darkSpyro

So, coming out of another topic - there's a debate that comes up every so often.

On one hand, folks complain when features of the game are locked behind the requirement of purchasing new figures. SWAP Zones, Traptainium Elemental Gates, Heroic Challenges, Soul Gems, etc. etc.

On the other hand, folks complain when the game doesn't do much to reward them with their older figures.

I get it. I have nearly 500 figures at this point. I'd love a game where every single figure adds something new to a game. But I also understand that locking parts of the game behind old figures isn't good towards new players. Could you imagine if the new game locked something behind, say, Series1 Boomer? Awesome for those of us who have him. Sucks for those who don't. Although I hame a MiB one I'll sell you for $250. ;)

So, what's your opinion? Where do you draw the line between "locking content behind a purchase" vs. "reqarding owners of particular figures"?

People tend to over analyze this stuff. Rather than treat it as an enjoyable game and healthy collecting hobby, people need to do a meta-analysis of whether or not their toy investment yields dividends for the price they paid. If it's getting to be too much or you feel you're not getting a good bang for your buck, time to move onto something else...no need to over analyze...these are video game toys. Not everything needs to unlock/access something and Activision certainly can't hit a home run over the fence for all the product they release...temper expectations.

As for new people joining the Skylanders collecting franchise, it really is impossible to back track and collect them all...all products phase out and some figures are just not available without paying a hefty premium. That being said, the game is still very attractive to kids in pre-school, elementary school, and to a smaller extent, middle school kids. Kids talk to other kids about Skylanders. They generally don't don't have the collect it all mentality and are the essential core purchasers which will have the biggest impact on the longevity of the franchise.

I think figures that are released for a specific game should be considered as purchased for its value/use in that one game. Particularly if it's the gimmick of that game like Swappers for Swap Force and Trap Masters for Trap Team. It's great that we can then use those figures in future game, but I don't expect they should unlock exclusive content in new games beyond adding to your collection screen.

Am I annoyed because Swappers have no special use in Trap Team? No, since I can still use those figures as regular Skylanders. I bought them for Swap Force which I can pick up and play again whenever I want.

I won't be upset if Skylanders 5 abandons traps altogether, as I purchased them for use in Trap Team. But I'm also aware people will be upset if that happens. It will be interesting to see how that plays out when the next game is revealed.

Quote: UncleBob

On one hand, folks complain when features of the game are locked behind the requirement of purchasing new figures. SWAP Zones, Traptainium Elemental Gates, Heroic Challenges, Soul Gems, etc. etc.

On the other hand, folks complain when the game doesn't do much to reward them with their older figures.

To me, the above complaints are one and the same. I don't appreciate it when features are locked behind new figures AND my older figures don't do much.

Personally, I prefer the Giants approach. You just need 1 Giant (of any element) plus 1 core character from each element to 100% complete the game. I feel like the SWAP Zones and the Traptainium Elemental Gates were just cash grabs. I would have preferred that any Skylander could have opened the elemental gates in Trap Team (for their matching element of course), and Trap Masters were just used to break Traptainium (although I think Giants should have also been able to do this).

For me, I don't care. Yes I was a little annoyed with the Traptanium Gates but instead of having 100% within the first few days, I had to wait a little while and I was completely fine (MoM was not fine but we've got it now )
I like to level up the old Skylanders for fun! It keeps me interested! And considering how many Skylanders I have, I've levelled up over half of them! I can't remember the exact number but its certainly over 200 (I only got started at Giants, I'm collecting rarer things on eBay like my treasured QD Rattle Shake... just missed Legendary Stealth Elf )

You might still be able to find one in stores I found 3 of them

As long as we all remember that no in game content is worth the money you spend on the toy . Hopefully you buy a toy because you liked it and not because it opens a gate earning you another stupid looking hat .

Honestly I think they do a pretty good job of balancing this already. You can beat the game with the starters and that has always been the case. Lots of stuff is locked behind gates, but all of that stuff is optional. If you want to 100% the game of course you will spend more money.

I tell people all the time who ask how much money they'll spend that the minimum is the price you pay for the starter and the maximum is pretty much up to you and how deeply you want to get involved in collecting. There are plenty of other games out there that don't require this kind of investment. I find that most folks who get started gladly spend the money to access the additional content because they find value in the experience as whole. If you don't, try a different game.

To the people complaining about stuff being locked, maybe think about how you'd feel if you started up Sky 5 for the first time and there were 40 soul gems, 100 hats, and a bunch of treasure chests just laying on the ground in the hub area... would that be fun? I bought a few Amiibos to play w/ Smash Bros., played with them for an hour and they haven't left the storage bin since because the toys offer no real gameplay value/reward as all the characters can be unlocked without the toys. Would Sky 5 be fun for you if you could just pick a character from a menu and not be required to own the toy?

tldr; In my opinion the devs do a good job of balancing things already, and that can't be an easy thing to do.

I buy characters based on designs/concepts that I like. The presence of a physical toy is more important to me than their quirks (special color, door-opening) in the game. Since my preferred "genre" tends to be cores (I like the more non-humanoid animal types), I also haven't bought many of the gimmick characters. So I'm some weird outlier :u

I'm also annoyed at the gates in Trap Team because they took something that worked the same way in 4 games and changed it for no logical reason. Trap masters do gates AND crystals. The element zones are also tiny compared to past games.
Swap Force had something great with the dual-element gates that both used your existing collection and tied nicely into the gimmick characters. Why couldn't they have implemented something similar in Trap Team?

The locked stuff is balanced....kinda. What's unbalanced is that flush all that plastic, as you need the shiny new plastic to unlock stuff in the new game. That's where skyvets don't feel their collection gets acknowledged in game. They even ripped out the "to life" part of toys to life by removing our ability to customize beyond level and upgrades.

And this repeated marketing cycle of "ignore your past skylanders" and "buy the new ones so u can COMPLETELY get everything in this new game" may work for the noobs and second go rounders, but I think we're going to get sick of this...probably sooner rather than later. Dare I say the game has to innovate harder than the toys IF player retention is on their minds. I've personally put up with the last two entries (ended up forgiving Swap Force shortfalls because they ADDED to other areas), but Trap Team feels empty outside of the main campaign (which is very good, but replayability is low) and a few hours of Kaos Challenge. I'm hoping the development isn't getting top heavy with character model support and testing. Now don't get me wrong, buying and using them in game is sweet, but the logical side of me is saying that isn't going to be enough long term.

Yeah, the zones were embarrassingly small, made you wonder what all the hub hub was about opening these gates. Swap Force levels were a tad longer than perhaps it should've been, but those elemental gates/areas were VERY cool but spot on size-wise -- like blending elements and different takes on straight element gates like in tech zones throwing a ball to teleport you to other areas or having to use water to stop Mr Chompy chasing a gill fish.

Quote: GhostRoaster

The locked stuff is balanced....kinda. What's unbalanced is that flush all that plastic, as you need the shiny new plastic to unlock stuff in the new game. That's where skyvets don't feel their collection gets acknowledged in game.

As I mentioned in another thread, Activision's target isn't the "secondary" market. In my original post I was specifically referencing people purchasing used product not being the target audience, but I think it holds up here in a different sense. While Activision/TfB obviously want to keep as many fans as they can on the bandwagon, their goal is to get you to purchase new product, not specifically make a new game with all kinds of awesome things to do that don't require additional investment. If all of the existing fans of any "Toys to Life" franchise stopped buying new product past the next game's starter, you'd see all of them fail awfully quick. If you give people too much to do with old figures, they don't buy new ones. If you don't give people any opportunity to use old figures, they refuse to buy new ones. It's a very fine balancing act that the developers have to perform and I think we may all be a little quick to complain when considering it.

Quote:

They even ripped out the "to life" part of toys to life by removing our ability to customize beyond level and upgrades.

This has always been the case. While fans have been requesting to be able to customize their individual Skylanders more, this has never been promised as a feature and, given the number of models they've got to deal with, I don't blame Activision for not making this one a priority. Nothing was ripped out, it never really existed in the first place. Leveling up your Skylander and upgrading them down one path or another has always been the basic extent of your ability to customize. Hats have been there and now trinkets, but I don't think that's what you're going for.

Quote:

And this repeated marketing cycle of "ignore your past skylanders" and "buy the new ones so u can COMPLETELY get everything in this new game" may work for the noobs and second go rounders, but I think we're going to get sick of this...probably sooner rather than later.

The requirement to buy more Skylanders and not being able to 100% everything right out of the gate has pretty much been present since day 1. While I can understand and sympathize with the frustration, it's nothing new. Being surprised by and getting all up in arms over a practice that has continually occurred since the franchise's inception doesn't make much sense to me.

Quote:

Dare I say the game has to innovate harder than the toys IF player retention is on their minds. I've personally put up with the last two entries (ended up forgiving Swap Force shortfalls because they ADDED to other areas), but Trap Team feels empty outside of the main campaign (which is very good, but replayability is low) and a few hours of Kaos Challenge. I'm hoping the development isn't getting top heavy with character model support and testing. Now don't get me wrong, buying and using them in game is sweet, but the logical side of me is saying that isn't going to be enough long term.

Yeah, the zones were embarrassingly small, made you wonder what all the hub hub was about opening these gates. Swap Force levels were a tad longer than perhaps it should've been, but those elemental gates/areas were VERY cool but spot on size-wise -- like blending elements and different takes on straight element gates like in tech zones throwing a ball to teleport you to other areas or having to use water to stop Mr Chompy chasing a gill fish.

I'm guessing that what may have happened here is VV overreaching to try to meet fans' demands for longer levels, more content, etc., and TfB dumbing things down with TT to try to more directly target their primary little kid targets. I think VV did remarkably well for their first main Skylanders title and look forward to seeing what they've got up their sleeves with Sky 5. As for TT, I'm still having fun with it but am disappointed in how restrictive it seems, tending to focus more on strict plot points and giving you excuses to purchase/use the new gimmicks versus the kind of expansive world building that VV seemed to be going for with Swap Force. (shrug) I guess we'll just have to wait to see if it gets better with the new game.

-Doug

Quote: GhostRoaster

Yeah, the zones were embarrassingly small, made you wonder what all the hub hub was about opening these gates. Swap Force levels were a tad longer than perhaps it should've been, but those elemental gates/areas were VERY cool but spot on size-wise -- like blending elements and different takes on straight element gates like in tech zones throwing a ball to teleport you to other areas or having to use water to stop Mr Chompy chasing a gill fish.

I agree with this 100%, most of the time I've unlocked an elemental gate in TT I've found myself scratching my head going... "That's it?" If I were buying figures JUST to unlock those gates I'd feel cheated too.

On the other hand, I liked the main level length overall in TT vs. SF because it allowed me to actually get through a level co-op with my kid vs. the typical SF play session where we'd get 75% of the way through a level and she'd be bored and wander off, and I'd either have to finish it solo or turn it off knowing we'd be doing it over again next time.

Quote: minikaboom

I agree with this 100%, most of the time I've unlocked an elemental gate in TT I've found myself scratching my head going... "That's it?" If I were buying figures JUST to unlock those gates I'd feel cheated too.

On the other hand, people are already complaining about how much stuff is locked behind characters. Could you imagine if the areas behind elemental gates were huge, expansive levels?

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: minikaboom

I agree with this 100%, most of the time I've unlocked an elemental gate in TT I've found myself scratching my head going... "That's it?" If I were buying figures JUST to unlock those gates I'd feel cheated too.

On the other hand, people are already complaining about how much stuff is locked behind characters. Could you imagine if the areas behind elemental gates were huge, expansive levels?

If that were the case, $14.99 for a figure would be a great deal versus $24.99 (or higher) for an adventure pack that does the same thing! Bring on levels hidden behind characters, Activision!

-Doug

Quote: UncleBob

On the other hand, people are already complaining about how much stuff is locked behind characters. Could you imagine if the areas behind elemental gates were huge, expansive levels?

Maybe somewhere in between "jump on the pad and get the hat" and "huge and expansive" is where it needs to land, but I see your point. I don't think there's a right answer here, no matter what direction they go someone is going to be unhappy.

Lock lots of awesome level design and content behind gates? People are mad that they have to buy more stuff to open it. Give everything away for free? People are mad because the stuff they bought doesn't seem to have a purpose in the game. I think the takeaway is buy figures because you want the figure, not as a means to an end.

I guess it's easier for me to give a pass for stuff being locked because I'm going to buy everything anyway. It's not a matter of if I unlock it, just when. I can see how people that don't plan to or can't buy all the figures will hate that.

Quote: darkchylde28

If that were the case, $14.99 for a figure would be a great deal versus $24.99 (or higher) for an adventure pack that does the same thing! Bring on levels hidden behind characters, Activision!

-Doug

Haha yeah, bring it on! Adventure packs have always felt like the worst value to me, this time around is no exception.

I really don't see why they'd lock out the elemental gates when by this point, a huge part of the userbase has figures that could easily open them, and in fact have been able to do so for three years.

They could have still kept things like special areas that trap master could access, but you'd only need one trap master (and you get one in the starter pack). The game would have been more similar to Giants (with only needing one Giant instead of one of each element) rather than Swap Force which required one of each ability.

I certainly don't expect all of my old figures to still be as worthwhile as new ones, but they kind of cut out 75% of what we have already in favor of the new figures. Which from a business standpoint makes sense, you want people to buy your new things. But i'd have been much more happy if i only had to buy traps instead of traps and trap masters.

As for extra content, releasing the Adventure Packs after the game comes out is perfectly fine. Even the Light/Dark guys they were keen on keeping secret were fine. you'd get to doors that can't open and be like "woah wait, what?" instead of "oh great, I need another 7 trap masters, PLUS whatever these mysterious ones are? thanks obama"

Quote: spyroflame0487

I really don't see why they'd lock out the elemental gates when by this point, a huge part of the userbase has figures that could easily open them, and in fact have been able to do so for three years.

They could have still kept things like special areas that trap master could access, but you'd only need one trap master (and you get one in the starter pack). The game would have been more similar to Giants (with only needing one Giant instead of one of each element) rather than Swap Force which required one of each ability.

The game was originally going to have regular elemental gates, alike to those in Swap Force. The evidence can be seen in some of the older videos for trap team, as well as some Soul Gem videos inside the game. We would have been able to access all the gates on day one if it wasn't for Activision. They probably gave an executive order to make it so only Trap Masters can open gates. Which really STINKS!

Quote: zookinator

Quote: spyroflame0487

I really don't see why they'd lock out the elemental gates when by this point, a huge part of the userbase has figures that could easily open them, and in fact have been able to do so for three years.

They could have still kept things like special areas that trap master could access, but you'd only need one trap master (and you get one in the starter pack). The game would have been more similar to Giants (with only needing one Giant instead of one of each element) rather than Swap Force which required one of each ability.

The game was originally going to have regular elemental gates, alike to those in Swap Force. The evidence can be seen in some of the older videos for trap team, as well as some Soul Gem videos inside the game. We would have been able to access all the gates on day one if it wasn't for Activision. They probably gave an executive order to make it so only Trap Masters can open gates. Which really STINKS!

Hopefully they go back to SSA and Giants for opening the elemental gates instead of what they did in TT.

Quote: captainzombie

Hopefully they go back to SSA and Giants for opening the elemental gates instead of what they did in TT.

I can hear Eon in Skylanders 5 already. "A new gimmick Skylander is required to open this gate".

I know we coined gimmick here, but I think they've been coined officially as "guest star" skylanders. Just to keep you up to date on the marketing.

Quote: zookinator

The game was originally going to have regular elemental gates, alike to those in Swap Force. The evidence can be seen in some of the older videos for trap team, as well as some Soul Gem videos inside the game. We would have been able to access all the gates on day one if it wasn't for Activision. They probably gave an executive order to make it so only Trap Masters can open gates. Which really STINKS!

I think the early videos and announcement demonstrations more or less confirm that this was done simply as a cash grab. Remember when the Activision lead for Skylanders (can't remember his name) stated several times about how traps would be able to store 4-5 villains at once? Then the game got completed and it turned out to only be 1? They slipped up and let us know that the technology would allow for more than one to be stored but released them locked down to a single villain. Money is really the only answer there, IMHO.

-Doug

I still have all of wave 4 sitting on my floor unopened that tells me I'm losing interest in skylanders. Yes the hunt in the beginning of the franchise was fun but as I look at all the money I spent on this was it actually worth it!

Quote: darkchylde28

I think the early videos and announcement demonstrations more or less confirm that this was done simply as a cash grab. Remember when the Activision lead for Skylanders (can't remember his name) stated several times about how traps would be able to store 4-5 villains at once? Then the game got completed and it turned out to only be 1? They slipped up and let us know that the technology would allow for more than one to be stored but released them locked down to a single villain. Money is really the only answer there, IMHO.

-Doug

Yeah, the way the whole thing transpired was bizarre--I recall that as well although my perspective is they didn't know what they were talking about -- there were too many missteps marketing wise on the last one for me to think it was all about cash grab--they just seem genuinely unprepared. I mean, who can forget how many times they swayed on how villains were going to be implemented in game (the sudden arrival of the villain timer)? Perhaps the timer was a way for us to be incentivized to load up multiple traps with villains "in case the timer ran out"...at the end of the day I'm no fool it is about the money. They're not doing this because they like us. I bet they even tooled around with the idea of x amount of time with no reload, but I bet they figured that would kill trap sales instead of promote it. Ironically I thought traps would not do well but I bet it was the big hit sales wise this time around, if inventory counts in stores are a clue.

With all the shenanigans Activision has pulled with TT, no way was I gonna pay more than 50% for the starter. Plenty of other things to do until the sales hit the week before Easter.

Target audience, last-minute pay-walls, balancing acts, short levels vs inventive side areas... All intriguing points worth pondering.

I was hooked on Trap Team the first time I used an evolved villain to decimate most of a group of enemies and then mopped up with a Skylander wielding a giant glowing weapon. At this point, I don't care what's locked behind what, or how much of my collection (definitely almost exclusively most useful within the games they were each released) is still compatible. However, the fact that I CAN use them all in each new game brings an epic sense of cohesive world-building that has made playing and collecting Skylanders almost an obsession.

Obsessions don't care about cost vs value. Activision and their developers have created a phenomenon so massively incredible, it made $2 billion in three short years. We are all slaves, throwing our money at our master in anticipation of the smallest scrap of info regarding the next game's release. We complain about their arrogant money-making scheme as it grows bolder every year, but Activision stops making Skylander games exactly one year before either toy figurines or video games become dead as an entertainment form for children around the world, i.e. never.

Activision did very well in this franchise, thanks to the smart move of sharpening the tech around the portal and figures. Not sure anyone here is complaining per se rather than stating their opinion on what makes sense to them. Every franchise has its plusses and minuses and this one has no hall pass. They are clearly doing more right than wrong, but make no mistake---it may take several bad game iterations for them to feel the impact, but consumers are rarely slaves to the corporations. When enough people vote with their wallets (and not their mouth) on the direction will there be (I think) significant change. Capitalism works very well, if left to natural forces.

Quote: UncleBob

So, coming out of another topic - there's a debate that comes up every so often.

On one hand, folks complain when features of the game are locked behind the requirement of purchasing new figures. SWAP Zones, Traptainium Elemental Gates, Heroic Challenges, Soul Gems, etc. etc.

On the other hand, folks complain when the game doesn't do much to reward them with their older figures.

I get it. I have nearly 500 figures at this point. I'd love a game where every single figure adds something new to a game. But I also understand that locking parts of the game behind old figures isn't good towards new players. Could you imagine if the new game locked something behind, say, Series1 Boomer? Awesome for those of us who have him. Sucks for those who don't. Although I hame a MiB one I'll sell you for $250.

So, what's your opinion? Where do you draw the line between "locking content behind a purchase" vs. "reqarding owners of particular figures"?

Good work on starting up a new thread, the original had run its course and the topic you have raised is an interesting one.

For me I liked the way Swap Force was handled, even though I didn't like the game itself as much. But in SF I could open gates by using 2 Skylanders of different elements or using a single Swap Forcer with top and bottom of different elements. I brought all the SF characters because I wanted to collect them, not because I was forced to buy them. I hate that TT have gates designed to force people to pay almost $20 (here in Australia) for a new character if they want to open that gate. And yes, if there was a reasonable amount of game play behind that gate then I really wouldn't mind as much. But there wasn't in TT which sucks really.

As for older characters, I've spent many, many hours playing with particular characters, passing all the Heroic Quests and everything else you could do with them in the first 2 games. And I would like my efforts in using those characters acknowledged, but not by locking more content that only they can open, but by getting a boost in stats for those characters. Ideally I would like a 'veteran' Skylander to get a health boost bonus over one that has done all the same quests, but hasn't done as many hours. But I can see why that can't happen. So instead I would just like the games to continue to give the stats bonuses that I got from the earlier games for all the upgrading effort I put in. This could be done. Activision have just chosen not to.

I like heroics.
It's slightly similar, in which only the characters released for that game would unlock them (ex. in Giants, s1 Spyro can't but s2 Spyro can).

• All characters can use the unlocked area, and it's worth repeating for each character. Where the other gates award a hat to your save and you're done. Swap Force also unlocked the movement-type minigames in their own mode for portal master rank stars ( which was nice but TBH, there were too many stars).
  
• Objectives are short and different from a story level - it adds variety and it was neat to see what they can do with the same controls.
  
• It's not a visible wall. The gimmick gates in SF/TT are "physical" objects there in your face in the levels, it's more apparent you're missing it than the heroic challenge you just see in a menu. There's some psychological stuff going on there.
  

^Heroics were awesome! The goals within Swap Force were also interestingly motivating, although in a much milder way.

The psychological aspect could be multiple buying incentives placed in such a way to trigger interest at different intervals of time and progress, including the waves. Wander over to Cali in the first game and you discover a deeper reason to own every figure. With Trap Team, perhaps this is why they sought to keep the new elements a secret, because most of the incentive is immediately visible up front and in your face, and includes a deluge of gimmick figs, super-cute minis, traditional desire for interesting cores, and especially the traps.

Quote: kaosmumishot

As for older characters, I've spent many, many hours playing with particular characters, passing all the Heroic Quests and everything else you could do with them in the first 2 games. And I would like my efforts in using those characters acknowledged, but not by locking more content that only they can open, but by getting a boost in stats for those characters. Ideally I would like a 'veteran' Skylander to get a health boost bonus over one that has done all the same quests, but hasn't done as many hours. But I can see why that can't happen. So instead I would just like the games to continue to give the stats bonuses that I got from the earlier games for all the upgrading effort I put in. This could be done. Activision have just chosen not to.

This, to me, would make my older figures even more worthless. It's not like the Skylanders games are overly hard challenges in the first place - giving me a bunch of OP figures just makes me not want to use those figures. I already avoid using the older figures until I've progressed far enough in the game to have most of the new stuff leveled up.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: kaosmumishot

As for older characters, I've spent many, many hours playing with particular characters, passing all the Heroic Quests and everything else you could do with them in the first 2 games. And I would like my efforts in using those characters acknowledged, but not by locking more content that only they can open, but by getting a boost in stats for those characters. Ideally I would like a 'veteran' Skylander to get a health boost bonus over one that has done all the same quests, but hasn't done as many hours. But I can see why that can't happen. So instead I would just like the games to continue to give the stats bonuses that I got from the earlier games for all the upgrading effort I put in. This could be done. Activision have just chosen not to.

This, to me, would make my older figures even more worthless. It's not like the Skylanders games are overly hard challenges in the first place - giving me a bunch of OP figures just makes me not want to use those figures. I already avoid using the older figures until I've progressed far enough in the game to have most of the new stuff leveled up.

So, provide an incentive / acknowledgement of work performed makes sense. If a character has more time put into their abilities, they should shine. These folks can use them and be proud of that. And for people like you, you can choose NOT to do it. Everyone's happy. I don't see a problem.

Been mulling over this topic for a few days, really starting to wonder about some things. Warning, possible deranged paranoid ramblings ahead.

Couldn't they have easily incorporated both basic element gates AND gimmick-locked content into Trap Team, like in Swap Force? So why didn't they?

Is it possible that Activision purposely forced some seemingly mean-spirited pay-walls in order to generate controversy? As each new game is released, they have to come up with various creative ways to maintain interest after all these years and thousands of dollars spent on complete collections; could controversy regarding the gimmick figures, traps, new elements, and uneven figure/boss element distribution mitigate consumer fatigue and generate more interest somehow, as opposed to everything going smoothly? Certainly, Activision can afford to hire all kinds of different consultants, gurus, and philosophizers regarding everything from sales figure predictions to advertising, distribution to perceived interest, and secondary value driving interest to subliminal need creation. Do our paychecks stand a chance against such an assemblage of tactical retail genius?

Why does Activision allow Toys for Bob and Vicarious Visions to carry on some kind of percieved rivalry, if it includes heavily nerfing and thereby de-valuing each other's legacy figures?

Is it entitlement to want to see more worth in each new game from figures purchased for previous games? Probably. But what if the lack of use for previous games' figures just makes us consider how much money we've spent on this whole series, and it starts to seem completely ridiculous to pay so much for hundreds of colorful pieces of plastic, regardless of the hours of enjoyment they have brought? Could we all be facing, years from now, the most horrific buyer's remorse not seen since several metric tons of the N-Gage were shipped to retailers nationwide? Or will our grandchildren bask in the glory of Skylander collections rivalling a full mint set of Magic the Gathering's Power Nine or a CGC 10.0 run of the first hundred issues of Action Comics?