darkSpyro

What I mean is, do you think Skylanders could have a fan base that Pokemon has today? For example like Facebook fanpages of Skylanders or maybe a joke calling Skylanders "a man's toy", this includes fan art as well.

I doubt it, but maybe.

No, not quite. I can't see it getting THAT popular.

Ive talked to so many people who have said that they thought Skylanders would die off and not be popular at all. I guess I don't really care because its all about what we enjoy and we buy them as a collection for fun!

Quote: shelly9871

Ive talked to so many people who have said that they thought Skylanders would die off and not be popular at all. I guess I don't really care because its all about what we enjoy and we buy them as a collection for fun!

Honestly, I spend more time talking about it and collecting stuff for it then actually playing the game. >.>

Pokemon is popular because it was one of the first "monster battling" franchises and it continued to throw out new content. Games, TV shows, merchandise, trading cards... Skylanders is definitely trying to get there, but I don't see anything taking Pokemon from the top spot.

Quote: ShinkenRed

Pokemon is popular because it was one of the first "monster battling" franchises and it continued to throw out new content. Games, TV shows, merchandise, trading cards... Skylanders is definitely trying to get there, but I don't see anything taking Pokemon from the top spot.

It may eventually be a good 2nd or 3rd place contender. I personally like it better than Pokemon game, but we're talking about 20+ years of history here.

pretty much that

If it doesn't die out, maybe in about 15-20 years. But I will always love Pokemon more than Skylanders. I still remember play Pokemon Yellow on my old, messed up coach...

Skylanders will never have the fanbase compared to Pokemon because of the lack of outside media marketing. No TV show, no animated movies, no comic books, no CCG (collectible card game).

Yes, there are "books" and other tie-ins for things like Mega Blocks and Monopoly but without the driving force of a cartoon show it'll never happen.

skylanders will be bigger than pokemon, this what you see now is just the beginning....

The main argument I use to say Skylanders won't dethrone Pokemon is that the only TRULY unique thing Skylanders does is implement the "Toys with brains" idea. Pokemon (I think its called "Scramble U") is attempting to replicate the Skylanders concept with Nintendo's Pocket Monsters we've known since the 90's.

I think Skylanders will end after 4. Then years later Activision will bring it back.

In order for Skylanders to reach the success of Pokemon, it needs a PVP overhaul so that ~50+% of characters are competitive and implementation of wi-fi PVP. Pokemon is an incredibly deep RPG and, for what it is, my go-to game for that style of competitive battling. The main story of Pokemon is fun, but, in the end, it's periphery to the battling. Even collecting is superfluous. Skylanders should be similar.

For Skylanders to be the go-to game for customizable-character arena battling (online, of course), it should:
- ensure that different series iterations of characters offer something worthwhile in uniqueness (i.e. Wow-Pow needs to be worth the debate about which figure to choose);
- implement, in a series 4+ of a character, a new upgrade path, whether it is entirely new as a third upgrade path or it replaces an old path (for most figures, a new path could replace the categorically inferior path), and possibly redesign the character altogether with two new upgrade paths;
- design every new character (can't fix what's already broken without my above S4+ suggestion...) with two equally good paths, even if one path requires more nuance;
- create and support a thriving tournament scene, such as hosting online tournaments at least quarterly (as Pokemon has been doing of late) and hosting local tournaments at various gaming events (such as Gen Con and other publicly accessible events, although exclusive tournaments at events like E3 would be good to stream on Youtube), with prize support, interviews, and "star" treatment of top competitors in different age groups (this aspect of my suggestion is a mix of MTG and Pokemon - the age brackets of Pokemon with the "star" status of MTG, although toned down a bit from the MTG level);
- provide a deep and varied roster (this is my suggestion of ~50+% competitive figures), with the understanding that some figures will be "broken" and some will be "underpowered" and the promise that "broken" characters will be banned from standard tournaments while also supporting niche tournaments that allow them (or only feature them);
- provide current-game tournaments that only allow the current game's roster (providing another reason to pick up Series X figures), and provide legacy tournaments that allow all characters from all generations to compete (support for the investment by keeping figures relevant);
- promise that older figures will never be outdated in this tournament scene; and
- promise that "power creep" will not affect the creation of new characters, or at the very least, will be very slow.

Until Skylanders features online PVP and Activision et al support a tournament scene, it will continue to be a fun pastime, but not a competitive success like Pokemon.

All it needs is a successful TV show.

Quote: somePerson

I think Skylanders will end after 4. Then years later Activision will bring it back.

im sure that is ur wet dream but that will not happen.

I'm sorry, but Skylanders will NEVER be THAT popular.

I grew up on pokemon, i think i was entering 9th grade when it came out. Skylanders may be popular but it's nothing like pokemon. Pokemon had the games, then the tv show, stickers, pokemon cards and more. It was a marketed well. Skylanders has a fan base and I wouldnt be surprised that some of those adults collecting skylanders do it cause of pokemon as a kid. My younger brother and I refer to skylanders as my son's pokemon.

When skylanders get banned from schools we will know its getting near pokemon

I think that if they have a TV show... they'll be almost better than pokemon!

^ what the- no just no

I still think there's only going to be 3 games simply because it is starting to die out due to the fact unlike pokemon you have to buy basically every figure so far to have them all every year. As interesting as that sounds it's exhausting on the wallet. The fact they only want to do games with it too is something that will kill any ideas in what else to do with it. Pretty much activision is sticking to the main guns on what will make them money which is the figures and games, but even with the near release of swap force how they handle getting you that and the figures is entirely a different story.

The fact the game is shorter than both previous entries doesn't make it a day 1 purchase even and the only way they are attracting people is holding off a LC everyone wants as hostage in order for those to pre order, not exactly building faith there in how the game will shape up. I expect some lower and even bad reviews of swap force's gameplay.

Quote: tigerdr

I still think there's only going to be 3 games simply because it is starting to die out due to the fact unlike pokemon you have to buy basically every figure so far to have them all every year. As interesting as that sounds it's exhausting on the wallet. The fact they only want to do games with it too is something that will kill any ideas in what else to do with it. Pretty much activision is sticking to the main guns on what will make them money which is the figures and games, but even with the near release of swap force how they handle getting you that and the figures is entirely a different story.

The fact the game is shorter than both previous entries doesn't make it a day 1 purchase even and the only way they are attracting people is holding off a LC everyone wants as hostage in order for those to pre order, not exactly building faith there in how the game will shape up. I expect some lower and even bad reviews of swap force's gameplay.

As I said to many here on DarkSpyro, no one is forcing you to buy the figures, and as stated by the developers and creators, you can finish the game with the Starter Pack.

If they can keep it fresh and not just a cash grab, maybe.

What @dios and @tigerdr said.

Right now, Skylanders is just a mess. Series 1 figures are now "obsolete" from a theoretical competitive standpoint: they lack a unique move(S2s may still be worthwhile since S3 don't seem to have their Wow Pow), and they can't switch paths. They have no niche in battle because they have no advantage to steal from their reposes. This will go on year after year after year. If this doesn't get fixed, it will probably become a headache to people who play competitively without having the money to own every last figure. Then there's also the fact that new characters miss out on some old Heroics(5 SSA-only ones). It isn't a big issue yet- BUT, if they make new characters every game miss out on more and more Heroics and never rectify it- which I really hope that they do this game- they will reach an impass where the oldest characters have near-broken stats and new ones are absolutely, horridly pathetic in comparison. If they overhaul all of this and add online, they could potentially gain an EPIC competitive scene- a thing that always stays fresh if it has an active community- while the main game is still fun for the entire family.

Then, let's not forget, the chapters... I have seen many people who are upset that Giants had less than Adventure, and understandably so. There is a huge cast of characters, and such a small world to explore. While it's still fun to do, the magic of it is wearing off very fast. You can play levels over and over only so many times before they're absolutely mind-numbingly boring, even if you come back to pick up the games after months, you will know where everything is and it becomes almost a chore. Spyro's Adventure had 22, which was actually a good amount. Giants had 16, which was bad since most of them were gimmicky and had too many puzzles, but more excusable since there were half as many characters. Now... Swap Force... Has 272 characters and 12 chapters?!?! That's not right! Even if you include adventure packs, Spyro's Adventure has 26, Giants has 20, and Swap Force has 18 which is less than even Giants, which didn't have its own adventure packs. They CANNOT continue down this path every year and include less and less chapters, argue that they're "longer" all you want, but going through pathetically easy puzzles and getting barely any action when levelling your toys is not fun.

Say that Skylanders is fun now, all you want. It is. But will it be fun in 20 years if each game has the same gameplay that Adventure and Giants had? If they don't seriously fix stuff now? Because the only major wishes that Swap Force seems to have addressed are a "survival mode"(which will get old), and adding jumping. They need to start changing up the dynamics. They don't need to change the entire genre. But Skylanders has to become deeper and meatier if it hopes to survive at all. Even Nightmare mode is a breeze, and the exact same thing. Yes, Adventure had these issues, but it was excusable because it masked them better, by having a longer game, that felt new, despite being a very average dungeon crawler, Giants was a roster update, and Swap Force will, mark my words, be old like Giants is considered by many before March next year!

@SkylandersBoy Wether or not that's the case, to many it's just bad to be paying for toys knowing that a wholly better version will probably come out the following year. As I stated above, besides nostalgic purposes there is literally no advantage to using an S1 figure over S2. Cynder is the only one that I think is an exception, since she cannot dash out of flight if she has her Wow Pow and it does pathetic damage. Let's not forget that S1s don't unlock Heroics in Giants, which is a slimy tactic- and, may I add, is removing value from figures that you had owned before, taking away something that they unlocked.

@kappapopm Aww, the lonely little troll who only knows how to press a space bar that said Swap "Farce" was going to be the last game. Cute.

Quote: SkylandFollower

What @dios and @tigerdr said.

Right now, Skylanders is just a mess. Series 1 figures are now "obsolete" from a theoretical competitive standpoint: they lack a unique move(S2s may still be worthwhile since S3 don't seem to have their Wow Pow), and they can't switch paths. They have no niche in battle because they have no advantage to steal from their reposes. This will go on year after year after year. If this doesn't get fixed, it will probably become a headache to people who play competitively without having the money to own every last figure. Then there's also the fact that new characters miss out on some old Heroics(5 SSA-only ones). It isn't a big issue yet- BUT, if they make new characters every game miss out on more and more Heroics and never rectify it- which I really hope that they do this game- they will reach an impass where the oldest characters have near-broken stats and new ones are absolutely, horridly pathetic in comparison. If they overhaul all of this and add online, they could potentially gain an EPIC competitive scene- a thing that always stays fresh if it has an active community- while the main game is still fun for the entire family.

Then, let's not forget, the chapters... I have seen many people who are upset that Giants had less than Adventure, and understandably so. There is a huge cast of characters, and such a small world to explore. While it's still fun to do, the magic of it is wearing off very fast. You can play levels over and over only so many times before they're absolutely mind-numbingly boring, even if you come back to pick up the games after months, you will know where everything is and it becomes almost a chore. Spyro's Adventure had 22, which was actually a good amount. Giants had 16, which was bad since most of them were gimmicky and had too many puzzles, but more excusable since there were half as many characters. Now... Swap Force... Has 272 characters and 12 chapters?!?! That's not right! Even if you include adventure packs, Spyro's Adventure has 26, Giants has 20, and Swap Force has 18 which is less than even Giants, which didn't have its own adventure packs. They CANNOT continue down this path every year and include less and less chapters, argue that they're "longer" all you want, but going through pathetically easy puzzles and getting barely any action when levelling your toys is not fun.

Say that Skylanders is fun now, all you want. It is. But will it be fun in 20 years if each game has the same gameplay that Adventure and Giants had? If they don't seriously fix stuff now? Because the only major wishes that Swap Force seems to have addressed are a "survival mode"(which will get old), and adding jumping. They need to start changing up the dynamics. They don't need to change the entire genre. But Skylanders has to become deeper and meatier if it hopes to survive at all. Even Nightmare mode is a breeze, and the exact same thing. Yes, Adventure had these issues, but it was excusable because it masked them better, by having a longer game, that felt new, despite being a very average dungeon crawler, Giants was a roster update, and Swap Force will, mark my words, be old like Giants is considered by many before March next year!

@SkylandersBoy Wether or not that's the case, to many it's just bad to be paying for toys knowing that a wholly better version will probably come out the following year. As I stated above, besides nostalgic purposes there is literally no advantage to using an S1 figure over S2. Cynder is the only one that I think is an exception, since she cannot dash out of flight if she has her Wow Pow and it does pathetic damage. Let's not forget that S1s don't unlock Heroics in Giants, which is a slimy tactic- and, may I add, is removing value from figures that you had owned before, taking away something that they unlocked.

@kappapopm Aww, the lonely little troll who only knows how to press a space bar that said Swap "Farce" was going to be the last game. Cute.

A little off-topic but I remember kappa saying that he didn't like Swap Force at all, and now he's crazy about it.

I am a massive fan of both skylanders and pokemon, I can say that pokemon has WAY more fans than skylanders,for example, pokemon fans IMO tend to speculate heaps more than skylanders fans and pokemon has been out for 10-15 years and skylanders 2-3 years. I'm still debating whether to get pokemon y or swap force for my birthday as both come out my birthday month. If activision wants for fanbase they would need to expand skylanders
A bunch.