Who is your favorite character, and how could they be used on Sodor in game? I'm gonna have to go with Cranky. He's a cantakerous old coot, but has a good heart and in game he'd be a fun addition to a port scene, allowing you to load/unload cargo and onto planes and ships. That's something TSW has struggled with, but it'd be neat to if nothing else have a completion cut scene where something you delivers gets offloaded/moved to a ship.
My favourite will always be Edward because he was one of the first engines in the Railway Series books and one of the original engines in the TV series since 1984
Gordon. He's one of the few characters who seems to be pretty much the same no matter what. His episodes in the TV series were also among the best (even during the awful Hit era). He's probably the most developed character in the entire series (more so the original Railway Series books). The only one you meet the family of. He's one of the first characters anyone would be able to name. Edward was the first, Thomas is the star. But Gordon is the best. Could probably say a whole lot more, but then I'd probably be better off writing a dissertation.
If I have to throw in my own top 5's (ok 10 technically), it'll be: Gordon, Duck, Emily, Thomas, Donald & Douglas, Oliver, Mavis, BoCo, Salty, & Diesel 10
Not all of them, it's more like the first 7 seasons of my top favs of the model age. Even more so on the same characters during the CGI era.
Favorite character is Falcon/Sir Handel but that'd require a narrow gauge DLC line from Crovan's Gate Best standard gauge engine is Edward, hoping he will be the next DLC character along with Henry
Edwards branch line and Henry’s forest appear on the map I get the impression that the employees at dovetail who are making the game are fans of the original tv series and they’ll use the Thomas license to build the game they want without much input from Mattel
They're still under the terms of whatever Mattel say though. Mattel hold the license and are pretty strict about it. Edward's Branch Line (which is a Nickname) is officially named the Brendam Branch Line. Henry's Forest last appeared in 2008, which is before Mattel even, and again just a nickname. Henry and Edward, after the Big World Big Adventures rebrand, mainly made cameo appearances. In fact, Edward actually appeared a total three times after this. Its very clear Mattel wanted, and continues, to forget about them.
What Mattel did with BWBA is fairly irrelevant I think. There's a reason this game isn't based around AEG or the new reboot. I strongly suspect both Edward and Henry will appear as DLC.
For years — and even still today — Henry has always been my favorite character without a doubt. Was I upset that he and Edward weren’t in the game at launch? Absolutely. But I’m still hopeful they’ll be added eventually. I have no doubt they’ll make it into the game at some point — I just wonder when. And when they finally do, the very first thing I’m doing is letting Henry pull the Express, because he absolutely deserves it.
I can only assume they held Edward and Henry back as DLC because they knew they’d be big sellers like James
There's plenty more of Sodor left, and you have to release the game at some point. Everyone will of course with "their" favorites were the ones picked for first release =-)
Thomas, Edward & James were my original three favourite chracters and probably still are I love almost all of the characters however, at least up until series 4 of the TV series...
James, Edward and Henry are 3 popular characters that lots of Thomas fans would buy as DLC, not releasing them as part of the base game means they will guarantee good sales from their DLC’s
Ohh, now I get it. I guess all those times I heard about Dovetail being known for pumping out DLCs finally came full circle with that comment. While I’m still disappointed they weren’t included in the base game, from a business standpoint it actually makes a lot of sense. Those characters are some of the most beloved and recognizable in the entire franchise, so holding them back as DLC would naturally create a lot of anticipation and demand from fans who really want to see them added. And honestly, that’s probably the strategy. The more fans ask for specific engines and content, the more potential DLC opportunities Dovetail sees — and more DLC ultimately means more revenue for the game. It’s something I keep forgetting myself: fan demand basically becomes a roadmap for future expansions. I still wish that they were in the base game though. The main RWS cast at the launch would be fitting.
I guess "main cast" depends on who you like and what books/shows you've seen. Yes some are more popular than others and more featured (like Thomas) but even Diesel had his own book and featured far more than I cared for. I'd argue there is a rather large "regular cast" and adding them to the "base game" increases the cost of that "base game" as well as pushes back when it can be released. Compared to a TSW release, Getting FIVE characters/locos on a route is actually a LOT. Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Emily, Diesel for $32 which is LESS than a standard TSW route is a fine deal. Now adding James, Edward and Henry on top.... that's just excessive to demand for a first release.
The main cast are: Thomas Edward Henry Gordon James Percy Diesel was in the TSW5 DLC as an antagonist hence his inclusion in WOS and Emily for some female representation
Yeah, I feel like if you asked most fans who the true “main cast” is, they’d probably say the original engines numbered 1 through 7. So if Dovetail was only going to launch the game with six or seven engines, I honestly would’ve preferred if they focused entirely on the classic lineup first. I have nothing against Diesel or Emily — I understand why they were included, since Diesel adds variety and Emily brings female representation, both of which are important. But I still feel like the game should’ve prioritized the classic engines before expanding into newer or secondary characters.
If Mattel truly wanted to forget about Henry and Edward, then why are they still making toys of them? And why does Henry still appear in promotional material for the new show? That alone shows they still recognize those characters. I also don’t think Mattel would completely leave them out of the game. It wouldn’t make much sense to include places like Edward’s Branch Line and Henry’s Forest if there were never plans to use those characters at some point. And honestly, Dovetail definitely knows Henry and Edward are among the most requested engines by fans. People have wanted them since before the game released. If they truly weren’t coming at all, you’d think Dovetail would’ve made a clear statement by now instead of letting fans continue to speculate.
I do wonder though if the Big World Big Adventures scenario will happen here, but there's no doubt Henry and Edward will make it in. I'm not a fan of Nia and Rebecca, but I don't mind them making it into the game. I am a little nervous that not only will they be pushed out first, but they will be treated like the replacements again. Taking those two spots in the shed again, that's going to upset people. It's possible neither will be the next, it will be the easiest engine they can slip into the current Sodor layout that doesn't need a new location and as for Edward & Nia, I think they both would need the Brendam Branchline (might have read something about her working down that route). As for the sheds, loads of engines will need a place to snooze and I'm sure everyone prefers the classic two in Tidmouth. On the topic, I still think it's weird Diesel sleeps on a siding just outside the sheds but he apparently does temporarily stay there on occasions.
I'm honestly surprised that both Nia and Rebecca were not in the base game. With how much Mattel milked the hell out of them, you would think that there would be top priority in the game. Now these two are not my cup of tea, and they certainly did not come across well when they basically replaced Henry and Edward. I actually wouldn't mind them in the game. I mean it'd be way better than the current roster we have now, which has become boring to look at. That said, Henry and Edward being the next engines to be on the priority list for DLC's is certainly something that hasn't left my mind, and I think Mattel has learned their lesson. They wouldn't have wrapped up All Engines Go and made Henry and Edward products if they weren't going to add Henry and Edward to any media that they are producing or at least Co producing. With that said, I really do hope that both Mattel and Dovetail can give us a good date on when we should be expecting these DLC's. For me, I expect something to be within summer, and we should at least come out with some new characters. I don't know how many, but at least something new. We also, of course, need some new timetables and some new branch lines, particularly Brendam Branch and the Little Western. I think some new timetables would actually work well. Henry, Gordon and Rebecca could be the alternating express engines or Nia working with Edward on his branch line. I think it would be cool to have female characters on the branch line. If Thomas can have female characters on his branch, Edward can have female characters on his branch line. To name a few examples. I'm just spit balling some ideas down the line because that's just how bored I am at the moment. The possibilities really are endless for this game. I just hope both Mattel and Dovetail know that.
