darkSpyro

Ultimately I plan on trying to own them all BUT,
once I make one or more of every class and/or element
I'll be ready for the next game.

Why would I play any other characters if I have the ability to make almost anything I want?

Sure if I hit level ×× to unlock a part, I'll play. However it will only be to unlock the part. Seem a little like loot farming.

How many people plan on leveling pre-made characters over custom?

I think most Senseis will have abilities you can't give to custom characters. I will buy all Senseis and max all of them.

To be fair, the Senseis look a lot like just very polished Imaginators.

Even though the imagination studio looks great, our creations will never have the depth or diversity pre made Skylanders have.

They won't completely replace original characters.

People will still use both types of characters to experience different things , that is the point of Skylanders after all.

We already know Senseis unlock special gear or parts, increase the level cap, and unlock new attacks for Imaginators. So that's already three reasons to buy the Senseis.

My ultimate hope is every character you own will unlock a part.
I will play every new character but will wind up shelving most of them. I have some favorite go to characters in each release and this probably won't change. However once most stuff is unlocked, being able to customize my power selection and character appearance will keep me busy. Buying one gem for every element will not be enough. I'd like at least 2 maybe even 3 customs for each element.

I'm aiming for one regular Sensei of each element and class (I'd like to choose them in such a way that every element and class is represented in all ten figures, similarly to my SWAP Force Skylanders and their abilities), and each one would be assigned an equal number of Imaginator "pupils".

Quote: FoulPet

Why would I play any other characters if I have the ability to make almost anything I want?

I feel that both the sensei and create-a-characters are pointless. I already have perfect characters to play with from the prior games and I have no desire to make any of my own. Sadly 50% of the game every year is the new gimmick and if you choose to ignore it, then it's not going to be as much fun. I done that last year and I am pretty sure it'll happen again this year. That I'll be playing my normal team of 15 favorite Skylanders and the new waifu for the year and ignoring the gimmick as much as possible.

C'mon, this year isowhere as intrusive as last year. It's a skylander-focused gimmick(even if the main gimmick isn't physical figure mostly), meaning you can play as just who you want and the game most likely won't nag you about it. From what we've seen, the paywalls are either have one of the gimmick, or only going to matter if you have the character to begin with as they're not secret areas. Though keep in mind we've yet to see Imaginator-only paywalls.

As of now I've only see Imaginators Zones, where they are stronger.
But still, those are far from being called pay-walls.

At least this year we don't need a specific type of toy to simply play the game.

For me the main difference of Sensei vs Custom skylanders is that I have no faith that the custom creation crystals wiil work in future games. I am positive the Sensei figures will work in future games.

Personal opinions and choices. Plenty are still only interested in official skylanders and have no interest in created skylanders.
That's fine for them, but I do agree with you Foulpet. I think going forward the only real interest I will have in buying "official" skylanders is just to support these games because I will want to have more adventures with the Skylanders I create.
But my old and new official skylanders have been retired for future adventures. It will all be my own created characters that will be played from imaginators and onward.
I am actually hoping for one of those 1 dollar problems like they had with the water traps in trap team because I'm totally fine with collecting lots and lots of crystals if they will actually be supported in future skylander games.

Quote: Drek95

As of now I've only see Imaginators Zones, where they are stronger.
But still, those are far from being called pay-walls.

At least this year we don't need a specific type of toy to simply play the game.

hopefully you're right...haven't seen enough of the game yet to really know for sure yet. But yeah, since Swap Force we've needed more & more new figures just to play the freaking game ( at least 8 Swappers covering all 8 elements & all abilities; 9 extra Trap Masters just to open the element gates cause Traptanium and vehicles just to get the stars with a massive portion of the racing content on consoles locked behind $35 "Racing Action Packs" )...

on topic though, I plan on focusing more on the Sensei than the custom Skylanders ( though I will have some fun creating my own characters )...especially Crash Bandicoot. Now I just have to hope TFB learned from VV as far as implementing Nightmare mode goes...

Quote: ChillStealthElf

Quote: Drek95

As of now I've only see Imaginators Zones, where they are stronger.
But still, those are far from being called pay-walls.

At least this year we don't need a specific type of toy to simply play the game.

hopefully you're right...haven't seen enough of the game yet to really know for sure yet. But yeah, since Swap Force we've needed more & more new figures just to play the freaking game ( at least 8 Swappers covering all 8 elements & all abilities; 9 extra Trap Masters just to open the element gates cause Traptanium and vehicles just to get the stars with a massive portion of the racing content on consoles locked behind $35 "Racing Action Packs" )...

I think what Drek meant was you just need one Land vehicle to get the game running, not what you need to access the bulk of the game's side content.

That being said, if you have a Traptanium, Swap Force, or Giants/SSA portal, I believe you can just play through the game with Instant Hot Streak (and Instant Spitfire), without needing a Vehicle toy.

Quote: Wolfgang

Quote: ChillStealthElf

Quote: Drek95

As of now I've only see Imaginators Zones, where they are stronger.
But still, those are far from being called pay-walls.

At least this year we don't need a specific type of toy to simply play the game.

hopefully you're right...haven't seen enough of the game yet to really know for sure yet. But yeah, since Swap Force we've needed more & more new figures just to play the freaking game ( at least 8 Swappers covering all 8 elements & all abilities; 9 extra Trap Masters just to open the element gates cause Traptanium and vehicles just to get the stars with a massive portion of the racing content on consoles locked behind $35 "Racing Action Packs" )...

I think what Drek meant was you just need one Land vehicle to get the game running, not what you need to access the bulk of the game's side content.

That being said, if you have a Traptanium, Swap Force, or Giants/SSA portal, I believe you can just play through the game with Instant Hot Streak (and Instant Spitfire), without needing a Vehicle toy.

that makes more sense....and you also just brought up another issue: the constant requirement for a new portal. I get that new gimmicks may necessitate a redesign ( most noticeably the traps & creation crystals ), but it could eventually turn some people away from the franchise ( look at LEGO Dimensions, no need for a new starter pack/portal just buy the new toys & update the game )

Quote: ChillStealthElf

Quote: Wolfgang

Quote: ChillStealthElf

hopefully you're right...haven't seen enough of the game yet to really know for sure yet. But yeah, since Swap Force we've needed more & more new figures just to play the freaking game ( at least 8 Swappers covering all 8 elements & all abilities; 9 extra Trap Masters just to open the element gates cause Traptanium and vehicles just to get the stars with a massive portion of the racing content on consoles locked behind $35 "Racing Action Packs" )...

I think what Drek meant was you just need one Land vehicle to get the game running, not what you need to access the bulk of the game's side content.

That being said, if you have a Traptanium, Swap Force, or Giants/SSA portal, I believe you can just play through the game with Instant Hot Streak (and Instant Spitfire), without needing a Vehicle toy.

that makes more sense....and you also just brought up another issue: the constant requirement for a new portal. I get that new gimmicks may necessitate a redesign ( most noticeably the traps & creation crystals ), but it could eventually turn some people away from the franchise ( look at LEGO Dimensions, no need for a new starter pack/portal just buy the new toys & update the game )

It seems like they're doing away with that requirement from SC onwards, since Superchargers can use any old portal (although due to technical limitations, can't support co-op with two Swap Force characters on a Giants or SSA portal), and it appears Imaginators is going to be bundled with a Swap Force portal. So it seems that, for the foreseeable future, a Traptanium portal should cover all of the games.

One thing to note about the Portals: While it looks like Imaginators is getting the Swap Portal in NA, Aus/NZ Starter Packs are advertised with a Modded Rift Portal. Europe retailers appear to have Swap Portals on the boxes as well.

I initially would prefer another Swap Portal, but seeing how the new Rift Portal is different from the original, I'm slightly leaning towards that. Damn collector mentality!

Quote: Drek95

At least this year we don't need a specific type of toy to simply play the game.

Except you do. You need a Skylander, which is the same requirement as SSA-STT. That requirement is an infinite times larger than than SSC, which you can play with no figures whatsoever, as long as you use any of the 3 older Portals.

Let it go, man. The Vehicles aren't worth being salty over.

Quote: ChillStealthElf

Quote: Wolfgang

Quote: ChillStealthElf

hopefully you're right...haven't seen enough of the game yet to really know for sure yet. But yeah, since Swap Force we've needed more & more new figures just to play the freaking game ( at least 8 Swappers covering all 8 elements & all abilities; 9 extra Trap Masters just to open the element gates cause Traptanium and vehicles just to get the stars with a massive portion of the racing content on consoles locked behind $35 "Racing Action Packs" )...

I think what Drek meant was you just need one Land vehicle to get the game running, not what you need to access the bulk of the game's side content.

That being said, if you have a Traptanium, Swap Force, or Giants/SSA portal, I believe you can just play through the game with Instant Hot Streak (and Instant Spitfire), without needing a Vehicle toy.

that makes more sense....and you also just brought up another issue: the constant requirement for a new portal. I get that new gimmicks may necessitate a redesign ( most noticeably the traps & creation crystals ), but it could eventually turn some people away from the franchise ( look at LEGO Dimensions, no need for a new starter pack/portal just buy the new toys & update the game )

Actually, the only Portal truly required to use all the features of a game is the Traptanium one.
The SWAP Force Portal apparently wasn't required to play it, unless previous Portals can't read more than two chips at once when playing SuperChargers.

The SA's and Giant's are the same and the SuperChargers' is just a slightly bigger and aesthetically different Traptanium Portal.
We'll see what they will do this year but it seems like all Portals are compatible again (Creation Crystals aren't that different from actual Skylanders, after all): I would still like a specific Imaginators Portal.

Would also really like if they brought back the concept of Portal Owners Packs, even if you usually miss out on exclusive figures when buying it.

Nightmoon, yes, I think we all know we required at least one Skylander to play the game.
What I'm salty about (if you wish to say so) it's the fact SuperChargers is the first game, and I strongly hope the last, which requires another type of toy to constantly be on the Portal to run the game.

And sorry, Instants are a nice feature but they won't replace actual physical figures which stores progresses in them: I do appreciate the concept for vehicles but hope it will never be needed again.

The Swap Force portal was rigged to be the only readable one in SF, but Battlegrounds wasn't accounted for it and a user years ago found out that, as long as you don't surpass the 4 chips(two tops two bottoms,or two regular skylanders two magic items) limit, you could use them on the older portals. Not 100% sure,it's been a long time.

I'd like an Imaginators portal that's just eye candy if they can just make all of them compatible really. Don't need any addons to make things work? Make it pretty, a fan's pride and joy if they really have to shell out extra money for one in a Starter Pack. Maybe even make it match the Sensei and Imaginite molds and be this rocky structure full of drawings.

Going back on-topic with... a lot of words, probably some repetition...
I don't think the new Skylander types are any more pointless than previous types of Skylanders. Cores gradually lost usefulness since Giants, since they were locked out of certain features. First Giants-only actions, then Swap Zones, then the worst of all: Traptanium gates. Also SuperCharger gates, but at least those weren't elementally aligned.

All the other types have also lost their uniqueness since their debut, with Swappers being the least affected, since their swapability can't be removed without causing major unrest. No feats of strength (apart from the minor boulder plucking in STT's Doom Challenge), no Swap-Zones, no Traptanium anything, no SuperCharger Challenges or Gates.

It's been hard for them to strike a balance between making new content available as incentive to buy the new figures, without being too exclusive of older ones. In STT and SSC, all characters worked with the side figures, while there were still some exclusivity to the new types. SSC's character-specific challenges is a nice step in the right direction, and Shrines seem to be following suit, while also opening up to multiple characters.

Senseis and Creation Crystals have some neat different features. Like with previous games, you don't really need them, but they still have unique features, such as the Gongs and Shrines for Senseis, and of course customization for customs. Hopefully they have challenges for the customs too, both Battle Class specific and Element specific, maybe in different training rooms throughout the academy.

In a way, all characters are becoming more like Cores, with only the most recent ones getting a little special treatment during their own game only. It's hard to say if it's good or bad, and everyone will have different opinions on the matter, but at least we're getting new and different figures with every game, and that's one of the core aspects of the series, so I'm ultimately happy about it.

Reply to Drek


+ Mini rant about Light/Dark figures

wait...the creation crystals just go on the portal like any other toy?I thought they were like the traps....

Figure-wise, they're essentially just larger, more advanced lightcore magic items.

Quote: Nightmoon

Figure-wise, they're essentially just larger, more advanced lightcore magic items.

cool! I'd only seen in-game footage so far so I had no idea they worked like that

Quote: Nightmoon

Figure-wise, they're essentially just larger, more advanced lightcore magic items.

Oooh, pretty colors.