darkSpyro

Quote: CommanderGame

You guys say that they should stop releasing them for a few years, but these games just don't have enough stuff to keep you involved for more then a year.
If they wanted to do that, they'd have to do something CRAZY for Skylanders 4, like:

16 New Cores
16 New Swappers
16 New Giants which actually do something other then feats of strength and opening boxes.
8 Series 4
16 Series 3
8 Series 2
8 New LightCores
6 Adventure/Level Packs which include 2 Chapters with 4 levels each and 2 magic items. No figures.
6 Battle Packs which include 2 Figures, 2 arenas and a new Minigame.

And, have a 30~Chapter game with arenas and ONLINE content.
Then, we'd need something like 1 Battle Pack and/or 1 Adventure Pack PER MONTH until the next game is released.
THEN we're settled for 2 years or so.
Oh, and PATCHES for the darn games!
Also since we'd have a good 88 Characters+12 Adventure/Battle Packs, with surprise ones coming after.

i dunno why you want patches... you want a broken game on the disc?... patches dont stay forever online you know. i say its better the developers get more time with the game and finish it properly, then you dont need patches. i m also willingly to pay more to get the game done properly if needed. i am for sure not that willingly open my wallet to buy a product that ain't working like it should.

now if activision was smart they could made a spyro game, and let the skylanders game rest for a while. so it not over saturated the marked with billions of variants... but i guess they only see dollar signs and dont take proud in their products. everything must be like call of duty, mass produced unfinished crap for easy dollars.. its a shame.

the day they start patching the skylanders game, i am done... i dont buy the top ferrari, and then have to upgrade the motor because of faulty parts every week.

Quote: tobby

Quote: CommanderGame

You guys say that they should stop releasing them for a few years, but these games just don't have enough stuff to keep you involved for more then a year.
If they wanted to do that, they'd have to do something CRAZY for Skylanders 4, like:

16 New Cores
16 New Swappers
16 New Giants which actually do something other then feats of strength and opening boxes.
8 Series 4
16 Series 3
8 Series 2
8 New LightCores
6 Adventure/Level Packs which include 2 Chapters with 4 levels each and 2 magic items. No figures.
6 Battle Packs which include 2 Figures, 2 arenas and a new Minigame.

And, have a 30~Chapter game with arenas and ONLINE content.
Then, we'd need something like 1 Battle Pack and/or 1 Adventure Pack PER MONTH until the next game is released.
THEN we're settled for 2 years or so.
Oh, and PATCHES for the darn games!
Also since we'd have a good 88 Characters+12 Adventure/Battle Packs, with surprise ones coming after.

i dunno why you want patches... you want a broken game on the disc?... patches dont stay forever online you know. i say its better the developers get more time with the game and finish it properly, then you dont need patches. i m also willingly to pay more to get the game done properly if needed. i am for sure not that willingly open my wallet to buy a product that ain't working like it should.

now if activision was smart they could made a spyro game, and let the skylanders game rest for a while. so it not over saturated the marked with billions of variants... but i guess they only see dollar signs and dont take proud in their products. everything must be like call of duty, mass produced unfinished crap for easy dollars.. its a shame.

the day they start patching the skylanders game, i am done... i dont buy the top ferrari, and then have to upgrade the motor because of faulty parts every week.

What I'm saying is that no matter what, even after months of bug-testing, you can't find everything.
Patches woudn't solve this
Also, if Activision were smart, which they are (hence the million dollar franchise, skylanders) they would continue to publish these games, I don't see in any way how releasing a Spyro game would be smart, as it would only satisfy a small number of people.

I'm a little bummed out that there will be a new game next year. My husband is getting transferred to Japan so I'm going to miss it for 2-3 years. Yeah I know they will sell them in Japan but as far as I know, they don't even have giants yet.

I hope the next one will be good too

The Assassin's Creed of Activision.

Quote: newkill

Quote: GhostRoaster

*Annoying negativity*

Aren't I a ray of sunshine?

I started skipping your posts.

Quote: LightSpyro13

Hopefully they will stop rushing their games and have the next one released in 2016, they always rush their games and release them too early.

I don't see how it is rushed... and don't talk about bugs, every game in existence have bugs no matter how long they have been developped.

How is it not rushed?

- The majority of video games are developed for 2 years or longer and take time for release to market, where Skylanders was developed for one year only and after releasing one game, they immediately try thinking of ideas for a new game and abandon the one they just made (other than slowly releasing waves of figurines). The only exception is SWAP Force/Project Nova which was developed for 2 years, but even that is average at most.

They won't even delay the release because they know that people will still continue to buy their products and they can still get away with it.


- Overall Laziness in the game itself:

- Story Length is far too short and could be beaten within a few hours, most games have at least 30 levels or over 100 objectives in overworlds that may take days or weeks to beat.

- There are barely any additional game modes and they all have several problems that they could've fixed, but didn't

• Heroic Challenges (removed in SWAP Force): Horribly Repetitive when you have to complete each one with each character. In Giants there about 45 Challenges and 48 Characters = need to be done 2,205 times total if you buy every figurine; Hell No. I am not doing that. They are fun at first, but get old after doing them for like the 100th time as you buy more toys. Even if you don't buy anyone, you already got the menial rewards they provide and there isn't much of a reason to go back.
  


• Arena Challenges: Most of the missions are pretty much the same thing and there are like only 21 of them. Not as bad as Heroic Challenges, but not exactly too fun either.
  


• Survival Mode: Same as Arena Challenges, besides the option to compete for points with a friend.
  


• Bonus Missions: Kinda the same Heroic Challenges, except being far less repetitive and not having to be bought for $10 from another character.
  


• Battle Mode: In my opinion, this is the most fun of the game modes and could be the only reason to replay the game after beating it, I just simply love Fighting Games and Competitive PvP. But even this mode isn't magnificent and not as good as it could be:
  

1. Its 2 Player Only and there is no CPU Mode, not everyone has a 2nd controller or siblings.
2. No Online Multiplayer, I am an only child and its very hard to find opponents for this mode other than my lil cousin (who even then hates this mode because I almost always beat her, since she never practices).
3. Stages are WAY too big and greatly give unfair advantages to fast or long ranged characters, but also disadvantages to slow or short ranged characters. Its a heavily broken and unbalanced game.
4. Combat system is shallow, limited, and rather straightforward anyway. All you need to do is just spam one move, maybe switch to another, and ignore your third one if it sucks; not much strategy needed.

Not that its a bad mode by itself, but I find it heavily outclassed by games with similar PvP options like Marvel vs Capcom 3, Vampire Savior, Mortal Kombat, Super Smash Bros, and a few others.

I could go on, but I'm a little tired of typing right now. I can come back later and finish by editing.

Quote: newkill

Quote: GhostRoaster

*Annoying negativity*

Aren't I a ray of sunshine?

I started skipping your posts.

And with this post, you're the no-winner of a new green chase variant Riptide.

Oh well....I guess I'll have to keep it for myself.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: newkill

Quote: GhostRoaster

*Annoying negativity*

Aren't I a ray of sunshine?

I started skipping your posts.

And with this post, you're the no-winner of a new green chase variant Riptide.

Oh well....I guess I'll have to keep it for myself.

Is your signature with he 800-Crybay thing a loop-holed way to insult him? That was pretty funny!

Quote: LightSpyro13

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: newkill

I started skipping your posts.

And with this post, you're the no-winner of a new green chase variant Riptide.

Oh well....I guess I'll have to keep it for myself.

Is your signature with he 800-Crybay thing a loop-holed way to insult him? That was pretty funny!

It's a fair warning stating the obvious. I'm not trying to insult anyone.

I hate to say it but they stopped creating PC versions due to poor sales. The almighty dollar rules so if expense is greater than income, they won't do it - be it PC version or Wii version.

I'm really impressed with swap force and look foward to the next one

It's nice to hear the confirmation about a new game coming out next year. but I was expecting it since the beginning if it does follow the same procedure. I don't get a lot of Skylanders, but always nice to hear about a new adventure!

Quote: Umbreon36

It's nice to hear the confirmation about a new game coming out next year. but I was expecting it since the beginning if it does follow the same procedure. I don't get a lot of Skylanders, but always nice to hear about a new adventure!

We need about 30% more game or 25% fewer figures...they need to pick one.

Man, this (in combo with Disney Infinity 2) are gonna make HELL for people's wallets if they don't do something about the Prices.

Skylanders: Your moneys':

- Worst Nightmare
- Bully
- Natural Predator
- Mortal Enemie
- Vacuum
- Vampire (sucking blood from your wallets)
- Attacker
- Arch Nemesis

There are so many ways to describe this and its not pretty. "What an Ugly Rose..." Vega

I would prefer content over a bunch of new figures. We can't afford getting every regular character anymore.

The ideas were basically smaller landers, a new element, or an alliance with Kaos against his mother

Quote: Diggeh

I would prefer content over a bunch of new figures. We can't afford getting every regular character anymore.

I've been saying this for six months. As long as they can get this "x" kind of sales with only expending "y" effort, they will keep doing what they've always done. Time to vote with your wallets. I'm reducing my footprint by 40% on this game, and only buying when there's sales.

Reposes (save for camo and whammy) I shall avoid like the plague...

Quote: hardcoreignitor

Reposes (save for camo and whammy) I shall avoid like the plague...

That's the best place to cut I think for the average skyfan.

I said that too, but most of the reposes this time are pretty cool.

But Id rather them do 16 newlanders 16 new gimmickers at most

And definately more content per game.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Diggeh

I would prefer content over a bunch of new figures. We can't afford getting every regular character anymore.

I've been saying this for six months. As long as they can get this "x" kind of sales with only expending "y" effort, they will keep doing what they've always done. Time to vote with your wallets. I'm reducing my footprint by 40% on this game, and only buying when there's sales.

im buying on sales only now and dont buy any variants.... also if the skylanders4 have no online gaming, then i am done with skylanders.

We are new to Skylanders with Swap Force. I wonder if they market the game always expecting 'new' customers and aren't as concerned with the long term collectors. I didn't want to bother with buying the giants because I knew the portal wouldn't be compatible. I have no desire to go buy older versions of characters when a brand new version will be out in a month, Like Whamshell. I may miss out on something like Ghost Roaster, but at this rate there will be a new version of him dipped in platinum soon and given away by Frito-Lay.

My whole point is, it looks like that are marketing to new customers. Not to existing customers.

Quote: Diggeh

I would prefer content over a bunch of new figures. We can't afford getting every regular character anymore.

This so much. It's not beneficial either since there's no reason to continue upgrading by buying new characters; the reposes of ones I've bought already won't matter by the next game when the next repose comes out and trumps it with new moves and abilities.
The only reason I ended up getting all of Giants' reposes is because of JC Penny's awesome button promotion and I ended up getting like half of them free.

I also hope that the next game doesn't lock so much of the game out and require you to buy the new characters. Yes, I know its fun to get new characters, but the difference in Giants and Swap Force is huge. Giants required you to have just one Giant figure (which came with the game), yet SF requires you to have every one of the 8 "types"; that's a minimum of $90 that you HAVE to spend on the 6 remaining SF types just to access all content. Even the first game, you'd spend a maximum of only $50 with the remaining characters, even less if you bought them when they were originally $7.99 like I did. (oh yeah, thanks Gamestop for screwing everyone over and charging more)

Hopefully whatever gimmick characters come out next year, we wont have to spend as much. Personally, I'd like them to explore the Sidekicks more..they could charge like $5.99 for them which'd be great on the wallet and they'd probably sell just as many. (Maybe more if they offer the current 8 Sidekicks at retail)

I guess you could say they have a....
(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)
lot of sales figures
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Quote: Triumph

We are new to Skylanders with Swap Force. I wonder if they market the game always expecting 'new' customers and aren't as concerned with the long term collectors. I didn't want to bother with buying the giants because I knew the portal wouldn't be compatible. I have no desire to go buy older versions of characters when a brand new version will be out in a month, Like Whamshell. I may miss out on something like Ghost Roaster, but at this rate there will be a new version of him dipped in platinum soon and given away by Frito-Lay.

My whole point is, it looks like that are marketing to new customers. Not to existing customers.

That still is not an excuse for the lack of content and too many figures, they could still try to keep past fans happy so they don't betray them later on. You too will become one of those existing customers one day ya know, we all were. Parents and others will get fatigued from buying all the toys and quit, no matter how sad their kids may get. Even if it was targeted to new guys, some people are smart enough to know that its a scam for more money and they aren't willing to risk making hell for their wallets and bank accounts. Some people do want the game, but its just too expensive for them to handle and either they or their parents obviously still won't get it. Not all people want to buy a game for $75 and pat $10-15 for just one character.


Also, they are also facing stiff competition from Disney Infinity and other Toy Brands, which will honestly probably attract the would-be new customers (though older ones may be unfazed since its still a money vacuum). Not trying to start another Skylanders vs DI war (I like both), but Disney Infinity has a couple of well known and popular characters from Phineas and Ferb, Tangled, Pirates of the Carribean, etc; where Skylanders is just home to Spyro the Dragon (even though they drift away from him) and a couple of other animals, mythical beings, or just plain weirdos. I kno a lot of people like Newbie Characters, but it doesn't change that not everyone prefers unrecognizable characters they've never seen before. In fact, DI has already sold over a million starter packs and their sales are continuing to grow; to the point of Activision openly blaming them for Skylanders declining sales due to more recognizable brands.

They also announced Pokémon X and Y to be likely competitors drawing kids away from Skylanders, since they sold over 4,000,000 copies in just 2 days and released it one day before SWAP Force; especially because Pokémon is a lot cheaper. They also pin the blame on the Xbox One and Playstation 4 for helping Skylanders lose some sales since a couple of people have been preordering them.

Skylanders remains the top seller to kids and is still selling well, but it sure as hell isn't doing as good as last year' waves. I do think it will last for a quite a while, but if they don't do something about the gimmicks and prices they might get in hot water.

I totally agree, there is not enough game in Swap Force to enjoy the new characters. A few arenas and one extra level is simply not enough. I'd love some DLC, a disc based addon wouldn't make much sense. Infinity has so much content in the playsets to enjoy (or not, depends strongly on the set ).

What people forgot is that in Giants we only got 16 new guys total...we have 32 in this game alone. That's great for those who aren't buying reposes, but I agree with the previous contents that there's simply not enough content for 16 much less 32 guys. If they decide to keep content about where it is now then we don't need more than 24 guys (new and reposes) in a game. First game struck that balance nicely and they haven't achieved it since. Add in crazy in game variants, reposes, new guys, etc and we are at 75+ guys this game. Heck the game can be technically achieved with one character.

I REALLY want Activision to rethink the content we are getting with the toys.

I also wish they would go back to the 7.99 prices for cores and 19.99 for adventure pack/3 packs.

I'm basically waiting for sales to get close to this number on my swap force purchases.

I agree that 24 is actually a perfect number of new characters for what the game is now. 3 for each element. I don't feel like there are enough chapters and the bonus content seems like it won't really last long enough to support all the new toys. Not to mention you could level the old toys in this new game, and there are already 99 of those...

My idea of a dream game:

32 new characters, 16 are more swappers(we can never have enough of those, IMO! They're surprisingly fun to just mess around with). Just new characters- not any LightCores or reposes.

Can battle packs (because they stink right now! Who was HAPPY about only five arenas total, and having to pay for 2 of them?) and make 5 adventure packs. Adventure packs will unlock battle mode arenas alongside a level again and old Arena Pieces unlock the arenas they used to like they should.

They can toss in 3 ingame variants somewhere, they don't need more than 5 or it isn't special. Why 3? Well, so that the total adds up to 50. Maybe they can make them of the starter pack characters or toss them in the 3DS version so that it's actually more "worthwhile".

No point in sidekicks unless they give them a buff, and if they do that then they need to make them easier to get. I'm actually glad that they got rid of sidekicks in SF. They were cute, but they weren't worth it.

16 core + 16 SWAP Force + 3 variants + 15 magic items = 50 toys, just as much as SA.

The game should have 25 chapters (each the length of an SF one) in total with 20 base chapters and 5 extra AP chapters. They can't afford to make less chapters that are "longer" AGAIN because SF's chapters already start to border on ridiculously long.

There should be at least 15 arenas for 2-player battle mode. The amount in SF is absurdly low and has made me sick of the mode already, especially since I need to use these arenas for the Gold Rank on Quests.

Time and Score challenge are fine right now IMO, nothing special but they serve their purpose and don't require that much extra work for the content they add. They're repetitive but also addictive enough to hold attention and add extra replay value with 3-starring them.

As for bonus missions and survival arenas... 25 of each. They can artistically theme them similarly to levels like they've made for the main game, like they've partially done now, and I honestly think it would be OK. As long as they aren't carbon copies in that regard. When you beat a level you would unlock the similarly-themed arena and mission. It's hard to exactly explain this, but ehh. Anyway, I think the current amount of these is fine, although honestly? It really wouldn't hurt to see some more. I think I might be asking for a bit much here, but it would be good. There should be at least 15 of each, IMO.

They also should give the 3DS version a two year cycle again... n-Space are doing a mediocre job with the game right now, it's half-baked and glitchy and is not offering the same as a console starter pack- yet has the same price. The only good reason to buy it is for Volcanic Eruptor who is a cool looking variant but that does not make the pack worthwhile on its own. Either this, or they drop the standard RRP of the 3DS game by $15-20. (Before someone jumps on me for it, I realise that there was a sale on it, but that was only in the US...)

I realise probably none of this will happen, but one can dream. One can dream.

Edit: in retrospect I could have posted this in the Skylanders 4 thread, though I think it adds to a discussion more in this topic, not just a wishlist thread. Ehh.

@Arc of Archives

I agree with on on most of these things. What I wanted for Swap Force to do,for me, was have the same feel of Spyro's Adventure,something Giants lacked. SF does give of the feel in some areas, but it's still not the same. Here is what I think they should do for the series.

VV, while they did make a good game, got rid of a lot in SF, like heroic challenges. Bring heroic challenges back, they were fun as hell (When first played) added more customization to the toys with brains idea. I think TfB should just take over the console games, they know what they're doing and the result can be great.

VV needs to make the 3DS version of the games, they made a fantastic game, N-Space did not do a good job with Giants at all. It was glitchy, not very creative, and repetitive.

Have at most 3 variants with a back story and that are original. We have 2 Jades,2 Nitros, 2 enchanteds, and 5 Darks.None (Other than the darks, who have a poorly thought out story.) of those have a story behind them, which makes them feel like they just made them for money. Legendaries are an exception because they have an explanation why there are so many of them. The dark title should have been only for Spyro.

The amount of Chapters should be around 20-25 and be as be as long SF's levels.. I know we were all disappointed when we found out the level count for both Giants and SF. It was small and made the game feel like it wasn't this big adventure.

16 Returning characters from the previous game ( The main 8 and 8 others from the previous game before the newest one) I for one love the S2/S3 characters it's shows that their not forgotten. Give them a good wow-pow and and maybe a cool visual change (S2 Spyro's wings for example) and that's it.

Upgrades are good and don't need much change, but I do miss combos.

That's basically what I want. Happy holidays everyone!

New game? I aint done with Giants yet. And I aint buying Swap Force till I can get it cheap like I did the other two. Skylanders 4 will be no different: Wait for it to sell for cheap.

^ Ahh! I made a "dream game" post without even mentioning the Heroics and toy integration. I've beaten that horse to death, so I'll try to not write another rant about it, but it's definetly something that needs to come back.
The first game was more "magical" with the toys' handling, and the Portal Master no-fourth-wall-ness, now if only SF had that same feeling... And yeah, I miss Heroics because of the same reason, they made your toys feel more alive and gave it better customisation. It also made me go through some effort with figures I wouldn't have played with and then like them.
Quests in SF act similarly to Heroics, they've made me play with and grow to like some Skylanders I didn't really enjoy. But they have a crummy reward- unlike Heroics which, no matter how "needed" those boosts were, did give you a LOT of extra stats- 75 extra HP for about two hours (from my experience) doing the Quests? And Heroics' rewards massively nerfed? That's not a substantial amount for the effort involved and it's not very exciting. It's especially stupid on Life characters, since doing "Defender of Life" takes ages on its own and is mind bogglingly repetitive. I have grown to loathe playing Fantasm Forest because of that Quest

I'd like to see Quests expanded upon and tweaked to take the spot Heroics used to fill in, they're more interesting an idea and I think they have a lot of potential if they were to change them somewhat. Or they could have both systems somehow. Either way, I'd love to see the bond with figures become a thing again... SF is on-and-off with wether it wants to treat you like a Portal Master or totally ignore you and just say thanks to duh Skalendurrrrs!
SA was interesting and unique because it bought interactivity with a game to a level (I've never seen) achieved anywhere else... You had a physical artifact to use with the game, and in that game YOU were the Hero. SA is better in the story department because the story really feels interactive, and it's like it really involves you, and I think games should focus on being interactive because that's what they're special at... They shouldn't just be movies with segments of gameplay that are interrupted by overly cheesy cutscenes, which blunt as it sounds, Giants and SF feel more like to me. More importantly than Heroics now being gone, I really miss how all the NPCs would refer to you and the main three would look to you for help and stuff like that. And I miss old Kaos as well.

Hmm.... You arecorrect on that arc, but I think it might go back to feeling that way since TFB is developing the 4th.

Quote: LightSpyro13

How is it not rushed?
- The majority of video games are developed for 2 years or longer....

This was clearly true for Giants, but Sky3/Sky4 are getting 2-year dev times, so this argument seems to be moot going forward.


Quote: LightSpyro13

- Overall Laziness in the game itself:

- Story Length is far too short and could be beaten within a few hours, most games have at least 30 levels or over 100 objectives in overworlds that may take days or weeks to beat.

This is very much a subjective thing, but I think Swap Force was both longer and more intricate (i.e. Less lazy) than either of the previous games.
Quote: LightSpyro13

- There are barely any additional game modes and they all have several problems that they could've fixed, but didn't

• Heroic Challenges
  
• Arena Challenges
  
• Survival Mode
  
• Bonus Missions
  
• Battle Mode
  

I agree that Heroic Challenges were a grind, but they're gone - and you haven't listed Swap Force's two biggest additions - Speed Run mode and Score Mode.
Firstly, the focus within each level is very different in those two modes (one focused on building combos, while the other focues on speed) and both have leaderboards.
That's a big deal, because now instead of grinding a Heroic Challenge over and over, you're either competing to beat your friends or finding ways to beat your old high-score.

In terms of longevity, that's a massive plus.

Quote:

I agree that Heroic Challenges were a grind, but they're gone - and you haven't listed Swap Force's two biggest additions - Speed Run mode and Score Mode.
Firstly, the focus within each level is very different in those two modes (one focused on building combos, while the other focues on speed) and both have leaderboards.
That's a big deal, because now instead of grinding a Heroic Challenge over and over, you're either competing to beat your friends or finding ways to beat your old high-score.

In terms of longevity, that's a massive plus.

That's because Score Mode and Time Attack are pretty much the same thing as Story Mode, just a little more competition and record beating. I think they should've just been a part of Normal Mode to begin with and are a sad excuse for an extra game mode. Several games like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog combine Time Attack and Score into the same mode. Its great that they added these modes but they still suffer the same problems as regular Story Mode and to me, have little to no effect on the gameplay, hence why I didn't list them.

I don't see any enemies getting a better AI or new attacks...

Quote: LightSpyro13

That's because Score Mode and Time Attack are pretty much the same thing as Story Mode, just a little more competition and record beating. I think they should've just been a part of Normal Mode to begin with and are a sad excuse for an extra game mode. Several games like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog combine Time Attack and Score into the same mode. Its great that they added these modes but they still suffer the same problems as regular Story Mode and to me, have little to no effect on the gameplay, hence why I didn't list them.

You're naturally welcome to your own opinion, but when listing an objective list of features, it's not particularly fair to leave some off for subjective reasons.

For what it's worth, I couldn’t disagree more – I think they have a massive effect on gameplay. Combining them would have been a terrible move, and keeping them separate is a prerequisite for the gameplay they add.

To elaborate a little, the way you play score attack and the way you play speed attack is totally different, to each other and to how you play the story mode (or at least, it is if you want a competitive score). In a speed attack you’re aiming for speed above all else, whereas on a score attack run you’re wanting to collect every score item possible and engage in combat with precision to ensure you have the highest possible score modifier.
Combining them would defeat the purpose, as you’d mix the styles and play somewhere in the middle – whereas the current system rewards you to adhering to a single playstyle for the duration of the level.

Further, it’s important that they split these modes out from the story mode so that the focus when playing the story is on story, characters and collectables – and it means that the completion doesn’t require the same focus as the scored modes require.
It’s true that some games like Sonic combine the two, but that would defeat the purpose of separating them out.

The additional modes really come alive once you have friends to compete against. The drive to improve your score with additional plythroughs is a drive that has been a part of gaming since Pacman and Space Invaders. If you have a group who are constantly striving to best one another, you create a really interesting space to play in for hours at a time.
Obviously YMMV, but I really enjoy them.

Quote: LightSpyro13

I don't see any enemies getting a better AI or new attacks...

In this case you’re provably wrong. The enemies in swap force have a much wide array of attacks, particularly the ranged enemies. Plus the spell pucks that speed up your foes or render them invisible are also a new wrinkle to deal with.

I miss the spell-punks from SSA that conferred immunity to some attacks, although I concede that it might be a tad difficult for a kid’s game. I thought that the ones in Swapforce were a good compromise, conferring real tangible benefits to your enemies without becoming annoying for younger players.

For me, what's really killing the Skylander games for me is the content (or lack there of) included. It's the careless handling of the toys that causes this. They focus too much on new toys and characters as opposed to the meat of the game. I felt Spyro's Adventure had the right amount of everything, especially the toys. Giants substituted lack of substance for excessive toys, and Swap Force takes that to the extreme. The reason why Pokemon games do so well is because with every game they don't give us a new 100 Pokemon, they gives us a bunch of new features and mini games, giving us Pokemon with each new generation.

If it were up to me, the next Skylanders Game would have 32 playable characters, and other toys as item and levels.
There would only be 4 new toys per element, 1 Gimmick character (like the Giants or Swappers) 1 new core (or series 1 Skylander) 1 returning Skylander (or series 2, 3 or 4) and one Lightcore character of a returning character. Returning characters would be and as these guys have yet to see a series 2 release.
Returning Lightcores would include and
There would also be 2 adventure packs, both containing a new core, and two battle packs, both containing a new core and a returning Skylander.
In game, there would be 20 levels, each the length of giants. Unlike Swap Force, Boss battles would be included in pre existing levels. For external adventure levels, the already existing 6 (Tower of Time, Sheep Wreck Island, Darklight Crypt, Pirate Seas, Empire of Ice and Dragon's peak) would all unlock their respective levels, however, they would be new updated levels to fit with the new gameplay, and would tell a different story. Their unlockables, however, would not be key to game completion, unlike the two new adventure levels. All Battle pack pieces (Cannon, Golden Cannon, Catapult, Fiery Forge, Arkeyan Crossbow and Volcanic Vault) would all unlock their respective arena's from the previous games.

The game would bring back both Heroic Challenges and Mission Maps, and keep the Portal Master Ranks, arena challenges, score modes and time trials.

If we had 16 new swappers that could mix with the current 16, then we'd have a nice 1,024 combinations!!

Quote: crocko33

If we had 16 new swappers that could mix with the current 16, then we'd have a nice 1,024 combinations!!

0_o


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Here's whats needed

Why do the portals still have a dam cord? Wireless please!!!! Why does the battlegrounds portal work with swap force too, couldn't the original portal purchased be good enough for all games

Online play with coop. Have melee matches and elemental wars, that would be a hit 8v8 earth vs magic, that wouldbe great

24 new characters is all that's needed 1 new giant, swap force, and core in each element. No dam reposes except ghost roaster and boomer, those should be exclusives to a retailer, and that's about it

Portals are not wireless (except when there is no ready option otherwise) because a majority of people complained about chewing through batteries.

Quote: Nroc-Nuika

For me, what's really killing the Skylander games for me is the content (or lack there of) included. It's the careless handling of the toys that causes this. They focus too much on new toys and characters as opposed to the meat of the game. I felt Spyro's Adventure had the right amount of everything, especially the toys. Giants substituted lack of substance for excessive toys, and Swap Force takes that to the extreme. The reason why Pokemon games do so well is because with every game they don't give us a new 100 Pokemon, they gives us a bunch of new features and mini games, giving us Pokemon with each new generation.

If it were up to me, the next Skylanders Game would have 32 playable characters, and other toys as item and levels.
There would only be 4 new toys per element, 1 Gimmick character (like the Giants or Swappers) 1 new core (or series 1 Skylander) 1 returning Skylander (or series 2, 3 or 4) and one Lightcore character of a returning character. Returning characters would be and as these guys have yet to see a series 2 release.
Returning Lightcores would include and
There would also be 2 adventure packs, both containing a new core, and two battle packs, both containing a new core and a returning Skylander.
In game, there would be 20 levels, each the length of giants. Unlike Swap Force, Boss battles would be included in pre existing levels. For external adventure levels, the already existing 6 (Tower of Time, Sheep Wreck Island, Darklight Crypt, Pirate Seas, Empire of Ice and Dragon's peak) would all unlock their respective levels, however, they would be new updated levels to fit with the new gameplay, and would tell a different story. Their unlockables, however, would not be key to game completion, unlike the two new adventure levels. All Battle pack pieces (Cannon, Golden Cannon, Catapult, Fiery Forge, Arkeyan Crossbow and Volcanic Vault) would all unlock their respective arena's from the previous games.

The game would bring back both Heroic Challenges and Mission Maps, and keep the Portal Master Ranks, arena challenges, score modes and time trials.

The experiment with keeping adventure content beyond the current release failed imo...I would like the concept of "dynamic storytelling" to be introduced...potentially with larger levels, branching, etc. that would interweave currently used character with decisions/locations visited. This would make it less of a serial chapter game and more of an adventure--perhaps having to do things in various locations to unlock what's required to move forward. It's perhaps a bit more Pokemon ish but they can strike a great balance with what they have now with that concept.

I don't care how they do it, but no more than 40 characters total for ANY one game. 75+ in the current game is beyond nuts. You want 75 in the next one? Better bring your A game and find a way to keep the adventure going. Currently, most folks can experience most of the game in 3 days (or a week or two if casual). That doesn't tie up well when buyers have to wait up to 365 days after launch of the game to play certain characters that have yet to be released.

If reposes didn't sell they'd stop making them.

Just saying.

Quote: Tel Prydain

If reposes didn't sell they'd stop making them.

Just saying.

Not necessarily. They must tout their true grit landers like Spyro, Eruptor, Chop Chop etc on every game. It's not Disney brand recognition, but it's the best they've got right now. The triple pack stagnation I think is directly related to total lack of interest in the reposes, since 2 of the 3 are just that.

We'll see what happens...

I totally forgot about the old Adventure Packs, but they need to bring them back in the next game as well. I know people may get tired of replaying those levels, but is three-starring it once a year with the option to return that repetitive? It gives you more choices of levels to visit for new characters, who can't play old levels from the old games any other way. They'll probably never patch the old games to include the new characters and putting old levels in new games is the closest we're likely to ever see to that. As long as they aren't botched ports like the ones Giants had, I don't see a big issue. You're not forced to replay them or anything. Though, new levels with the same theme would be nice too... I just want to see them having some more use again and I realistically don't think that we would get new levels. Besides, I wanted to play Dragon's Peak with the new graphics. It would have been amazing, that level would look even more beautiful in SF.

Either way, though, can we all agree that they should change from how the old Location and Arena Pieces function right now? They're all just the same Anvil Rain tweaked-clone in SF, which is really lame... There are not enough battle arenas now (I actually thought Giants had a perfect setup for Battle Mode and highly dislike the SF version, only thing I like is how they got rid of Elemental Advantage, and added the lives option) and also it makes the main appeal of them naught. What's the point of keeping the old figures compatible if they'll make it so that some won't do what they should?
That's pretty much the same reason people hated Heroics not being unlocked with S1 characters in Giants, because they just removed a big feature that your older toys unlocked. They ported the Heroics to Giants anyway and just added an extra paywall instead, so yeah the Heroics situation is probably more notable, but this new thing worries me about wether I'll have any reason to touch the Sheep Wreck Islands, Tower of Time, Arkeyan Crossbow or Fiery Forge in the next game. I've never cared for using Magic Items besides unlocking extra levels and arenas(and cheating with Anvil Rain for 's Heroic), since it's not hard to survive without them, and I was really peeved to find out that they relegated the Location Pieces- and especially Arena Pieces- down to that.

SF has done a good job at sweeping things like this under the rug. >.> I'm not trying to go all conspiracy-theory, and I know that even porting isn't easy, and I love a lot of the improvements it has made, but it also has so many issues and removed so many great things. And it still hasn't fixed certain issues that have been around earlier, like the unskippable cutscenes, which are just ridiculous and don't have any good excuse. We could skip the majority of the cutscenes on our first playthrough of a new file in Giants! Why not in SF?!?

Honestly, at the reveal presentation it was said said that they wanted this game to be what the fans wanted but I feel like they missed the part where they were supposed to look back at the old games and see what people liked about them, then accentuate those things while adding extra features. Instead, to me it feels like we got a bunch of new extra stuff that is good, but kinda half baked and at the expense of things like a good Battle Mode and heart of the story. And they did not buff up many old characters correctly. I've tried about 30 of my 100% maxed-out old characters in SWAP Force, and with the exception of Chill and Warnado they all perform noticeably worse than the new Skylanders and everyone else besides Shroomboom and Whirlwind were less fun than before. I don't really care if they do plan to milk this until it's dry instead of making it sustainable, as long as that greed doesn't appear in aspects of the game- which I feel it has, too much, in SF. I can see a lot of rushed stuff and wasted potential behind the graphics. Activision need to give TFB and VV more time to work on the games or get a third company to make this a three year cycle, or to double-check the games(though boy, that would cause consistency issues even more)... If now is a lot of work, what about when we have twice as many Skylanders, huh?

Quote: Arc of Archives

I totally forgot about the old Adventure Packs, but they need to bring them back in the next game as well. I know people may get tired of replaying those levels, but is three-starring it once a year with the option to return that repetitive? It gives you more choices of levels to visit for new characters, who can't play old levels from the old games any other way.

Accept with a new engine they'd have to recreate those levels from scratch (unlike Giants, where they could use the old level and just tweak it). The inability to import levels from the older games is also the real reason heroics went away - they'd have to recreate every single one of them.

And wouldn't you rather they spend that time making new levels (like the new side missions), as opposed to just remaking the ones you've been playing for two years already?

Quote: Arc of Archives

And it still hasn't fixed certain issues that have been around earlier, like the unskippable cutscenes, which are just ridiculous and don't have any good excuse. We could skip the majority of the cutscenes on our first playthrough of a new file in Giants! Why not in SF?!?

Because in SF they are used to hide loading times. Ever noticed you almost never see a loading screen?
You see loading screens when opening side missions because there are no movies to hide it behind.

You can skip the movie as soon as the level is loaded.

Yay! Hope its even better than Swap Force!

Quote: chaosworrier

I hate to say it but they stopped creating PC versions due to poor sales. The almighty dollar rules so if expense is greater than income, they won't do it - be it PC version or Wii version.

That's sad then as I have a Wii, I guess for when the next one comes out, I'll have to get the 3DS version

The good news is that the PS3 and x360 consoles are likely to become very, very cheap over the next year.

Not forgetting that the 3DS version has always been a different game and would, realistically, be expected to remain a different game in the future.

Quote: tobby

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Diggeh

I would prefer content over a bunch of new figures. We can't afford getting every regular character anymore.

I've been saying this for six months. As long as they can get this "x" kind of sales with only expending "y" effort, they will keep doing what they've always done. Time to vote with your wallets. I'm reducing my footprint by 40% on this game, and only buying when there's sales.

im buying on sales only now and dont buy any variants.... also if the skylanders4 have no online gaming, then i am done with skylanders.

Skylanders is about fun and not online play