darkSpyro

Hi Folks!

I am developer at Vicarious Visions working on the Skylander mobile titles.

- Skylander Cloud Patrol
- Skylanders Lost Islands

I wanted to introduce myself to you all! It is great to see you all playing and enjoying our games. I hope to be able to check in here from time to time and provide some insight and information!

- Advisor Orville

Thanks for listening

Welcome! I imagine we've all got different questions we'd like to ask, if you have the time or ability to answer them.

I know there's a couple nagging bugs that several people have encountered - I saw your post that the "In Use" one will some day soon be a thing of the past, my thanks for that! Some other people have reported issues with not having the correct number of Mabu added when they buy new houses. I can't really explain that one because I haven't seen it myself yet.

People have also been curious as to whether some figure variants - like Granite Crusher and Punch Pop Fizz - will be getting "unique" characters that can be added into the game like Dark Spyro, Royal Double Trouble and the Legendaries have.

Finally - a "number crunching" question ... is the cost/reward for the Hero Level 7 adventure what it was intended to be? It seems kind of weird that the Hero Level 6 [Dark Water Cove] costs 1460 Energy and gives 1,000 XP and 6,000 Gold, but the Level 7 one [Empire of Ice] costs twice as much (3000), takes 3 more hours to complete and only gives 1,200 XP and 8,000 Gold. Unless a quest required it, it seems like a waste to ever visit the Empire of Ice!

Thanks for your time.

Just lost islands and cloud patrol?

my one question is, is there a fix in the works to fix the bug that makes it so you cant register spyro or both s1 and s2 skylanders (cus it says you have alredy registerd them) even tho it shows you have not registerd your skylander. but other than that and the "in use" bug this is one of my fav iPhone games, keep up the good work!

Hello, I'm also having a hard time with this game, one example would be having a Series 2 Double Trouble registered but for some reason unable to register my Series 1 Double Trouble. I can't get my Series 1 Spyro to register too so I always get "This Skylander has already been registered". Plus when I try to get Mabu for my kingdom NONE come with the houses. Example, I buy a Mabu Cottage where 2 Mabu should show up after construction is complete but hardly any ever do show up with the finished house. By any chance do you know if a game update is scheduled for any time in the future?

Quote: Winter

Hello, I'm also having a hard time with this game, one example would be having a Series 2 Double Trouble registered but for some reason unable to register my Series 1 Double Trouble. I can't get my Series 1 Spyro to register too so I always get "This Skylander has already been registered". Plus when I try to get Mabu for my kingdom NONE come with the houses. Example, I buy a Mabu Cottage where 2 Mabu should show up after construction is complete but hardly any ever do show up with the finished house. By any chance do you know if a game update is scheduled for any time in the future?

This is what I was asking too in my post. Good to see im not the only one.

Will we see any integration of Lost Islands to Iphone 3GS?

Android version too please. But without losing all the progress made on iOS. Just link it to the activate account.

Not a bad game so far, but I would like to see more combat/tactical elements. Why not some mini-game when we attack those trolls?

Also, I've got over 120 gems to spend now, but nothing interesting to buy. I guess I could get a fancy tree or something, but it seems like I should be saving them for something that will be sort of important, or really cool. Not just decorative...

Maybe I should get one of the "energy fields" to grow crops faster?

No, no more Gem items, hhahahpplleeease. We already have so many.

I use gems for building that have a good number of ppl or to get a ship.

Gems are easy to get doing quest so not really an issue.

Btw game is new so i hope in the future they add more uncommon things. So far the building are not so beatiful to watch.

But they could do the same with Gold. Just make some items that cost a ton of Gold. Not that I'm in the situation- but thinking of others here- if you only have a few Skylanders available it would be really painfully expensive to buy all Dat Gems which are too hard to earn with several characters. They failed at their attempt of balance, in my opinion.

Right. Its not well balanced. The energy/gold ratio is bad. And adventure being the only gold source is ridicolous. Sheep, troll and gems building give small reward to be good enough.

Bigger building should be a better option than 2 of the previous kind.

I hope a patch will fix this issue.

Quote: darkrai848

my one question is, is there a fix in the works to fix the bug that makes it so you cant register spyro or both s1 and s2 skylanders (cus it says you have alredy registerd them) even tho it shows you have not registerd your skylander. but other than that and the "in use" bug this is one of my fav iPhone games, keep up the good work!

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you are enjoying that game.

Regarding the s1 and s2 Skylanders registering problem. Can you help us out by providing some more information?

1. Did you start on v1.1 or v1.0 (we are aware of an issue for players who started in v1.0, but I have not heard of anyone having this issue on v1.1 yet).
2. Do you remember the order you unlocked your Skylanders in and which crown icons lit up for you? You should get a green crown for a Skylanders Spyro Adventure action figure, an orange crown for a Skylander Giants action figure, and a glowing crown for a Light Core Skylander.

I have seen a number of people report this issue, so if you can help us get to the bottom of it that would be fantastic!

Thanks.

Quote: Winter

Hello, I'm also having a hard time with this game, one example would be having a Series 2 Double Trouble registered but for some reason unable to register my Series 1 Double Trouble. I can't get my Series 1 Spyro to register too so I always get "This Skylander has already been registered". Plus when I try to get Mabu for my kingdom NONE come with the houses. Example, I buy a Mabu Cottage where 2 Mabu should show up after construction is complete but hardly any ever do show up with the finished house. By any chance do you know if a game update is scheduled for any time in the future?

I am guessing by the issues you are reporting that you started playing during our pre-worldwide period (on v1.0).

1. For the Series1 and Series2 issue, unfortunately we don't yet have a fix for this. We believe it is limited to those of you who started in v1.0.
2. v1.1 included some economy balance changes. With this update the number of Mabu required to run a community building was increased. If you keep building houses and do not see your count go up that is because you actually have a negative number of Mabu in your game. You can calculate this by looking at the required Mabu for each community building you have. Add these all up and compare it to the number of Mabu you have from your residences. You should find that the number of required Mabu is greater than the number of mabu in your houses. You can fix this by building more residences to get your mabu count back into positive numbers. (alternatively you could delete some community buildings but this probably less desirable)
3. I can't give an exact date on the update, but look for something in the next couple of weeks!

^ Um if it helps the options button has a number which Im assuming would be the version I downloaded. So the number is 1.1.0 (250999)

Thank you for your time I really am enjoying this game despite the small bugs. ^^

I started at v1.1 (the usa release that was on the 8th) the problem where i cant register both s1 and s2 only happens if you register the s2 skylander first it then will not let my register my s1 at all. so if i register s2 slam bam i then cant register s1 slam bam at all. But if if i register s1 cinder first i can then register s2 cinder. I did not know this at first so i did not register them in any order, so now I have 3 s1 skylanders that i can't register and it makes me kind of sad cus I like to see them all in my colection (ya im like that) also it never let me register my s1 Spyro at all, it says I alredy have him (only have the one that was given to me when i started the game) But other than that i love the game so far.

Quote: darkrai848

I started at v1.1 (the usa release that was on the 8th) the problem where i cant register both s1 and s2 only happens if you register the s2 skylander first it then will not let my register my s1 at all. so if i register s2 slam bam i then cant register s1 slam bam at all. But if if i register s1 cinder first i can then register s2 cinder. I did not know this at first so i did not register them in any order, so now I have 3 s1 skylanders that i can't register and it makes me kind of sad cus I like to see them all in my colection (ya im like that) also it never let me register my s1 Spyro at all, it says I alredy have him (only have the one that was given to me when i started the game) But other than that i love the game so far.

So because I have too much time on my hands I decided to test this for myself.

Fresh install on both an ipad and an ipod, and tried all different orders of registering. Nothing I tried makes too much of a difference. Every once in a while I get a S1 & S2 code to take on the same character, but replicating the process fails on the next one. I've tried 1 then 2, 2 then 1, 1 of one character then 1 of the next and goes back to the first to register 2 (this worked once believe it or not) and the opposite way again. I've even tried hard resets between registering. It seemed inconsistent as to which characters and methods would take both codes.

Between the 2 devices the characters that accepted both code was not the same either (ipad has both Cynders, but ipod does not etc). It seems like pure luck whether the game will take both codes. Tonight after work I will try removing the game and clearing the cache to start fresh and see if the characters that it has taken both codes for is the same again, just to test if the mismatch is the device or the install.

Quote: lushipur

Right. Its not well balanced. The energy/gold ratio is bad. And adventure being the only gold source is ridicolous. Sheep, troll and gems building give small reward to be good enough.

Bigger building should be a better option than 2 of the previous kind.

I hope a patch will fix this issue.

You're right. We have Adventures, which just take too long, and we have Sanctuarys, which are too much, Giant Chests are pretty much the best available, and they still take too long and quite a bit of gold. We need a "smaller" source of Gold.

To activate a sanctuary U need 5k energy that are like 13k gold based on a firebloom .
With a lv10 skylander U net a 8k profit for 10hrs of wait. Insane...

Quote: lushipur

To activate a sanctuary U need 5k energy that are like 13k gold based on a firebloom .
With a lv10 skylander U net a 8k profit for 10hrs of wait. Insane...

The cost-vs-expense system is pretty simple. The longer the adventure takes to complete or the crop takes to grow, the lest cost-effective it is.

If you want the "less-simple" information on it ...

For instance, a 2-minute adventure gives you 100 gold for 10 energy - a gain of 10 gold / energy.
A 60-minute (1-hour) adventure gives you 1,450 gold for 240 energy - a gain of 6 gold / energy.
The longest (22-hour) adventures only give you 15,500 gold for 4,200 energy - a gain of 3.7 gold / energy. In terms of resource management, they're a bad investment, and since the day will most likely change while you're on it, you can't even take advantage of the element-of-the-day!

The shrines fit into the cost formula - you get 18,000 gold (plus an additional 300 or so per level of the Skylander using it) for 5,000 energy. At maximum level, that's about a gain of 4.2 gold / energy, so it's actually BETTER to use a shrine twice in a row than to go on a 22-hour adventure.

The only absolutely BROKEN one is the 10-hour adventure. A 7-hour adventure gives you 6,000 gold for 1,460 energy. A 10-hour adventure only gives you 8,000 gold for a whopping 3,000 energy. There's no way to POSSIBLY break even, let alone profit from that. An additional 2,000 gold earned for a +1,540 energy cost? Unless you have to do one for a quest, NEVER do a ten-hour adventure. EVER.

The best road to profitability is short adventures. Compared to the 6,000 gold for 1,460 energy for a single 7-hour adventure, you get 10,150 gold for 1,680 energy if you do 7 1-hour adventures. (11,165 gold if it's the element-of-the-day.)


The crops aren't as bad, but they're similar - the shorter-duration crops give slightly more energy per gold than the longer-duration ones (ranging from a cost of 2.5 up to 3.3 energy / gold).


So I don't really see them fixing or increasing the money or energy gains any time soon. They're always deliberately slow, like most -Ville style games. And that's why most players move on to something else once they get to the mid-levels in the game and decide they really don't want to have to keep paying the ever-increasing costs. (400,000 for New Island #4, 600,000 for New Island #5, etc.)

I've already started to stop playing because of all the balance issues...

Quote: Nibelilt

I've already started to stop playing because of all the balance issues...

Unfortunately, the heart and soul of a "free" game like this IS the balance issues. They're SUPPOSED to be there.

They want to make your default progress rate annoyingly slow but still look possible. To have players thinking in the back of their mind; "You know, if I only had one of those adventure pads that costs GEMS, I could make money so much faster. Well, I don't want to save up for that, so I got one of the Radiant Fields with the gems I earned from quests. But that's not enough! I need more. Hey, 100 Gems only costs $2, right? I could get a SECOND field that way ..."

Most people won't succumb to that temptation, but the few that do, that's where the actual "profit" from this game comes.

I know... I used to play DragonVale and then Dragon Story back in the day... I had just hoped this would be different.

Thanks for setting up an account to hear feedback Orville! I love lostislands its really fun! But there are 2 issues I have that hider gameplay a little bit.
The first is I can't enter my spyro code because it says I already have him but he doesn't have the crown. The second is when I'm collecting energy or xp its way to easy for the game to lag and I end up pressing the speed it up for 23 gems button. That's really annoying as I spent so long getting those gems and now they are gone cause of lag. But besides that the game is pretty awesome and I love seeing the skyladers I have in real life walking around in the game!

ok i just found a fix to the glitch where you cant register both s1 and s2 skylanders (just register them with the moble portal and they work)

Quote: TheBakonBitz

Thanks for setting up an account to hear feedback Orville! I love lostislands its really fun! But there are 2 issues I have that hider gameplay a little bit.
The first is I can't enter my spyro code because it says I already have him but he doesn't have the crown. The second is when I'm collecting energy or xp its way to easy for the game to lag and I end up pressing the speed it up for 23 gems button. That's really annoying as I spent so long getting those gems and now they are gone cause of lag. But besides that the game is pretty awesome and I love seeing the skyladers I have in real life walking around in the game!

Thanks for your response. So happy to hear you are enjoying the game! I have a few other posts out about the "crown" bug. We are trying to get to the bottom of that one. As for the lag issue that is causing you to accidentally spend gems, thanks for reporting that! We have an idea that should help prevent that in the future.

Quote:

Thanks for your response. So happy to hear you are enjoying the game! I have a few other posts out about the "crown" bug. We are trying to get to the bottom of that one. As for the lag issue that is causing you to accidentally spend gems, thanks for reporting that! We have an idea that should help prevent that in the future.

Thanks so much for hearing out feedback. Sorry for my terrible grammar as I was tierd and using my IPod while typing that last post xD

Quote: darkrai848

ok i just found a fix to the glitch where you cant register both s1 and s2 skylanders (just register them with the moble portal and they work)

This would be an easy bypass if the mobile portal was available worldwide already, but I'm guessing the update and fix will come before the ios pack hits stores here

My question mr. developer, is when/if are we getting other true variants like punch pop fizz. Not only for lost islands but for battlegrounds as well. If we're not getting them it'd be nice to at least know. Although I really hope we will. As I've said everywhere I <3 ! It feels weird using him in battlegrounds but him showing up blue.

So glad you guys made a holiday update for lost islands! Mine is updating now. But you need to make the game less memory! Before the update it took almost 1/2 a GB. I had to delete over 10 games to have enough room for the update and I only have 15 games on my IPod. I want to keep playing this game but it's not worth deleting DragonVale, Angry Birds, Maden ect.

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

My question mr. developer, is when/if are we getting other true variants like punch pop fizz. Not only for lost islands but for battlegrounds as well. If we're not getting them it'd be nice to at least know. Although I really hope we will. As I've said everywhere I <3 ! It feels weird using him in battlegrounds but him showing up blue.

No plans as of now to add those variants, but we are adding stuff all the time. Thanks for the suggestion!

Can you provide any information on Android releases of the games? Are they being developed? Finished? Even considered?

I do the longer adventures so that I can set them up before I go to work and collect when I get home. The same thing for crops. The shorter ones may net a greater cash per energy but they require more work on your part too (checking and sending new characters, etc...)

Quote: Dangermom

I do the longer adventures so that I can set them up before I go to work and collect when I get home. The same thing for crops. The shorter ones may net a greater cash per energy but they require more work on your part too (checking and sending new characters, etc...)

Yeah, for an "on the go" playstyle 7 hour adventures work pretty well. Especially if you invest in a couple Radiant Energy Fields. Two 7-hour crops on Radiant Energy Fields give you enough energy to power THREE 7-hour adventures, and you'll net close to a 10,000 Gold profit if they're all the element-of-the-day.

The 10-hour adventures are useless because they cost twice as much energy and give nowhere NEAR twice the benefits, and you'd need to own a LOT of crop fields to keep up with the cost of going on 22-hour adventures. Maybe if there was a 22-hour crop ...

Quote: Advisor_Orville

No plans as of now to add those variants, but we are adding stuff all the time. Thanks for the suggestion!

This response does not exactly inspire confidence. How could you not be planning to add variants?

Another question, could you please make the "important tasks" (sheep mobs, troll hunts, shrine activations) register who is finishing it? Right now, the announcement is just "A Skylander has completed a very important task." I'd like it to read who instead, like the adventure notifications.

Hello, I am a great fan of the game
Its says the Chompie SNowman, snowglobe house and the Cocoa stand are free
But the cocao stand still says its 30 gems : P

Quote: zap18

Hello, I am a great fan of the game
Its says the Chompie SNowman, snowglobe house and the Cocoa stand are free
But the cocao stand still says its 30 gems : P

The Info in regards to the Holiday Content says:
"New holiday content has been added to the store and we are giving some of it away for FREE!"

If the Chompie Snowman, Cocoa Stand and Snow Globe House were all intended to be free, that message would have said ALL of it.

Quote: Peridot Weapon

Quote: zap18

Hello, I am a great fan of the game
Its says the Chompie SNowman, snowglobe house and the Cocoa stand are free
But the cocao stand still says its 30 gems : P

The Info in regards to the Holiday Content says:
"New holiday content has been added to the store and we are giving some of it away for FREE!"

If the Chompie Snowman, Cocoa Stand and Snow Globe House were all intended to be free, that message would have said ALL of it.

You are correct! Here is the partial text from our "What's New" text in the App Store:

New Features:
• Free holiday items available for a limited time!
• New holiday themed premium Community Building.
• Take advantage of the upcoming holiday sales in the in-game store!

anyone got any ideas how to level up faster in lost islands and anyway to get skylanders faster?

hey devoloper
even thought of giving away RDT for free to promote battle grounds and
I have a glitch i have 2X tree rex!
and ever thought about adding hats or a hat shop for hats to put on your skylanders
i cant stop thinking a tree rex with a santa hat

Orville, please add the following:

• Named announcements when a Skylander completes a task
  
• All variants that are recognized in the console games (Granite Crusher, Punch Pop Fizz, etc.)
  
• Cloud-saves, so that the progress on the iPhone may be sent to an iPad, or vice versa
  

Thank you.

Quote: dios

Orville, please add the following:

• All variants that are recognized in the console games (Granite Crusher, Punch Pop Fizz, etc.)
  

This. For all 3 games. This. I can't emphasize enough. This. THIS.

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

Quote: dios

Orville, please add the following:

• All variants that are recognized in the console games (Granite Crusher, Punch Pop Fizz, etc.)
  

This. For all 3 games. This. I can't emphasize enough. This. THIS.

Ya I would like that too

I have been getting weird error messages and got kicked out once. Anyone else having technical difficulties?

Quote: Dangermom

I have been getting weird error messages and got kicked out once. Anyone else having technical difficulties?

No error messages here. What exactly do they say?

Throw my name in the hat of people wanting to know if any games are being developed for the android phones

Thank you SOOOO much for the cancel time bar when speeding things up with gems. Saved me today it is awesome to know you are listening!

Quote: Sleepy0429

hey devoloper
even thought of giving away RDT for free to promote battle grounds and
I have a glitch i have 2X tree rex!
and ever thought about adding hats or a hat shop for hats to put on your skylanders
i cant stop thinking a tree rex with a santa hat

Haha, that is pretty hilarious Thanks for the idea.