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Kohaku

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Blog Comments posted by Kohaku

    Kohaku

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Argetlam said:

    So I've suddenly been getting email notifications from all sorts of BZP blogs that I once followed years ago.  I read through your full Tumblr post; I'm sorry things have been so bad!  It looks like quite a few users have been posting "I'm alive" entries, perhaps I should do one of my own?  I'm doubtful there's any who would still remember me here.

    Holy heck you're still alive too! It's been ages!

    • Like 1
    Kohaku

    Posted

    I haven't watched any LPs or streams in a while...and I'm working my way through Twilight Princess HD myself, but...

     

    If I catch a break from grad school, I'll try to catch one of your broadcasts! : D

     

    Thanks! I would love to have you! It's by no means perfect and I'm still learning but it is a lot of fun. :D

     

    Quick question, what are the odds of viewer battles occurring? I have some strange compulsion to seek out new opponents in games like Smash even though I know I'll get destroyed, *flashbacks to matches with Alku on Sm4sh 3DS with faint screaming in the background*

     

    But hey, if it's not an option, that's perfectly fine, means no evidence will exist of how bad I am, haha. Honestly I just want to find new people to play with! Randoms get boring in games like Smash after a while. 

     

    I definitely do want to do view battles and stuff along those lines. Such as both Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. I think having view interaction like that would be a ton of fun I just still have to figure out how I want to plan it out and do it. They would still get uploaded to YouTube as I do like archiving the streams for others namely because Twitch doesn't keep them for long.

    Kohaku

    Posted

     

    It may have all of the required story levels with the game, but those bonus levels are a huge amount of content. I find it disappointing that the game itself has less content then the bonus level packs.

    Where are you getting that statistic? Because that... seems really unlikely to me. As I understand it, the starter pack gives you 14 levels and three adventure worlds, whereas the level packs each give you one bonus level and one adventure world. There are 14 story levels, 6 bonus levels, and 14 adventure worlds in all. Even if you treat the adventure worlds and bonus levels as equivalent to regular levels (and I haven't seen enough to know whether this is a fair comparison) that just makes 34 levels total, half of which are in the starter pack.

     

    Okay, so I may have missed the amount of levels. However... you just proved my point regardless.It makes the level packs that much more expensive. Especially now that half of the game costs $179.94. Even if it is just bonus content... that is very expensive bonus content.

     

     

    This is something I often hear as a criticism of toys-to-life in general, honestly, as well as day-one DLC. There are a lot of people who believe that any content that game developers have completed by the time of release should be available in the game at no additional charge. But I don't know how realistic that is in all cases. Just because all the content is on the starter pack disk to begin with doesn't mean the starter pack cost is inclusive of the cost of all the locked content.

     

    I'm sure some developers use alternate ways of charging for content, such as paid DLC or toys-to-life, as just an excuse to charge more for the same work they would have ordinarily put into the game anyway. On the other hand, I'm sure there are other developers who generally do only charge for the base version what it cost to produce what is unlocked by default in that version, and use paid DLC or toys-to-life to recoup the cost of the extra unlockable content, as it was intended. Most probably fall somewhere in between, using separate transactions to boost profitability but also charging less for the base version than they'd charge if all the digital content were unlocked by default.

     

    Until LEGO Dimensions comes out and we have more detailed information about things like how many hours of gameplay the 14 story levels constitute, I don't think we can really accurately judge which camp it falls into.

     

    Day one DLC and having content on disc like that are horrible business practices. This is something Ido not support at all. I understand how much it costs to make games. However, they are pretty much price gouging(maybe not as extreme) as I can guarantee you that Lego is selling it all at a good profit. This is taking into account how much the retailers and everyone else gets.

     

    I believe it has been said that there is only about 7 hours of content for the story. $100 for 7 hours.

     

     

    I'm not sure what you mean. LEGO is and has always been an incredibly expensive toy for its size. A lot of that comes from the precision tooling of the molds to ensure that parts will be able to snap together and come apart easily and reliably over and over again, something that is not a concern for a figurine that is not designed for assembly/disassembly after it hits store shelves. Granted, many of the other toys-to-life figures are incredibly high quality (my brother got his first Amiibo figures the other day and they're really impressive), but I think a LEGO minifigure and mini-model can easily measure up in value to a single static figurine, especially since the LEGO Dimensions packs seem to unlock much more in-game content: a character, an adventure world, and three vehicle modes with different abilities.

     

    Looking it up on Target.com, individual Amiibo, Disney Infinity, and Skylanders figures cost thirteen to fifteen dollars new, not counting the Skylanders "trap packs" from Skylanders Trap Team. I know that these figures are often subject to price reductions after they've been out for a while, which takes some of the bite out of that cost, but there's no reason to assume it won't be the same for LEGO Dimensions.

    Lego's prices used to be a lot better. You got more for your money. I do understand that the economy has changed especially for the company. However, the economy has also changed for the family and parents buying this stuff. Especially with such low minimum wages and high costs of living.

     

    If Lego Dimensions does have price cuts, I do think that will take out some of the initial costs for consumers. However, Lego rarely gets price cuts except when they are changing the stock at stores and the holiday sales.

    Kohaku

    Posted

     

    Disney infinity however... uses the same model as Lego Dimensions does. If you want to play all the levels... you need the figures. Or at the very least the playsets that unlock the content.

     

    For LEGO Dimensions, that's not true at all. All of the story levels are included in the starter pack by default, and you do not need any additional packs to complete them. Level packs unlock "bonus levels" (for instance, you can play Portal levels with just the starter pack, but the Portal Level Pack unlocks additional Portal-inspired test chambers, and the Midway Arcade level pack unlocks an arcade level with a bunch of playable "minigames"). And any figure from any franchise can unlock an "adventure world" (sort of an open-world "free play" area inspired by that franchise).

     

    Technically, with just ONE pack from each individual franchise (including the level packs for the franchises that feature them) you will have access to every story level, every bonus level, and every adventure world. The only reason to get EVERY pack is if you want every character and vehicle, same as with any other toys-to-life game.

     

    In past LEGO games, you DID need to unlock a lot of different characters to get "100% completion" in the story levels, as there were a lot of things only certain characters could do. LEGO Dimensions actually seems to be assigning specific abilities to specific characters a lot less. Instead, many powers are unlocked via the starter pack's Toy Pad functions, like the "Scale" function that makes your character larger or smaller or the "Elemental" function that gives your character elemental attacks. So instead of needing to unlock a smaller character to get through small spaces, you can literally just make your three starting characters smaller or larger. There might still be character-specific obstacles I'm not aware of, though.

     

    Besides that, part of the reason the individual packs are so expensive is that unlike many other Toys-to-Life games, they're not just static figurines. They're actual, buildable LEGO toys. So while they might be more expensive per figure than other toys-to-life packs (and not by all that much, all things considered), you're getting a lot more value for your money on the "toy" side of things.

     

    And yeah, as Lyi says, LEGO Dimensions is doing one thing a lot better than its toys-to-life competitors: every single pack will be compatible with the original starter pack. They've made a point of advertising this. You won't have to buy a brand-new starter pack every year to use that year's new figure packs, as opposed to Skylanders and Disney Infinity which regularly release figures that only work with that year's starter pack. The upfront cost of the starter pack is higher, yes, but you won't have to worry about your starter pack becoming obsolete each year.

     

     

    It may have all of the required story levels with the game, but those bonus levels are a huge amount of content. I find it disappointing that the game itself has less content then the bonus level packs.

     

    Technically that adds up to $279.93. For just the level content alone. Keeping in mind there is a good chance most of the initial stuff is on the disc just waiting to be unlocked.

     

    That isn't really a qualm of mine. I do think the content is pretty awesome within the game.

     

    The problem with this argument is the cost of Lego. Those $15 packs have a small vehicle, a minifig, and the NFC chips. It's a small amount compared to the size of other figures. And in most cases this is more expensive than other figures. They may  be better as toys, but they are more expensive toys. By a lot.

     

    From here:

     

    Disney Infinity 3.0 was released on August 30, 2015 in North America. The Starter Pack, which includes the game disc, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano character figurines, one playset piece (Twilight of the Republic), one web card and the Disney Infinity Base, will be released on the game's launch. The game will also receive a digital download release. Exclusively in Europe, Disney Infinity 3.0 will also have a game disc only release, which will not include the figurines, web cards and Disney Infinity Base, included in the Starter Pack.

     

    The disc only release is only in Europe (which is dumb and something I wasn't aware of until reading this) but it is an option that is available for some customers. However you can download the game on the various system shops. Which means it is compatible with the previous Disney Infinity Base. 

     

    Which also means as the game is already out that Disney incorporated backwards compatibility first. Or in this case forwards compatibility.

    Kohaku

    Posted

    I don't know why you're assuming that you need all the figures. I haven't seen anything to suggest that getting all the fun packs or even team packs is a necessity to play all the levels—I expect that many of the characters are more or less interchangeable as far as powers and abilities are concerned. The level packs, meanwhile, aren't necessary for the main campaign. I don't really see the difference between Dimensions and how you describe Skylanders at all.

     

    I've avoided the whole Toys-to-Life scene up until now, mostly due to disinterest. I'm going to definitely get Dimensions, though, and I don't see why the overall price of EVERYTHING would bother me, since I'll probably only get Level Packs, Team Packs, and Fun Packs that interest me. So far, the only three expansion packs on my wish list are the Zane fun pack, the Unikitty fun pack, and the Doctor Who level pack. I doubt those are ALL I'll be getting, but I'm under no illusion that I'm going to need everything, especially not packs relating to franchises like Jurassic World or The Simpsons that I have little-to-no interest in.

     

    One last note—unlike Skylanders or Disney Infinity, Lego Dimensions won't make you buy a brand-new starter pack for future expansions. That should definitely cut down on the cost in the long run.

     

    I'm not saying the fun or character packs are needed to be able to enjoy the game. Even if the three worlds in the starter pack is the main campaign, there are still six worlds that you need level packs for. That is more than double the content than what the base game offers.For an additional $180. The thing that bugs me most is that this content is likely going to be on the disc already.

     

    As for not needing a new starter pack that's true of even the new Disney Infinity 3.0 line. However, you can bet they will offer future starter packs likely with exclusive character. People buy it.Skylanders proved it as did Disney Infinity. Not to mention there is no way to ensure that they are future proof for the next generation of systems.

     

     

    I've seen the non-amiibo "toys to life" genre described many times like this:

     

    -Skylanders is a video game that you can play with using a series of toys

    -Disney Infinity is a series of toys that you can play with using a video game

     

    It seems like Lego Dimensions is taking that Disney Infinity approach.

    Which is problematic for sure.

     

    I fully agree. Skylanders is guilty of having level packs too, but they still give you more or less a full game.

    Kohaku

    Posted

    Oh, okay, now I do remember meeting you.

     

    Also you got to meet Bill Nye? That's super-sweet. Wish I could've done so, but I was only there Thursday and my schedule that day was pretty packed.

     

    Yay! Glad you remember~

     

    Yus! Bill Nye was only there on Saturday, and it took up most of our day waiting in line for him but it was so worth it. We normally don't do autographs but we made two exceptions this year, Bill Nye was the big one and the other one will be posted about later. :P

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