darkSpyro

I'm curious.

I was talking with a friend today about (what I think is) a great idea for a new game in the Skylanders series.

Won't give details away, but when I discussed one idea, he wasn't too fond of it. Wondering what y'all say.

Right now, with Skylanders, you can buy the starter pack and beat the vast majority of the game without ever having to purchase another figure.

Would you be willing to purchase a game, at a discounted price, if figures actually unlocked major parts of the game?

He thinks it's a big turn-off, because, as stated before, you can buy the game and beat it without having to buy anything else.

I think people would like it, since it would give them "more" out of their figures and reward them for collecting them.

What say you?

Yes. as long as they don't do this for chase or in-game variants. I think they would have a problem discounting the game, so essentially I'm talking about NEEDING MORE CONTENT. And increasing the timeframe of the game for two years and keep me coming back. I expect burnout after this third game if they continue at current pacing.

Yes I would since they would not just unlock HC but maybe they could have a character pacific area to them,so yes I would.

That would be awesome for people who purchase a lot of figurines, but this would probably scare off all low budget players...

Agree with Haseo.

The majority of Skylanders customers and players are far more casual than even the "casual" members of this forum.
It's not uncommon for someone to purchase the Starter Pack, and maybe (not always) 1 or 2 more characters, play the game through, then sell the whole thing on Craigslist or elsewhere.

A lot of modern society in the USA has ADHD, especially among those who are avid video gamers.

i think the heroic challenges were nice idk why they took them away.. but i think the whole ''unlocking special areas per character'' thing mentioned above is nice too but let's twist it a bit to where each character unlocks it's own chapter specifically for that character & the first time you play it you HAVE to be that character for storyline purposes & then it'd be a great way to play the new character a bit & get to know them & theyre abilities. theyre storyline could be either just a random mission for them or a background chapter about them & how they became who they are. like chapter versions of thier bios basically .. & u could get a special item that would show you've beaten thier story & maybe even increase thier stats or give them a new move. i'd buy them all.... & it would help with replay value & a longer storyline. plus the adventure packs... so it would give us so much more.

sry for the double post but my ps3 will only let me type so many words... then with they way i mentioned it you could still have the main storyline you could complete as normal & then get adventure packs AND character chapters. it'd go fine either way & might even be a big hit.

Quote: Haseo

That would be awesome for people who purchase a lot of figurines, but this would probably scare off all low budget players...

Yeah, that's why I suggested a "discounted" price for the initial buy-in.

The issue we've got is that there are several folks who feel there's too many figures and not enough content - so I was trying to rationalize a reason to have more figures.

I wouldn't mind seeing two games a year.

Skylanders: Tales from Skylands. Releases every April, and it features 20 levels that build lore on different parts of Skylands. For instance, one level could take place in Wham-Shell's underwater kingdom, while another could just be a spooky place that has some lore behind it. Characters from the previous Starter Pack, released 6 months prior, plus all characters dating back to Spyro's Adventure, could be used.

Game could sell for 50 dollars (same price as an HD console LEGO game).

Skylanders Starter Packs could still release in October. This means we're playing new Skylanders games every 6 months, but one of those won't have new characters to buy with it.

How does this idea differ from adventure packs? The packs were 25 per? Buy two and it's about the same as one game and you technically unlocked two areas.

The difference being is that the bulk of the entire game would be made up of "adventure pack" like levels.

I'm ok with 4-6 adventure packs a year. I think that way of gating stuff is great. The downside of adventure packs is if a person doesnt want the figure they are forced to buy it. Like say skyburn's not everyone may want him but they wanted dragonpeaks so they got suck with him. I think if they did 6 a year it would be good but maybe as stand alone "artifacts" that unlock more content. Later in the year like 6 months down or more they could release a "bundle pack of say the first 3-4 of these and the game for the same price as the game was at launch", much like pc games do with expansions.

The only issue is not over and under stocking these things.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Agree with Haseo.

The majority of Skylanders customers and players are far more casual than even the "casual" members of this forum.
It's not uncommon for someone to purchase the Starter Pack, and maybe (not always) 1 or 2 more characters, play the game through, then sell the whole thing on Craigslist or elsewhere.

A lot of modern society in the USA has ADHD, especially among those who are avid video gamers.

I agree to this as well, my opinion would ALWAYS involve what I want. They can also meet in the middle to provide additional content for whenever a character from a certain element is registered...x number of an element....total number of registered skylanders, etc. There's plenty of wiggle room for middle ground here so everyone is happy (both casuals and hardcores).

Quote: UncleBob

Would you be willing to purchase a game, at a discounted price, if figures actually unlocked major parts of the game?

To put it simply, this would cause a major backlash. I personally don't think it would be terrible, but gamers are typically a very entitled bunch, they would freak that a significant part of the game disc is inaccessible. If it is on the disk, they expect to be able to use dagnabbit!

I mean look back at SFvTekken, that game had like 40 characters in it, which is generous for a fighting game. But, they also put like 8 more on the disc for DLC unlocking, so people wouldn't have to download "compatibility packs" so they could fight against others with characters they had not unlocked. The fans absolutely FREAKED. There are characters on the disc I can't use, CAPCOM IS EVIL! Despite the fact they got a complete game with a very commendable character selection.

On another thought, I too think half year "expansion games" with no new figures would be great. Just new levels, using existing assets and a side story to play through. As long as they release it "disc only". Part of Guitar Hero's problem is they kept releasing "Starter Packs" for every side Guitar Hero game (Aerosmith, etc.). As people's closets filled with plastic instruments it got out of hand. I don't want to see that happen with portals (although it might happen with figures ). I already have five (iPhone, 2 3DS, 2 360), and come Swap Force I will be adding at least two more.

Quote:

Would you be willing to purchase a game, at a discounted price, if figures actually unlocked major parts of the game?

Not really. I'm fine paying full price for a full game.

That is different though then Adventure Packs or Downloadable Content. I'm all for those as long as they aren't required to play the base game. I've bought some additional content for Skyrim that I thought was really nice. I think the adventure packs for Spyros were cool. (I'd rather the levels be better/bigger, but it was still ok). The Heroics are a nice touch since each one gives the ability to make all figures stronger.

Ultimately, for me, it comes down to the $/fun hr ratio. Is the amount of money I spent equivalent to the amount of enjoyment I got from those purchases. And often the post-starter pack content gives the ability to have a lot of fun time for less money. In the case of heroics, $10 for 1 figure means the other 50 guys get to do it as well. That's good time.

I wouldn't be surprised if they released a kart racer.

My son would lose his mind he would LOVE a kart game---

Could be a free to play model.

Digital distrubution and either unlock areas with real skylanders or with virtual ones that are sold as dlc.
That way, those who dont want a bunch of figures could still pay a little to play more while still doing fan service to those of us whove gone broke on the franchise

I considered the idea of being completely free-to-play, but the idea goes out the window with those dirty folks who will buy figures, load 'em into their game without opening them, then return them for full price.

Quote: defpally

Quote: UncleBob

Would you be willing to purchase a game, at a discounted price, if figures actually unlocked major parts of the game?

To put it simply, this would cause a major backlash. I personally don't think it would be terrible, but gamers are typically a very entitled bunch, they would freak that a significant part of the game disc is inaccessible. If it is on the disk, they expect to be able to use dagnabbit!

I mean look back at SFvTekken, that game had like 40 characters in it, which is generous for a fighting game. But, they also put like 8 more on the disc for DLC unlocking, so people wouldn't have to download "compatibility packs" so they could fight against others with characters they had not unlocked. The fans absolutely FREAKED. There are characters on the disc I can't use, CAPCOM IS EVIL! Despite the fact they got a complete game with a very commendable character selection.

On another thought, I too think half year "expansion games" with no new figures would be great. Just new levels, using existing assets and a side story to play through. As long as they release it "disc only". Part of Guitar Hero's problem is they kept releasing "Starter Packs" for every side Guitar Hero game (Aerosmith, etc.). As people's closets filled with plastic instruments it got out of hand. I don't want to see that happen with portals (although it might happen with figures ). I already have five (iPhone, 2 3DS, 2 360), and come Swap Force I will be adding at least two more.

Agreed on this point. I personally think DLC in the form of the characters we PHYSICALLY buy is the ONLY reason why Skylanders worked. I'm honestly shocked they haven't done more to control content in this way other than the character itself and heroics/accolades. I'm all for unlocking on game data (or even downloaded) if it significantly increases replay value---cause right now, after the main event is done---there is very little left other than the upgrade grind.