darkSpyro

I doubt it'll be "weapon-swapping" it's to similar to Swap Force. I think vehicles is more likely.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

I doubt it'll be "weapon-swapping" it's to similar to Swap Force. I think vehicles is more likely.

I hope for neither, really. Artifact "add ons" water down the character experience.

I agree ghost it takes a lot away from character development if you are upgrading weapons. Before someone says "it's like swap force" you are right it is like swap force, this is to be a "game changer".
My thing with the cards was more "hey, they could do this cheap and not make it a focus."

To be perfectly honest I hope they don't go overly gimmicky because that detracts from the game in many ways.

As long as they don't release too many figures, it'll be fine.

The weapon-swapping with physical weapons is in my opinion a very bad idea. How many parents on here have written cute anecdotes about their very young toddlers playing with Skylanders? They may be younger than the recommended age, but you trust that they'll be relatively ok since you know what figures are likely to be a danger right? If they make all the new Skylanders weapons-swappable, then you won't be able to trust that to be ok. You'll have to wait till your youngest kids are asleep or distracted in order to let you or your older kids play safely. And if you're in the middle of a big boss fight, you can't turn your eyes away just in case. The portal is usually set in a low place, such as a low table or the floor. Toddlers and babies can reach those areas. And don't forget how many of us use a bag set in the floor to hold our Skylanders. You can argue that Megabloks have weapons, but just what age are they targetted for? What age are parents buying them for? And what type of storage is used for them? What accessability is there for very young children to get ahold of those vs the actual game figs?

If they did it as a card system, they could eliminate the choking hazard. However, if they implement random pulls, it would take away one of the advantages Skylanders has vs competitors: What you see is what you get. Instead of wasting cash that's necessarily kept close to the heart these days, Skylanders gives you a clear view of what you get. You can read up on exactly what the magic items do. There's no blind pull better version or worse version like with DI. The information on the box is more than enough to give you a basic gist of what you need to know. This character is a swapper. This other one has fire element. This one here uses swords. Ok then. I want ___ one. You don't have to become savvy in pricing and resale to recoup blind-pull costs to get what you need. You can get savvy about sales to save money though. But the point is, the way it's done now doesn't keep parents guessing about what's in the box.

Swappers have an RFID chip in both halves. The antenna on the top half connects to one of the magnetic lines (that's why you can't read the top by itself, but you can read the bottom half when it's alone, and both when connected).

When they start bring out blinds will be the point where I start lugging my laptop and one of the portals to work just to pre-scan the bags to see what's in them...Any card collector knows how scalpy blind collectibles can get, and currently I love the fact that everything you can get for this series is a straight-forward purchase (even chase figures).

Remember that the blinds for DI aren't foolproof, as you can stll rub on the disc to check for the special ones...Not to mention dishonest people can and sometimes just open the blinds to figure out what it is (check the MLP, lego, and hot wheels blind bags in toys, often there's opened packages).

Really the card thing was more just a way to get the trading cards to sell better and not as a main strategy for the new game, it was also an easy way to get new items into the game as it's much easier to print a card as opposed to creating a figure. It would also solve the problem people have about karts being too big to fit 2 of them on a portal with 2 swappers or 2 giants.
In reality I hope that they follow the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) method for the next game. While I like some of the things people are talking about I think it will over complicate a game that at it's base is marketed at children and I know that kids can and do understand things of this nature I think it's not needed. I'm not sure how your kids or you guys for that matter play the game but my son doesn't swap the figures as they are right now, he claims that they just look wrong when swapped. That just shows that while cool in theory there's just not enough draw from a game play perspective to make him want to use it.

Quote: TheSpyrofan12

As long as they don't release too many figures, it'll be fine.

What's too many? In my world, anything more than 32 unique characters is too many.

To some of us, there's not enough or just enough figs. To the parents who buy the figs for their kids, there's way too many figs. It's the same number, but it depends on your perspective.

I think the number of figures they released PER GAME is fine. IF you want to get them all that's up to you but they are not releasing hundreds at once.

I agree with the swappers not getting swapped. To be honest we never bother because apart from the dual gates there is NO benefit at all. I just swap the whole figure and be done with it.

For 4 to be game changing they don't need to do ANYTHING with the figures. Just release 32 more "core" Skylanders figures in keeping with the ongoing range and MAKE THE GAME BETTER.
Make it "game changing" literally by changing the game. Online MMO? online multi-player ?
A more complex 3D platform structure? more information stored on the figures?

There is SO MUCH they can do without needing to "gimmick" up the figures.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did proceed with blind bags in the future. Thanks, Disney.

As for ideas, I got nothing. I just hope it's one for the better, since there's so many 'game-changers' that backfire miserably.

Without changing the mechanics of the game too deeply, i still think there are ways to change it up and make it more fun. It's tough because some of the things i like also possibly elevate the complexity of the game beyond it's target audience. I'm a bit late to the party, only getting into Skylanders at swap force, but here are my thoughts.

-The usage of elements in the series is kind of half-baked IMHO and leaves some room for improvement. Aside from some basic artistic consistencies, the differences with the elements are arbitrary. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason why certain elements are more powerful in certain areas. The element gates also feel like an arbitrary usage the element concept. I don't know if it needs to go as far as Pokemon's overlapping weakness/strengths....but there's certainly room to make the element concept more tangible to gameplay than a random damage bonus for certain areas or gates locking off side quests. It will be hard to implement because there's no particular attack or ability that is distinct to each element...but there's room to improve on this i think. Maybe make the element advantage specific to the enemy type rather than zone.

-The overall structure of the adventure could be expanded upon to be less linear. I could see an MMO style world (not MMO with massive numbers of players, but the world layout) where you have an open freedom to explore zones of different themes and difficulty levels, and multiple quests could be fun. Not turn it into a diablo loot-fest game...but something that feels less directed and one-track.

-4 Players for battle arenas. With the tools they have, they're so close to what i love about smash brothers....just give us more. More arenas. More power ups. We'd need bigger portals...but this could seriously be the best party game with that minor tweak.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: TheSpyrofan12

As long as they don't release too many figures, it'll be fine.

What's too many? In my world, anything more than 32 unique characters is too many.

32 characters sounds like a good amount (including new guys and reposes). Maybe a few for variants (legendary, darks, etc), but any more would be too much.

Quote: Pyrofer

I think the number of figures they released PER GAME is fine. IF you want to get them all that's up to you but they are not releasing hundreds at once.

I agree with the swappers not getting swapped. To be honest we never bother because apart from the dual gates there is NO benefit at all. I just swap the whole figure and be done with it.

For 4 to be game changing they don't need to do ANYTHING with the figures. Just release 32 more "core" Skylanders figures in keeping with the ongoing range and MAKE THE GAME BETTER.
Make it "game changing" literally by changing the game. Online MMO? online multi-player ?
A more complex 3D platform structure? more information stored on the figures?

There is SO MUCH they can do without needing to "gimmick" up the figures.

My feelings on it are quite similar. They have shown time and time again, as I expect from this game, to have near mastered the toy part, the problem is the game. If they make the game excellent, or the "game-changer" is a good game changer than I think Skylanders 4 could surpass SSA!

Quote: RandomUser39

Quote: Pyrofer

I think the number of figures they released PER GAME is fine. IF you want to get them all that's up to you but they are not releasing hundreds at once.

I agree with the swappers not getting swapped. To be honest we never bother because apart from the dual gates there is NO benefit at all. I just swap the whole figure and be done with it.

For 4 to be game changing they don't need to do ANYTHING with the figures. Just release 32 more "core" Skylanders figures in keeping with the ongoing range and MAKE THE GAME BETTER.
Make it "game changing" literally by changing the game. Online MMO? online multi-player ?
A more complex 3D platform structure? more information stored on the figures?

There is SO MUCH they can do without needing to "gimmick" up the figures.

My feelings on it are quite similar. They have shown time and time again, as I expect from this game, to have near mastered the toy part, the problem is the game. If they make the game excellent, or the "game-changer" is a good game changer than I think Skylanders 4 could surpass SSA!

I have a good feeling about Skylanders 4, a VERY good feeling.

To be honest, there was nothing bad about Giants or Swap Force. I think after SSA the bar was just set quite high. It was difficult to bring the level of "new and unique" they brought with SSA to any further game.
I loved SSA, I loved Giants and I liked Swap Force.
The only problem is the same old game mechanic is getting warn very thin. A few "zones" and new lock puzzles isn't enough.

The Swap features should have been more integrated with the game, with climbing Skylanders able to climb IN GAME not just in zone.

I have high hopes for S4 and as long as they concentrate on the game play rather than gimmicks with figures we should be set.

Quote: Pyrofer

To be honest, there was nothing bad about Giants or Swap Force. I think after SSA the bar was just set quite high. It was difficult to bring the level of "new and unique" they brought with SSA to any further game.
I loved SSA, I loved Giants and I liked Swap Force.
The only problem is the same old game mechanic is getting warn very thin. A few "zones" and new lock puzzles isn't enough.

The Swap features should have been more integrated with the game, with climbing Skylanders able to climb IN GAME not just in zone.

I have high hopes for S4 and as long as they concentrate on the game play rather than gimmicks with figures we should be set.

Bingo. And to think they did this in SSA (water only areas outside of elemental zones) and conveniently got rid of it in subsequent games but instead "charge" for the same feature.

And a chest only a Giant can open? How lame. Should've been Giants only areas. At least they had SOME utility if nothing else than for an accolade.

Bottom line--the GAME has to evolve, not the toys. In reading your above comment it sounds like we are aligned.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Pyrofer

To be honest, there was nothing bad about Giants or Swap Force. I think after SSA the bar was just set quite high. It was difficult to bring the level of "new and unique" they brought with SSA to any further game.
I loved SSA, I loved Giants and I liked Swap Force.
The only problem is the same old game mechanic is getting warn very thin. A few "zones" and new lock puzzles isn't enough.

The Swap features should have been more integrated with the game, with climbing Skylanders able to climb IN GAME not just in zone.

I have high hopes for S4 and as long as they concentrate on the game play rather than gimmicks with figures we should be set.

Bingo. And to think they did this in SSA (water only areas outside of elemental zones) and conveniently got rid of it in subsequent games but instead "charge" for the same feature.

And a chest only a Giant can open? How lame. Should've been Giants only areas. At least they had SOME utility if nothing else than for an accolade.

Bottom line--the GAME has to evolve, not the toys. So in my mind, game changer would do both.

What they should have done was make the Duel-Elemental Zones, Giants Areas instead. I know they wanted to focus on the Swappers, but the Giants only chests is a waste of potential. They also need to bring back swimming.

Seems people are in agreement. The figures are loved but we want to see something better from the game mechanics.
Now, we have to look at this from the perspective of a kids game which obviously limits what they can do.

I think we can count out any kind of MMO/online multi player because of this. It's just to hard to do well/safe for kids.
I also don't think they will go Mario-Kart on us. The game has been too successful to change that much.

I think they have to go more open-world. The best bit of Infinity is the sandbox. If Skylanders had a more open world that you could explore that contained missions/levels within it rather than or in addition to the main story that would work in its favor. Maybe the ability to download updates/fixes/level packs too. This would mean that buying a new Expansion pack could come with a disk or download code that would actually ADD to the game, meaning no limit on what they could add. Considering the possibilities of revenue from DLC (content not crypt) I am surprised they haven't done it already.

So my hope/prediction is a more open world game to be explored and/or more extra packs/downloadable fixes/content.

1. I don't think it should be weapon changing, but something I recommended a while ago - taking a page out of the Disney book - character mods. Power disc that have effects like 'metallic' which make projectiles bounce off you, or 'flash/yellow' variant which will allow you to move significantly faster. Maybe even a 'size' disc to make characters larger (or smaller).

2. I do have a good feeling about this one, but with how much money I've put out in review for the previous games, my wallet and what I'm willing to spend is shrinking, so they are going to really need to 'wow' me to get me to 'buy everything but reposes' again.
- Unreall

While I think item discs could contribute to improving the gameplay a little they could hardly call it "game changing" considering Disney do it already.

I've never been in the "buy it all" or "buy all but reposes" area, we all spend what we can.

My kids still play with the figures when the game is off, they enjoy them so I consider it an ok investment. When the kids walk off and have no interest in them I will stop buying. Fingers crossed the next game keeps the interest alive.

The biggest problem I have with open world is that many kids in the age range just don't care for open world unless it's done right (lego marvel is a good example of done right) Many of the parents at my sons preschool bought their kids both Infinity and Skylanders for Christmas. Next to all of them said the same thing, once the newness of playing with Mr. Incredible or who ever they were using wears off the kids puts it down and has no interest in it. Now to be honest my son only owns Skylanders because I was worried about this exact thing.
Now to the DLC selling well, it already is. The DLC in this game is the level packs and from what I've seen those sell well.
I hope they don't over think making this game a whole new experience as they have a good formula now they just need to tighten the screws down so to speak. Make more interesting figures but don't dismiss the ones you already have out, have good level designs but in my opinion they could be a bit shorter for the age target, and don't put in a gimmick like swappers (there but not at all fleshed out).

What I would love to see is a game that is well made, with more levels for multiplayer (my sons favorite thing to do is beat up on daddy). I would like the online Vs. mode as long as they strive to keep down the trash talk (I played Madden online for a bit and people would talk crap no matter what, I had very few games where people would play a civilized game, but I guess I should expect that) I would actually prefer it if they disabled the ability to talk to your opponent at all. Though maybe if they were on your friends list or something that would be ok.

I think open world could work, even considering the kids as long as they do it right. The problem my kids have right now is that you really can't do anything in woodburrow, and you have to navigate menus to get to content after you've finished the game. They don't seem to understand or be interested in working through start menus. We have Marvel Lego also, and they love it since they can just run around going wherever they want...without having to use some kind of interface to do access it. Once they got to the open city, they had no interest in the game levels....and i'm fine with that.

If you had a hub-town like woodburrow, with an open gate that goes out into a big world to explore with enemies to fight...then they'd be all set. No need to talk to NPCs and load up specific levels or secret missions. Just turn them loose and let them make their own adventures out of it. It would also make the game more enjoyable after completion...since they can just go where they want rather than be locked in the same one-way track levels with the same element/swap zones.

Quote: LibertyCabbage

If you had a hub-town like woodburrow, with an open gate that goes out into a big world to explore with enemies to fight...then they'd be all set. No need to talk to NPCs and load up specific levels or secret missions. Just turn them loose and let them make their own adventures out of it. It would also make the game more enjoyable after completion...since they can just go where they want rather than be locked in the same one-way track levels with the same element/swap zones.

I agree very much. It would be just like the levels in the old Spyro games.

I'd love that! Its was the fun nature of the original spyro games that got me into this crazy franchise in the first place!

I do hope they don't have content locked behind some new type of figure in Skylanders 4, the way SWAP zones are now. But I guess it's a foolish hope. As it is, while I'd like to do the SWAP zones they're just not worth the price. While I've certainly gotten way more core figures than I actually have need for, the SWAP figures themselves don't hold much interest for me beyond Wash Buckler and Blast Zone, so getting them merely to unlock the missions feels wasteful. Just annoying that without them I can't really even get all the hats and such, including those that require a high portal master level.

While I would love an Open World Skylanders game, I think it's better that they make the levels more open and exploreble like in Classic Spyro games.

I can't believe people complain about too many characters. The more, the better -> more chances of characters you'll like. If the game was all Eruptor, Drill Sergeant, Countdown and Boomer, I would never have played at all.

I'd be fine with gimmicks as long as the game is good. If the game is extremely fun to play, they can add a gimmick in. The key is to not focus on the gimmick. I think GhostRoaster(?) said something before about them needing to build a gimmick around the game and not a game around a gimmick. Oh, and I'm in the "buy everything but reposes" crowd.

Am I the only one concerned that this game might not support older characters (at least not all of them)?

The new characters revealed by Frito Lay look to be bi-elemental. So I'm guessing that's part of it.

Quote: AzureStarline

I can't believe people complain about too many characters. The more, the better -> more chances of characters you'll like. If the game was all Eruptor, Drill Sergeant, Countdown and Boomer, I would never have played at all.

As for myself (and I suspect others), there's a two-fold reason. On one hand, there's a lot of diversity, but it also means that for collectors there's also a lot more things to buy. I've dumped a lot of money on the franchise and certainly I don't regret any of it, but it's very hard to buy all the characters especially when they have so many of them out. I'd love to get the reposes and things as well, but those I've completely cut out of my budget for this game not only because I've got the character already, but because they'll be inevitably nerfed in the next game.

The secondary reason is that it becomes pretty overwhelming when you have a lot of characters out. There's quite a good chunk of things that were released in the first two waves and I had a very hard time trying to keep up with what was and what wasn't out. I actually had to end up making a google doc page for myself with listings of everything in each wave so i could access it on my phone and see if what i was seeing was new. It didn't help that a lot of characters had multiple variations like Countdown being both a LC and a regular figure.

I think for this next game, there ought to be 1 repose for each element, and 1 LC for each with no overlapping of characters. To give people some more incentive to buy characters that light up (because in just a passing glance, it seems like the LCs aren't really as popular as any other line) they should give them to characters who didn't get a repose either in SF or from the original game. Along with that, I'm perfectly fine with 2 new Skylanders for each element, and a gimmick character for each as well. It was rough for me in SF compared to Giants because we were given 2 of the $15.99 Swappers instead of just one new character as in Giants. I hope that whatever our "gimmick" for Skylanders 4, it isn't more expensive figures.

Also, going with what tvih said, I think it was wrong to lock a lot of stuff behind Swap Zones. Those should have had exclusively the Sapphires to reduce your overall price to buy upgrades, which would have been rewarding to those who got them, but not effecting your ability to complete things if you decide to not get them. Hopefully the next game will have elemental doors and the like, but something that can also be unlocked with things we already own.

I also both like/hate the Portal Master Rank. I don't like how there's collection things hidden behind them. I think they could have found a different reward for growing your rank, like more health, attack, etc. Having things that are part of collections locked out because of your rank feels a bit cheap, especially if you don't intend to spend a lot of time trying to complete stuff in the game, or when the ranking system ends up breaking.

Quote: Doomslicer

The new characters revealed by Frito Lay look to be bi-elemental. So I'm guessing that's part of it.

Mmmh... I could see the Dragon-fly being both Life and Air, but what about the Dolphin and the Vampire Girl?
Also, the characters were shown on their elemental background too, and that confirms they are from the Life, Water and Undead elements respectively.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: Doomslicer

The new characters revealed by Frito Lay look to be bi-elemental. So I'm guessing that's part of it.

Mmmh... I could see the Dragon-fly being both Life and Air, but what about the Dolphin and the Vampire Girl?
Also, the characters were shown on their elemental background too, and that confirms they are from the Life, Water and Undead elements respectively.

The Dolphin has both water and wind elemental symbols. The Vampire Girl has an undead symbol and a tornado-thing.

Um, no, the dolphin Skylander has a seashell on its belt, not an Air elemental symbol. It's of the Water element.

Quote: Aura24

Um, no, the dolphin Skylander has a seashell on its belt, not an Air elemental symbol. It's of the Water element.

That might actually be the blessed Helix Fossil.

But he's right about tge vampire girl. She has a tornado for legs (air) and bats, (undead)

It's not a tornado. It's a dramatic "cloud with bats" suggesting that she changes like the stereotypical Vampires in most such media. At least, that's how it looks to me. I don't think they'll do dual elements TBH. If they do that, then getting people to buy 1 fig for each element will be a hard sell, and I doubt they'd "shoot themselves in the foot" as it were.

I agree that the next game could make more effective use of the movement and element types. The problem is, with the jump ability in Swap Force, you sorta negate the spring movement, and the Skylanders that fly negate the usefulness of a rocket movement swapper. On the other hand, making areas available to only water types would be very good. Just like how lava could be used to make you switch to a fire-type if need be, or make it so a life-type has to grow a plant to make it easier to reach a place.

I'm part of the nutty "Gotta buy em all except the chase varients". Even if they do a repose, if it benefits you in-game, that's not all bad. But doing LC reposes for some "left out" figs would be nice, and even better if they don't make 50+ versions.....just imagine an LC Boomer! They could make his dynomite glow on the tips and his eyes too, with maniacle glee!

If they do go for the "dual element" type thing I could see that working like giants to an extent. You had everything you needed in your collection to get to most areas already with the starter set and what you had from previous games, this time they could have dual gates for passes and then the swappers can provide those two elements for the gates or you could use the new ones for them.
That said I doubt this will be the direction they go.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

While I would love an Open World Skylanders game, I think it's better that they make the levels more open and exploreble like in Classic Spyro games.

Yeah but they all become unoriginal now. I prefer less but far more deveolopped character than thousand of copy pasta.

Quote: assassinelf

But he's right about tge vampire girl. She has a tornado for legs (air) and bats, (undead)

Actually, I thought her tornado was made of water?

Quote: Doomslicer

Quote: assassinelf

But he's right about tge vampire girl. She has a tornado for legs (air) and bats, (undead)

Actually, I thought her tornado was made of water?

Night shift have wind? for leg and he'snt a dual element, Lighting rod have cloud for leg too

4 players and online battle mode

Please?

Quote: nitendofan92

Quote: Doomslicer

Quote: assassinelf

But he's right about tge vampire girl. She has a tornado for legs (air) and bats, (undead)

Actually, I thought her tornado was made of water?

Night shift have wind? for leg and he'snt a dual element, Lighting rod have cloud for leg too

Lightning Rod is a wind element why is that weird that he's got a wind base?

no power discs for Skylanders 4 please!

and night shift? You don't have an answer

I might be completely unlogical but there is coming a wii version for sure. Ye wait and see!

Well there was no need to have an answer to one that makes less sense to have the wispy base. What you did with Lightning Rod would have been on par with me saying that it makes no sense for Drobot to be standing on gears because you know he's a dragon so it only makes sense for him to be standing on fire or something. Night Shift having mists on his base doesn't fit his element unless you consider undead to be the "spooky" element and mists are classically used for dramatic effect (which in my mind this is why he has the mist).

Also you were using a figures base as his legs not a figure effect which is what I was pointing out.

what if the next game only brought new characters and reposes, no fancy gimmick (Using gimmick lightly here).

I would be happy to see the next game run a no "gimmick" approach.