LEGO Dimensions Discussion

[Blondie-Wan]

I guess that is kind of cool, but I'm still not seeing justification for such a big price increase. With most DLC you can still level your character up and use them in the expansion or existing game. All these toy to life figures seem to add to that is that you can use them as portable memory cards? That hardly seems worth the extra $10 mark up over a normal Lego set + DLC if you bought them separate.

It's not a $10 markup over what it normally would be. Consider it this way:

A minifigure by itself currently retails for somewhere from $3.33, at a LEGO Store's BAM kiosk, to $3.99, for one of the blind-bagged figures in the Minifigures line, which also includes a plate to put it on, albeit not an NFC-enabled one. A typical polybag set currently goes for four or five bucks. That's already eight or nine dollars for content comparable to the physical brick content of one of the game's Fun Packs, except that even if you omit the game data and focus on just the physical elements, you're still getting not one but two NFC-enabled bases, which are still special parts even if you ignore the data and look at them purely as hardware. To get Fun Pack pricing, then, we can add a buck or two for those bases to our minifigure-and-micro-build price estimate. A couple more dollars for the actual data that comes on those bases, and bingo, you're within a couple bucks or so of Fun Pack pricing. Yeah, there's a bit of "extra" markup, perhaps, but nowhere near $10 for one of those.

And Team Pack pricing is better - a Team Pack is equivalent to two Fun Packs in content (two minifigures and corresponding in-game characters instead of one, two micro-builds instead of one, etc.), but priced at what amounts to a $5 discount on what two would normally cost.

The Level Packs are the most costly, but we don't yet know the size of the levels. Each Level Pack comes with only one minifigure-character, but two micro-builds, and bases for each of the three items, and the game data content includes not just a character but also a whole new game area. We'll have to see how big they are.

People seem to be fine with these prices because that's the standard set by other toy to life games? Just looking at the Disney Infinity pieces though, it looks like most of them are currently on sale for 30-50% off at Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon. Heck, I wouldn't even mind the price so much if the Dimensions sets all had new prints or molds as I have mentioned several times now. You guys keep bringing up the other toy to life games, but you are failing to realize that those Disney and Nintendo figures are ONLY available in their respective game sets. You can't go buy an Elsa or Hulk figure like those in another set without the game chip for half the price. They have to make special figure molds along with the game content for every set they release. With the Dimensions sets, I can go buy a set that has Gollum, Bilbo, and 100 pieces for $5 less than the Gollum "fun pack". I could buy a character pack to the game for a few dollars. Lego is throwing in existing characters they already have molds for that were made before the game. We aren't paying for a new mold and game chip like with all the Disney Infinity pieces, with Dimensions we are paying for a game chip with new game content and re-hashed Lego pieces.

They do have to make special molds, yes, but those are still undoubtedly less expensive and less complex than LEGO's.

For most of these Dimension sets, it seems the ONLY appeal is the exclusive in game content. The physical brick component can be gotten else where for much cheaper for the vast majority of the sets. This is what bothers me. I feel like Lego could easily be offering more new prints and molds in their Dimension sets but they simply aren't. This makes the sets only appealing to those interested in the game. Lego COULD be appealing to Lego brick fans AND game fans if they made the minifigures more interesting. The exception of course being a few sets like the Portal 2 and Doctor Who sets.

They're undoubtedly trying to do that. I don't think LEGO set out to design any of the figures with the specific design directive "let's make this minifigure as boring as we can!", and I don't think everyone would agree that they are.

A few of them - not many, true, but some - do in fact appear to be new prints and such. Unikitty appears to have a new face print, for example.

I fully agree getting more new characters would be great, and I'd love to see them offer an Eowyn Fun Pack, for example. At the same time, some fans of those themes who don't want the game, while being glad to see certain characters get released at all, would undoubtedly be annoyed that the only way to get a desired figure might be an add-on pack for a game they don't have any other interest in and that you yourself think is too expensive. I don't see any solution that would please everyone, but I will say I'd much rather have a character like Eowyn come out only in a $15 or $25 or even $30 add-on pack for this game than as, say, a convention exclusive limited to only 1000 copies made.

[Deathleech]

A minifigure by itself currently retails for somewhere from $3.33, at a LEGO Store's BAM kiosk, to $3.99, for one of the blind-bagged figures in the Minifigures line, which also includes a plate to put it on, albeit not an NFC-enabled one. A typical polybag set currently goes for four or five bucks. That's already eight or nine dollars for content comparable to the physical brick content of one of the game's Fun Packs, except that even if you omit the game data and focus on just the physical elements, you're still getting not one but two NFC-enabled bases, which are still special parts even if you ignore the data and look at them purely as hardware. To get Fun Pack pricing, then, we can add a buck or two for those bases to our minifigure-and-micro-build price estimate. A couple more dollars for the actual data that comes on those bases, and bingo, you're within a couple bucks or so of Fun Pack pricing. Yeah, there's a bit of "extra" markup, perhaps, but nowhere near $10 for one of those.

Except a "fun pack" includes one minifigure, not two. They offer little more than a polybag in physical content. Most polybags in the $4-5 range have around 40 pieces and one minifigure, the exact same as a fun pack minus the data disks and game content. You added a second minifigure in the way of a CMF or build a figure on top of that. If you are gonna do that, the sets are actually closer to team packs which have 2 minifigures and a small build for $24.99. Also if it's a CMF, they almost always have a new print at a minimum and often have new molds.

So if the physical bricks are the same as a $3.99-4.99 polybag, that leaves the data chips and in game content. It seems like a lot of you are vastly over estimating the time and effort it takes to create add-on/DLC/expansions. This is actually very easy to pump out and nets tons of profit for minimal effort. That's why almost every game nowadays has DLC later on, and multiple ones at that. It's easy to model a new character when you already have everything else in the game created. Even if you figure the disc with chips are a few dollars, and the characters in game are a few dollars, that puts the total price at around $7-8. Ok, so maybe it's not $10, but that's still almost double what the polybag and DLC would cost you if you bought them separately.

[Blondie-Wan]

Except a "fun pack" includes one minifigure, not two. They offer little more than a polybag in physical content. Most polybags in the $4-5 range have around 40 pieces and one minifigure, the exact same as a fun pack minus the data disks and game content. You added a second minifigure in the way of a CMF or build a figure on top of that. If you are gonna do that, the sets are actually closer to team packs which have 2 minifigures and a small build for $24.99. Also if it's a CMF, they almost always have a new print at a minimum and often have new molds.

I know full well the Fun Packs have a minifigure apiece; I explained that myself in the very same post you're quoting.

Polybags strangely tend to be priced around the same whether they have a minifigure or not. Whether they do or not, though, does affect the character and style of the main build, and it appears to me these builds are more like non-figure polybags.

[Deathleech]

I know full well the Fun Packs have a minifigure apiece; I explained that myself in the very same post you're quoting.

Ok, well you mentioned the CMF and BAM, then mentioned the polybag, and right after said "that's already eight or nine dollars for content". Really a polybag OR CMF puts you at $4 dollars though, that's why I thought you were including both otherwise how did you come up with 8 or 9 just from the physical bricks? I am not sure how you are getting "within a couple bucks or so of Fun Pack pricing". A couple bucks is $2, not $8. A polybag is $3.99, 2 game chips are $2-4, and the in game content is like 2 bucks. At most that puts you at $10, but more realistically it's like 8, as I said. Nowhere near "a few bucks".

Polybags strangely tend to be priced around the same whether they have a minifigure or not. Whether they do or not, though, does affect the character and style of the main build, and it appears to me these builds are more like non-figure polybags.

I will give you that their pricing can be a bit iffy. It's hard to really get a good feel since a lot of the polybags are promotional items and not available for individual sale. But, if you look at the 2015 polybag sets so far, you will see they are all priced around $4. Wish Fountain, Ice Bear Mech, and The Joker Bumper Car all have around 40 pieces and include one minifigure. Almost the exact same brick and minifigure count as a fun pack. The City ones are even cheaper at $3.50. The polybags that don't include a minifugre, such as the Creator Tiger have around 30 more bricks than the polybags which include a minifigure.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Deathleech

[Blondie-Wan]

Ok, well you mentioned the CMF and BAM, then mentioned the polybag, and right after said "that's already eight or nine dollars for content". Really a polybag OR CMF puts you at $4 dollars though, that's why I thought you were including both otherwise how did you come up with 8 or 9 just from the physical bricks? I am not sure how you are getting "within a couple bucks or so of Fun Pack pricing". A couple bucks is $2, not $8. A polybag is $3.99, 2 game chips are $2-4, and the in game content is like 2 bucks. At most that puts you at $10, but more realistically it's like 8, as I said. Nowhere near "a few bucks".

Apologies if my post wasn't clear; I thought it was, but perhaps not. I was talking about polybags without minifigures, which still tend to be a few dollars - think of all those Star Wars mini vehicles, for example. Three or four bucks for a polybag, the same again for a minifigure, a couple bucks more for the bases, and then a few for the in-game content.

[SuperGeniusCreator]

The Level Packs are the most costly, but we don't yet know the size of the levels. Each Level Pack comes with only one minifigure-character, but two micro-builds, and bases for each of the three items, and the game data content includes not just a character but also a whole new game area. We'll have to see how big they are.

I would hope that the Level Packs are the Lego Dimensions equivalent to Dinsey Infinity's Playset pieces, which are close to being a whole game inside of the bigger Infinity game.

[8BrickMario]

Probably not. TT's history of levels added with external content have been underwhelming, as it's just been a mini-mission with a couple of new characters. I hope they'll be better in this game.

[Cheatster9000x]

Probably not. TT's history of levels added with external content have been underwhelming, as it's just been a mini-mission with a couple of new characters. I hope they'll be better in this game.

That's a damn shame, which means the Dr Who and Portal levels probably won't live up to my expectations.

[Blondie-Wan]

I wonder whether Valve would be at all involved in the creation of the Portal Level Pack. From what I understand of the company it would seem they'd like a measure of control and creative input.

Whatever the levels are like, of course, at least they'll not only expand the overall game world(s), but also add characters and vehicles one can take elsewhere in the game.

______________________________________________________________________

I'm really curious about the Back to the Future and Doctor Who material. Having not just one but (at least) two franchises centered around time travel (and hasn't it also been used occasionally in the DC Comics universe?) makes me wonder whether they'll somehow implement time travel in the game, and not just in those Level Packs' added levels.

______________________________________________________________________

Things I hope to see:

Additional packs based on the franchises we already know we're getting. In particular, I'd like to see more packs from The Lord of the Rings (perhaps Fun Packs with Aragorn and Eowyn, a Team Pack with Frodo and Sam, or one with Pippin and Merry), Back to the Future, and Doctor Who (the last two if only because I don't want Marty and the Doctor to be the only playable characters we get from those franchises). I also particularly want to see more female characters, both from these themes and from any new ones. In particular I'd like to see packs with Eowyn, as noted before, plus Velma Dinkley, any of the Doctor's many companions, and Marge and Lisa Simpson.

Packs based on additional adventure-oriented established LEGO themes, including perennials like Pirates and Castle, as well as older, inactive themes like Adventurers, Monster Fighters, Exo-Force, Rock Raiders / Power Miners, Atlantis, Time Twisters and Classic Space.

Packs based on non-minifigure-based themes like Elves, Bionicle and Mixels.

Spinoff sets, that are to this game what the sets from The LEGO Movie are to The LEGO Movie - sets with ludicrous thematic mash-ups.

Naturally I don't expect all of this to happen (and that's probably just as well, since I could never afford all of it), but I really hope some of this comes to light.

[Aanchir]

People seem to be fine with these prices because that's the standard set by other toy to life games? Just looking at the Disney Infinity pieces though, it looks like most of them are currently on sale for 30-50% off at Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon.

True, but then again, how do we know that the same thing won't happen with LEGO Dimensions? It's true that normally markdowns on LEGO products only happen when they don't sell too well and stores need to clear shelves. But these are not just a LEGO product, but a WB Games product. And it's fairly normal for lots of electronic devices (like video game consoles) and digital media (like video games or DVDs) to have a high starting price with plans to reduce that price after they've been on the shelves for a while. You can almost think of that high initial price as an "early adopter surcharge". That's not how LEGO usually does business, but if they're going to imitate the starting price of other toys-to-life sets, then I imagine they'd also think to imitate their business model on other levels.

That could in turn be part of the reason that the "fun packs" and "team packs" do not include new molds or even a lot of new prints: the LEGO Group knows that the price of the sets is going to go down as time passes, so they can't design them as if they're going to get $15 for each set sold.

[Cheatster9000x]

I kinda wanna see an Atlas/P-Body team-up pack with a core (preferrably wheatley) and a mini GLaDoS.

I also have a theory:

We can't have Star Wars and Marvel figure packs because of Disney Infinity, but what if there are characters from Star Wars and Marvel in the starting roster that would be unlocked through the story mode? It wouldn't just be limited to SW/Marvel, but it would have those characters in there.

[Blondie-Wan]

I strongly doubt any Marvel or Lucasfilm characters or environments will be in this game in any form at all. I think all playable characters will be ones included in packs with physical figures, and I think the only way we might possibly get any of the Lucasfilm characters is if LEGO and the game's makers licensed the rights from Lucasfilm before Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney.

Even that last possibility is an extremely long shot, but given that Skylanders kicked off this whole thing in 2011 and Disney bought Lucasfilm the following year, it might not be completely out of the realm of possibility that LEGO, WB and TT started working on the game in 2011, well before the acquisition, and went ahead and got rights to use LFL characters before Disney bought them and could say "no". But the fact Star Wars is confirmed (and, indeed, is the major selling point) of Disney Infinity 3.0 (and that game's makers have also suggested / hinted at possibly also including Indiana Jones at some point down the line) would seem to preclude any possibility of Lucasfilm characters appearing in LEGO Dimensions, unfortunately.

I guess we'll just have to content ourselves with Legends of Chima, NinjaGo, The LEGO Movie, Back to the Future, DC Comics, Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park, Middle-Earth, Portal, Scooby-Doo, The Simpsons and The Wizard of Oz, as well as any other Warner Bros. and/or original LEGO property they might want to use, along with the occasional outside license - which, honestly, is not too bad.

[legonerd54321]

The question that's been in my mind is that, will Michael J Fox voice Marty McFly? What about the other characters and their actors?

[Blondie-Wan]

I've been wondering that as well. Apparently Elizabeth Banks is returning as Wyldstyle, Tom Kane is Gandalf and Troy Baker is Batman.

According to one report, reporters being shown some of the game at one point got to see this game's Batman meet the Batman of The LEGO Movie (!), so perhaps we'll actually get multiple Bat-actors, such as Will Arnett.

Michael J. Fox did in fact work on the Back to the Future game of a couple years ago, but as "Willie McFly" / "Marty Future", while someone else did "regular" Marty, presumably in concession to the actor's age, so I don't know if he'd voice LEGO Marty or not, though I think it'd be nice.

I imagine the overall character assortment will be cast with a mix of "big name" actors reprising their characters and talented but less expensive voice acting specialists, depending upon the levels of interest on behalf of the original actors, their availability at the time of voice recording, and their asking prices. I'd also expect that for those characters who have previously appeared in either videogames or LEGO productions (and especially for those that have appeared in LEGO videogames), they'd mostly be voiced by the same performers who did them in those, with perhaps a few exceptions here and there.

[kevkipo]

Here's hope for a Hobbit pack, hey we never got a completed game! the least they can do is add Thorin and Bilbo or Dain to the bunch!

The perfect thing would be an Erebor Level Pack with end battle Thorin (New print) a statue and his throne!

And i'm pretty sure Richard Armitage would love to do that, he loved his Lego self and any Thorin-merch

Edited May 15, 2015 by kevkipo

[Master_Data]

Here's hope for a Hobbit pack, hey we never got a completed game! the least they can do is add Thorin and Bilbo or Dain to the bunch!

That would be awesome! Bring on The Battle of the Five Armies!

Seriously, why didn't they make a Hobbit pack? Legolas and Gollum encompass both, but they are branded under LotR. The Hobbit is still popular- why didn't they use that to their advantage and release the DLC we wanted as a Level Pack?

Also, how will cutscenes work? They aren't going to calculate for every combination of characters to be used in Story Mode, are they?

[8BrickMario]

I think the Story Mode will be fairly limited in who will be necessary to complete it, so there probably won't be too many alternate cutscenes. Exploring will require more characters.

[Blondie-Wan]

That would be awesome! Bring on The Battle of the Five Armies!

Seriously, why didn't they make a Hobbit pack? Legolas and Gollum encompass both, but they are branded under LotR.

And Gandalf, as well. Three quarters of the known playable The Lord of the Rings characters for this game, then, are ones who appear in The Hobbit as well as The Lord of the Rings.

I just lump the two themes together as "Middle-Earth".

Edited May 16, 2015 by Blondie-Wan

[Deathleech]

Seriously, why didn't they make a Hobbit pack? Legolas and Gollum encompass both, but they are branded under LotR. The Hobbit is still popular- why didn't they use that to their advantage and release the DLC we wanted as a Level Pack?

Rumors have it the Hobbit line didn't sell near as well as the LotR waves. That could be why they are only focusing on LotR in Dimensions and why they ditched the DLC for the Hobbit game?

[wideawakewesley]

Rumors have it the Hobbit line didn't sell near as well as the LotR waves. That could be why they are only focusing on LotR in Dimensions and why they ditched the DLC for the Hobbit game?

Based on the discounting I've seen of that line, I'd say that's accurate, but that's what happens when you make films that are a poor imitation of LOTR. ;)

[kevkipo]

Based on the discounting I've seen of that line, I'd say that's accurate, but that's what happens when you make films that are a poor imitation of LOTR. ;)

Haha... ha... No.

[The Brick Rat]

Wow... I think you have it. I'd pretty much blown off trying to get any useful info from those blurs and smears, but I think that's right; nicely done.

For your Wave 4 conundrum, perhaps it's not a Superman / Aquaman Team Pack, but simply two Team Packs, one with Superman and someone else and the other with Aquaman and someone else.

The idea of two team packs did occur to me, but the problem there means that wave 4 would have no Level Packs and that, between waves 3 and 4, there would be 3 Team Packs that were all DC Comics related (which would also mean that almost half of the minifigs for those 2 waves would be DC). Possible, but does not seem likely to me. I think fig #18 is either a Level Pack, Fun Pack or a new type of pack we don't know about yet.

[kevkipo]

I wonder whether Valve would be at all involved in the creation of the Portal Level Pack. From what I understand of the company it would seem they'd like a measure of control and creative input.

Whatever the levels are like, of course, at least they'll not only expand the overall game world(s), but also add characters and vehicles one can take elsewhere in the game.

______________________________________________________________________

I'm really curious about the Back to the Future and Doctor Who material. Having not just one but (at least) two franchises centered around time travel (and hasn't it also been used occasionally in the DC Comics universe?) makes me wonder whether they'll somehow implement time travel in the game, and not just in those Level Packs' added levels.

______________________________________________________________________

Things I hope to see:

Additional packs based on the franchises we already know we're getting. In particular, I'd like to see more packs from The Lord of the Rings (perhaps Fun Packs with Aragorn and Eowyn, a Team Pack with Frodo and Sam, or one with Pippin and Merry), Back to the Future, and Doctor Who (the last two if only because I don't want Marty and the Doctor to be the only playable characters we get from those franchises). I also particularly want to see more female characters, both from these themes and from any new ones. In particular I'd like to see packs with Eowyn, as noted before, plus Velma Dinkley, any of the Doctor's many companions, and Marge and Lisa Simpson.

Packs based on additional adventure-oriented established LEGO themes, including perennials like Pirates and Castle, as well as older, inactive themes like Adventurers, Monster Fighters, Exo-Force, Rock Raiders / Power Miners, Atlantis, Time Twisters and Classic Space.

Packs based on non-minifigure-based themes like Elves, Bionicle and Mixels.

Spinoff sets, that are to this game what the sets from The LEGO Movie are to The LEGO Movie - sets with ludicrous thematic mash-ups.

Naturally I don't expect all of this to happen (and that's probably just as well, since I could never afford all of it), but I really hope some of this comes to light.

Give me a set with Thorin in his last battle garbs, a piece of minas tirith with faramir, the riddler riding the balrog and chell fighting between them (that all in one set) and i'm flipping sold

[wideawakewesley]

Price drop at Amazon UK. Still waaay too much though.

[AyliffeMakit]

Great scott!

EDIT: Also more packs!











Edited May 20, 2015 by AyliffeMakit