darkSpyro

Yeah, thats why I also said it might be nothing. There wasnt a health bar either. So it seemed a bit odd. Trying to be positive about the potential for information after the last couple weeks of jaded realism. I want things to get better. I really do. I dont like being the grouchy guy on the boards.

Quote: GothamLord

Yeah, thats why I also said it might be nothing. There wasnt a health bar either. So it seemed a bit odd. Trying to be positive about the potential for information after the last couple weeks of jaded realism. I want things to get better. I really do. I dont like being the grouchy guy on the boards.

By 7 PM tonight, I'm sure that frown will be turned upside down. The new villain gameplay is only the beginning. I anticipate a LOAD of new info being released tonight.

Quote: GothamLord

So with all the new videos coming out, especially from Skylander Boy and Girl , Coin-Op TV, etc. I've noticed one thing. The videos with the villains... There isnt a timer showing anymore. This might be nothing, this might mean something? Also the one quick video showing two villains out on the screen at once. Curious to what is going on with that. Very interested in where things are going and what gets revealed tonight.

They're trying to give you hope. It's a Jedi mind trick, don't fall for it.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: GothamLord

So with all the new videos coming out, especially from Skylander Boy and Girl , Coin-Op TV, etc. I've noticed one thing. The videos with the villains... There isnt a timer showing anymore. This might be nothing, this might mean something? Also the one quick video showing two villains out on the screen at once. Curious to what is going on with that. Very interested in where things are going and what gets revealed tonight.

They're trying to give you hope. It's a Jedi mind trick, don't fall for it.

Nah. We're good.

Saw some of SkylanderBoyandGirl...not sure how they're pulling off multiple villains and heroes far away from each other...unless they did a fake out on the online concept. That would be a great first step, I'm afraid to say. I'm not duped, just watching with an emotionless expression.

i think that the broccoli guy is untrapped, he looks to be healing the other enemies. i think its where wild Broccoli Guy can be trapped in the game, he looks like he's coming out of his house before he jumps onto the battle area.

it does look like an extra player using Jaw breaker back in the distance, thats how skylanders move when being played with, at least in my household, a jump every couple of steps lol, i think if it was an npc it would just be walking normally. so as the video says, possibly split screen?

Doesn't answer the Jawbreaker being onscreen (in the distance) with another character.

i think i edited while you were writing

It could be a story element where a team of Skylanders are doing a mission where they have to separate to accomplish various things at once. The player(s) are one of said teams. Jawbreaker could easily be random, if its even him, or the default background character (maybe only chances if the player is playing Jawbreaker). I believe Jawbreaker's origin implied he was a group of robots for the Sky Train. It could easily be another NPC of the same "race" we just havent seen yet. Its not like Boomer was the only troll, or Gill Grunt was the only Gillman.

So going back to come back over here to this thread, rather than ramble on in the other. I dont need a lecture on going off topic again or anything, But going back to my earlier point about Activision being worried about DI2 in the main thread and part of the reason things are being so tight lipped. After a bit of checking online -

http://vinylmationkingdom.com/...14/07/loki2.jpg

2 more DI characters are being revealed at the Marvel Panel on Saturday. Loki of course already having been hinted at before and now confirmed. Ronan the Accuser and Green Goblin are my bets but thats getting off topic with Skylanders stuff. The point is, this is another major reveal for Disney. I just cant wrap my head around Activision and why they are playing their marketing in this fashion. How many more nails need to be driven into the coffin before Activision starts fighting back? You are literally at the two biggest cons before your game. E3 at first, and now SDCC. NYCC is after the release so that one clearly isnt the last chance. Maybe Dragon Con in late August? Meh ...

dissapointing, but not entirely unexpected. Eons Elite don't really interest me, unless they do something extra in Trap Team, which from the info we've gotten so far, they won't be, apart from the 3x power.

i think the better "news" has been the gameplay footage of Funny Bone, Wollfgang, Sheep Creep, Gusto, Gulper and Gear Shift.

the only thing i can think is that maybe they don't want to do their releases at a big event and be diluted amongst all the other stuff happening there, and they'll do their own big press release or whatever later.

i can pretty much see how the game will play by the short snippets of gameplay we've seen, pretty much the same the last 3 game, with a few additions and subtractions, but the general gameplay will be the same. So any new announcements aren't really going to sway what i'll be getting. How a company markets and presents a game doesn't impact that much on me, especially for a fourth-qual, as i know it'll be pretty much more of the same, which i enjoyed, and worked ideally into my schedule and gaming practices(along with DI which i am also getting, just to be clear)

all that said though, some more info on the characters and the traps available would be nice, at the very least so i can start organising storage and displayness for them.

10 weeks and counting. hopefully we'll get something soon.

I am happy we are getting more footage, but its not really anything "new". We arent seeing new mechanics beyond what we saw with the traps and the timer at E3. In fact the timer isnt even visible in all the new gameplay. That would be awesome to think this showed that at some point the timer might be removed. There isnt even a health bar though shown either, so its kinda moot to speculate that at this point. Given all the gameplay is mostly the same, thats kinda why I say there needs to be better marketing. You need to push the face that its not more of just the same thing over and over. Get out the fact there is something new and exciting. Right now... I aint feelin' that.

^ Exactly.

QFT-

Quote: TrapShadowFan

This is COMIC CON. They could have revealed anything. This was their big chance. They could have shown adventure pack footage. They could have shown new trap masters. They could have shown new cores. They could have shown sidekicks. They could have shown Kaos. You get the point. Instead of ANY of this, their big news is old toys, saying "WOW GUYS LOOK THIS IS A TOTALLY NEW TOY LINE 'CAUSE THEY HAVE GOLD BASES!!!1!!" Yet when asked anything about stuff they actually should have revealed at Comic Con, their big chance to shine, they simply shrug it off and say "We can't talk about that now."

There's no point in me writing on many of my own thoughts about the reveal, because this is it.

All I heard about was Gulper, Sheep Creep and Jalapeño being revealed. I was wondering, "is this it?". Checked the news thread and I was disappointed when that was it, and they were meant to reveal Eon's Elite now. I just can't be optimistic about this game right now, I just can't.
Eon's Elite don't even relate to Trap Team much- they're repainted old figures of old characters that just happen to be releasing at the same time. Even if Eon's Elite wasn't leaked by Kotaku, I wouldn't have been impressed at all (see my recent post about them).

I live in Australia and the reveal would have been in the morning, when I was busy. I'm glad I didn't wake up and get everything set to watch it, because it sounds like it was totally underwhelming. I like Gulper's design, but as far as what was REVEALED that I saw and haven't seen before, that's the most positive impression I got.

I haven't really bothered watching the gameplay footage because I've seen most of it uploaded by SkyKids, and frankly, I can't stand their videos. Please direct me to a channel with un-chopped clips of the gameplay if you can.

i usually watch the vids on coin op tv first, then the skylander boy and girl ones.
I'm not a massive fan of Skylander dad either lol, but i struggle on through because he usually has some good insights and picks out things i'd otherwise miss.

And ....

I like the looks of Rocky Roll. His primary attack is probably going to be something like this:

Quote: GothamLord

And ....

Finally a magic trap master. Can't make out much, but at least we have a name and general body shape. Looks like the traptanium crystals are sticking out of its head... strange...

I think Blastermind is probably going to have Psychic-based abilities.

I'm not too sure if this is relevant or not but I think I found a Trappable Villain from this magazine I bought from WHSmith in the UK. If you look at torch's response to a fan's question, it says she's scared of HOOD SICKLE (look at the third picture and look at the red circled words). I think it's a Trappable villain or enemy but I can't really be too sure.

Blastermind's wearing a helmet, so they're not actually grafted to his noggin at least. Really strange this is how the new content got revealed though. By this point with the last two games, we knew most of the cast didn't we?

We know 2 trap masters from water, tech and earth, and 1 from each of the remaining elements.
We know 2 cores from tech and earth (plus life and undead, if we count "High Five" aka "Buzzerker" and "Bat Spin" aka "Frightengale"), and one from each of the other elements (if we count "Flip Wreck" - he's the only water core we know of).
We know 5 reposes, all from different elements. This might mean there are only one repose in each element, but it could still be 2 or 3 of each (though I hope it's limited to 1).
We know 2 of 8 "repaints" (Eon's Elite), with purple bases (gold-painted element pedestals) that don't match any of the games (green/orange/blue/red).
We know of 2 adventure packs and their included items, though not specifics about the levels or item functions.
We know about "Red Base" Barkley from the 3DS starter pack, but otherwise nothing about sidekicks.
We do not know about the two extra cores (the website says 18 as opposed to 16) - very curious about what they are.

Seems to me that we know at least half, maybe two thirds of the Skylanders - I'm not accounting for trappable villains in this post.

EDIT: Corrected "cold-painted" to "gold-painted"

Quote: GothamLord

So going back to come back over here to this thread, rather than ramble on in the other. I dont need a lecture on going off topic again or anything, But going back to my earlier point about Activision being worried about DI2 in the main thread and part of the reason things are being so tight lipped. After a bit of checking online -

http://vinylmationkingdom.com/...14/07/loki2.jpg

2 more DI characters are being revealed at the Marvel Panel on Saturday. Loki of course already having been hinted at before and now confirmed. Ronan the Accuser and Green Goblin are my bets but thats getting off topic with Skylanders stuff. The point is, this is another major reveal for Disney. I just cant wrap my head around Activision and why they are playing their marketing in this fashion. How many more nails need to be driven into the coffin before Activision starts fighting back? You are literally at the two biggest cons before your game. E3 at first, and now SDCC. NYCC is after the release so that one clearly isnt the last chance. Maybe Dragon Con in late August? Meh ...

Quote: GothamLord

I am happy we are getting more footage, but its not really anything "new". We arent seeing new mechanics beyond what we saw with the traps and the timer at E3. In fact the timer isnt even visible in all the new gameplay. That would be awesome to think this showed that at some point the timer might be removed. There isnt even a health bar though shown either, so its kinda moot to speculate that at this point. Given all the gameplay is mostly the same, thats kinda why I say there needs to be better marketing. You need to push the face that its not more of just the same thing over and over. Get out the fact there is something new and exciting. Right now... I aint feelin' that.

You know you are contradicting yourself, right?

First you say that the reveal of 2 new DI characters is a "major reveal"
Then you say that gameplay videos of Gulper, Gusto, Sheep Creep, Gearshift, Funny Bone and the new jalapeno villain aren't anything new, or interesting.

I understand that, except Gulper and the jalapeno villain, it isn't really anything outstanding, but so aren't Loki and another character.

Also, I think there is still GameScom, sometime in August.

And, I know you didn't know about Blastermind and Rocky Roll, when you writed that, so I won't mention them in the news.

Contradicting? You are welcome to feel that way. I dont think so. I think its a matter of viewpoint.

Its a major reveal for Disney in comparison. Loki being a figure just sold about 15,000+ units alone for that toy. Its got a license behind it. Its got millions of fangirls because of Tom Hiddleston playing the role. Its a character recognized from Thor, Avengers, and Thor 2 by millions of people that dont even read comics, but have been introduced to Marvel via the cinematic universe thats been created. Every new character Disney drops has a fanbase somewhere it looks to bring in. That is a major factor.

Skylanders doesnt have the same level property behind it. They dont have a TV show, movies, the comic hasnt started yet. All they have in game play and images. If they dont blow your customers mind with the gameplay or showing off the new gimmick mechanics in the videos, well its reduced to... "Oh, its a guy with a jalapeno for a head.....another food based character? Meh.. " Where is the stuff for the gimmick? Where is the new info about the traps? The way the timer works? Theres a implication from gameplay that maybe the tether is gone? Wheres the confirmation?

No....I got revealed a few fun bits of gameplay but nothing all that groundbreaking. Fun yes, but not changing my viewpoint worthy. Instead I got told they're reselling the same toy from back with the first game I already own, repainted. And told it has more stats, that I can buy again for a higher cost. Because...you know...its collectible.

i checked my two local gamestop today and see they are still two waves behind. there have now been 3 months since i asked about when new ssf figures would come to the shop. in the meanwhile i have been lucky to get the missing waves in a shops where there usually aint skylanders figurines. i take this as a sign that skylanders aint selling that much anymore. so the biggest game shops dont bother getting the new waves. while shops that didnt jump on the skylanders franchise in the beginning. and dont have any of the first waves, just randomly get the last waves of ssf. i had the same problem with wham shell back when he was the last wave of ssa, the shops didnt bother anymore. but now its even worse, and with falling interest of the shops. it looks like stt will be very hard to get all the new figures (32 new ones) at least in my country. if im gonna be in the unknown of when the new figures waves are gonna happen, and just find the new figures waves in random shops. its gonna be hard to have any interest in skylanders anymore. i also have checked with the online shops like toysrus and a few other, there is nothing of the 2 last waves. the marked is saturated with to much figurines by the look of it. in the usa i guess it will still be good, as its a product of usa. but for other countries it will just fall off the cliff, i take this as a sign of things to come....

Disney is also taking a smart route here with the figures, by giving them all individual SKUs. If a store doesnt have a specific character, they can pull it up in the system and likely order it for you. The stores save space, and the people get what they want. Compared to the random boxes that Skylanders comes in. The store manages to get a box or two with some characters no one likes. It sits there and takes space. The store doesnt order any more of the new waves until they have space again. But whats the motivation to restock when it took months to clear out the last bunch.

i think i will have to make a very hard decision soon... to leave skylanders or not.

I don't know if DI SKUs is really all that much better from a cost perspective. Better for the consumer sure.

I am somewhat more interested in the DI character releases because I am familiar with their stories. However, I was rather disappointed with their gameplay in DI 1. I won't be spending much on DI2 figures till I know that the game play is better....unless my kids tell me otherwise.

As for skylander characters, it's highly unknown. I don't know their story and really can't tell if I'll like their gameplay till I play them for a while.

Quote: GothamLord

So going back to come back over here to this thread, rather than ramble on in the other. I dont need a lecture on going off topic again or anything, But going back to my earlier point about Activision being worried about DI2 in the main thread and part of the reason things are being so tight lipped. After a bit of checking online -

http://vinylmationkingdom.com/...14/07/loki2.jpg


2 more DI characters are being revealed at the Marvel Panel on Saturday. Loki of course already having been hinted at before and now confirmed. Ronan the Accuser and Green Goblin are my bets but thats getting off topic with Skylanders stuff. The point is, this is another major reveal for Disney. I just cant wrap my head around Activision and why they are playing their marketing in this fashion. How many more nails need to be driven into the coffin before Activision starts fighting back? You are literally at the two biggest cons before your game. E3 at first, and now SDCC. NYCC is after the release so that one clearly isnt the last chance. Maybe Dragon Con in late August? Meh ...

Revealing characters isn't a big deal to me anymore...really. DI's introduction of characters don't impress me equally as Sky's introduction of new characters.

Back onto probably the real gripe--and I know we are both aligned on this but if we get a spreadsheet of features and technically DI wins hands down--however the gameplay elements in Sky feel more fun to me because there aren't "missions/tasks" in them. However, no real changes in Sky's gameplay is what's having me more somber than usual. Plunking the gimmick in the same game as what was presented in last 3 just isn't enough for me.

At least an online component would mix it up. Imagine if they re purposed all of the levels to be a compete with an online, where you have to perform "x" and see who wins...winner can get spiffs like hats, upgrades, etc when you accumulate.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

i think i will have to make a very hard decision soon... to leave skylanders or not.

I'll get the game for content, but not necessarily looking at any new toys. They haven't shown anything compelling to me yet. They should be doing backflips I'm spending ~$100 so far. It is a far cry from the thousands I've spent. It's essentially leaving, I think. If they don't get you sucked in the toys, they have a major problem. Without compelling content, that's where we are at.

its either buy the game and the new figures (no reposes or variants) or not buy anything at all. i dont go half way on this.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

its either buy the game and the new figures (no reposes or variants) or not buy anything at all. i dont go half way on this.

You know, I definitely understand your viewpoint. Getting the game creates potential demand for figures, so I get it.

SDCC is a wrap....and we got an announcement for the Dark Starter and got some names of some of the figures and got some footage of some additional characters. And we got a pic of the actual trap holder. Everyone satisfied now and PUMPED for the game? hehe


Kid Reporter Being Annoying and Adorable

Yay! SDCC is over!

I've been replaying SF with just Jade Fire Kraken and randomly 'one' other character. Just doing a level a day, maybe 2 on weekends.

I realized that I've been incorrect about why I didn't like SF so much. It wasn't the level length by itself, it was the lack of intensity associated with it. Armed with that knowledge and looking at what I've seen so far for Trap Team, I'm a little more hopeful, things look a bit more action packed, but its hard to discern them showing off a cahracter from 'flow' of the level.

Maybe I just have to admit to myself that bar some significant and unlikely gameplay changes, I'm just not interested anymore?
- :bluu:

eons elite is the worst rip off and cash grabbing so far, in skylanders history of releases.

I just can't believe that they haven't stated whether or not the trapped villains will be supported in future games, I guess the answer must be no because if were, they would have said so by now.

Quote: Zylek

I just can't believe that they haven't stated whether or not the trapped villains will be supported in future games, I guess the answer must be no because if were, they would have said so by now.

That's my #1 concern right now. And I have the feeling they KNOW now, but won't spill the beans until next year. If that's the case, I expect the implosion to occur next fall. The level of complaints will make our noise sound like a mouse.

they want preorders so they dont tell you that i guess, or else they wouldnt sell that many preorders.

Oh, so they're making #5 the sacrificial lamb? Or that people won't make negative purchase decisions based on lack of info? They don't really think too much of the adults with the purse strings.

Lets see... so new Soda Springs level playthrough posted today officially.

Timer is still there for villains. Disappointing but no surprise there. At least its clear the timer can extend beyond thirty seconds now.

Some villains, clearly such as Sheep Creep, are just going to be randomly pointless with no really depth to them. Random evil sheep for the sake of being evil. No monologue from the sheep or any personality. Just its evil and you can capture it. Oh boy banjo music. I could make some bad jokes of why the sheep turned evil now....

Specialty villain "stash" locations. Maybe just hidden bonus money points. Possible unlocking some might be part of tasks for leveling up a villain. Probably a "Unlock X about of Villain Stashes in every stage"- 3 Stars type of achievement for PM rank or something.

Trap Master specific Elemental gates. Are these specialty games similar to SWAP zones and their movement type, and we still have base elemental gates? Don't know. We could see a Life gate and a Tech gate as well in the level. Both looked to be made the crystal material too. I get the want to push the Trap Masters, but hopefully this doesnt make the point of getting Corelanders in the game null and void.

Trap Masters do massive damage against trappable villains. I would have liked to have seen the damage against Sheep Creep from Food Fight or another core character in comparison. As it seems almost pointless to buy core characters as this point for the game.

At least Troll Radio might be amusing to listen to

I guess switching element gates to gimmicklander-only element gates could be considered a "game changer". Just not in a good way

This first level had a dash of old and a dash of new. Replacing soda for bombs was nice...this whole level, as usual, is a technical introduction to all of the concepts you'll use in game. Buzz doesn't sound annoying, so there's that at least. First level looks like a "typical" first level of skylanders. so, more of the same with a slight twist. I hope they have regular elemental gates to go with the crystal ones.

Nothing wowing me beyond belief, nothing technically very wrong...just all feels very safe to me.

Quote: Zylek

I guess switching element gates to gimmicklander-only element gates could be considered a "game changer". Just not in a good way

a very bad game-changer

One thing I can say for certain is that the presentation is excellent. The in game animated cutscenes look really good. The writing is also still clever. I like the trademark Skylanders humor and it seems no different from this game.

As first levels go, it wasn't too bad. They introduced a lot of the core mechanics fairly well. I would've loved to actually fight Gulper, but meh, guess it's just how the game goes. I would hope that not all major boss fights are like Gulper's. That would be lame. All in all, I'm still looking forward to the game.

Honestly, if they came out today and said that trapped villains would be supported in future games, it would make me more excited for STT. I would also be buying many more traps. I think the graphics look great also.

The trapmasters themselves are one of my biggest disappointments as there isn't enough that makes them special to me, it seems like TFB was grasping at straws to make something special to be able to do in the game, the crystal element gates seems they are like mailing it in.

If there are going to be regular-Element gates, they should have shown one to quell fears they might not be. While we had an interview that said they're back and a picture with a regular Earth Element Gate, both are very old and at this point they could be replaced. It wouldn't surprise me.

I'm all-in-or-all-out anyway, so if I get the game the Trap Master Gates won't affect me (unless they lock an Element away for a wave- which would be fudging dumb), but I definitely see how you'd be annoyed by this. IMO, extending the villain timer was enough of an incentive to buy new Trap Masters if you want to anyway, especially considering all the reason you have to buy new Cores if you've got eight Elements from the last games is for new characters anyway. But they should not be more expensive than Core figures.
I thought they couldn't justify the extra cost in a non-forced way, which is why I didn't want to see more "incentive" to buy them besides a better villain timer- but with their price lowered, because better villain timer alone isn't great value and justification by being harder to make as the SWAP Force had, nor as cool as the Giants used to feel (also, the Giants had LightCore tech, so they would have been justified costing more than a Core regardless). I can't help but feel that might be right. LightCores have been brushed aside, which currently gives many reason to assume that they're gone- if that's the case, Trap Masters should have the cost of a LightCore instead, if Acti insist on making all Guest Stars more expensive than regular Skylanders.

And now... Ugh... I'm too bummed out to write much more.

Simply put: I like the environment design of this new level, I like new touches like adding lip-synch and I like the cutscenes while Gulper is attacking. Though I saw nothing particularly "wow"- nothing I'm particularly excited to mess around with- and left with a couple of concerns as well.
I'm still not seeing mention of Portal Masters in the game, which is what concerns me the most. It gave heart to the toys back in SA and made you involved in a unique way. It seems like a small touch, but it makes the toy gimmick feel like it fits in, so it's really quite big. I know this is just one level, but it's one of the only good gameplay videos we've gotten (also... Sewers of Supreme Stench didn't refer to the player either, from what I saw in Gamespot's footage of it, nor has any other gameplay we've seen really- so I'm not hopeful for this).

I know that it may be off topic but...
I have bought every single unique skylander for SSA, SG, and SSF. Cores, Giants, and swappers.
I have gotten each character not so much because I loved each and every character's design but more of a collecting thing. Swap Force has had more character designs that I liked, but it had a lot more new characters than giants, so that is to be expected. For Trap Team, there are a lot of good new designs but for the first time ever, I have actually thought about not getting some of the new characters... at least on day one.

Quote: Unreallystic

Maybe I just have to admit to myself that bar some significant and unlikely gameplay changes, I'm just not interested anymore?
- :bluu:

Admit it! Skylanders is a terrible game from a story viewpoint as well as from a financial standpoint (complete money black hole) but it's at least fun in the whimsical sense. The only thing I really care about is having fun with the characters I like and, to be honest, once you realize this it's not that hard to be like "ok".

Then again I sure as hell don't buy everything Skylanders related.

So Kid Reporter - Given Activision's actions regarding fans and YouTube videos and the fact that her scripts are probably pre-written, I think we can fairly easily figure out Activison's opinion of their fanbase at current. Or at least the people in their PR and Marketing divisions.

that boss fight in that new video was a joke. it looked so easy that it can be done playing it blindfolded.

http://youtu.be/7BQ8d7iNKCs

Gameplay