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Lessons Learned: 5 Lessons for Sims 5
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What 5 lessons do you most hope developers have learned from The Sims 4 before they start working on the Sims 5?
For me, I hope they’ve learned:
1.) The Sims is a PC game.
The Sims is and always has been a PC game. There have been spinoffs and auxiliary games for other platforms and devices, but the mainstay is the PC version. As such, the game needs to offer a really rich experience that takes advantage of the computing power of today’s and tomorrow’s (since the game is on a 5 year cycle) PCs and be able to retain most player attention spans for hours, not just minutes.
EA explains how as the device they design a game for increases in power, so does the amount of time the game is supposed to hold player attention – about 1 min for phones, 10 min for tablets, and longer for consoles and PCs. Many long-time fans of the series remember losing track of time and playing for hours at a sitting without losing interest in previous iterations, but for how long does Sims 4 hold the average player’s attention?
I would hope that any future game would take advantage of PC computing and computing power with: higher poly-count meshes; no culling; 64-bit programming; a seamless, open world; mouse-based UI with clustered controls; more game optimization settings; better AI; more animations; and more in-depth gameplay.
2.) The Sims is a single-player game.
The Sims is a god game where individuals like to have full power over their creations without interference from others. The MMO model interrupts this.
3.) The Sims is a life simulator.
There may be many types of players, but there is really only one type of game and that is a life simulator. The game isn’t an RPG, time management game, or chatroom. Players may approach how they play the game differently as Sim makers, builders, world creators, dollhousers, movie makers, generational players, or whatever role they want to take on.
4.) The Sims is a creation tool.
The real power that can be harnessed from this game is in the empowerment and inspiration it provides players to create their own worlds, their own universes -- the cogwheels of millions of brains spinning in tandem, each generating its own solution to the same problems.
Some of the content Maxis creates is really fun and interesting, but it really can’t compete with the sense of creativity, accomplishment, and discovery it provides its players. So, the game tools are an essential part of creating a powerful and powerfully appealing game.
I would hope that in the future The Sims would not only include Create-a-Sim and Build/Buy modes, but also Create-a-Style, HomeCrafter, Scrapbooking and Storytelling tools, and Create-a-Worlds even if some of these need to be programs accessed outside of the game itself.
5.) The Sims fans are loyal.
The Sims does repeat business more than the average game. Many players have played more than one iteration of the series. Even today, despite widespread disappointment in the current game, fans have hung on to voice their wishes and concerns in the forums and elsewhere. This is not ‘just whining’. This is fans giving EA a second chance to correct their mistakes. A disloyal person would have walked off and never looked back. Instead, loyal fans have pointed out how EA failed them and spelled out for EA what they can do to win them back. A smart company wouldn’t see them as a liability.
Note: This is reposted from another site, but I thought I 'd put it here where the Maxoids are supposedly looking, and possibly thinking about or even working on Sims 5 already.
For me, I hope they’ve learned:
1.) The Sims is a PC game.
The Sims is and always has been a PC game. There have been spinoffs and auxiliary games for other platforms and devices, but the mainstay is the PC version. As such, the game needs to offer a really rich experience that takes advantage of the computing power of today’s and tomorrow’s (since the game is on a 5 year cycle) PCs and be able to retain most player attention spans for hours, not just minutes.
EA explains how as the device they design a game for increases in power, so does the amount of time the game is supposed to hold player attention – about 1 min for phones, 10 min for tablets, and longer for consoles and PCs. Many long-time fans of the series remember losing track of time and playing for hours at a sitting without losing interest in previous iterations, but for how long does Sims 4 hold the average player’s attention?
I would hope that any future game would take advantage of PC computing and computing power with: higher poly-count meshes; no culling; 64-bit programming; a seamless, open world; mouse-based UI with clustered controls; more game optimization settings; better AI; more animations; and more in-depth gameplay.
2.) The Sims is a single-player game.
The Sims is a god game where individuals like to have full power over their creations without interference from others. The MMO model interrupts this.
3.) The Sims is a life simulator.
There may be many types of players, but there is really only one type of game and that is a life simulator. The game isn’t an RPG, time management game, or chatroom. Players may approach how they play the game differently as Sim makers, builders, world creators, dollhousers, movie makers, generational players, or whatever role they want to take on.
4.) The Sims is a creation tool.
The real power that can be harnessed from this game is in the empowerment and inspiration it provides players to create their own worlds, their own universes -- the cogwheels of millions of brains spinning in tandem, each generating its own solution to the same problems.
Some of the content Maxis creates is really fun and interesting, but it really can’t compete with the sense of creativity, accomplishment, and discovery it provides its players. So, the game tools are an essential part of creating a powerful and powerfully appealing game.
I would hope that in the future The Sims would not only include Create-a-Sim and Build/Buy modes, but also Create-a-Style, HomeCrafter, Scrapbooking and Storytelling tools, and Create-a-Worlds even if some of these need to be programs accessed outside of the game itself.
5.) The Sims fans are loyal.
The Sims does repeat business more than the average game. Many players have played more than one iteration of the series. Even today, despite widespread disappointment in the current game, fans have hung on to voice their wishes and concerns in the forums and elsewhere. This is not ‘just whining’. This is fans giving EA a second chance to correct their mistakes. A disloyal person would have walked off and never looked back. Instead, loyal fans have pointed out how EA failed them and spelled out for EA what they can do to win them back. A smart company wouldn’t see them as a liability.
Note: This is reposted from another site, but I thought I 'd put it here where the Maxoids are supposedly looking, and possibly thinking about or even working on Sims 5 already.
Post edited by [Deleted User] on
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Comments
Thanks. I hope EA and Maxis see it that way, too.
Where are we going, and why am I in this hand basket?!
*shivers* That's a terrifying image. No wonder they left the fear emotion out of the game. The poor Sims would be stuck in that state permanently (as would we).
another note peoples misunderstood sims gender, the sims is a sub genre of life simulator the sims is a social simulation game which is a sub-genrer of life simulator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_simulation_game you can find many different type of social simulators the sims is the most sucesfull and knowed ofcourse.
then if peoples jus want sims being single player and not rpg fine but this don't means which all life simulator will be like that, specially nowadays where more and more the game marketing is driving to online and multiplayer and less single player games are evolving peoples liking or not.
while sims series is a type of life simulator not all life simulators are equals and follow the same rule since they can have more than one genre.
even the so wanted "sandbox" is a genre game,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_gameplay
sims games are life simulator and sandbox 2 genres(well at last sims 1 to 3, the four is the less sandbox and more task focused).
I'd like to add a couple:
I hope that the devs have learnt that you can't rely on game telemetry over actual communication with your fan base. They've repeatedly said they were 'not expecting' responses that anyone who took five minutes to look through the forums would have been able to predict. That's just silly to me. I hope in future they realize that they are missing out on a lot of information and context by leaning too heavily on that sort of data.
I also hope they have learnt that The Sims is not a game that should be tailored to the lowest common denominator - as in build it for the oldest computers, and for the people who expect the least out of it/will spend the least amount of time on it. Build it for tomorrow, and build it so well that your casual players become serious, and your serious players become life long fans.
I hope they've learned that The Sims is a genre all it's own, and they would do better to compete with themselves, not with the most recent trends.
I hope they have learnt that it is better to scrap a game and take the time to do it right, than jury-rigging something out of a failed project. We would have waited, and it would have been worth it - both for the fans and for EA's long term profits.
Excellent points, @Esharpmajor. Over-reliance on telemetry does seem to be a problem. They see that people aren't playing with a feature, but they don't see why. Is it that they don't like the feature or that they find it too hard to use or underdeveloped and therefor not fun?
As long as they keep pushing the seamless, cross-device play, the game will always have a LCD component (as you term it) technology-wise, which is why I stressed that the game is a PC game. Playing a phone or tablet game on a PC is just unsatisfying.
Creating a life-long fanbase is a great goal with this game because of its nature. It is a game with a 5 year life cycle, so even being a fan of just one iteration encourages a longer commitment than most games.
6.) Frequent communication among fans builds trust in your brand.
Fans understand that the developers cannot divulge every detail regarding the work going into the game, but surely there must be something they can tell us.
Communication means posting a message on The Sims website stating that the team's exploration of including toddlers has been completed and that they have concluded the game engine is not capable of supporting more than six lifestages comfortably.
Communication means not replying, "No comment." to any question that doesn't pertain to buying some expansion/stuff/game pack or whatever the new thing they're selling is.
Communication means letting your fans know that you care. Fans shouldn't feel like they have to have top secret security clearance to learn about your game.
I agree with each point - nicely posted!
--T
Oops, didn't see this.
THIS, THIS, THIIIIIIIIS!!!!!
--T
Nuturing a healthy modding community, and having respect for those that do, contributes to the lifetime of a game as well as enjoyment. So for the love of pete EA, Embrace and encourage your modding community and Make your game Mod Friendly!
PoppySims Archive
InnaLisa Pose Archive
Devolution of Sims - a once customisable open world sandbox which has become a DLC Party catalog in a shoebox
I ♡ Pudding
Yup, modders contribute a great deal to the game, and the extent to which the game is modifyible is responsible for a portion of its success.
One thing that did spring to mind when reading was something my grandfather stuck to his whole life. Namely if you're going to do something, do it properly. Never do a job that isn't as close to perfection as possible; It's better not to start it otherwise. I think there's a dire need for that philosophy to be adopted as a lesson to be learned, but don't disagree with any of yours, so couldn't slot it in.
Hear hear!
That sounds similar to EsharpMajor's last point. I'm not sure if salvaging a game was a wise business decision, but it wasn't a good game decision. It may or may not have helped them in the short term, but I have a feeling it's costing them in the long run. I know they've lost some player trust. Some people who were willing to buy almost anything on the strength of the brand and past experience are now hesitating before buying.
5? I'm fan, but loyal? Loyal in a way EA wants me to be? Buying absolutely everything they charge?
No. And I'm not alone.
- I refuse to spend my hard earned money on uncontrollable and probably untaxable virtual currencies, in this case simpoints
- I refused to spend even a penny on Sims 3 simstore
- I'm not buying stuffpacks, never did, never will
Joxer, loyalty isn't just about spending money on anything EA and Maxis decide to put out. You can be selective in your purchases and still be loyal.
You're still here posting despite your frustrations with the game, which I know you have. From what you say, you play a number of other games, so it could have been easy for you to give up on this game completely, but you still hang around waiting to see what bugs they'll fix and new content they'll add. You're giving them a chance to correct what are, from your perspective, their mistakes. That's a form of loyalty.
Another is sticking with the game through multiple iterations. You've obviously played Sims 3 and now you've got Sims 4. Like many others, you've stuck with the game and Maxis on this for years.
Having a fanbase that will ride through some of the rough patches that every game goes through is important for long-term success.
I agree @GreenXen but I doubt those things are important to EA but mobile is the word. I hope I'm around to see it return to it's true roots.
ever since the sims 4, i've had the distinct feeling that i've been taken for granted, that my long years of support mean nothing, and i've gleefully had my face rubbed into the fact that there are no other options.