darkSpyro

I'll cut them some slack, I know they've been working very hard on this game. I just want them to break some shackles as it relates to some of their design decisions.

I know a lot of people are annoyed about needing a trap master per element but if you want to unlock all the areas just by them once they are ready to be cleared for the next game. That's what I did with tge adventure packs.

Most assuredly the "guest stars" ie Trap Masters will have no primary role in the next game. So, in my mind...you can buy because you 1. want and love the figure, 2. to complete the game 100% all areas or 3. are a collector. Those new to this franchise needs to understand that anything the current game "requires" for a new skylander won't be carried forward...so don't even go there and you'll enjoy the game more in my opinon.

*sighs*

What--that he has said CHARACTER DESIGNS is #1 (not the game) OR that they are still hiding something?

I also asked if traps would see continued support in future games, even if their usage changed.

He is going to brand you as a trouble maker lol.

I'm going to wait to hear what these "other things to do that" they "haven't said yet" are before I go off because its really not cute what they're doing. I get it's about the Trap Losers but they literally focusing a lot on them. You didn't even get this for Giants during Giants and weren't they supposed to be the originals and super awesome and whatnot?

Pffftttt. Let him brand me. If asking a few serious questions about the game is too intense for him or Activision to handle, he shouldn't have a public twitter account. I'm not harassing him, I'm not being rude. They promised continued support of all the characters. They've done the same with the magical items. Wondering about the traps is a valid inquiry.

He's only answering the most politically correct he can. I'm sure he would love to tell you everything but activision is restricting him from telling us anymore than what is already publicly known. Right now he is getting paid to promote this game not the future or past games so I can't blame him for his lack of extra info

I'm not mad at him directly. I get he just the poor person that Activision puts on the front lines to take the incoming mortar barrage. Its more Activision forcing him to respond with what I clearly can tell as canned answers to avoid any real confirmation on anything.

so the corelanders are now worthless even before they reach the shops... i have enough corelanders from the other games, so only trap masters is worth getting then. its nice to know this, it saves you a ton of money.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

so the corelanders are now worthless even before they reach the shops... i have enough corelanders from the other games, so only trap masters is worth getting then. its nice to know this, it saves you a ton of money.

I think they have enough time to read your comment and make some changes to compel a purchase from you. Don't rule it out. Oh, how about bringing back Heroics aka Giants style where you had to buy each ore? ROFLMAO

maybe we should write a letter and shove all the well thought and written issues we've had in the pre general discussion thread and send it to Lou signed by darkspyro users who want this game to live

Quote: shadowfox

maybe we should write a letter and shove all the well thought and written issues we've had in the pre general desccession thread and send it to Lou signed by darkspyro users who want this game to live

we have seen how they treat people over at youtube, so they are not gonna read it anyway. figures is the no #1, the game comes second. with that attitude we can take our money elsewhere. this is the beginning of the end of skylanders.

That's rich. Designs take first prize, huh? Inventive designs? Like Funny Bone?

Quote: CountMoneyBone

so the corelanders are now worthless even before they reach the shops... i have enough corelanders from the other games, so only trap masters is worth getting then. its nice to know this, it saves you a ton of money.

Actually, what would save you a ton of money is if they didn't completely devalue the toys you already have. Cores, both old and new, are pretty much worthless and are only good for walking through the main level. At least in Swap Force, they had Swap only areas but regular elemental gates you could still get in.

And as for writing them a well thought out letter: go for it. Write all your thoughts and concerns about their money grubbing ways into a nice long multipage letter. That way they can take it upon arrival and shred it into a fun new wig they can all wear while dancing around upon piles of our wasted money.

I miss Giants, where you could finish the game with 8 elements and one giant and be done. You weren't forced to buy anything and your other characters weren't useless compared to the Giants. It's clear how their dollar sign eyes have blinded them.

A letter is not going to do anything. The only way they would highly consider it is if we get the general buying public in on it (example: we put a social stink about corelanders being superfluous where the parents who are not fans can read them and then have them join voices with us).

Other than that, we're just "nitpicking" in their eyes.

Also, Painyatta > Funny Bone in terms of design. They really shot their wad in this game.

In SSA, SG and in SFF they stated early on that the characters would be supported going forward, they fact that they won't confirm traps are going to supported is VERY concerning. His comments indicate that we won't find out until the next game is announced...so in 2015 when it's too late and we've bought a bunch of one and done traps.

While I highly suspect the traps are going to be a "one and done" kinda money sink at this point, I do understand that its still VERY early in development for whatever Skylanders 5 is going to be. They might very well have no idea what to do with the things yet after this game. Should there have been more thought put into it, knowing the previous promise of continues support every game? Damn straight. Is there still time to redeem themselves in the fifth game? Yes, of course.

Lou can only tell us what the marketing and legal teams allow him to say. I can still find plenty of Giants figures on the shelves. I suspect we'll still have fairly easy access to traps come the fifth go round, if they actually prove a reason to bring them forward. The issue bringing them forward is the game mechanics being established here. With a trap, any Skylander can trap a villain. If the traps are used in the fifth game and any game after, we should in theory, be able to technically capture any villain from this point forward. Activision is already getting a pretty hefty roster of Skylanders - Cores, Swap Force, Giant, and now Trap Masters to program with forward capabilities. Adding villains into that mix? Even if there is less programming based on the fact they dont level the same way, something is going to reach a breaking point.

Even though they are early in the dev cycle for Skylanders 5, they should already have all their base requirements. Like supporting jumping, jump attacks, reading swaplanders correctly, etc. They have stated since DAY 1 that all toys would be supported in future games, so since their answer isn't an immediate "of course, we've always supported prior toys", I think the answer is really No at this point.

I was thinking about this and thought of it a different way. You know how the adventure pack levels from SSA didn't add levels in Swap Force, but they were recognized as items? Well, what if the traps are used in Skylanders 5...but not as traps. Imagine a new portal (yet again) with 8 trap holes around the edge. I haven't fleshed out the lore side of it, but what if each trap inserted into the portal held some sort of power or amped up something? If the new portal had lights under each trap slot to make them glow, the effect could be pretty dramatic, like a summoning circle or something.

That would be better than nothing but I don't think they'd go to that effort to create a portal around that. I would hope they won't need a need portal in Skylanders 5 but I'm sure they'll drum up some reason why we'll need to get another new one.

Quote: AzureStarline

I was thinking about this and thought of it a different way. You know how the adventure pack levels from SSA didn't add levels in Swap Force, but they were recognized as items? Well, what if the traps are used in Skylanders 5...but not as traps. Imagine a new portal (yet again) with 8 trap holes around the edge. I haven't fleshed out the lore side of it, but what if each trap inserted into the portal held some sort of power or amped up something? If the new portal had lights under each trap slot to make them glow, the effect could be pretty dramatic, like a summoning circle or something.

While my train of thought on the usage might not have been the same, thats similar to why I asked him about the secondary use in my Twitter question. Trying to wiggle out an answer, that even if they arent used to capture villains, that they still have some sort of use, to warrant their purchase.

Quote: Eggers

Quote: CountMoneyBone

so the corelanders are now worthless even before they reach the shops... i have enough corelanders from the other games, so only trap masters is worth getting then. its nice to know this, it saves you a ton of money.

Actually, what would save you a ton of money is if they didn't completely devalue the toys you already have. Cores, both old and new, are pretty much worthless and are only good for walking through the main level. At least in Swap Force, they had Swap only areas but regular elemental gates you could still get in.

And as for writing them a well thought out letter: go for it. Write all your thoughts and concerns about their money grubbing ways into a nice long multipage letter. That way they can take it upon arrival and shred it into a fun new wig they can all wear while dancing around upon piles of our wasted money.

I miss Giants, where you could finish the game with 8 elements and one giant and be done. You weren't forced to buy anything and your other characters weren't useless compared to the Giants. It's clear how their dollar sign eyes have blinded them.

I totally agree with your Giants comment. I never felt like I was forced to buy the other characters just to enjoy the game. With Swap Force, you had to get at least 8 characters for all of the swap zones, and in each case, you only had 2 characters to pick from for a movement type. I think the movement types are a horrible idea.

I actually liked the swapzones, they were something different, like the flying zones and racing zones. There hadn't been anything quite like that in past games.

With the Giants however, the one Giant you needed to finish the game, came with the Starter Pack. This of course is a horrible business model to Activision that wants to bleed as much money out of your wallet as possible. Giants you could have played the game on buying the Pre-Portal owner pack alone, assuming you already have the 8 elements from the first game. Activision wants you to buy more figures beyond the base $60-70 game drop that has been discussed on a view different threads. Forced purchases by locking things tied to the new figures of course is their response to this.


Lets look at this since the first game and minimum purchases required to unlock areas. We're assuming since the first game you got all 8 elements as well. Prices are of course averaged out retail release prices, and not taking into account of sales.

Spyro's Adventure - Base Game w/ 3 Elements ($70) + 5 Skylanders($10 x 5) = $120

Giants - Base Game w/ single Giant = $70

Swap Force - Base game w/ Two Swap Force movement types ($70) + 6 Other Swap Force movement types ($15 x 6) = $160

Trap Team - Base Game w/ One Trap Master and Two Elemental Traps ($70) + 7 Trap Masters (7 x $15) + 6 Elemental Traps (6 x $6)+ Kaos Trap ($6) = $217

$217 now is the minimum cash value needed to unlock all elemental gates and be able to trap all villain types. Given gates cant be accessed by anyone other than Trap Masters, as Cores/Giants/Swap Force are unable to do so.

Activision saw with Giants that letting the older fanbase people only run with the previous figures and very little forced motivation to buy new toys that their profit margin was going to be far lower than desired. Going on new fans of course would get profits, but not the billion dollar franchise we're seeing right now. SF saw a major turn around with that and the movement types. It forced at least 6 more purchases out of the old fanbase. Activision however has clearly shown to be greedy in this mindset, as the forced purchases has jumped up once again. Of course we dont even know what the deal is with the Sidekicks. That could in turn add even more onto the total cost before all is said and done. Not everyone already has sidekicks, or didnt see the point before as they didnt add anything to the game. Now if there is a forced unlock feature and they have a price tag attached...

This also doesnt include the 3DS version that has shown to include variants or early release figures though it. Some people are inclined to pick up the 3DS in order to get these figures before their release as singles, or to avoid the second hand market. This will again add to the cost value and profit for Activision.

Quote: AzureStarline

I was thinking about this and thought of it a different way. You know how the adventure pack levels from SSA didn't add levels in Swap Force, but they were recognized as items? Well, what if the traps are used in Skylanders 5...but not as traps. Imagine a new portal (yet again) with 8 trap holes around the edge. I haven't fleshed out the lore side of it, but what if each trap inserted into the portal held some sort of power or amped up something? If the new portal had lights under each trap slot to make them glow, the effect could be pretty dramatic, like a summoning circle or something.

I previously brought this up in another thread about Traps being relegated to magical items. To be honest, it seems the most probably option and would probably be related to element it relates to (Magic attack for Magic Trap and whatnot).

Quote: DM235

I totally agree with your Giants comment. I never felt like I was forced to buy the other characters just to enjoy the game. With Swap Force, you had to get at least 8 characters for all of the swap zones, and in each case, you only had 2 characters to pick from for a movement type. I think the movement types are a horrible idea.

Movement types are still a better idea than Traptanium crystals that do essentially nothing (oh, a damage boost for an already simple game! How cute)

Quote: GothamLord

SF saw a major turn around with that and the movement types. It forced at least 6 more purchases out of the old fanbase. Activision however has clearly shown to be greedy in this mindset, as the forced purchases has jumped up once again.

The difference between the Swap Force movement types and Trap Losers Gates is that the Gates were once opened by ANY figure of that element and have now been made exclusive to the Trap Losers. Sure you can foam at the mouth for Swap Force having dual element gates but the thing is they were easily accessed by core/Giants simply by turning on Player 2.

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

The difference between the Swap Force movement types and Trap Losers Gates is that the Gates were once opened by ANY figure of that element and have now been made exclusive to the Trap Losers. Sure you can foam at the mouth for Swap Force having dual element gates but the thing is they were easily accessed by core/Giants simply by turning on Player 2.

I understand this, I have mentioned this before. I'm referring to the forced purchase because of movement types and access to the "specialty" Swap Zones. If they wanted to do this again with Trap Masters I would have been okay with it. 7 additional TMs to access element specific Traptanium areas, and left the base Elemental Gates as general to ANY character of that type.

Quote: Zylek

That would be better than nothing but I don't think they'd go to that effort to create a portal around that. I would hope they won't need a need portal in Skylanders 5 but I'm sure they'll drum up some reason why we'll need to get another new one.

i think skylanders 5 will be a reboot of the franchise, where everything old will not be compatible anymore. they have already started talking about the old figures will not be supported anymore. also we know that element gates for cores is not in trap team anymore either. so we should be extra aware of any changes from now on. it can be signs of what to come.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

i think skylanders 5 will be a reboot of the franchise, where everything old will not be compatible anymore. they have already started talking about the old figures will not be supported anymore. also we know that element gates for cores is not in trap team anymore either. so we should be extra aware of any changes from now on. it can be signs of what to come.

OOOOH HOOO HOOO... They will get so much backlash from the buying public. I almost want it to happen so they can see a major drop in sales.

I'm on the fence with a reboot. The idea of all my figures becoming obsolete, sure doesnt go over well with me. On the other hand, I kinda see the need for it at this point for the series to survive. The game is over burdened with characters. As much as I like them all, there are WAY to many to continue to support every game. Especially if they want to KEEP ADDING 16+ characters a game. Plus villains that can be turned "good". End the character count as this. Done. No more. We have the large Core roster, the Giants, the Swap Force, the Trap Masters, and now reformed Doom Raiders. Done. That is a very large roster of characters to continue to develop and do things with. Focus on better game mechanics and story. Reboot the characters with an online feature where we dont need to buy multiple series of the characters. They can do something like slowly release all the figures over time as a SINGLE figure and upgrades and levels up via the online servers.

The old figure might not be SUPPORTED playing the new game, but by adding them into the game, they add some sort of bonus to acknowledge the older fan base providing in game boosts overall or to the same character(s).

If they're gonna reboot the series, they might as well let Sony buy Spyro and Crash Bandicoot back from them like they wanted. We haven't heard any mention of Spyro being in Trap Team yet and he hasn't been any more important than the other Skylanders since Spyro's Adventure (even then, you don't have to use him to complete the game if you don't want to). I know that Activision used Spyro to get more people to buy Skylanders, but I'm pretty sure the series has become successful enough even without Spyro, especially with the audience of kids who never heard of Spyro prior to Skylanders.

whether its skylanders 5 or a later iteration, there will be a point where the tech in the figures doesn't do 'enough' to be relevant in the new game. How they handle the "generation one" figures will be a major determiner on whether the franchise continues or fades away. If the new stuff is noticeably upgraded from the old figures, then they may get away with it.

i think the "generation one" figures would still need to be at least able to be registered in game, even if they just added to the elemental boost, or behaved like a magic item, giving a the current figure a boost.

how they handle traps in the next game will be a pre-cursor to where they are going with this and how they are viewing forwards compatibility now. traptanium elemental gates also give a bit of an idea how they are thinking on this.

it'll be interesting to see what the "stuff they haven't said yet" is. hopefully, there will be something else elemental that the cores can participate in as well.

They could probably easily rename Spyro and Cynder and not many people would probably have a issue. Not sure if the character designs on both of them has any need for the legal department to deal with. I doubt Activision really has any desire to let go of Spyro though. Crash maybe. Spyro right now is the ace in the hole for Skylanders. If sales start to drop, they'll respin something with Skylanders with Spyro again at the helm and laugh all the way to the bank as people come flooding back because Spyro is plastered all over it.

I think the best approach still is to wait it out. You can simply wait out for later deals or other promotions like the tons we've had over the last few months and cut those initial investments into little tiny pieces. That's what I'm definitely doing this time around and I'd encourage others to do the same.

The series and figures do not need a reboot...how they approach the gameplay and over-marketing with the figures DEFINITELY DOES.

Quote: GothamLord

They could probably easily rename Spyro and Cynder and not many people would probably have a issue. Not sure if the character designs on both of them has any need for the legal department to deal with. I doubt Activision really has any desire to let go of Spyro though. Crash maybe. Spyro right now is the ace in the hole for Skylanders. If sales start to drop, they'll respin something with Skylanders with Spyro again at the helm and laugh all the way to the bank as people come flooding back because Spyro is plastered all over it.

They so couldn't without having a lawsuit happen since Spyro is a different franchise all together.

Honestly, when sales drop, I can see them finally bringing in Crash. The nostalgia factor and familiarity of Spyro is why Skylanders found an audience in the first place. Doing the same with Crash Bandicoot would bring a lot of people in as well.

Also, why are people seriously considering a reboot? I don't think a reboot where the originals can't be used would be a viable option at all for a game that is supposed to be about Toys coming back to life. It is also a Toy franchise (even though they're more like figurines) so the number of characters isn't the problem.

THE PROBLEM is the quality of the game, which is POOR. The characters aren't actual characters, they're avatars with powers. They have no personality, they lack character development and they are all unimportant to the paper thin plot. I'd also argue constantly having Kaos as a villain is what is killing the storyline because it's the same threat over and over again.

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: GothamLord

They could probably easily rename Spyro and Cynder and not many people would probably have a issue. Not sure if the character designs on both of them has any need for the legal department to deal with. I doubt Activision really has any desire to let go of Spyro though. Crash maybe. Spyro right now is the ace in the hole for Skylanders. If sales start to drop, they'll respin something with Skylanders with Spyro again at the helm and laugh all the way to the bank as people come flooding back because Spyro is plastered all over it.

They so couldn't without having a lawsuit happen since Spyro is a different franchise all together.

They could if they sold him and there was a deal in the contract regarding it. Just doing it for S&Gs, no. Maybe I wasnt clear enough in my statement.

Quote:

Honestly, when sales drop, I can see them finally bringing in Crash. The nostalgia factor and familiarity of Spyro is why Skylanders found an audience in the first place. Doing the same with Crash Bandicoot would bring a lot of people in as well.

Also, why are people seriously considering a reboot? I don't think a reboot where the originals can't be used would be a viable option at all for a game that is supposed to be about Toys coming back to life. It is also a Toy franchise (even though they're more like figurines) so the number of characters isn't the problem.

THE PROBLEM is the quality of the game, which is POOR. The characters aren't actual characters, they're avatars with powers. They have no personality, they lack character development and they are all unimportant to the paper thin plot. I'd also argue constantly having Kaos as a villain is what is killing the storyline because it's the same threat over and over again.

The number of characters is a problem. You just said they lack character development. Characters are never going to get development unless there is a focus on them as individuals. Making new characters every new game is never going to allow for that. The new focus will always be on the new gimmick. Add in the older a character gets without recognition, the less reason to waste time to provide them development.

Yes, the quality of the game is lacking in terms of development and story. It really needs these. The excuse of it being a kids game only goes but so far. The rehashed Saturday morning cartoon villain from the 70s -80s cartoons doesnt really fly all that well anymore. Kids arent stupid (as a whole) and they shouldnt be treated as such with the story. They can handle the concept of a progressive plot.

A reboot happens if their is a drastic change in the way the gameplay works. It just has to happen. A reboot also seems more likely given we're already seeing the phasing out of older characters or figure types. The cores, unless there is a massive hidden reveal coming, have basically become pointless as of Trap Team. It would be better to reboot everything now, to save it before we are another two or three games deep into it and even more figures are becoming moot points.

As I said, the old figures could still serve a purpose a in game with boosts and bonuses but they arent the "playable" figure. That gets started over and we dump all this variant/repose/lightcore nonsense.

Quote: GothamLord

They could if they sold him and there was a deal in the contract regarding it. Just doing it for S&Gs, no. Maybe I wasnt clear enough in my statement.

That's bad business. Besides, I don't think the right holders of Spyro would be stupid enough to allow a character exactly like Spyro to be used without it being, well, Spyro.

I could imagine they would have put forth a deal where, if the contract goes up, they can't use any of Spyro's image or likeness.

Quote:

The number of characters is a problem. You just said they lack character development. Characters are never going to get development unless there is a focus on them as individuals. Making new characters every new game is never going to allow for that. The new focus will always be on the new gimmick. Add in the older a character gets without recognition, the less reason to waste time to provide them development.

A reboot happens if their is a drastic change in the way the gameplay works. It just has to happen. A reboot also seems more likely given we're already seeing the phasing out of older characters or figure types. The cores, unless there is a massive hidden reveal coming, have basically become pointless as of Trap Team. It would be better to reboot everything now, to save it before we are another two or three games deep into it and even more figures are becoming moot points.

As I said, the old figures could still serve a purpose a in game with boosts and bonuses but they arent the "playable" figure. That gets started over and we dump all this variant/repose/lightcore nonsense.

Characters being focused on is never going to happen. From SA, we saw that character development was not a priority and the whole "Skylanders are a team/Not one Skylander is more important" is the excuse they make to not deal with character development. A reboot would not change that at all.

Also, a reboot would not do the series any good. What, do you seriously think they're actually going to put in a real plot or give importance to individual Skylanders? The reason it's anonymous is because, even from the beginning, thats the only way the concept would work. It was a conscious decision that happened as soon as the Toys to Life idea was green lit because the journey would have had to be adapted to each individual toy resulting in less figures which would mean less profit.

Looking at another issue, having a reboot with the older figures no longer being playable would incite delicious parental outrage and would do more harm to the series than good. One of the main selling points is that these figures can be used in future games. Turning the roughly 259+ characters into "power ups" and having to explictly buy new ones just to play will kill the franchise.

Why are people forgetting Skylanders are considered a Toy franchise as well (even though they're a figurine)? Variants, Reposes and whatever other new stuff is part of their appeal. And don't knock variants, they're the best thing about this series. [/personal rant]

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Also, a reboot would not do the series any good. What, do you seriously think they're actually going to put in a real plot or give importance to individual Skylanders? The reason it's anonymous is because, even from the beginning, thats the only way the concept would work. It was a conscious decision that happened as soon as the Toys to Life idea was green lit because the journey would have had to be adapted to each individual toy resulting in less figures which would mean less profit.

Looking at another issue, having a reboot with the older figures no longer being playable would incite delicious parental outrage and would do more harm to the series than good. One of the main selling points is that these figures can be used in future games. Turning the roughly 259+ characters into "power ups" and having to explictly buy new ones just to play will kill the franchise.

Do I think they would put a real plot into it? Sadly no. I do think it would do the series good from a game play/mechanics/extended lifespan aspect. Would it do the series good for Activision from a profit stand point? Probably not, as you said, it would mean less figures to pump out on a yearly basis. I have my own brainstorming of how I could make the series work from an online aspect and a single figure per character. However its far to much to post here or map out.

As for parent outrage. Its coming anyways. Parents are getting tied of spending hundreds on this series every year for their kids. We know as of this game, the older figures cant even open up the elemental portals. The traps are likely to have no use come the next game. The harm is already coming. Its better to control the fallout than letting it just happen and then try and pick up the pieces.


Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Why are people forgetting Skylanders are considered a Toy franchise as well (even though they're a figurine)? Variants, Reposes and whatever other new stuff is part of their appeal. And don't knock variants, they're the best thing about this series. [/personal rant]

1) Variants being the best thing about the series is a subjective opinion. If having to re-buy characters for a color palette swap is considered the high point of the franchise, we have a serious problem.

2) If Activision treated it like a toy franchise, we might have a better chance of considering it one. Activision is just now getting into comic books. There is no cartoon series, movie, or saturation of commercials for any of the side products. I dont see any commercials for the tie-in Mega Bloks, mobile apps, or other random merchandising. I barely see commercials on TV for the games themselves.

Quote: GothamLord

Do I think they would put a real plot into it? Sadly no. I do think it would do the series good from a game play/mechanics/extended lifespan aspect. Would it do the series good for Activision from a profit stand point? Probably not, as you said, it would mean less figures to pump out on a yearly basis. I have my own brainstorming of how I could make the series work from an online aspect and a single figure per character. However its far to much to post here or map out.

As for parent outrage. Its coming anyways. Parents are getting tied of spending hundreds on this series every year for their kids. We know as of this game, the older figures cant even open up the elemental portals. The traps are likely to have no use come the next game. The harm is already coming. Its better to control the fallout than letting it just happen and then try and pick up the pieces.

There are no pieces to pick up though. The series was never something that could last, it was going to implode at some point. Activision is milking it for all its worth and, considering just how much they're milking it this time around, it seems they feel the end is near.

Skylanders having a life online is something that seemed promising with Skylanders Universe and would have been perfect to have a unique to each character. However, they took it down and replaced it with, what? Minigames. That was the final nail in the coffin for online play.

Quote: GothamLord

1) Variants being the best thing about the series is a subjective opinion. If having to re-buy characters for a color palette swap is considered the high point of the franchise, we have a serious problem.

2) If Activision treated it like a toy franchise, we might have a better chance of considering it one. Activision is just now getting into comic books. There is no cartoon series, movie, or saturation of commercials for any of the side products. I dont see any commercials for the tie-in Mega Bloks, mobile apps, or other random merchandising. I barely see commercials on TV for the games themselves.

1) I did put "personal rant" at the end of that sentence for a reason. The variants are the only thing I care to buy and, no, I don't re-buy figures in their basic form either (though, thanks to repeats in the starter packs, I have repeats).

2) Activision is handling it like a toy line (variants, reposes, etc.) without putting any money into promoting it as anything other than "bring your toys to life in this new adventure for your [insert console]!". Comics for toys have happened in the past though I feel there is no cartoon series due to a lack of station interest/"good enough" deal for Activision. And with all that lack of funding for the promotion, they somehow managed to make a lot of money and sold a lot.

I'd be inclined to disagree on two points here. The franchise was most certainly something that COULD have lasted. Activision however doesnt have a vision for a franchise like this beyond a decade or so at best. They want to milk it for as much as money as fast as possible, rather than a slower steady income of money over multiple years. This however is a industry problem for a lot of companies. They want fast big money, compared to steady lighter profit return. This is far from a Activision specific issue.

Universe as a open world online game was a good concept. "Concept" being the open world aspect. The rest of the game fell short because it was just a bunch of mini games. It wasnt a game in and of itself. Having an open world game utilized by servers on the consoles like more adult audience MMO's would however serve the game better. Running around doing tasks, missions, interacting with NPCs as you moved around the entire span of Skylands. Far different than a personal island builder and a handful of mini-games.

As for treating it like a toy line. Maybe its because I grew up in the 80s and toys were marketed much differently back then. Cartoons were made to promote toy lines. He-Man being one of the biggest regarding that. Marvel's Micronauts comic book series was created specifically to sell the action figure toy line. Commercials for the toys themselves were in every block of commercials during the shows. Advertisements in the comics. Without this stuff it goes back to the first point, and clearly not wanting anything long term from the franchise besides a few quick years of big fast money and then washing their hands of it and moving on to the next fad.

what i meant with a reboot is that they are gonna get rid of all the old characters and start with new ones, that include getting rid of spyro too. the characters persona's are gonna be there but they are gonna be like totally new. right now story wise its already a reboot with the trap team story and older characters/figures is more less important than ever before. when it comes to a game changer Vicarious Visions is the one that have had the most change going on. we can see that in swap force, with the jumping, swappable tops and bottoms and the online features they included. while tfb is like a totally different, they had one great idea for a game and that was not meant to be stretched out to two more games. we did clearly see how badly sg ended up, people felt it was a more a expansion pack than a whole new game. i think that Vicarious Visions will yet again be the one that bring the game changer. with skylanders 5 it is gonna be with online gameplay, and that is why they will drop all the older characters. also with the old wii outta the way, that hold everything back, anything can happen now.

i see some here say it will not go down good with parents, but there is already 4(included trap team now) games you can play with the older charterers. i dont think they will be offended by a reboot at all, it will just be a new game to them to buy.

Some of you may think that removing old characters from the game is a good idea - but answer this:
What in-story reason could they give to a child for their figures not working from game 5 onwards?

• Saying that a character died would upset young children
  
• Saying that a character is 'on another important mission' would only work for one game.
  
• ...
  

Quote: jckelsall

Some of you may think that removing old characters from the game is a good idea - but answer this:
What in-story reason could they give to a child for their figures not working from game 5 onwards?

• Saying that a character died would upset young children
  
• Saying that a character is 'on another important mission' would only work for one game.
  
• ...
  

i think they will just move on to the new and be happy with it, the new one will be more exciting to use. also if they want to play the old characters they have 4 games to play them in by now. but we know activisions and they havent let us down so far with the reposing of the old. so im sure we will see some of the old one back. but if your obsession with one certain figure i guess it can be a problem of course.

Quote: jckelsall

Some of you may think that removing old characters from the game is a good idea - but answer this:
What in-story reason could they give to a child for their figures not working from game 5 onwards?

• Saying that a character died would upset young children
  
• Saying that a character is 'on another important mission' would only work for one game.
  
• ...
  

Neither of those would make sense anyway, because the Skylanders are frozen into toys. They can't be on missions while you aren't playing with them since they're frozen into statues (and it would be awfully convinient if they, somehow, only go on missions when you aren't using them) and for the same reason they couldn't die without you seeing it.

Then again, we have the iOS games and SF 3DS, which IIRC don't offer explanations for how you can keep the characters in them without toys. I think SF 3DS had an explanation about how Hugo kept the Skylanders in a Portal or something, but it's glossed over and explained poorly (and if it was mentioned, I think it's only at the start of the game).
SA 3DS and Giants allow you do store two characters on them at a time, but actually have a good explanation for that (using Seeker magic/a machine made by Hugo, they're kept in crystals). It doesn't explain how you can play them on both the 3DS and console versions at once, if they're supposed to be stored in one yet also frozen and usable in the other, but situations you'll be playing both at the same time are uncommon and regardless, it's a better explanation than... Well, no explanation.

Since S2s contradict how the characters are supposed to be frozen outside of Skylands and were never given an official explanation, I don't think they would bother to explain it if old characters or items stopped working in the series.

The best explanation I could come up with would be something about the magic of Skylands going wack and your Portal not recognising some older Skylanders, in a Skylanders game that would limit character choices, because of that.

If they decide to remove compatibility for old characters, I can see them removing those who haven't gotten an S2 and aren't Guest Stars. Then again, not many Skylanders fall under that category...

Quote: Arc of Archives

Quote: jckelsall

Some of you may think that removing old characters from the game is a good idea - but answer this:
What in-story reason could they give to a child for their figures not working from game 5 onwards?

• Saying that a character died would upset young children
  
• Saying that a character is 'on another important mission' would only work for one game.
  
• ...
  

Neither of those would make sense anyway, because the Skylanders are frozen into toys. They can't be on missions while you aren't playing with them since they're frozen into statues (and it would be awfully convinient if they, somehow, only go on missions when you aren't using them) and for the same reason they couldn't die without you seeing it.

Then again, we have the iOS games and SF 3DS, which IIRC don't offer explanations for how you can keep the characters in them without toys. I think SF 3DS had an explanation about how Hugo kept the Skylanders in a Portal or something, but it's glossed over and explained poorly (and if it was mentioned, I think it's only at the start of the game).
SA 3DS and Giants allow you do store two characters on them at a time, but actually have a good explanation for that (using Seeker magic/a machine made by Hugo, they're kept in crystals). It doesn't explain how you can play them on both the 3DS and console versions at once, if they're supposed to be stored in one yet also frozen and usable in the other, but situations you'll be playing both at the same time are uncommon and regardless, it's a better explanation than... Well, no explanation.

Since S2s contradict how the characters are supposed to be frozen outside of Skylands and were never given an official explanation, I don't think they would bother to explain it if old characters or items stopped working in the series.

The best explanation I could come up with would be something about the magic of Skylands going wack and your Portal not recognising some older Skylanders, in a Skylanders game that would limit character choices, because of that.

If they decide to remove compatibility for old characters, I can see them removing those who haven't gotten an S2 and aren't Guest Stars. Then again, not many Skylanders fall under that category...

Here's how I see it. Once you put a Skylander on the Portal of Power, they return to Skylands and they stay in Skylands. Once your take your Skylander off, they go back to the hub like, Skylanders Academy. Reposes are not the characters themselves, but the Wow-Pow upgrade with the toy representing which Skylander the upgrade is for.

Quote: GothamLord

Some people are inclined to pick up the 3DS in order to get these figures before their release as singles, or to avoid the second hand market.

Some of us like to buy the 3DS version to... you know... play it.

Yes, especially since Swap Force 3DS was actually fun SSA 3DS...not at all

What they could do in future games would be to allow the game to detect you are using an older series figure of a certain element. The game then beams just a generic character into the game for all older figures of that element. The generic character could look like one of eight ghostly elemental spirits or something.

The character would not have/collect gold, and can't gain experience (maybe have HP/stats comparable to a leveled up character). It would have basic attacks related to the element.