darkSpyro

Title says it all, since there's been a lot of talk of people leaving the franchise due to it being expensive. I'm curious about what you think of it's life span.


I personally, think so, Acti has the next Pokemon on they're hands and they seem to be much more careful with it then Guitar Hero. What they should do is make a Skylanders T.V. show on lets say, Cartoon Network, and actually make it good. This way Skylanders can get more well known. They could see a character, they like Gill Grun,t for example. People will see him on T.V. and see how he fights along with his personality and think "Hey, he's cool. I think I'm gonna get him and give the game a try" and it won't be just one character, obviously. The character's behavior in the T.V. show could influence who you buy.

That's just what I think they should do to keep it running.

I have to admit, I would probably watch a Skylanders cartoon to kill time, if it was done well - I think it could be better than Pokemon cartoon actually, since the Skylanders can actually talk properly, especially if they avoid having some annoying perpetually-stupid kid like Ash as the main character, and just focused on the Skylanders. Maybe make it a prequel to the games where Eon is still alive and a full portal master (the Skylander lore stories often mention Eon inviting them to join, so it seems all of them were around before Eon died in SSA, we just didn't know about them yet as the "Earth-based Portal Masters").

Anywho, yeah, it will probably be around, but will the same fans still be playing it? And will it still be in the same form it is now? Will it still be backwards compatible with the original SSA figures? Hard to say.

In a word, yes.

Those of us on the boards are the vocal minority. Most of the people that buy the figures couldn't tell you the difference between Sonic and Sypro...And that's the way Acti. likes it. Don't get me wrong, for the most part Skylanders, as a brand, is an amazing product. As long as it keeps tugging at those inner child hearts strings as strongly as it does out wallets, it will endure.

Quote: Zauron

I have to admit, I would probably watch a Skylanders cartoon to kill time, if it was done well - I think it could be better than Pokemon cartoon actually, since the Skylanders can actually talk properly, especially if they avoid having some annoying perpetually-stupid kid like Ash as the main character, and just focused on the Skylanders. Maybe make it a prequel to the games where Eon is still alive and a full portal master (the Skylander lore stories often mention Eon inviting them to join, so it seems all of them were around before Eon died in SSA, we just didn't know about them yet as the "Earth-based Portal Masters").

Anywho, yeah, it will probably be around, but will the same fans still be playing it? And will it still be in the same form it is now? Will it still be backwards compatible with the original SSA figures? Hard to say.

That wouldn't be possible. The Giants, Swappers, and Trap Masters wouldn't be in it.

Quote: Zauron

I have to admit, I would probably watch a Skylanders cartoon to kill time, if it was done well - I think it could be better than Pokemon cartoon actually, since the Skylanders can actually talk properly, especially if they avoid having some annoying perpetually-stupid kid like Ash as the main character, and just focused on the Skylanders. Maybe make it a prequel to the games where Eon is still alive and a full portal master (the Skylander lore stories often mention Eon inviting them to join, so it seems all of them were around before Eon died in SSA, we just didn't know about them yet as the "Earth-based Portal Masters").

Anywho, yeah, it will probably be around, but will the same fans still be playing it? And will it still be in the same form it is now? Will it still be backwards compatible with the original SSA figures? Hard to say.

Honestly, I think I likely will. I adore the series and it's actually helped me deal with tough things in my life. It gave me a break from....stuff and I was able to relax and explore an amazing world. It's my favorite game franchise next to Mario.

Same here HeyitsHotDog. Without Skyladners, I'd rather not say what I'd be without it. The games had made me feel more joy than any other franchise I ever liked and it's actually one of the extremely few games I like in today's time. Skylanders better not disappear and become forgotten, it is too important to too many portal masters and children.

I think if we are the hardcore collectors, and a lot of us are feeling gouged, the average parent has to feel the sting, right? I think if they dont course correct, they are going to the franchise into the ground.

That having been said, I hope they are around, and it is good enough to keep me interested

The franchise: maybe. Me: Nope.

Quote: GhostRoaster617

Same here HeyitsHotDog. Without Skyladners, I'd rather not say what I'd be without it. The games had made me feel more joy than any other franchise I ever liked and it's actually one of the extremely few games I like in today's time. Skylanders better not disappear and become forgotten, it is too important to too many portal masters and children.

Same here. Skylanders has given me entertainment each year with each gimmick raising what is possible to do with a great idea. It's made me excited and befriend tons of characters like High Five, Camo, Zap, Drobot, Vathek and best yet Blades. It even changed me and made my life better. I befriend tons of fans in real life and even became best friends with a kid I use to HATE. It made me think about money more carefully as I now have something to save cash on instead if buy pointless stuff. Best yet I have made many friends on here. I'm involved on a site where tons of people like me talk and I feel right at home. This franchise will always be close to me from 12/25/11 to when I die. This series is way to important to die and with it being in the top 20 franchises I doubt we will see it go anytime soon. The Name Contest proves they do listen to fans and arnt just pure greedy and they do like to give what most people want. Even if I'm the only one playing it I will still have a blast.

Long Live Skylanders!

Me I'm seriously done! Spyro's and Giants were both really great, swap force they removed the best (heroics) and trap team removes pvp. Are u kidding? Skylanders 5 a Eon mode but no story mode

Quote: LloydDXZX

Me I'm seriously done! Spyro's and Giants were both really great, swap force they removed the best (heroics) and trap team removes pvp. Are u kidding? Skylanders 5 a Eon mode but no story mode

Over dramatic much?

Quote: LloydDXZX

Me I'm seriously done! Spyro's and Giants were both really great, swap force they removed the best (heroics) and trap team removes pvp. Are u kidding? Skylanders 5 a Eon mode but no story mode

I think we got the message that you were leaving Skylanders a while ago. Of course some fans say that, but they come back anyways when a new title shows up.

I can't wait to see the 10 foot portal with 50 ports for Skylanders 10.

If they take breaks between the entries then they probably won't run the series into the ground.
It's true that the gimmicks of each game are really costly, but as long as there are breaks, it should be fine. As long as we stay ahead of Infinity, I see no reason for them to prematurely pull the plug on it.
While there's no cartoon, they are gonna start a comic series, aren't they?

Quote: ninja9351

Quote: Zauron

I have to admit, I would probably watch a Skylanders cartoon to kill time, if it was done well - I think it could be better than Pokemon cartoon actually, since the Skylanders can actually talk properly, especially if they avoid having some annoying perpetually-stupid kid like Ash as the main character, and just focused on the Skylanders. Maybe make it a prequel to the games where Eon is still alive and a full portal master (the Skylander lore stories often mention Eon inviting them to join, so it seems all of them were around before Eon died in SSA, we just didn't know about them yet as the "Earth-based Portal Masters").

Anywho, yeah, it will probably be around, but will the same fans still be playing it? And will it still be in the same form it is now? Will it still be backwards compatible with the original SSA figures? Hard to say.

That wouldn't be possible. The Giants, Swappers, and Trap Masters wouldn't be in it.

Giants you are correct, since they were ancient and before Eon's time until their return in the second game, but the Swap Force and Trap Masters were still active while Eon was alive according to many of their bios (look at Wash Buckler's and Snap Shot's bios for quick examples). They were just busy or unneeded or whatever during the events of the previous games, along with the other cores. The back stories have always indicated that nearly all the Skylanders thus far have been Skylanders since long before the first game, its just that we as Earth-bound Portal Masters hadn't encountered them yet. Thus pretty much all Skylanders besides the Giants could be in the show if it takes place during Eon's reign as the sole non-evil active Portal Master at the time.

No not after a decade . Its too depended on current technology and that changes within months .

sadly trap team is the start of the end for skylanders, it will not be here a decade.

No. That would be 6 more iterations.

With the fluxuations in the gaming market, especially *right now*, its hard to pin longevity on any series, even CoD had to bring in a third developer to keep it going, while EA bowed out of the NBA Live series for several years.

Most likely things will 'die down' in a few years, but be brought back several years after that. They will have to adjust for the market. The shift to phones and tablets...more portable tech, will lower the value of the toys themselves, and I'm not sure how that will be handled.
- Unreall

Quote: Unreallystic

No. That would be 6 more iterations.

With the fluxuations in the gaming market, especially *right now*, its hard to pin longevity on any series, even CoD had to bring in a third developer to keep it going, while EA bowed out of the NBA Live series for several years.

Most likely things will 'die down' in a few years, but be brought back several years after that. They will have to adjust for the market. The shift to phones and tablets...more portable tech, will lower the value of the toys themselves, and I'm not sure how that will be handled.
- Unreall

just hope it will not end in tears

Quote: Dark fhoenix

No not after a decade . Its too depended on current technology and that changes within months .

What current technology are you referring to? RFID isn't going away for quite some time.

I can't predict how management is going to handle the series going forward, although the current model doesn't seem sustainable. I.think it's important to remember that part of the appeal is the toy, which has value in itself to a child. Kids have been playing with action figures for decades, and this could be the next generation action figure or it could be a passing fade. Too early to tell yet. However, it seems to easy to tie toys to video games for it not to be done going forward, the same way cartoons and toys have been tied together for decades.

For me, they'll milk every last ounce of it, then they release the equivilant to Guitar Hero: Van Halen, then that will be it. I started this for my son who is 5, and he was all excited to go get Trap Team. We get home he wants to play Destiny. Which believe it or not he's not terrible at. So this may be the last one we do. I personally like it and think Trap Team overall is the best title so far. Some may not think so, but take the toys part out of it the game is very solid. I never did the PVP so unlike others i could careless. Kaos Mode is a lot of fun. But i'm not playing much of it until all the spots in the game are available. I'm a completionist. I want to complete the whole game. and right now i can't and it drives me nuts, just like it did in Giants and Swap-Force. Its not a bad game, just wish everything was available right away. But i realize how marketing works, and i live with it lol.

Quote: OimakKamio

For me, they'll milk every last ounce of it, then they release the equivilant to Guitar Hero: Van Halen, then that will be it. I started this for my son who is 5, and he was all excited to go get Trap Team. We get home he wants to play Destiny. Which believe it or not he's not terrible at. So this may be the last one we do. I personally like it and think Trap Team overall is the best title so far. Some may not think so, but take the toys part out of it the game is very solid. I never did the PVP so unlike others i could careless. Kaos Mode is a lot of fun. But i'm not playing much of it until all the spots in the game are available. I'm a completionist. I want to complete the whole game. and right now i can't and it drives me nuts, just like it did in Giants and Swap-Force. Its not a bad game, just wish everything was available right away. But i realize how marketing works, and i live with it lol.

I get your point, but, Giants didn't required anything else, if you already had the 4 Adventure Packs and a Core for each Element, from SA.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

sadly trap team is the start of the end for skylanders, it will not be here a decade.

May I ask you why do you say so (unless the answer includes bug fixes, blocked content and the removing of PvP)?

Quote: Drek95

Quote: CountMoneyBone

sadly trap team is the start of the end for skylanders, it will not be here a decade.

May I ask you why do you say so (unless the answer includes bug fixes, blocked content and the removing of PvP)?

yes i will.... its how the paywall is done this time around, lack of content, high prices, careless programming. older figures made useless etc etc... people have made thousand of posts about what is lacking and what they are not happy with all over the forums. it have never been like this before, a change have happen. its the start of the end and there will be no skylanders in 2021. everything just points in that direction. at best we have 2 skylanders game left after trap team...

Quote: Drek95

Quote: CountMoneyBone

sadly trap team is the start of the end for skylanders, it will not be here a decade.

May I ask you why do you say so (unless the answer includes bug fixes, blocked content and the removing of PvP)?

It does seem hard to follow-up mechanics/plot wise. Like, now so many people will have Kaos in their own little villain trap, how can he reasonably be the main bad guy any more? He can't be terrorizing Skylands, he's my own personal slave, I have him in this trap right here, and he's still in there, what are we fighting now, his clone?

Also disc space, I mean I'm surprised they can fit all the Skylanders PLUS all the villains on one disc as it is, especially with how many lines of dialogue each Villain has. Soon they won't have any room for the actual levels and cutscenes!

I'm really wondering how the next game will work with a new gimmick while still supporting villains. Will you need to go back to Trap Team to capture a villain in order to use them on the next game, or will they be re-capturable in the new game as well? We've haven't had to go back to a previous game to get everything a new game offered before, as long as you could hunt down the old toys, you could theoretically have everything in the latest game without ever playing the previous ones. So if the same villains aren't re-capturable in every new game, that will be a first. Also will there be new villains to trap? Or will traps not even work at all in the next game?

It just seems like something's gotta give, so I feel like Skylanders 5 may be the first to start dropping backwards compatibility in some form or another, and once that happens, I do wonder if people will start losing interest. But who knows, maybe VV will pull it off! I certainly don't envy them the design challenge they face with incorporating everything so far, possibly villains included, plus yet another new gimmick!

(though I suspect CountMoneyBone was thinking about the exact issues you said not to include in an answer)

Even the Skylanderdad will stop buying those things if like 100+ games came out...

Quote: Kevin16

Even the Skylanderdad will stop buying those things if like 100+ games came out...

the youtube guys get most of the game free so i dont think so...

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: Kevin16

Even the Skylanderdad will stop buying those things if like 100+ games came out...

the youtube guys get most of the game free so i dont think so...

No, Skylander Dad doesn't. He was in TRU with his kids at the same time I was buying stuff the same as all of us. I talked to him quite a bit, he is really a nice guy - I have a picture of them, me and a couple other forum members we took on release night while he was there shopping as well. They do get some stuff sent to them, but not as much as you might think.

I can't imagine the yearly releases will keep going that long. Activision has a history of milking a franchise dry, and this one is profitable enough for them to be inclined to do exactly that. Trap Team was the first console game I purchased since Swap Force (although I do play handheld games) and I'm pretty dedicated, but with the exponentially increasing number of purchases each year, I'm not sure how long I can hold on.

Activision is a pretty typical corporation these days, bleed profits dry as fast as possible. They want a franchise they can leverage for a long time, but what they want more is to maximize profits for THIS quarter/year.

They could keep people on the hook longer with yearly updates and only 8-16 new characters every year, just for the new gimmick. But, they can cash in much faster if they offer 60 new things to buy. Sure it will burn out people faster, but shareholders these days don't care about next year or ten years down the road. Funds and investors want to flip stocks as fast as possible to reap profit, long term health isn't a priority - and in turn executive compensation is approved by the board/large shareholders, so it is heavily biased towards short term success. Investment into research and development that will reap benefits five years down the road is considered wasteful.

I think the point is that all the problems could be fixed, and the game could easily be here in a decade, like Pokemon, if the will was there.

But all the indications from TT is that they're trying to squeeze out every last drop of profit this year (cashing in on the existing good will, whilst destroying it), with no expectation that the game will survive more than another year. $2 billion this year and $0.5 billion next rather than $1 billion every year for the next 10 years. Why? because that's what maximises the careers of the accountants and executives in Activision. Take the bonuses, get a better job based on this year's profits, and don't worry about it all crashing in a heap after you've left.

It's all very sad....

[edit - parallel post with the one above - we obviously agree]

Quote: defpally

Activision is a pretty typical corporation these days, bleed profits dry as fast as possible. They want a franchise they can leverage for a long time, but what they want more is to maximize profits for THIS quarter/year.

They could keep people on the hook longer with yearly updates and only 8-16 new characters every year, just for the new gimmick. But, they can cash in much faster if they offer 60 new things to buy. Sure it will burn out people faster, but shareholders these days don't care about next year or ten years down the road. Funds and investors want to flip stocks as fast as possible to reap profit, long term health isn't a priority - and in turn executive compensation is approved by the board/large shareholders, so it is heavily biased towards short term success. Investment into research and development that will reap benefits five years down the road is considered wasteful.

SO MUCH THIS!

About the only video game company I've seen that actually seems to care as much about long term health as short-term gain is Nintendo. They don't always do things right, but they don't sacrifice their long term viability in the interests of short term gains (on purpose anyway). That's why they have so much money in the bank that they could have massive losses for the next decade and still be fine.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: Drek95

Quote: CountMoneyBone

sadly trap team is the start of the end for skylanders, it will not be here a decade.

May I ask you why do you say so (unless the answer includes bug fixes, blocked content and the removing of PvP)?

yes i will.... its how the paywall is done this time around, lack of content, high prices, careless programming. older figures made useless etc etc... people have made thousand of posts about what is lacking and what they are not happy with all over the forums. it have never been like this before, a change have happen. its the start of the end and there will be no skylanders in 2021. everything just points in that direction. at best we have 2 skylanders game left after trap team...

So...

1) The paywall. I do get that this time you have to buy at least 9 Trap Masters, 10 traps and the 4 Adventure Packs, to get the full experience, but it's not THAT bad. I mean, traps only cost 6$ each, and let you play as all the villains from that Element, you can choose between two Trap Masters, if you only want to buy one, and the Adventure Packs provide more replayability.

2) Lack of content. That is REALLY opinable. I never used PvP that much, unless for those annoying 10 rounds Quest, and a difficult survival mode is surely a good and fresh idea, at least for me. The game seems long, and it is packaged with a lot of activities. I do miss the personalization for each character, but I've yet to try the game, so, who knows...

3) High prices. That can be said for each Skylanders game so far. Personally I have no problem spending 10€ or 15€ (even if I admit the Trap Masters should have had something more than just the size, to justify that price) on a character that will give me hours of fun.

4) Careless programming. Nope, nice try, Count, but I said nothing related to patches.
And, let's face it, it's not "careless programming", it's more like "hey, we found some last minute bugs that may partially ruin your game experience, so, take this patch, as you ASKED FOR THEM FOR ALL THE PAST YEAR".

5) Older figures made useless.
I will get this straight: they will be useless when they will no longer be playable.
They might be useless for you, as they no more act like keys, but they surely are not, for me, and for some other people on this forum.

That being said, I respect your criticism, and some others that have been made in the past months.
Just, don't come here and say those are the reasons for the downfall of the Skylanders franchise, because, simply, they aren't.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: Drek95

May I ask you why do you say so (unless the answer includes bug fixes, blocked content and the removing of PvP)?

yes i will.... its how the paywall is done this time around, lack of content, high prices, careless programming. older figures made useless etc etc... people have made thousand of posts about what is lacking and what they are not happy with all over the forums. it have never been like this before, a change have happen. its the start of the end and there will be no skylanders in 2021. everything just points in that direction. at best we have 2 skylanders game left after trap team...

So...

1) The paywall. I do get that this time you have to buy at least 9 Trap Masters, 10 traps and the 4 Adventure Packs, to get the full experience, but it's not THAT bad. I mean, traps only cost 6$ each, and let you play as all the villains from that Element, you can choose between two Trap Masters, if you only want to buy one, and the Adventure Packs provide more replayability.

2) Lack of content. That is REALLY opinable. I never used PvP that much, unless for those annoying 10 rounds Quest, and a difficult survival mode is surely a good and fresh idea, at least for me. The game seems long, and it is packaged with a lot of activities. I do miss the personalization for each character, but I've yet to try the game, so, who knows...

3) High prices. That can be said for each Skylanders game so far. Personally I have no problem spending 10€ or 15€ (even if I admit the Trap Masters should have had something more than just the size, to justify that price) on a character that will give me hours of fun.

4) Careless programming. Nope, nice try, Count, but I said nothing related to patches.
And, let's face it, it's not "careless programming", it's more like "hey, we found some last minute bugs that may partially ruin your game experience, so, take this patch, as you ASKED FOR THEM FOR ALL THE PAST YEAR".

5) Older figures made useless.
I will get this straight: they will be useless when they will no longer be playable.
They might be useless for you, as they no more act like keys, but they surely are not, for me, and for some other people on this forum.

That being said, I respect your criticism, and some others that have been made in the past months.
Just, don't come here and say those are the reasons for the downfall of the Skylanders franchise, because, simply, they aren't.

I don't have any data to back up my claim (disclaimer), but I would venture to guess the majority of consumers are starting to align themselves with the count's viewpoint. My main concerns are points 4 and 5, but I think they are a bit misstated.

4 - I would say the innovation for Trap Team is sub par compared to previous titles. It feels very rinse and repeat, and the trap masters aren't that unique. To me they look like giants with weapons that didn't need to be painted. The trapping gimmick is neat, and the levels look great, but they feel empty. From what I've seen so far, the interesting parts of the levels are not places you are interacting with, they are just places you walk through in order to get to the "arena like" area where there are monsters to fight. The effort just doesn't seem to be there, and its palpable to many of us.

5 - My collection is not useless, it has been devalued. You can certainly play story mode with your existing collection, but why would you? You can't unlock any gates with them, you don't need xp to level, you have no quests you are trying to fulfill, the elemental boost is negligible, and you can't test them out against your buddy's toys (PVP). In addition, the work you've put in to customize and upgrade your collection has not been acknowledged. From what I see, stat bonuses from heroic challenges and medals for quests are absent in TT. Activision set a precedent that my toys from the previous game, and what I did with them, mattered. They have broken that precedent, and its rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.

Quote: DaMadNes

Quote: Drek95

Quote: CountMoneyBone

yes i will.... its how the paywall is done this time around, lack of content, high prices, careless programming. older figures made useless etc etc... people have made thousand of posts about what is lacking and what they are not happy with all over the forums. it have never been like this before, a change have happen. its the start of the end and there will be no skylanders in 2021. everything just points in that direction. at best we have 2 skylanders game left after trap team...

So...

1) The paywall. I do get that this time you have to buy at least 9 Trap Masters, 10 traps and the 4 Adventure Packs, to get the full experience, but it's not THAT bad. I mean, traps only cost 6$ each, and let you play as all the villains from that Element, you can choose between two Trap Masters, if you only want to buy one, and the Adventure Packs provide more replayability.

2) Lack of content. That is REALLY opinable. I never used PvP that much, unless for those annoying 10 rounds Quest, and a difficult survival mode is surely a good and fresh idea, at least for me. The game seems long, and it is packaged with a lot of activities. I do miss the personalization for each character, but I've yet to try the game, so, who knows...

3) High prices. That can be said for each Skylanders game so far. Personally I have no problem spending 10€ or 15€ (even if I admit the Trap Masters should have had something more than just the size, to justify that price) on a character that will give me hours of fun.

4) Careless programming. Nope, nice try, Count, but I said nothing related to patches.
And, let's face it, it's not "careless programming", it's more like "hey, we found some last minute bugs that may partially ruin your game experience, so, take this patch, as you ASKED FOR THEM FOR ALL THE PAST YEAR".

5) Older figures made useless.
I will get this straight: they will be useless when they will no longer be playable.
They might be useless for you, as they no more act like keys, but they surely are not, for me, and for some other people on this forum.

That being said, I respect your criticism, and some others that have been made in the past months.
Just, don't come here and say those are the reasons for the downfall of the Skylanders franchise, because, simply, they aren't.

I don't have any data to back up my claim (disclaimer), but I would venture to guess the majority of consumers are starting to align themselves with the count's viewpoint. My main concerns are points 4 and 5, but I think they are a bit misstated.

4 - I would say the innovation for Trap Team is sub par compared to previous titles. It feels very rinse and repeat, and the trap masters aren't that unique. To me they look like giants with weapons that didn't need to be painted. The trapping gimmick is neat, and the levels look great, but they feel empty. From what I've seen so far, the interesting parts of the levels are not places you are interacting with, they are just places you walk through in order to get to the "arena like" area where there are monsters to fight. The effort just doesn't seem to be there, and its palpable to many of us.

5 - My collection is not useless, it has been devalued. You can certainly play story mode with your existing collection, but why would you? You can't unlock any gates with them, you don't need xp to level, you have no quests you are trying to fulfill, the elemental boost is negligible, and you can't test them out against your buddy's toys (PVP). In addition, the work you've put in to customize and upgrade your collection has not been acknowledged. From what I see, stat bonuses from heroic challenges and medals for quests are absent in TT. Activision set a precedent that my toys from the previous game, and what I did with them, mattered. They have broken that precedent, and its rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.

While I cannot say anything about the game, yet, I decided to keep a good half of my collection as it is, so I can upgrade it in Trap Team, as soon as I knew there were no new Quests.

And I will still play the rest, because, well, because I like playing as them.
There is not a true reason. I just enjoy them a lot.

Too many figures + Not enough game = probably not.

The game play is solid, but they release to many figures each game. They should be releasing 30 figures tops, 1 gimmick for each element, 1 core for each element and maybe 1 mini for each element. Then they can release any variants on top of that.

I also think they may evolve the way it works and maybe do away with the figures and only have the "traps". So all your characters are stored in game and to play with them you use a Hero Crystal (trap).

Quote: Drek95

Quote: DaMadNes

Quote: Drek95

So...

1) The paywall. I do get that this time you have to buy at least 9 Trap Masters, 10 traps and the 4 Adventure Packs, to get the full experience, but it's not THAT bad. I mean, traps only cost 6$ each, and let you play as all the villains from that Element, you can choose between two Trap Masters, if you only want to buy one, and the Adventure Packs provide more replayability.

2) Lack of content. That is REALLY opinable. I never used PvP that much, unless for those annoying 10 rounds Quest, and a difficult survival mode is surely a good and fresh idea, at least for me. The game seems long, and it is packaged with a lot of activities. I do miss the personalization for each character, but I've yet to try the game, so, who knows...

3) High prices. That can be said for each Skylanders game so far. Personally I have no problem spending 10€ or 15€ (even if I admit the Trap Masters should have had something more than just the size, to justify that price) on a character that will give me hours of fun.

4) Careless programming. Nope, nice try, Count, but I said nothing related to patches.
And, let's face it, it's not "careless programming", it's more like "hey, we found some last minute bugs that may partially ruin your game experience, so, take this patch, as you ASKED FOR THEM FOR ALL THE PAST YEAR".

5) Older figures made useless.
I will get this straight: they will be useless when they will no longer be playable.
They might be useless for you, as they no more act like keys, but they surely are not, for me, and for some other people on this forum.

That being said, I respect your criticism, and some others that have been made in the past months.
Just, don't come here and say those are the reasons for the downfall of the Skylanders franchise, because, simply, they aren't.

I don't have any data to back up my claim (disclaimer), but I would venture to guess the majority of consumers are starting to align themselves with the count's viewpoint. My main concerns are points 4 and 5, but I think they are a bit misstated.

4 - I would say the innovation for Trap Team is sub par compared to previous titles. It feels very rinse and repeat, and the trap masters aren't that unique. To me they look like giants with weapons that didn't need to be painted. The trapping gimmick is neat, and the levels look great, but they feel empty. From what I've seen so far, the interesting parts of the levels are not places you are interacting with, they are just places you walk through in order to get to the "arena like" area where there are monsters to fight. The effort just doesn't seem to be there, and its palpable to many of us.

5 - My collection is not useless, it has been devalued. You can certainly play story mode with your existing collection, but why would you? You can't unlock any gates with them, you don't need xp to level, you have no quests you are trying to fulfill, the elemental boost is negligible, and you can't test them out against your buddy's toys (PVP). In addition, the work you've put in to customize and upgrade your collection has not been acknowledged. From what I see, stat bonuses from heroic challenges and medals for quests are absent in TT. Activision set a precedent that my toys from the previous game, and what I did with them, mattered. They have broken that precedent, and its rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.

While I cannot say anything about the game, yet, I decided to keep a good half of my collection as it is, so I can upgrade it in Trap Team, as soon as I knew there were no new Quests.

And I will still play the rest, because, well, because I like playing as them.
There is not a true reason. I just enjoy them a lot.

Does that mean you havent played trap team yet? If so, you might come over to our side once u play the game.

I wonder, if all your stuff was leveled and spec'd, do you think you would feel the same way?

Quote: DaMadNes

Quote: Drek95

Quote: DaMadNes

I don't have any data to back up my claim (disclaimer), but I would venture to guess the majority of consumers are starting to align themselves with the count's viewpoint. My main concerns are points 4 and 5, but I think they are a bit misstated.

4 - I would say the innovation for Trap Team is sub par compared to previous titles. It feels very rinse and repeat, and the trap masters aren't that unique. To me they look like giants with weapons that didn't need to be painted. The trapping gimmick is neat, and the levels look great, but they feel empty. From what I've seen so far, the interesting parts of the levels are not places you are interacting with, they are just places you walk through in order to get to the "arena like" area where there are monsters to fight. The effort just doesn't seem to be there, and its palpable to many of us.

5 - My collection is not useless, it has been devalued. You can certainly play story mode with your existing collection, but why would you? You can't unlock any gates with them, you don't need xp to level, you have no quests you are trying to fulfill, the elemental boost is negligible, and you can't test them out against your buddy's toys (PVP). In addition, the work you've put in to customize and upgrade your collection has not been acknowledged. From what I see, stat bonuses from heroic challenges and medals for quests are absent in TT. Activision set a precedent that my toys from the previous game, and what I did with them, mattered. They have broken that precedent, and its rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.

While I cannot say anything about the game, yet, I decided to keep a good half of my collection as it is, so I can upgrade it in Trap Team, as soon as I knew there were no new Quests.

And I will still play the rest, because, well, because I like playing as them.
There is not a true reason. I just enjoy them a lot.

Does that mean you havent played trap team yet? If so, you might come over to our side once u play the game.

I wonder, if all your stuff was leveled and spec'd, do you think you would feel the same way?

Yes, I haven't yet, as the game will come out tomorr... Erhm... Well, today, in Europe.

But I highly doubt it.
I've seen enough gameplay to say that this game won't disappoint me, just like the previous ones.
They would have had to try their worst, to mess everything up at the point I won't enjoy it anymore, and I personally think this won't be the case.

Regarding the leveling, I don't think so.
I would still play all my characters as I did for the previous games, because I enjoy doing that.

A decade from now? Doubtful...but only because, well, how much new innovation can they come up with for the toys to life gimmick year to year?

I do know this, though...I went to TRU on Monday...and there was a TON of stuff on the shelves (after what I was told by an employee of a huge Sunday)...and I went back today to get the BOGO with wave 2, and the shelves were half of what they were. Peeps are willing to buy the new stuff...but still, the old rehashed stuff from SSA/Giants/Trap Team (mainly reposes) languishes still.

It'll be a distant memory by the end of the decade as will Disney Infinity and the Nintendo figures. The amount of figures is getting to a level of overload already in the minds of parents and the novelty is very quickly wearing off as time passes. Also, I don't trust Activision to show loyalty to the Skylanders franchise...they'll dump the franchise the second profits decline. Even if the franchise is at a break-even point or slightly profitable, they'll most likely move onto their next project in hopes that it's the next Guitar Hero or Skylanders Spyros Adventure.

Quote: defpally

Activision is a pretty typical corporation these days, bleed profits dry as fast as possible. They want a franchise they can leverage for a long time, but what they want more is to maximize profits for THIS quarter/year.

They could keep people on the hook longer with yearly updates and only 8-16 new characters every year, just for the new gimmick. But, they can cash in much faster if they offer 60 new things to buy. Sure it will burn out people faster, but shareholders these days don't care about next year or ten years down the road. Funds and investors want to flip stocks as fast as possible to reap profit, long term health isn't a priority - and in turn executive compensation is approved by the board/large shareholders, so it is heavily biased towards short term success. Investment into research and development that will reap benefits five years down the road is considered wasteful.

Yup. Public Corporations 101. Although I can't say private corporations make much sense either.

Well, I think it depends on ebola spreadin'

Seriously, anything is possible, all depends of the creativity and the talent of developpers.
I'm very curious to see what VV will do for the next opus, because i doubt following TOB one more time.

Just finished playing the first three levels.

This is simply the best Skylanders game yet.
The details in it are amazing, the gameplay is simple, but various, and never gets boring, the characters are outstanding (good Eon, the villains!), the older characters have been treated just as well as the new ones, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics (whoever said Swappers are too tiny should seriously question his sight), and the graphics are even better than the last game.

The traps mechanic is natural and fun.
I could have already told this all from the introduction, because even if it's just the title screen, it has personality. It's alive!

As of now, I don't know if I'm happy with V.V. making the next one... This is just perfect.

So, yeah.
I confirm what I said in the post above.

Quote: Drek95

Just finished playing the first three levels.

This is simply the best Skylanders game yet.
The details in it are amazing, the gameplay is simple, but various, and never gets boring, the characters are outstanding (good Eon, the villains!), the older characters have been treated just as well as the new ones, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics (whoever said Swappers are too tiny should seriously question his sight), and the graphics are even better than the last game.

The traps mechanic is natural and fun.
I could have already told this all from the introduction, because even if it's just the title screen, it has personality. It's alive!

As of now, I don't know if I'm happy with V.V. making the next one... This is just perfect.

So, yeah.
I confirm what I said in the post above.

Awesome!

I think there are legitimate complaints about this game (I listed them in my own thread) but I'm still enjoying this WAY more than Swap Force. The capturable Villain mechanic actually EXCEEDED my expectations, which is very rare for a game to do these days, and I was already much more excited about it than the Swap Force gimmick in the first place (admittedly I was never particularly excited by the Swap Force gimmick, because I felt it took away the individual charm of each character when they had to be generic enough to be able to swap parts freely).

Quote: Zauron

Quote: Drek95

Just finished playing the first three levels.

This is simply the best Skylanders game yet.
The details in it are amazing, the gameplay is simple, but various, and never gets boring, the characters are outstanding (good Eon, the villains!), the older characters have been treated just as well as the new ones, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics (whoever said Swappers are too tiny should seriously question his sight), and the graphics are even better than the last game.

The traps mechanic is natural and fun.
I could have already told this all from the introduction, because even if it's just the title screen, it has personality. It's alive!

As of now, I don't know if I'm happy with V.V. making the next one... This is just perfect.

So, yeah.
I confirm what I said in the post above.

Awesome!

I think there are legitimate complaints about this game (I listed them in my own thread) but I'm still enjoying this WAY more than Swap Force. The capturable Villain mechanic actually EXCEEDED my expectations, which is very rare for a game to do these days, and I was already much more excited about it than the Swap Force gimmick in the first place (admittedly I was never particularly excited by the Swap Force gimmick, because I felt it took away the individual charm of each character when they had to be generic enough to be able to swap parts freely).

Sure there are small and big things that would have made it an even better game (Heroic or Missions, Quests, PvP, increased level cap), but I really almost forget about those things, while playing.

In SWAP Force I was constantly looking at things saying "Well, they could have made that better", or "It doesn't looks that good".
Believe me when I say I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot, this evening, and saying "WOW! That cannot be possible" and such things.

If they continue to make games that are this quality, and even higher, then they can reach the end of the decade, and go well beyond that (just think about series like Zelda, Mario, Pokèmon...).

Quote: Drek95

Quote: Zauron

Quote: Drek95

Just finished playing the first three levels.

This is simply the best Skylanders game yet.
The details in it are amazing, the gameplay is simple, but various, and never gets boring, the characters are outstanding (good Eon, the villains!), the older characters have been treated just as well as the new ones, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics (whoever said Swappers are too tiny should seriously question his sight), and the graphics are even better than the last game.

The traps mechanic is natural and fun.
I could have already told this all from the introduction, because even if it's just the title screen, it has personality. It's alive!

As of now, I don't know if I'm happy with V.V. making the next one... This is just perfect.

So, yeah.
I confirm what I said in the post above.

Awesome!

I think there are legitimate complaints about this game (I listed them in my own thread) but I'm still enjoying this WAY more than Swap Force. The capturable Villain mechanic actually EXCEEDED my expectations, which is very rare for a game to do these days, and I was already much more excited about it than the Swap Force gimmick in the first place (admittedly I was never particularly excited by the Swap Force gimmick, because I felt it took away the individual charm of each character when they had to be generic enough to be able to swap parts freely).

Sure there are small and big things that would have made it an even better game (Heroic or Missions, Quests, PvP, increased level cap), but I really almost forget about those things, while playing.

In SWAP Force I was constantly looking at things saying "Well, they could have made that better", or "It doesn't looks that good".
Believe me when I say I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot, this evening, and saying "WOW! That cannot be possible" and such things.

If they continue to make games that are this quality, and even higher, then they can reach the end of the decade, and go well beyond that (just think about series like Zelda, Mario, Pokèmon...).

Let's hope so. The only problem is that those franchises are all owned by Nintendo, the SUPREME EMPEROR of video games.

Well, Nintendo was also the first, among the Sony and Microsoft triumvirate.

Who knows if series such as Ratchet and Clank, Crash, LittleBigPlanet and so on will still be there, in the future...?

They are just younger.