One could argue that Optimus Prime has, in recent years, been performed less like a person and more like a computer.

The beautiful thing about the franchise is that it's big enough to endure. You can walk away for a while and come back later to see if you like whats new.

But that's one of my many reasons to be tremendously bored with the state of TF fiction. (Others include: hey, let's have the Transformers actually transform sometimes.)

I'm saying, there are levels. The closest anyone comes is (occasionally) allowing Shockwave to be an actual robot. I would love to see a story where the only reason they've been fighting this long is because they are computers. Once a level of humanity is introduced, they actually stop fighting (only to have the inevitability of back-sliding into fighting again because of that same humanity.)

I entirely understand the necessity of some level of anthropomorphism. However, essentially turning them all into really tall metallic humans is not only entirely without purpose, it's boring as heck.

But machine life has to be anthropomorphized, otherwise we don't see the life, just the machine.

Maybe we just need writers with better imaginations. Perhaps over-humanizing the Transformers is the longest running problem with every TF fiction ever. Just perhaps.

Yeah, but they are machines. Couldn't they just adjust their own memories for the lifespan? Do we even know how they store memories in the first place?

Now, I'm not saying that Cybertronians ought to have human life-spans, just that "millions of years" is too long.  Though I suppose it makes the "Oh, I suddenly remembered [plot point]!" moments credible because where do you store all the memories in an easily accessed form?  If you do remember even most things clearly... might that not be maddening?

The "millions of years old" thing is probably the most alien aspect of Cybertronians.  It pushes my suspension of disbelief for anything remotely human to live that long and still be sane, or maybe even functional.  I think of how aging has affected my own view and sure, some of it is biological maturation, but a lot of it is experience.

But they don't really have a childhood either. They go online and all maturation is literally job experience.

Well, they're practically immortal. That kind of lifespan doesn't exactly push growing up.

They can't handle physical scale, did you think temporal scale would fare any better?

Maybe it's that they're functionally intelligent, but don't ever really mature much psychologically. That and presumably the original writers gave as much of a shit about deep time as they did about space geometry.

I'm mixed about the millions of years thing, it's somewhat at odds when transformers are humanized as they often are.

Are any of the Transformers terribly bright, really? This is a spacefaring civilization that's millions of years old that seem to be fighting a perpetual war for no particular reason. Transformers are stupider than humans

Depends on the machine. Are you recruiting them, or MAKING them?

... And not terribly bright.

Makes sense for robot soldiers: you would want something fast, low profile, but lots of power.

If we go by the Prime cartoon, sports cars apparently ARE the expendable troop of choice.

Just fold 'em into a box and slap some wheels on it, they'll figure it out.

Given that by the time we're up to in the story Functionalism had been dead for millions of years and many of the people around were made during and for the war, it's probably more likely that "sports car shaped thing" was an easy to make alt mode for expendable troops.

maybe there's underground demolition derbies too

Every single sports car was one of those two jobs? Considering how many there seem to be....

Athletic Entertainment

It's mentioned in one issue that Bumblebee was a courier. The only other fast cars I can remember seeing in Functionist times were Blur and a couple of Stunticons, as racers.

i figured the sports cars were either racers or couriers.

Upper Class. They're clearly not made for manual labor.

Functionism only really makes sense for certain alternate modes like mining or construction equipment; where do things like sports cars fit in?

At least in the movies they can switch to a (similar) alt mode at will, it seems. Especially if they want to sell more toys per movie.

They are a race of adaptive machines. Maybe they were expected to change themselves to fit the role?

IDW-verse discrimination still made more sense than the backstory in TF: Exodus, where everyone's caste was assigned seemingly at random with no regard for their aptitudes (altmode or otherwise)

Lost Light is good too, so far.

I'm not terribly into Transformers in general, but I did mostly enjoy the More Than Meets The Eye series.

Which has been in the state constitution since 1946, but was never actually executed according to documents, and is currently not in effect because the German federal constitution, which takes priority over state constitution, has banned the death penalty back in 1949.

Huh. So next weekend, when the German state of Hesse will have its state election, there will also be a ballot about changing the state constitution... and one of the proposed changes will be abolishing the death penalty.

I really need to read those comics

Up to and including the fact that certain alternate modes could end up being classified as "surplus to requirements" and systematically murdered.

And in IDW comics where it is/was literally a form of apartheid where your alternate mode pretty much dictated how you were treated by society, what jobs you could pursue, pretty much everything.

We do get hints of that from time to time in Transformers, with stuff like some jets acting smug towards cars and whatnot.

"No shotgun of Mine is going to marry a rocket launcher" sounds like something that Targetmasters (or WFC Siege Micromasters) might say...

The characters are actually kinda nice. Sure a bunch of them are from New Jersey, but you get a few aliens too.. But if you do that, you might want to go digital delux verisons.

My only issue is that the aside from Fox, the looks of the characters are kinda bland. If anything, I'll at least get it on Black Friday, as they almost always have deals on the toys to life stuff.

Well I can tell you, if you are going physical version because you want the toys. The Switch version has the best Ship mount as you just slide the joycons into it. The PS4 ship mount is wired. The game itself is very good in my opionion. In some ways it starts to turn into an RTS without being an RTS. You've got to start focus on keeping your planets from being taken back over. It has a LOT to do. It does have some repitive missions, because well, trying to let you level up all pilots and ships and such. The switch version -ALSO- has starfox only missions and the characters are incorporated into the story.

How is Starlink anyways? Been thinking of getting the Switch version for StarFox, which is quite unusal for me, as I almost always pick the PS4 versions (favorite controller and I already have so many Trophys on it).

No shotgun of mine is going to marry a rocket launcher!

Should they be allowed to marry outside of their own caliber?

I'm conflicted on the subject of marriage rights for shotguns.

You say, "Damn it, what do you think this is, a shotgun wedding?"

What do you do if someone wants to bring their concealed-carry to your American wedding?