Please assume I'm giving lots of really great and compelling reasons for having neglected this site for so long. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be much more fulfilling and interesting than anything I could say. 8^)
Anyway, I had a really great idea this morning, while in the shower, about how I want to handle certain things about Transformers in "My World". I.E., my Personal Canon. Here's the gist of it:
I've decided I'm using a creation/reproduction scheme largely similar to IDW's comic books. That is, every so often, Primus/the core/Vector Sigma sends out a pulse of energy, which ignites a "hot spot" somewhere on the surface of Cybertron. This is what produces Sparks. The Sparks then start re-configuring the sentio metallico (the raw materials around them) into fundamental components; brain modules, t-cogs, etc. This forms the basis for a Cybertronian lifeform. The majority of its body remains in an almost liquid metal state. This is a Protoform.
Now, in the modern day, Protoforms are gathered once they mature. (Some call it "harvesting", but others object to that term, saying it equates people with natural resources. It's a big political debate.) The Protoforms are brought to a facility where volunteers gather to act as "templates". The Protoforms mingle with the volunteers until they find one they feel an affinity for, and then "Initialize" themselves to mimic their altmode, and sometimes the rest of their look. If the Template and Protoform continue to get along, then the Template is assigned to act as a Mentor for the Protoform, and their relationship becomes something along the lines of a Parent/Child.
If more than one Protoform connects with the same Template, they end up being essentially what we think of as siblings. (This would include such feature characters as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.) Siblings like this that come from the same instance of a Hot Spot (sometimes referred to as a "batch") are thought of as Twins.
If two Protoforms bond to two different Templates, but those two Templates are in a relationship with each other (Conjunx Endurae, for example), then the Protoforms are also thought of as siblings. (This could explain characters like Tracks and Needlenose from the recent IDW comics.)
If a Protoform is not gathered and brought in for an organized Initialization (such as back before this practice got started, or if one is missed, or there isn't a facility near that Hot Spot, or any number of reasons) then the Protoforms have to Initialize on their own. If they encounter another Cybertronian, they can bond as described above, but this is much more chancy, as the Template might not be willing or able to take in the youngster. If they don't encounter anybody soon enough, then they have to Initialize on their own. And since they don't have any complex machinery to base their altmode on, they have to do something simpler, using legs or wings to move. This is how Beast modes originated.
There are also sometimes Sparks that are weak, and can't form a complex neural net. These Protoforms are deemed not Sapient, and left to go wild. This is where Cybertronian wildlife comes from. (Turbofoxes, etc.) They go though basically the same Initialization process as described above, copying the design of the first other wildlife they encounter. So, the reason there are different "species" of wildlife isn't because they reproduce directly, but because new ones mimic existing ones.
Anyway, wanted to get this down in writing here so I don't forget it. I may share this on messageboards at some point.