better received by the fandom.

3) Beast Machines didn't fail because it was a more mature story. It failed because its setting and story were radically NOT Transformers. You had Maximals who were organic on the cellular level, who didn't transform but morphed, the most annoying TF character ever in Nightscream, and a Megatron who's motives were far removed from what we had previously seen from him. Not to mention the toys didn't match up to the show in scale, or often appearance. Plus you have to factor in the alleged pushing of a political message on the part of Bob Skir. Whether there's any truth to that or not is unknown, but there was the perception that it was present.

And even with all that it was still head and shoulders above everything that's come out of the franchise since.