Hail Mary

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Hail Mary

Postby goofyspaceranger » Thu May 12, 2016 12:31 pm

This is a Goofy Hail Mary Pass of a Disney Infinity-Sized ESPN Football to save the Toy Box. It's a different business model, with much less risk for the Walt Disney Company, avoids future toys-to-life expenses, and has been proven to be successful for other online video game products in the industry.

Disney Infinity is a great product. And for many fans, it's about the online community - it's about the collaboration, it's about the weekly challenges, it's about online leaderboards & El Capitan showcasing, it's about building & sharing in the Toy Box. But without a viable business model, it cannot continue. Disney Interactive's play in the toys-to-life genre is done. Disney Interactive's direct publishing in the console market is done. But there's been no official word yet on the Toy Box App. As a console gamer, you may think that this app is irrelevant - but there's a chance (however small) that a new pricing model for that app could save Community Content across all Disney Infinity platforms.

What if the pricing structure for both the Toy Box App and Disney Infinity on the PC moved to a subscription-based model, like MMORPGs? Take World of Warcraft at $15/mo or better yet the family-based Wizard101 at $10/mo, with $50 semi-annual & $80/year costs, with discounts for multiple accounts? What if the subscription-based model unlocked ALL of the toys? The free-to-play trial would remain, where you could see all of these locked goodies, and for a 1-month experience of $10 you could unlock ALL of the characters, ALL of their power discs, & ALL of the building content (even those from Play Sets) for that subscription period. Many would consider this a price drop, especially since it would unlock digital content for both PC & mobile. This notion of digital content could then extend to the consoles - they could ironically become an extension of digital pricing. Disney's Infrastructure would simply enforce that you were only accessing one device per account at a time. When the subscription period is up, usage would revert to "permanently owned toys", with the option to renew that subscription at any time (Wizard101 uses this twin-pricing option to its marketing advantage). In the case of Infinity, a subscription would be necessary to access Community Content.

Some would argue that Disney Infinity is no way an MMORPG. Simply put, it is a different form of an online community. You leverage the Toy Boxes that have already been made. You leverage new content from the Community Team. You leverage new content from the Toy Box Master Artists. You tweak your Community Content DB for more Toy Box recommendations - by favorite Artist (such as Community Team) or by selected Character (on the base, not some crazy list of 100), or by the full list of all El Capitan Showcases, in addition to the lists already there - make it easier for everyone to find high-quality Toy Boxes to justify the subscription cost. And yes, this model is particularly expensive for console gamers, but it could unlock all of the Terrain & Sky disc themes for example, if not all Power Disc content. And if no alternative is provided, all of that Community Content is going to vanish in a few short months.

This new pricing model would not save all of the jobs at Avalanche, but it would save some. The studio would still be officially shut down (once declared, and with a publicly disclosed write-off, it must happen). And this new subscription-based sustainability model would probably not support three hundred developers. But executives could select some number of developers & animators (even if they're "hired back") to provide incremental content to the Disney Infinity base to help justify subscription fees, and to fix bugs associated with service. They could officially become part of Disney Interactive's Mobile Team for example. Service costs could be further minimized by having this new price model only apply to Disney Infinity 3.0 - so the handful of incompatible changes to various toys, Toy Box Meters, etc. would be behind them. This would ensure that the supported consoles would all have the ability to pull new content digitally. Subscriptions would be managed from their official website, and that little inconspicuous Toy Box App could save the Disney Infinity experience on the console. No more Play Sets - they never fit the Toy Box App, and they wouldn't provide sufficient return on investments elsewhere. Focus on the Toy Box Community. It is very low risk - much lower development cost, no physical production cost, and no shelf space cost. Most underlying infrastructures today are usage-based, so if there are fewer subscribers downloading, then your overhead is lower. They could pilot this for a year and see. It's sustainable. Future investments into the franchise, big & small, could adjust based on the predictable revenue stream of yearly subscriptions. With sufficient gains, you might even see some small handful of limited production figures, say from Disney Parks or the online Disney Store, to "catch up" with digitally added figures. The emphasis would be for online content, where the Disney Infinity Team could again synch up with Disney film releases (but with subscription pricing, you automatically get ALL of the new characters). Still hoping to witness the flight of Peter Pan. Happy Thoughts! :D

Someone should start a more directed petition across this community - the signup would signify those willing to pay say $10/mo or $80 for the year to sustain Community Content, Toy Box TV, and future digital content to Disney Infinity. I have no idea how those numbers would translate to their new cost structure, but if it's viable for MMORPGs, why not for Infinity? I'd purchase at least 21 of those accounts at that price ;).

Regardless of the outcome, Best Wishes to the Disney Infinity Team. Fantastic Game.
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Re: Hail Mary

Postby Modeltrainman » Mon May 16, 2016 11:36 pm

Four words. Where. Do. I. Sign. ?
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Re: Hail Mary

Postby wherestron » Tue May 17, 2016 12:20 am

Some good ideas, @goofyspaceranger. And I support the idea of Digital Content (as you might have seen from my recent Twitter posts).

AAA titles like COD use a more DLC / Season Pass model, and it works VERY well for the likes of EA and InfinityWard. No reason a similar model couldn't work for Infinity - and it's a largely untapped space right now.

Lego have a similar approach in that the "base" set in Dimensions does not have a version, but each add-on brings in more content (which is provided in regular updates, and unlocked with play pieces).

Personally, I like the idea of quarterly or two-monthly smaller releases of content, which can be unlocked via DLC. That said, I think keeping the "Sparks" and "Achievements" model to unlock content should remain somehow, as it is a lot of the appeal of the game itself.

So, I'm agreeing with you to a point ... but although I personally would jump at a subscription model, it's not something that has generally worked well on consoles outside of PSN or XBL. DLC on the other hand is the way big brands are killing it on the consoles.

The way I was thinking about it was this:

* Let people use their current physical figures and power discs as they do now if they wish

* Make all those items available as purchasable DLC, which means you don't need to put them on the base (people like me would buy them again for convenience) - you just select them from a new menu (similar to how the iOS version works)

* Let people "Try" different figures and Power Discs (similar to the iOS version and Marvel Battlegrounds)

* Introduce the "Character Changer" Creativitoy, which lets you use logic to switch someone's character to a specific one - this would open up HUGE possibilities, especially if I didn't own that character. We could create character adventures, or combine them together in amazing ways. Let the Community sell the content for you!

* As the "Digital Figures" market is established, use the popularity of figures (purchase and use) to drive insights about the physical figures, and issue these as "Special Edition" on a less regular basis for collectors, without RFID (i.e. they are just figures that anyone can collect)

* Put DLC coupons (i.e. Web code cards) into other Disney branded merchandise for "exclusive" content - so, rather than just unlocking content via figures, you can now unlock content by purchasing a much wider range of toys and merchandise - that would support their core licensing better

* Let people use the Web code cards to unlock items (figures, discs, toys) on ANY platform - console, PC or iOS

* Synchronise my content and unlocks across devices and platforms (let me get the same experience anywhere)

* Sell "Digital Playsets", which unlock the Playset content in 3.0 without requiring the physical assets (i.e. Web code cards that unlock the content on console)

* Sell new "Digital Bundles" which include new toys, characters and content on a regular basis as DLC - these could include previously issued figures and discs, or upcoming properties like Moana or Rogue One; with or without Playset content

* Sell a "Season Pass", which gives you a discount on the DLC coming for a season

* Sell a "Collector's Edition" bundle which includes access to all current content (Playsets, Power Discs, Figures, Toybox Games, etc) and the Season Pass

* Only create and sell new "Digital Playsets" when it makes sense (big releases)

* Issue content for upcoming movies and IP (and things like WDW) as "Premium Toyboxes" (less than a Playset, but more than a Community Toybox)

* Keep the Community Content as it is now - no charge, no subscription (other than your console subscription) required

* Reduce the team to < 50 people, and make it work - to keep running costs low

* As long as it pays for itself with a modest return, consider it a marketing tool, not a profit centre - one that gets people interacting with the IP and feeds the buzz

* Release new content frequently (minor things like new toys) for free every month or two - to keep people locked in to the ecosystem and to keep pushing it forward

I for one would likely never have engaged with Marvel had it not been for Disney Infinity, for example. Losing the platform means losing the opportunity to get me excited about new things coming out (Zootopia is another example where this worked on me, and I suspect Moana will be the same).

Disney don't seem to appreciate just how HUGE a deal this is. They are gambling on losing many loyal fans for a short term gain. I sincerely hope they find a way to do something like the above and use a Digital version to drive it forward at a lower cost.

As I've said elsewhere: "You might not like Disney Infinity as much without the collectible figures, but you'll like it even less if it's gone for good". Besides, offering the Web code cards in OTHER merchandise really opens up the possibilities beyond the production of figures where I'm now incentivised to buy all the other merchandise they offer ... and that's a MUCH bigger licensing play than any single line of figures could ever offer them.
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Re: Hail Mary

Postby wherestron » Tue May 17, 2016 12:52 am

In fact, it could be worth going back to 2.0 (and possibly even 1.0) and adding "Digital Playset" DLC for those as well. At very least, bringing the toys and models from earlier Playsets and versions into the current 3.0 toybox would create "fresh" content relatively cheaply - and the community would be delighted to be able to recreate the old playsets (Pirates, Lone Ranger, Toy Story, etc) in the Toybox more authentically.

Also, I should clarify the "Character Changer" Creativitoy would let me change the player to any character I had unlocked in a manner similar to the way the Vehicle Summoner and Sky Changer works. In other words, I can only transform the player in my Toybox if I have it enabled / active when I'm creating the content. This would let people create "themed" adventures that lead players through a story, and provide a means for people to play as a given character on a specific adventure, which might then get them to pony up and buy the DLC or the figure.

There are so many ways Disney could turn this into a MASSIVE opportunity, I'm kind of surprised these things weren't publicly put on the table. I mean, adding Web code cards and DLC to the platform is so obviously the way forward! Selling Infinity across the broader merchandise / license base just seems like a golden opportunity to create a complete ecosystem to tie together every single touchpoint, it's ludicrous they didn't think of it themselves!
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Re: Hail Mary

Postby -DC- » Tue May 17, 2016 8:07 am

So many awesome ideas on how to save this game. I would totally be on board for some sort of digital alternative to keep it alive, but would definitely miss the figures.
 
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Re: Hail Mary

Postby goofyspaceranger » Tue May 17, 2016 12:03 pm

Cool ideas! Here are 4 main points I get from them (you may or may not agree)...

Character Changer a Game Changer
Really like the Character-Changer Creativi-toy, and as mentioned, similar methods were already used for Battlegrounds. You could really tailor a multi-character story - and in the case of a Never-Ending-Story of Toy Box Doors, that Character-Changer could kickstart on the load of a Toy Box off the Level Starter. Maybe it would be called the "Character Manager" toy to have a comparable title to similar existing Creativi-Toys. That's a big storytelling advantage, having all of the characters available up front - it's like the very first Disney Infinity Intro - imagine making a set of Toy Boxes like that 8-).

We Still Want Physical Figures :D
And I really hope they find a way to create new physical toys again, too. In an all-characters-available digital model, what justifies the cost? Well, because they're awesome. Subscription-based pricing offsets the business model's heavy dependence on the figures, and they're simply great collectors' items. And if the Community Content menu generated a unique recommended-Character list simply from the character you put on the base, that would be a fun new physical-to-virtual experience for the console, too. <the Walt Disney Company is not going to do this - see related Avalanche Alternative & Studio Gobo Maneuver posts >.

The Toy Box IS The Play Set
The ones investing real money are of course the ones taking all the risk, and the decisions are theirs to make. But if you rethink the Disney Infinity experience from a startup perspective, you really want to focus on a single game engine, not 2 or 3 or 4 or 5. I love the kart racing, and the Takeover game, and the Tower of Defense games, as well as the unique feel of the various Play Sets, but that does not make sense from a small business perspective. Even at full scale with all of those partners, you can see the development resource trade-offs that happened with the Toy Box editor. It continued to gain new & updated enhancements, but some of its interfaces are still a little quirky. Money Management has very small increments, to the detriment of Tower of Defense Toy Boxes. The Toy Box Door imports, Satellite Receiver, Replayer, & several other toys that have tremendous functionality still have some "quirks". And why can't a Game Maker Toy Box have a Leaderboard? Why are there so few themes to the really-fun Ledge Hang toys? Why don't we have the option to show a Cast Member or a Townsperson still image incorporated with a Text Creator message? Why must we pull in INterior decorations off a glitch? Why don't we have a Collection Counter option to simply display "x of y"? When their pricing model shifts to the Community Content, it's not just about creating better searches. Their Toy Box engine needs to be tight. If ALL new content becomes based on the Toy Box engine, then the quality will be driven internally by the sequential set of Toy Box Tales, and they maximize their investment.

Feats & Toy Unlocks
I agree that there is that extra fun associated with feats & unlocks. Feats are tangential - they can be accomplished playing community boxes (or building them). What if the Unlocks were from official Toy Box Tales? Whether it's a string of New-Avalanche boxes or Studio Gobo boxes or whoever on some new storyline, what if the completion of say Toy Box #3, #7, & #10 in a 10-Toy-Box-Storyline unlocked new building toys? Even though they'd be using the same Toy Box engine we would be, the unlocks would make their official content extra special.
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