darkSpyro

This is a crossover topic with TT, but it seemed a better fit here:

Right now, the Convention (E3, Gamescom, etc) Riot Shield Shredder traps are going for quite a bit on eBay. Presumably they are offered as pre-order bonuses in Germany as well, so there should be a fair amount of them out there and the price will eventually drop. However, it doesn't seem totally unlikely that none of the exclusivity will matter if you can infinitely clone him in the villain vault by putting him into a new trap and selling him, while he stays in the vault.

That is good for all of us, since we can get our hands on the villain variants much more cheaply than otherwise due to huge supply, but I am not sure if it breaks any of the game mechanics somehow? Also, despite eBay protections, there is definitely an issue with buying digital goods - ie they may send you the life trap, but it might not have the right guy in it, which can be hard to argue for restitutions.

I asked Zoo Lou on Twitter and am curious for his response.

Quote: jbkaok

This is a crossover topic with TT, but it seemed a better fit here:

Right now, the Convention (E3, Gamescom, etc) Riot Shield Shredder traps are going for quite a bit on eBay. Presumably they are offered as pre-order bonuses in Germany as well, so there should be a fair amount of them out there and the price will eventually drop. However, it doesn't seem totally unlikely that none of the exclusivity will matter if you can infinitely clone him in the villain vault by putting him into a new trap and selling him, while he stays in the vault.

That is good for all of us, since we can get our hands on the villain variants much more cheaply than otherwise due to huge supply, but I am not sure if it breaks any of the game mechanics somehow? Also, despite eBay protections, there is definitely an issue with buying digital goods - ie they may send you the life trap, but it might not have the right guy in it, which can be hard to argue for restitutions.

I asked Zoo Lou on Twitter and am curious for his response.

I asked lou about that on twitter and he said they are not infinitely cloned "if you trap a sheep creep and trap him again on the same save file he will just show up as sheep creep in the vault, Theres only one"

That's not what I'm saying: I'm saying that if I put him on a new trap from my vault, then take him to a different save file at someone else's house (or sell him to someone else on eBay) then I've basically copied him, and there is no rarity to villain variants. [which is a good thing for people who want to get them all!]

Quote: jbkaok

That's not what I'm saying: I'm saying that if I put him on a new trap from my vault, then take him to a different save file at someone else's house (or sell him to someone else on eBay) then I've basically copied him, and there is no rarity to villain variants. [which is a good thing for people who want to get them all!]

Do we have enough information on how the Villain Vault works to know if this is a workable strategy? I would think that the vault would transfer villains out of the vault and onto your trap each time, not making a copy onto the trap and leaving a duplicate in the vault. If they've set it up that way then it will be pretty easy for anyone/everyone to get their hands on all of the exclusive variant villains. However, since Activision has always failed to make exclusive or chase variants very easy to get hold of, I doubt that's the case.

-Doug

If i copy my villain to the save file and the save file deletes or gets corrupted (like wii/wii u last year was doing) then am I screwed out of this villain?

Quote: darkchylde28

Quote: jbkaok

That's not what I'm saying: I'm saying that if I put him on a new trap from my vault, then take him to a different save file at someone else's house (or sell him to someone else on eBay) then I've basically copied him, and there is no rarity to villain variants. [which is a good thing for people who want to get them all!]

Do we have enough information on how the Villain Vault works to know if this is a workable strategy? I would think that the vault would transfer villains out of the vault and onto your trap each time, not making a copy onto the trap and leaving a duplicate in the vault. If they've set it up that way then it will be pretty easy for anyone/everyone to get their hands on all of the exclusive variant villains. However, since Activision has always failed to make exclusive or chase variants very easy to get hold of, I doubt that's the case.

-Doug

He's already somewhat easier to get hold of, since if you preorder in Germany you get him. In-game variants have always been easier to get than cosmetic ones (re-release of QD Rattle Shake), so it could be the same for RSS. I guess the question is do they want to let you move villains between games. If I remove RSS from my vault into a trap, and then put him from the trap into my friend's vault, have I lost RSS unless I retrieve him from my friend at a later date? Have to wait and see I suppose.

1. Load villian into Vault.
2. Create back up of save file.
3. Copy villian to trap
4. Restore backed up save file.
5. Repeat as needed.

Or keep him in the life torch trap and use the life trap what you get in the starter pack

I bet the "thing" that makes the Villain look like an Alt Deco is inside the exclusive Trap, so you can't clone it.

Yes, from what I've heard, variants are exclusive to their traps.

Quote: Matteomax

Yes, from what I've heard, variants are exclusive to their traps.

I would like this because I won't have to worry about deleting them by mistake.

Oh so you will have to buy another life torch just to capture other life villains because he's stuck in that trap

Quote: GIANTSRULE

Oh so you will have to buy another life torch just to capture other life villains because he's stuck in that trap

What is making you required to get another life trap, why can't you just use your life logholder trap?

Im gettin most of them anyway

I fully expect further development on the Skylanders Editor (or something similar) to allow for the loading of variant villians and such.

There is going to be villain variants ? I had no idea .

UncleBob said it. There has to be some unique code in a memory location that specifically identifies the variant villain. The original trap may be identify him as unwritabe, for sure. However, if you can identifiy the unique and the key, you can write the variant villain on to a different trap and play as him.

I would not be surprised if someone figures out a way to write a villain on to a figure, or creates some custom version of the villain with the rfid embedded.

I am pretty sure the will be no further development for the skylander editor as activision are sue happy. Also I beleive the traps use a different type of chip and the can't be read by the current portal at all and I doubt there will be drivers for the new ones.

A.) I seriously doubt Activision would have any grounds to base a lawsuit on, unless they suddenly decided to encrypt the traps - which is odd, since none of the other figures have ever been encrypted.

B.) You can't sue someone if you don't know who they are.

C.) I seriously doubt that this new portal is significantly different enough from the older ones that the older driver either won't work at all or can't be tweaked to work. Keep in mind, the newer portals have worked with previous games, giving gamers the option to get rid of/recycle their old portals. If they change this one significantly, then there's the risk there will be issues with the older games - at least the PC version of the first one.

Confirmed: The E3 Trap uses the same chip/architecure as everything else. Coded as an item with additional data for the villian.

Quote: UncleBob

I fully expect further development on the Skylanders Editor (or something similar) to allow for the loading of variant villians and such.

I wouldn't expect anything, actually.

Agreed, the know-how is out there, but no one seems to want to tinker with the thing...too paranoid about Acti

I wouldn't be too concerned with missing out on the Riot Shield Shredder trap, especially in the US. Activision has never kept an in-game character, variant or otherwise, from reaching the masses (again, in the US; although limited quantities did/do exist for some variants). They know a large enough amount of customers want to own every in-game character. See Gnarly Tree Rex and Quick Draw Rattle Shake as proof.

The Riot Shield Shredder trap will release eventually outside of the E3 version, just keep up with the releases and be patient.

^ They need to get on releasing the variants everywhere else already. Aus is still waiting for some release of LightCore Bumble Blast and Quickdraw Rattle Shake and we never got Royal Double Trouble (also we're still waiting for the Giantkicks, but at least we know we can finally get them for TT). It's stupid that the US several old figures re-released in single packs (Pop Thorn, Punk Shock, Wind-Up) before other countries even have all the figures. Getting exclusive triple packs ages after the completionist collectors have the figures from them doesn't help.

I wouldn't be surprised if, to prevent mantez's method, they made it so you can't copy this game file. I know you can't copy files for certain Wii games (like Mario Kart), though I don't know about other consoles, actually.

I thought SkyEditor development stopped during SF?

It did. Doesn't mean someone else might not pick up the project.

Quote: UncleBob

A.) I seriously doubt Activision would have any grounds to base a lawsuit on, unless they suddenly decided to encrypt the traps - which is odd, since none of the other figures have ever been encrypted.

B.) You can't sue someone if you don't know who they are.

C.) I seriously doubt that this new portal is significantly different enough from the older ones that the older driver either won't work at all or can't be tweaked to work. Keep in mind, the newer portals have worked with previous games, giving gamers the option to get rid of/recycle their old portals. If they change this one significantly, then there's the risk there will be issues with the older games - at least the PC version of the first one.

All tags have the data encrypted (and so far all games have used the same encryption). Making an application that can defeat the encryption is illegal (based on the DMCA, as far as I know).

We do not know if the new portal will be two RFID readers (one for the trap and one for the Skylanders) or one RFID reader with an antennae big enough to read everything. We know the new portal will have a speaker that can be controlled by the console. It is quite possible that the new portal will be different enough that it will not be compatible with the other games / existing drivers.

Quote: Windumup

Quote: GIANTSRULE

Oh so you will have to buy another life torch just to capture other life villains because he's stuck in that trap

What is making you required to get another life trap, why can't you just use your life logholder trap?

You mean life HAMMER trap?

Quote:

We do not know if the new portal will be two RFID readers (one for the trap and one for the Skylanders) or one RFID reader with an antennae big enough to read everything.

Pretty sure it has two separate readers, as the E3 trap doesn't read on current portals (by read I mean that you don't get the error message).

The new portal will only have one reader. It will probably work with the older games but we can't know until tested or confirmed by Acti.
As stated previously, the traps use the same chip as everything else but with a smaller antenna making the range more limited.
When you place a trap in the hole in the new portal, the trap gets close enough to the antenna coil to be read.
To be able to read a trap with an old portal you would need to remove the plastic housing of the portal and place the trap close to the antenna.

This information was derived from the publicly available FCC documents for the new portal.


To answer the original question: Probably, but we won't know until the game is released.

I am still around.

I will be updating my app for Trap Team when I get hold of it don't worry.
No idea on how much I can do or when I will release it but at the least I want to get it to recognize the figures.

Trap support is undecided at the moment as I don't want to facilitate any jail-breaking from the vault!