darkSpyro

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: GaiaMemories

If we speculate then we can guess and actually talk about when stuff gets released.

With a concrete date we get "totally going to pick up stuff" and "I don't want anything from this wave. Pass."

And a couple of off topic "is the brand dead" and "Superchargers is awful!" Conversations.

How old are you? That's quite a juvenile mindset to have. I have been on various forums where Lego Dimensions, Disney Infinity and amiibos have been discussed and a proper release date neither stops people from speculating release dates of other figures/variants nor do people quit engaging should they "pass".

Also, those kinds of threads exist currently and already have since Spyro's Adventure so continue reaching.

Once again I forgot to indicate I was making a joke.

And how am I "reaching"?

There are many good things to discuss about Skylanders: Characters design, gimmicks, story, lore, humor, gameplay, visuals, game strategies, quality of physical toys, etc.

But no, not knowing the exact moment a figure will be released is a huge issue, let's only discuss about this since it cancels most of the good things about the franchise. And now they gave us the possibility to get the Nintendo toys without having to pay the full price of a Starter Pack or paying scalpers on eBay? Unacceptable. #sodonewithskylanders #butstillbuyingthenextgameanyway :')

I'm really starting to loose interest in this game. Even though it has a lot of quests after the story, it's just very boring. I think my reasons are the crappy release dates. Broken Nightfall, late Wave 3 (in my country) and literally no word on the dual packs. After I get BB Roller Brawl this game is done for me. I will get the remaining Skylanders but just for my collection's sake. I'll upgrade them and catch the Land Villains. I barely even play online because I have to wait at least 10 minutes for Player 1 vs. Player 2 vs. CPUs race and that's just not the spirit. If they would've put Nightfall in Wave 4, I would've been hyped until the last day like last year with Enigma. I hope the new game gets announced soon, I want TFB to make a game with a hype-spawn longer than the row of Magic Variants.

Quote: newkill

There are many good things to discuss about Skylanders: Characters design, gimmicks, story, lore, humor, gameplay, visuals, game strategies, quality of physical toys, etc.

Is there some kind of secret limit to the number of new threads that can be started per day here?

Some of you are acting like you want so badly to discuss other aspects of the game/brand, but I don't really see y'all starting new topics to do such.

Well, I've seen people start them, then someone brings up that X bad thing happens all the time,then it turns into a 'Activision is ruining the series' thread.

Also there's a thread about funny moments in SC near the top, only the same few people posting on it, because most people stopped caring after a few months with only toy news and collector discussion. In fact, I've seen so many fans migrate to S&N, we had better discussion of Skylanders there. It's that bad, and I can't speak for them, but it does feel more welcoming when the usual suspects aren't around.

And that's not bringing up other news! We have Battlecast soft launch, but down there am I talking to myself and having to edit posts since it's pointless to bump threads. You see other users post every now and then,but they're the same people willing to discuss everything in general.

Quote: GaiaMemories

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: GaiaMemories

If we speculate then we can guess and actually talk about when stuff gets released.

With a concrete date we get "totally going to pick up stuff" and "I don't want anything from this wave. Pass."

And a couple of off topic "is the brand dead" and "Superchargers is awful!" Conversations.

How old are you? That's quite a juvenile mindset to have. I have been on various forums where Lego Dimensions, Disney Infinity and amiibos have been discussed and a proper release date neither stops people from speculating release dates of other figures/variants nor do people quit engaging should they "pass".

Also, those kinds of threads exist currently and already have since Spyro's Adventure so continue reaching.

Once again I forgot to indicate I was making a joke.

And how am I "reaching"?

Well I guess I didn't "get" you considering the viewpoints of the some of the people here.

And if you weren't serious why would you want an explanation as to why your original comment was reaching? I mean I can give one but it seems suspect to me...

Quote: Bifrost

Well, I've seen people start them, then someone brings up that X bad thing happens all the time,then it turns into a 'Activision is ruining the series' thread.

Then report it for being off-topic. I know the mods on these forums aren't as even-handed when handling stuff, but report it anyway.

Quote:

Also there's a thread about funny moments in SC near the top, only the same few people posting on it, because most people stopped caring after a few months with only toy news and collector discussion.

I do agree that a lot of talk (like this thread) would probably be more suited towards T&M than the general SC forum. Maybe we could propose a rule change where collection-orientated discussion goes in T&M and gameplay goes in the general game forum?

Quote:

And that's not bringing up other news! We have Battlecast soft launch, but down there am I talking to myself and having to edit posts since it's pointless to bump threads. You see other users post every now and then,but they're the same people willing to discuss everything in general.

Ehh... Battlecast. I could go down there and chat with you on that, but I'd be waaaaay to negative. It's the game absolutly no one asked for. A.) Mobile only, for a series with a track record of pathetic mobile support post-launch. I can't even use a freakin bluetooth portal with the collection app. I own five of them. B.) 588 figures and none of them do a thing for this game. Instead. blind-pack trading cards. And not that it bothers me much, but they launch this at the same time they pull the cards from the figures? Bleh.

That suggestion is amazing. I can't really report it as offtopic since it kinda is on topic - it's just that its complaints on that issue that end up also adding the rest. However,if we put a limit to having toy collection/distribution subjects AND issues relating to that be T&M only, there'd be a lot more organization.

Lost Island had nice mobile support post-launch, up until last year :I Though I can't say your complaints are wrong,the game gives an entire team and deck for free from the get go(or at least looks like it does since unless the people unlock skylanders the cards they buy on Digital Booster Packs don't ever show up in their hand), so even for the fact you can beat the entire thing without spending a penny(even if you look for better cards, battles gradually add up to a digital pack) kinda could deserve more appreciation :U

Quote: Drawdler

For the record, I have been reporting posts that I think belong in TaM suggesting they get moved there and mentioned it a couple of times. Some of them do get moved and others stay here. It's weird, though, because a lot of those topics stay when in my opinion, some should really get moved to TaM. Look at the W3/W3.5 topic in this section.

Part of that is mods that aren't on the same page and pander to their online BFFs, and part of that is just because we don't really have clear guidelines on what goes in what forum. I *love* the idea of the separate forum for toys & merch (and suggested it a few times before it happened), but without clear guidance on when something goes on one forum vs. the other, it's hard for the general population to know where to post.

There is a simple process...

An idea is born, communicated and executed.

The point at which you enter the picture, can never be the same twice.

If you wrap your mind around everything at once, it will burst into an infinite number of pieces.

How many of those pieces are Skylanders?

What percent do you call yours?

Can you even know?

Thanks @ Drawdler

I think each game should have its own T&M. Figures are easily identified to each game, and topics would be relative to each as well. The only oddities are 1.5 Double Trouble & RDT which belong in Giants based on base color.

I apologize for not being as lucid as I should have been in the original post. The first ten posts or so were spot on in the spirit of what I wanted the thread to be. Emotion free for the most part, and stating their point of view.

This isn't a franchise comparison thread--we already have those.
It wasn't meant to be yet another Skylander complaint thread although stating criticisms is perfectly fine if it has shaped where you are in participation--both now and in the future.

It was simply a spot where we could provide ourselves some honesty and introspection on the franchise in the five years. Some of the feedback I've heard here has generally been echoed before, AND THAT'S FINE. What else is fine is the fact that I have no expectations whatsoever that this will be the progenitor thread that starts off chain events that starts things moving in a better direction with company representatives.

I've been rather judicious (both in my praise and criticism) in presenting my thoughts about this game and where I personally see this franchise in its current state. I'm not trying to rinse/repeat those, but rather reflect on the fact that we're a tight group, and we've all been through a ton in the five short years--both in the ups and downs. Just sit back, in a zen-like state, and come clean on if you're still onboard or now have a guarded view given the recent marketing changes. I know quite a few have posted that the "thrill is gone"....we all know it's a double edged sword to both make the game the same and also make it too different. How close is anyone to the edge of no return?

Like others, I'm a bit sad that I haven't posted actual game hints / threads since Swap Force...I really miss some of the "deep dives" of the early game ability to push me to make my skylanders the best. That to me is this biggest thing missing from the game, which to me is part of the "after game show". The last two games have had 6+ months of getting hints about the next game and seeing that come to light. Sadly, those times are more exciting now than the game itself. Not sure if anyone has noticed but once the game is released there is very little actual GAME talk (short of our reviews/perspectives in the first couple of weeks) and I miss that as well. The game feels even more dumbed down in some ways that make a discussion rather meaningless. It's a serial romp through levels....done. I miss the exploration, and there were no areas really hidden in this game (I miss being told I missed areas). I really hope they go beyond that to make replay more diversified and to keep the hunting going on, both in game and out.

I've personally ignored criteria that weren't met and got the game anyway, mainly because it was presented as cheaper given fewer figures--the added cost and alt deco variants has now made this relatively expensive without the added benefit. Like others, I can't and won't do multiple TTL franchises...and will not be an automatic YES on the next one. I will also wait and hear how the game is --- and let it sit in for a few weeks after the new shiny aspects have worn out. I agree with others--in some areas, they are actually getting MUCH better, but the most important element--ROI and replay ability....are getting worse for every game. We have another racing pack and 2-3 more characters and vehicles and if I get them there's really no need for me to use them. I've still yet to put any real time in with wave 3 characters. This did not happen to me on previous games.

This also wasn't meant to be "what I want", but it invariably happens. Someone mentioned villain figures. I'd love that too, with a theme of "Good vs Evil" and have interesting storylines / sets and changes to the story based on who you play as and what you do in game. How cool would that be? I still am holding on tight to a two story game, one from the perspective of Evil, that pits our heros in a big problem, and then the story that concludes it with the good guys. Imagine co-op play where someone is the bad guy and tries to stop you.

I look forward to continued introspection and thoughtful perspectives.

Lack of good postgame content definately isn't going to help discussion,but I've seen people go straight through some good things(or bad things in a good way) on the game like they aren't there - Supercharger Quests come to mind.



And yeah, there's a lack of analysis on what would be better for next game. There's a ton of ideas for new guest stars, tons of fan gimmicks, but not a lot of threads about what should they keep from this, what mechanics should return(those get mentioned but among the other two), even the minor things we didn't know we missed until now, what got super close to being a good feature, our favorite levels and themes that we're still missing on the games, etc etc.

Very well said Lemons, I wish I had the ability to express myself as elegantly as that.

I feel the same but I'm still all in for Sky 6 barring something extremely awful like a sports theme game or a gimmick that takes the series even further away from what got me into it. I'm hoping this year was a minor detour and lessons were learned and things will improve.

Basically trying to be optimistic against all the pessimistic feelings on the board here. I have a feeling that my hopes are in vain but I won't stress and fret about it until Activision gets around to letting us more about know what's up with the future of the series. I've enjoyed three good years so far with Skylander and one "meh" year (I had discovered the series with Giants) but I'm not really put off just yet and will be going away, I just won't be pouring all my money into the franchise if the concept is again off putting.

I had a strong feeling that I would be taking a pass on SC when they had announced the racing theme. I tried to keep an open mind and not pass judgement until I've actually played the thing, but I'm just not into racing. The game ended up being worse than I had hoped but basically it was as expected where too much focus was on racing. I just didn't expect them to dumb the game down as much as they had and make it not very enjoyable to revisit after the first month.

So far I've only got the bare minimal and Splat but I haven't regretted not buying everything possible with limited means like in prior years. I've last played the game when Splat was released but that was only for a couple hours and it was so boring and getting too annoying for me to continue. Swap Force sucked me back in and I was enjoying that much more. SC just never clicked with me and I feel like the rest with resentment and frustration over things but yet I'm still having hope and a positive outlook for Sky 6. I won't fret until I know more about what's in store for us portal masters.

Yet if things continue on the path that SC has been so faulted about and brings down Sky 6 to new depths, then I'll be one of the old farts hanging around here remembering the good old days, much like what the hardcore Spyro fans does. I'll again keep a tight wallet buying the bare minimum and trying to be optimistic about brighter Sky seven. It's hard to get rid of this fan. I've been into WWF/WWE since 1985 although it's been rather awful since the end of the Attitude era, I still sick around and remain hopeful for a resurgence of past glory. I'm quite foolishly devoted like that with stuff in passionate about.

I hope my response is in the nature of what was hoped for this thread. I often miss the point though and just go off ranting on whatever usually. The lack of news gets us all testy and touchy but all this time I've tried hard to not spread my angst about it. Really Activision should cut their loses on SC and start teasing us soon for the next game though. Build some hope and generate hype for a better tomorrow. I keep expecting for some sort of leak any day now as the series so dead at the moment on the forum other than the complaints. This time of year is typically when we start to see hints of the next game after all.

Is cool to see how everyhting goes into place again.

I feel optimisitc about the next game and that's a lot coming from a negative person like myself. I don't have any proof or anything, but there are certain issues where nearly all of us agree and for sure that feedback has knocked on their door

The down side with the two-year development cycle is that by the time SuperChargers came out, Sky6 has been in development for a full year. Trap Team feedback is more likely to have influence on Sky6 than SuperChargers feedback.

Some of the changes can be definately made in one year,though, especially if they get some assets reused from both previous games to create more postgame. THAT downside,however,is that Acti can very well show up one day and tell TFB to scrap everything because they belive the current direction is too similar to SC, making an EVEN MORE rushed game than the previous two. While I hope to Eon that never happens,it's all too common in game development.

The elephant is huge in the room and acti has themselves to blame for it. While it was "cute" for the first few games upto swapforce to keep people guessing on releases, the problem is it's wrong on a standpoint when there was so many come trap team for releases and then actual product wasn't fully released like the yawn traps. I feel this game will suffer the same fate in only 75%-85% of all items planned will see the light of day before they switch gears to the next game.

If it wasn't for the folks here, would've missed out on the nitro soda skimmer and the birthday bash pop fizz and this isn't the first time either like the light and dark adventure packs of trap team.

The whole forum in most areas does feel toxic and it's not completely the fault of those here as they're just tired and I can't blame them. You can't feel magic for a series that actually treats it's fanbase bad. Though they are releasing the skymibos in their own double packs, it's a slap in the face to those that bought multiple starters and if the dark ones do the same it's really a slap to those that bought the wii version for a 100 like i did just to get adark bowser. while it gives more people the ability to collect them I really think it's the end of dark editions with the pricemeal selling. They are crashing and burning and only have themselves to blame and I wouldn't be surprised they are bottom tier. While theirs is just about the most original this year except for lego, their methods really backfired with the mystery they purposely have.

Nintendo fixed their amiibo shortages and keep replenishing most of their figures that were sold out due to the demand. I could say in one way or another the other 3 competitors really brought their A game this year and for companies always at top it was needed for them to be humbled. What they forget to realize is they saturated the market with skylanders, and the most of their sales came from the giants/swap force era. Many of those gamers they used to rely on for sales grew up and moved on and/or out of playing their game.

It's been said about on everyone on the nonexistant info for releases unless a real special event like times square tru that no longer happens due to that shutting down.

I wouldn't be surprised sky 6 if it is in development is getting drastic changes behind closed doors due to all of this as they are hemorrhaging money and clearly lost the top spot, they could even be 3rd right now, or possibly dead last after the rest of them due to lack of sales. While they were the first to reignite toys to life, their way of doing things just isn't settling well with the public.

Personally sc is the final game i'm investing in on a normal basis since those I got the game for you can say finally are growing out of it and we all have too many toys to life figures than we will ever need for our collections, so there's no point to hunt for them as they lose that uniqueness in why you collected them in first place. It was fun for the first era and giants was the best with the magic and possibly swap force, but year after year most of us are growing out of it.

There's no real reason to be a superfan to any of these but just enjoy your collections in how you like them. I highly doubt acti will change much and they'll effectively run this franchise in the ground come next game or by the end of this one's cycle. I really don't see a 7 or an 8 to the series. I think the well with so many different toys to life things has made the whole genre hit a wall. Just too much to invest in now with so many games.

The collection part of the fandom losing interest isn't going to kill the games when the great majority is casual fans which probably outweigh the smaller group. Considering the decisions this year, it really doesn't seem to make any big impact to begin with compared to the gameplay. Plenty of opportunity to get things back next game.

Though, someone brought this up a few posts back and I didn't give enough attention - this kinda is drought months. With wave news or no wave news, the lack of surprises is going to leave people uneasy and staying away from the forums. Hopefully this year they won't be so late,or at least sprinkle more previews and ominous posts.

Quote: Bifrost

The collection part of the fandom losing interest isn't going to kill the games when the great majority is casual fans which probably outweigh the smaller group. Considering the decisions this year, it really doesn't seem to make any big impact to begin with compared to the gameplay. Plenty of opportunity to get things back next game.

Though, someone brought this up a few posts back and I didn't give enough attention - this kinda is drought months. With wave news or no wave news, the lack of surprises is going to leave people uneasy and staying away from the forums. Hopefully this year they won't be so late,or at least sprinkle more previews and ominous posts.

Oh It's dying and as you said its not the collectors doing it, it's the casuals that moved on. It's like nintendo banking on the wii u after the wii. The casuals went on to their phones and tablets as their next best thing beyond the wii. Most moved on to lego, nintendo or disney from skylanders. While it was their starting point, they found more comfort in 1 or more than that of the other 3 than skylanders.

Nah, the WiiU had their own set of issues. I meant that getting the casuals to turn away is a lot more temporary than the collectors. Get a good game with 6, they'll come back right away because they're not investing as much. With the WiiU you ARE spending a ton for the console and the games, so the choice is much harder and coming back to it after a bad decision even more so.

Quote: Bifrost

Nah, the WiiU had their own set of issues. I meant that getting the casuals to turn away is a lot more temporary than the collectors. Get a good game with 6, they'll come back right away because they're not investing as much. With the WiiU you ARE spending a ton for the console and the games, so the choice is much harder and coming back to it after a bad decision even more so.

honestly i doubt it. 6 games in isn't going to make a lot of people rush back to this game. that's just a lot of false hope. the writing's on the wall with the whole genre and it's more of a thing for things to be bloated on all fronts that people may or may not buy into it at all next year. There's a market for toys to life, but skylanders is the thing to hate these days, and I've seen plenty of people that switched over to infinity and avoid skylanders like the plague. Ever wonder why so much used figs show up these days? there's your sign at how many dumped them and most likely won't be coming back.

I see a lot of used Disney Infinity figures too, strange

You know something's going down when you won't even release the entire line of products for your game, in the country that brings it the most business. Thanks to the Yawn Traps not releasing, my Trap Team collection will forever have three grayed out areas in my collection screen. In supporting the product I trust in them to give us all products.

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

This.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: defpally

My biggest issue with Skylanders has always been their release strategy. They keep it all secret, never tell us squat, and leave us to figure out when things are coming out.

I'm *still* waiting at TRU for the Crash Bandicoot pack.

You do realise the "crash" pack isn't real, it was the code for the Skymiibo Packs...

Bob knows, he's just playing around.

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

Its not THAT bad. I'm loving DI 3.0 but it still has its problems. It needs to fix up things just as much as Skylanders does.

Quote: SilverWolf2308

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: defpally

My biggest issue with Skylanders has always been their release strategy. They keep it all secret, never tell us squat, and leave us to figure out when things are coming out.

I'm *still* waiting at TRU for the Crash Bandicoot pack. :(

You do realise the "crash" pack isn't real, it was the code for the Skymiibo Packs...

Yes. I was making a joke about us being left to "figure things out". ;)

Quote: UncleBob

The down side with the two-year development cycle is that by the time SuperChargers came out, Sky6 has been in development for a full year. Trap Team feedback is more likely to have influence on Sky6 than SuperChargers feedback.

I agree, but I also remember the VERY LATE changes / feedback to the game in regards to how the villains could be used. To your point, the boat has left the dock, but there's still time to change aspects given the feedback of SC, it's just a question of how close they are now to be able to positively influence it. And if they REALLY care about our feedback enough to be influenced to make the changes.

Quote: fairyland

Basically trying to be optimistic against all the pessimistic feelings on the board here. I have a feeling that my hopes are in vain but I won't stress and fret about it until Activision gets around to letting us more about know what's up with the future of the series. I've enjoyed three good years so far with Skylander and one "meh" year (I had discovered the series with Giants) but I'm not really put off just yet and will be going away, I just won't be pouring all my money into the franchise if the concept is again off putting.

fairyland, spot on with the response. I'm not going to fret either. I was "emotionally" involved with the problems of Trap Team, but I've disconnected myself from it a lot. It's healthier, but also shows that I can now say "goodbye" to the franchise if I need to, which means Activision has to do more to keep me (especially given competition)...which is the way it should be. It just appears we are in opposite world in terms of level of effort I feel like we're getting.

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

Zap--what part of the game copied splatoon, referring to some toy box gizmos?

Quote: GameMaster78

You know something's going down when you won't even release the entire line of products for your game, in the country that brings it the most business. Thanks to the Yawn Traps not releasing, my Trap Team collection will forever have three grayed out areas in my collection screen. In supporting the product I trust in them to give us all products.

Although traps are not a serious part of Trap Team not to have delivered (not delivering the figures would've been A LOT worse), I do feel "jaded" because of it. It remains to be seen if they cut some of their planned Alt Decos. Watch this space, I guess.

Just letting everyone know. My TRU has two Skylander sections and apparently is the best selling of the three TtL games (The others are DI and LD, obviously.)

Stock is pretty great too.

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

Yet if I want Stitch I can get Stitch. I don't see Blackout/Spotlight as ready to be ordered...

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Quote: GameMaster78

You know something's going down when you won't even release the entire line of products for your game, in the country that brings it the most business. Thanks to the Yawn Traps not releasing, my Trap Team collection will forever have three grayed out areas in my collection screen. In supporting the product I trust in them to give us all products.

Although traps are not a serious part of Trap Team not to have delivered (not delivering the figures would've been A LOT worse), I do feel "jaded" because of it. It remains to be seen if they cut some of their planned Alt Decos. Watch this space, I guess.

I would argue that not releasing all the traps for a game called Trap Team whose main gimmick is being able to trap villains (with the trap masters literally only there to jack up some prices on what could be core figures) is a huge deal.

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

Yet if I want Stitch I can get Stitch. I don't see Blackout/Spotlight as ready to be ordered...

Is this a sign that Infinity has better stock or a sign that Skylanders is simply a better seller?

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

Yet if I want Stitch I can get Stitch. I don't see Blackout/Spotlight as ready to be ordered...

Is this a sign that Infinity has better stock or a sign that Skylanders is simply a better seller?

Well in the case of Blackout (and pretty much any Wave 4 item), it is stock related.

Quote: Sleepy0429

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

This.

Sounds like a couple people that have spent a bunch of time with the game and have come to reasonable conclusions. Not.

If you haven't played this years version, you don't know what you are missing. 2.0 was competent, but a little too dependent on the Toy Box, but 3.0 is actually a great deal of fun. The story pieces are really high quality this year, especially compared to 2.0 and 1.0.

But go ahead and fanboy if you want. That's always productive.

I'm officially broken and have gone and bought Infinity 3 and ONLY the Star Wars characters and playsets. Interestingly all of the achievements for the game appear Toy Box related and not playset related.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

I'm officially broken and have gone and bought Infinity 3 and ONLY the Star Wars characters and playsets. Interestingly all of the achievements for the game appear Toy Box related and not playset related.

I think so, it is because you have to be able to get achievements with no other purchase, and if they put some in the playset and you buy it digitally, you don't have that playset to get the achievements.

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

I agree with most of that. The positive side about playing DI is that I now appreciate what I have with Skylanders

Quote: defpally

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Yet if I want Stitch I can get Stitch. I don't see Blackout/Spotlight as ready to be ordered...

Is this a sign that Infinity has better stock or a sign that Skylanders is simply a better seller?

Well in the case of Blackout (and pretty much any Wave 4 item), it is stock related.

This. Your little spin was cute Bob but it's not hard to sell out a figure that had a small stock of figures across the nation. That fake kind of success works for you though?

Quote: angelg

Quote: ZapNorris

Infinity is trash. Graphics are bad, gameplay is boring, glitches all around, they blatantly copied splatoon. (don't listen to their bull**** facts, those ****s copied splatoon and they should feel ****ing awful.)

TLDR- infinity is cancer.

I agree with most of that. The positive side about playing DI is that I now appreciate what I have with Skylanders

Stress?

I don't even play any other TtL game but my niece and nephew do and I can find the figures they want easy. Skylanders? At this point I expect disappointment and I should know better. There's no reason why I should be at the mercy of scalpers just to get a figure I want because they released a limited stock of them. From the beginning I have been convinced Activision are the scalpers tbh, other TtL companies release more stock when it sells out while they release only when they feel like it and it's almost always unannounced.

The games aren't even good so I don't know why I even bothered returning. When it ends I won't even be sad.

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: defpally

Quote: UncleBob

Is this a sign that Infinity has better stock or a sign that Skylanders is simply a better seller?

Well in the case of Blackout (and pretty much any Wave 4 item), it is stock related.

This. Your little spin was cute Bob but it's not hard to sell out a figure that had a small stock of figures across the nation. That fake kind of success works for you though?

It is a legitimate question.

If Activision made 100 Blackouts and 150 people want it, meanwhile Disney made 100 Stitches and only 50 people want it, then you would up with your exact same situation - but no one would argue that Infinity was doing better than Skylanders.

The point being, in-store stock levels isn't the best way to guage the success of the brand.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: defpally

Well in the case of Blackout (and pretty much any Wave 4 item), it is stock related.

This. Your little spin was cute Bob but it's not hard to sell out a figure that had a small stock of figures across the nation. That fake kind of success works for you though?

It is a legitimate question.

If Activision made 100 Blackouts and 150 people want it, meanwhile Disney made 100 Stitches and only 50 people want it, then you would up with your exact same situation - but no one would argue that Infinity was doing better than Skylanders.

The point being, in-store stock levels isn't the best way to guage the success of the brand.

I was not arguing that Infinity was more of a success or doing any better, you were the one who brought in the aspect of sales. My initial statement was that if I, a consumer, wanted a certain figure of Infinity (and Dimensions), I could get it. Easy as pie, no big deal and certainly not at the mercy of a scalper.

Getting a figure you want in Skylanders is difficult when it shouldn't be at all. It actually ruins the entire experience for me and has me looking at this series with disdain. Even though I initially skipped Trap Team, I actually stayed vigilant for Spotlight/Blackout figures around their release and found myself out of luck and there is no way of knowing when they will be back in stock (especially since their pages are deleted on sites like Best Buy and the like).

I've been a long time lurker of this site but had to register when I read this thread. My apologies for what will likely be a lengthy post but I've been thinking about this a lot the past year.

I think it is fair to expect some diminishing returns on a series/genre like this. It's natural. But the "elephant in the room" is how the increasing lack of value for the money, and the increasing frustration as a result of that plus the lack of customer information/communication. The reason Infinity keeps increasing sales is because their "innovation" is more in the licenses they own. First game was Disney, Second Marvel, Third Star Wars. The gameplay doesn't really change much from game to game and the evolution is natural - pack in more of the same but MORE of it.

By comparison, the Skylanders series seems to want to push the toys more and more by changing the games in un-natural ways that actually take away/distract from what makes Skylanders so fun. Instead of using the gimmicks to add value to an already strong game, as they did with Giants and even Swap Force, it becomes more of a distraction than anything. My kids have loved every Skylanders game to date and obsess over playing them up to Trap Team. But Supercharges has pretty much sat there collecting dust because my kids, while they LOVE the idea of the vehicles as new toys, they don't like the constant driving interuptions in the game. And their favorite mode - PvP battle mode - continues to be out of the game. Why? In doing this, their intentions are good but you risk losing your audience when something they like is arbitrarily taken out of the game. It is made worse when no actual reason or communication or even some other option is given for the removal. Why not have battle mode AND racing? Why not just make some DLC that adds a battle mode or even a separate, stand alone, Skylanders Battle Mode game people can buy if they want? Nope. It's gone and they aren't talking about it. Instead of providing more of the same and more of it, like DI seems to be doing, they do something else and provide no real communication and, as per my next point, no guarantee that gimmick will even be used next game.

The second elephant is the way they have been treating the toys themselves. As a parents and collector, I had no issue searching the net, regularly driving around town with my kids and dumping a bunch of cash collecting the figures. Then Trap Team came out and information seemed impossible to come by. Kaos trap? What's the deal with that? Mystery figures? Why are there so many traps being released and why does the release make no sense compared to the villains in the game? Why are there nothing but a million water traps in stores? Limited light and dark packs being released? GRAB THEM NOW...oh wait, single release...but then no way to get the other items anyway. I still have NEVER seen the two new dragons in stores. And on top of all that, the game had so much content locked up it made the lack of other information excruciatingly frustrating.

But here is the issue. I have no problem throwing money away collecting Skylanders stuff. But with the new obsession on gimmicks as innovation instead of natural gameplay evolution (ie. Giants relative to SSA) you can no longer rely on that collection having value. With SSA to Giants to Swap Force, you knew that everything you bought would be used in the new game. You would still get VALUE for those purchases by having more to do with them, level them up more, etc. But with Trap Team it became clear that value was no longer there. ALL the value of the new games was going to come from the new gimmick. No real special Giant abilities? Well, ok, those weren't that special and they are still bigger and stronger aSwap Force characters no longer had any special swap zone abilities. Swapping was kind of fun, but having those special skills really promised TONS of potential that was never really delivered. Magic items change from game to game but were still magic items that did something beneficial...which is no longer the case in SuperChargers. Traps trapping villains? Sorry, those aren't really doing anything this game and we will expect you to buy trophies now to play as those exact same characters instead of allowing you to play what you already have. Plus we aren't going to sell a base pack anymore as every new game relies on new portals. What's that? Your kid doesn't want the figure we believed months before release would be hugely popular and made billions of? He wants some other figure we made practically zero of and plan on quitely dumping it at the end of the lifecycle? Oh well!

With Supercharges, that problem is worse. Which is a shame because in my view they did a lot right in "pushing" far less purchases to enjoy the game, plus the new figs and vehicles look amazing. But here in Canada it is $36 for a fig and vehicle. $45 for a race pack. Spending more money than ever just to collect something that could very well be completely ignored next game just doesn't seem worth it.

Meanwhile, why play with old characters if the on-foot areas are so short and always interupted and you lose the interesting upgrade and supercharger ability? For this same reason, I think the vehicles distract from ALL the characters, even the new because you don't spend as much time with them walking/talking/fighting.

I feel there are two seemingly easy ways to handle this. 1) start releasing spin off titles or sequals like Giants 2 or Swap Force 2. Games that can come out and don't push new toys. or 2) Go back to basics and just make Sky 6 a solid adventure game without any gimmicks but try and find a way to appropriately use the past gimmicks in new/innovative ways that aren't a distraction.

Very well said. Welcome aboard.

I definitely think a "game only" year would benefit the franchise greatly. Even if said game is just an HD remake of SSA or Giants with the addition of all characters out now and add jumping. They could even re-ship some older figures that are hard to come by so they do not sacrifice ALL the figure profit.

Great text guy. I just want to say that I personally understand why Battle Mode was deleted:

It's because of balance. As you know, there are many types of Skylanders now. Cores, Giants, "Swappers", Trap Masters, SuperChargers, Elites, Minis. Mainly because of Elites, Battle Mode would be very unbalanced if it comes back. As Giants and Trap Masters have the advantage of being stronger but they are slower, and Minis being the opposite, Elites don't really have then, so they are very unbalanced.

Also, they could need to try to introduce somewhere the side toys in Battle Mode. Traps, Vehicles... And maybe their use can make things even more unbalanced. For example, while a SuperCharger can use a Vehicle to become SuperCharged in Battle Mode, this will make him stronger, but without anything that can balance him compared to other characters.

Maybe they can come with something, but, for now, they need to balance in order to get this mode back.

I've been talking spinoffs since the series started. They could've easily made some element or skylander group-focused games(say, 'oh no all guys of the X element/all guys of Y species were transported to this island! Mysterious!' just as an excuse for a plot where only that element will work, no matter who),or even some without TTL but it'll give you a nice bonus if you match. But with the yearly format, either you're throwing that to Beenox who really can't handle what it ALREADY has or taking time from the big two. Really wish they called N-Space back or something just for these small games but it doesn't seem like there's any interest.