Talk:Aligned continuity family

The name

This page needed to be called something, and none of the suggested options seemed to have more or less community support in previous discussion, so I went with what I liked best. For the record, here are the choices I've seen:

• New Aligned (or just Aligned)

Taken from Hasbro commentary: [1] [2]

• Modern

Taken from Hasbro commentary: [3] [4]

• War for Cybertron/Exodus

Taken from Hasbro commentary: [5]

• Prime

Based on the current most prominent franchise

• Bible

Based on the monumental production bible and the fact that the WfC novel is named "Exodus"

For my money, I prefer the first two, and I went with "New Aligned" over "Modern" because it's more unique and descriptive, plus it's less prone to dating. "War for Cybertron/Exodus" is clunky, and I vehemently dislike "Prime" because of all the confusion and debates we've caused ourselves by having both a "G1" franchise and a "G1" continuity family. "Bible" strikes me as kind of left-field and too laden with real-world baggage.

I don't mean to impose my opinion; if the community prefers a different name, that's cool. And of course, if Hasbro ever declares an official name, this whole question is moot. But in the meantime... gotta have something.

- Jackpot 21:01, 25 February 2011 (EST)

I myself have been using the term "Modern Aligned Continuity" to refer to this canon, combining both of the terms that Hasbro has used. I'd say that both terms are able to encompass WFC, Exodus, and Prime without favoring one over the other. But since there are two terms, and since neither seems to take precedence over the other, I just use both at once. Ergo, the "Modern Aligned Continuity". --Sabrblade 15:15, 26 February 2011 (EST)

It's not always going to be "new," so lacking an official term, I'd omit that part of it.--Rosicrucian^Talk 15:44, 26 February 2011 (EST)

Yeah, won't always be new, I'd vote "Modern Aligned" or just "Aligned". --ZacWilliam (not logged in)

"Modern" isn't all that popular. - Starfield 16:03, 26 February 2011 (EST)

I would also agree to just call it the aligned continuity. I take this to mean we are moving "Optimus Prime (Prime)" to "Optimus Prime (WFC)"? Alientraveller 18:23, 26 February 2011 (EST)

A valid question, but let's save that for its own discussion, maybe over on Talk:Transformers: War for Cybertron (franchise). - Jackpot 13:05, 27 February 2011 (EST)

Everyone who has spoken up agrees that "Aligned" is good, even if we differ in our preference of modifiers. So I'm cool with the move to just "Aligned". If there are no further objections, I suggest we start propagating the name in places like continuity-notes, i.e., Skyquake is a Decepticon from the Prime portion of the Aligned continuity family. Sound good? - Jackpot 12:16, 28 February 2011 (EST)

"Superseding" and so forth

I think that that section could use a closing sentence, but since my first draft has been deleted twice, how about this rephrasing?

It is unclear whether Hasbro intends the New Aligned fiction to merely sit askew from the rest of the multiverse, or rather to supersede it somehow. Hasbro has not used the term "canon" in its statements, so this wiki assumes the former in accordance with our "everything is canon" policy.

Basically, I think it's important for the reader to know that there are a couple of ways to interpret the information we've gotten, but we're running with one for practicality's sake.

- Jackpot 12:58, 27 February 2011 (EST)

It hasn't really superseded anything, has it? There's ongoing fiction for G1 and Movieverse being produced. --abates 13:47, 27 February 2011 (EST)

Good point. In fact, that probably merits mentioning in the article. How about....

Where, exactly, all of this leaves the New Aligned fiction in relation to the rest of the multiverse is unclear. Other contemporary fiction has continued to tell stories set in older universes, so it seems at least that New Aligned material is not meant to supersede the continuities from which it draws.

- Jackpot 14:39, 27 February 2011 (EST)

Toy Bios?

Obviously we haven't seen the backs of the new Prime toys yet, but were there any bios on the backs of WfC Prime or Bumblebee toys? They'd only present micro-continuities, if anything, but they'd be worth mentioning. Skyshock Thunderblast 14:06, 27 February 2011 (EST)

They had the stats of their movie incarnations, I do remember that much. Antimatter 14:21, 27 February 2011 (EST)

Here's "Cybertronian" Optimus's bio. I don't know enough about WfC to tell how it jibes with Exodus and the games. - Jackpot 14:48, 27 February 2011 (EST)

Ah, I've found the rest:

Cybertronian Megatron

Cybetronian Soundwave

Cybertronian Bumblebee

Cliffjumper

Bumblebee's is the most interesting, since it refers to his past as a "chatterbox" and his present as a "silent warrior." You could take that to be a bridge between WfC and Prime, or you could take it as a contradiction because he's not actually silent in the cartoon. Megatron's is notable because it hints at his willingness to do stuff like infuse himself with Dark Energon, though it uses much more nonspecific terms. Soundwave and Cliffjumper's bios are both fairly generic.

Something in all that might be worth adding to the article, but I'm not exactly sure what yet.

- Jackpot 13:30, 28 February 2011 (EST)

All current non-Movie toys part of this continuity?

Bigger Question: In the Q and As Hasbro basically said that they consider all their current toys that arent specifically Movie to be part of the NA continuity. No we ignore Hasbros stated continuity for RtS Seaspray. I assume we ignore this statement too? We should probably at least mention it somewhere.--76.28.76.206 14:35, 27 February 2011 (EST)

Did they say that? I was wondering about that in general because the mishmash nature of the new line definitely reflects the NA spirit. - Jackpot 14:48, 27 February 2011 (EST)

IIRC, Yes. In answer to this Question from Nov.

"ActionFigs.com Lately, the Revenge of the Fallen line figures seem to have been moving away from the movie aesthetic, especially since the start of "Hunt for the Decepticons". Brimstone and Hubcap, Terradive and Tomahawk, Seaspray - even Human Alliance Jazz to some degree - those are all movie-line figures that feel in many ways more traditional in their styling. Was that shift away from some of the movie universe's more outlandish design stylings intentional with the latest toys, and what prompted that shift?"

Unfortunately ActionFigs seems to have taken down their answers. It was probably the most important answer we got that time too. :( The Allspark thread about that Qand A still talks about the answer. Anyone archive it?--76.28.76.206 15:16, 27 February 2011 (EST)

There's a note on Sea Spray's page that preserves a tiny bit of Hasbro's answer: something about the toys mentioned in the question "do not exist in the movie world". I don't recall Hasbro, in that answer, outrightly stating that they were part of the aligned continuity, however. --Crockalley 08:22, 28 February 2011 (EST)

Oh, here we are: "Brimstone, Hubcap, Terradive, Tomahawk and Seaspray do not exist in the movie world, so that would explain why they do not fit the aesthetic that was established in the first two movies. Our goal continues to be to design realistic vehicles that could exist in today's world that of course convert into cool looking figures, but at the same time are great toys to be played with. As such, some of the 'design' aesthetics might change to fit character designs into the vehicle designs, thus the reason for the style change."

From here. So, no mention of the aligned continuity. --Crockalley 08:27, 28 February 2011 (EST)

I'm trying to remember the Discussion on Allspark, I think maybe the impression was given by a combination of that answer and this one to us in the same Q&A:

"Ultimately, Power Core Combiners are meant to exist in the modern world continuity. They are based on realistic vehicles, jets, helicopters, etc. all of which could exist today. So while they are not meant to be part of the "movie" universe, they are meant to exist with the modern world which we have seen come to life in the live-action films."

I cant remember if there was more to it but basically in the same Q&A Hasbro said 1) Questionable RTS toys are set not in Movie continutiy but in the "modern world" and 2) that PCCs were part of the "modern world continuity". I think you can see how this can pre read that both are part of NA continuity. I'll look around and see if there's anything else that suggests the same.--ZacWilliam 08:46, 28 February 2011 (EST)

Classified novels = Moviesverse?

The Amazon.com pre-order page has put up an image of the first Classified novel cover, and it clearly shows Movie Bumblebee and ROTF Gears on the cover. I guess that would mean it refers to the Movie Continuity instead of the Aligned Continuity? --Sabrblade 11:59, 27 July 2011 (EDT)

Timeline

With the 13 and Unicron appearing in the series and the impending release of Exiles, does anyone else think that by the end of the week we'll have enough information to start a rudimentary timeline page for the Aligned continuity? I guess it would have to be like the Movieverse timeline page in noting that there are some continuity conflicts but I think Exodus + Exiles + WfC + the one-shot comic + the show has enough by now that it would be plausible.