ACW History becoming one sided

[Bolingbroke]

I don't think there's the need for different nationalities, unless it's something really obvious like the US cavalry or the Romans. The beauty of the PM knights for eg, since the beginning, is that they could have been any nationality. Besides, the problem is that there's always an elemnt of heroes vs villains at play: in the recent knights theme the yellow knights are the heroes and the other ones seem to be the villains. For a long time the cowboys were the heroes and the Indians were the villains, and now they've switched it around (see the ads). I guess the heroes always have the better, bigger sets: I guess it also shows that deep down we are to take the Union faction as the heroes cause they had the forts, the nicer sets and all that; whereas the Confederates were there almost as an afterthought. My point is, you'd have to be careful about portraying any nationality as 'bad'.

[bonniebeth]

I agree the Indians seem to be the good guys in this latest series. There is a camp with a woman and baby, a home and food, and another set with kids and a pony. The cavalry side only has soldiers, no women or children, or anything to make them seem like people instead of just soldiers.

On the one hand, that is kind of accurate, because at a fort in the middle of indian territory there wouldn't be many women and children, maybe the wives of some officers but that's about it. On the other hand, there could have been a family in a covered wagon or on a nearby farm to make things a little more equal. Then it could be played any way you want... mean soldiers attacking an indian camp, or mean indians attacking a little family on a farm, or soldiers and warriors fighting each other but leaving the women and children alone, or everyone getting along peacefully together.... it would be more open for interpretation.

[Redmao]

The fun of Playmobil is that any scenario is possible.
Want to make bandits attack the indians camp and send the cavalry to the rescue you can.
Want to make the indians attack the fort, you can.
Want to have an indian guide the cavalry to the old mine, you can too.
Any character can be a hero or a villain depending on how you want to play and that's pretty awesome.

[Bolingbroke]

I don't know about you, but nobody wanted to be the indians when we were kids 

I tend to agree with you ... but the problem is that the design team is interfering more and more. So you end up having klickies with frowny faces (you'd have a hard time pretending they were heroes, those) etc. For eg, the top-hatted cowboy from the recent waves ...

Instead of having a blank canvas, they're ... like I said, interfering a bit somehow.

[Rhalius]

They did a good job on the pirates though. Some seem mean, others seem friendly. Its a good mix.

Knights theme is quite terrible in recent years though with the clear good vs evil fight. Better to leave it neutral. In the 90's only the yellow dragons where somewhat evil but opposite of that where many good and neutral factions. All at the same time.

[bonniebeth]

Yes, the design teams are getting away from the old "let kids make their own story" thing. I think part of it is that a lot of kids don't know how to do that anymore, but that's another rant.

Case in point, the future planet series. I'm sorry, but there is ONE thing you can do with those. THe story is built in. It really stifles the imagination.

Also the recent pirate series. Most of the sets were fine and open to do what you want, but the main set, the island, had a built-in story with little room for imagination.

[Pynedor]

Yes, the design teams are getting away from the old "let kids make their own story" thing. I think part of it is that a lot of kids don't know how to do that anymore, but that's another rant.

That's definitely true. I don't think there is as much of a problem with what the design team is making as there is with this. Then again, I think the historical themes that I collect still allow for more creativity than more modern sets (or futuristic ones).

Also, I see we have a new guru.

[bonniebeth]

Also, I see we have a new guru.

 

[tahra]

Yes, the design teams are getting away from the old "let kids make their own story" thing. I think part of it is that a lot of kids don't know how to do that anymore, but that's another rant.

Well, the american boxes of a few years ago were.. shocking that way. Ridiculous.

[Tiermann]

Yes, the design teams are getting away from the old "let kids make their own story" thing. I think part of it is that a lot of kids don't know how to do that anymore, but that's another rant.

Case in point, the future planet series. I'm sorry, but there is ONE thing you can do with those. The story is built in. It really stifles the imagination.

Also the recent pirate series. Most of the sets were fine and open to do what you want, but the main set, the island, had a built-in story with little room for imagination.

And these are the very sets that are getting discontinued first, probably due to sales. Hopefully somebody in the company is figuring this out. This is just the sort of thing that PCC members need to be writing in their PCC blogs about. Those blogs give us a way to present these ideas to the company directly in a way that will be more easily noticed than reading deep into some discussion board thread. I just did one on marketing and the playworld concept, but someone else could come along and do one about this. Hinty hint hint