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The Sims 4 Online
LittlBowBub
Posts: 1,745 Member
Hold up . Don't shut me down before i've begun.
I understand that there's a lot of personal opinions towards online multiplayer games. Eg. IMVU, second life etc. And a lot of hatred about these types of games, especially from Sims players (myself included). Sims is a solo player game. I love the sims, its my escape route from reality, I don't want my screen spamming with someone else's conversation.
However....
The Sims 4 Online wouldn't have to be like that.
The idea:
A completely separate functioning world. It cannot interfere with your game whatsoever. It will simply show on your screen, sort of like a vacation spot on a separate destination screen. You cannot live there.
The sole purpose of this world would be to travel to with your played family (or single sim if multiple sims would be reaching too high) to experience a unique fun world. The catch? The sims here are controlled by other players.
There would be no "chat box", its your sims communicating not the players. The interaction menu would be near enough the same as it already is, perhaps some unique interactions??
Depending on how advanced things could go:
There could be the option to own a lot and build so you could treat it as a business/home lot? This way you could invite sims you've met to your online lot. They cannot edit your lot in any way, they are guests. You have complete control over door locking and other restrictions such as getting water, food from fridge and painting etc ( basically anything that would create mess or be annoying)
Upon buying the EP you could be granted one lot for free along with the world it comes with. And then buy extras. (as this would be through servers i'm assuming)
You should however have complete control with building on your lot and be able to change it whenever you want, expect when other players are visiting of course (you can force them to leave though)
As a business: you can set restrictions, door locking and business hours. And of course option to close whenever and have the sims leave immediately.
Things like CC. I'm not sure how that would work but seeing as it'll only be visual the other players shouldn't need the files. Either that or no CC Mods allowed in the online world.
Time cannot be fast forwarded here. The whole world would run on one continuing time for everyone.
Marriage, babies etc.. All the more fun not knowing the other players agenda. Marriage would be simple enough, however kids would be complicated. I'm not sure how that would work either. Perhaps somebody else could share some ideas.
As with all ideas, things might not suit everyone's style. Please share your ideas for an EP or a spin off like this. If the idea's not for you, thats fine and understandable, it's not everyone's cup of tea. But please do remember, all packs are optional, and this is simply an idea, a very rusty one at that.
Please add your ideas
This is my first discussion.. and a very opinionated topic, so please be kind.
I understand that there's a lot of personal opinions towards online multiplayer games. Eg. IMVU, second life etc. And a lot of hatred about these types of games, especially from Sims players (myself included). Sims is a solo player game. I love the sims, its my escape route from reality, I don't want my screen spamming with someone else's conversation.
However....
The Sims 4 Online wouldn't have to be like that.
The idea:
A completely separate functioning world. It cannot interfere with your game whatsoever. It will simply show on your screen, sort of like a vacation spot on a separate destination screen. You cannot live there.
The sole purpose of this world would be to travel to with your played family (or single sim if multiple sims would be reaching too high) to experience a unique fun world. The catch? The sims here are controlled by other players.
There would be no "chat box", its your sims communicating not the players. The interaction menu would be near enough the same as it already is, perhaps some unique interactions??
Depending on how advanced things could go:
There could be the option to own a lot and build so you could treat it as a business/home lot? This way you could invite sims you've met to your online lot. They cannot edit your lot in any way, they are guests. You have complete control over door locking and other restrictions such as getting water, food from fridge and painting etc ( basically anything that would create mess or be annoying)
Upon buying the EP you could be granted one lot for free along with the world it comes with. And then buy extras. (as this would be through servers i'm assuming)
You should however have complete control with building on your lot and be able to change it whenever you want, expect when other players are visiting of course (you can force them to leave though)
As a business: you can set restrictions, door locking and business hours. And of course option to close whenever and have the sims leave immediately.
Things like CC. I'm not sure how that would work but seeing as it'll only be visual the other players shouldn't need the files. Either that or no CC Mods allowed in the online world.
Time cannot be fast forwarded here. The whole world would run on one continuing time for everyone.
Marriage, babies etc.. All the more fun not knowing the other players agenda. Marriage would be simple enough, however kids would be complicated. I'm not sure how that would work either. Perhaps somebody else could share some ideas.
As with all ideas, things might not suit everyone's style. Please share your ideas for an EP or a spin off like this. If the idea's not for you, thats fine and understandable, it's not everyone's cup of tea. But please do remember, all packs are optional, and this is simply an idea, a very rusty one at that.
Please add your ideas
This is my first discussion.. and a very opinionated topic, so please be kind.
9
Comments
However, I do think you're onto a good idea here. An online pack would be pretty rad. I like the idea of taking a sim into the online world and having them live on a lot there and making friends and starting families with another sim. It would add a whole new level of drama lol!
I do really want the option for multiplayer LAN sims games though. It would be fun having my partner playing sims with me in the other room and building a house with me and controlling some of the sims in a household. So if they can work a LAN option into the online pack then I'd 100% no doubt buy it.
@MadameLee Actually, a lot of people love the idea too
look up "Sims online" in this section of the forum. Its as heated as if someone asked for "Specali Needs" sims during the Sims 3
Sims 4 was being talked about during the Sims 3 "era". It's never too early.
I would prefer if it was just a spin off thing, then those who want it can pay for it and my main sims game can focus on other things.
I don't think that was what was trying to be implied...
However, we don't have a survey of any group of the fan base except twitter and on the forums here:
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/934525/what-direction-would-you-like-to-see-the-sims-to-go/p1
So based on the one poll we have, it could be said most don't like online. This isn't the whole demographic but with out any other polls we have no evidence to support the wants of any others. Arguing that the unknown nonvocal group largely want online, is impossible to prove of disprove.
Ea I'm sure has done surveys and taken in feedback, the fact that there hasn't been a large online sims game yet, might indicate in and of itself the demographic isn't considered large enough to make a game for. That could very well change with newer generations and then I'm sure ea will re look into it's options.
I don't think combining the two is fair, there could be many interpretations of how they would be combined, and at what level of involvement. I mean it could be argued that my method of it existing but not being required at all is a combination, but then that doesn't mean I would use online play. So if ea did surveys and found most people indifferent or disliked it they wouldn't add the feature.
We don't have a way of testing a larger audience so we have no way of arguing anything else, the only evidence we do have suggests that most players aren't interested (roughly 28% are interested even including the combination votes, if you combine both polls). Is it complete evidence? Not at all, only 150 some people responded in total, that is an extremely small sample.
There are people interested in multiplayer, the question is if it is enough. So far ea hasn't really gone that way and the only poll, as limited in scope as it is, also indicates limited interest, so we don't know what the whole fan base wants but it seems that it is at best a controversial move for ea to make, and that might just be something they are not willing to take with their main sims title.
Again things change, times go on, for ts5 ea might get enough evidence to support online. I maintain that I don't care as long as I don't have to use it in any way.
Also, I know there are many people on here who are younger (including myself, who just turned YA), and that many forum users have twitter. They obviously poll differently, but I would not say it is based on people being younger or older.
And converting The Sims into an online game has been talked about as well as done before in the past so many times. It has always ended up in failure.
The Sims Online failed, not once, but twice. After it failed the first time, trying to rebrand the game as EA Land led nowhere, and the game failed again.
Then we have the case of The Sims 4, which was originally planned to be an online game. The developers themselves said it just wasn't fun, and EA ended up scrapping those plans and put all resources back into the single player mode. However, the change in plans has hurt the quality of the game.
The Sims is meant to be a single player game. If it’s been tried in the past, failed twice, and tried again with newer technology and still led nowhere, it’s not a good idea.
I would love to see other players sims walking around that aren't controlled by my pc. Experience the true personality and quirks that each sim has. How can you possible know what they're going to do? Playing with other players in the simverse, I believe, would make sims actually smarter and more interesting.
So, with better Sims 4 graphics and just a better game design in general, then I definitely think it could work. People simply like playing video games with friends and family. It's a growing trend in the video game industry.
Also, just because you don't like an idea doesn't make it a bad idea.
All in all, if it does actually happen, then it'd most likely be optional or a standalone game so it wouldn't affect you at all. With that in mind, why do you care so much? Why must you put down others' ideas that probably won't even affect you in the long run? Nobody's gonna force you to play multiplayer.
@MrJessXD I 100% agree that multiplayer Sims would bring in a large amount of younger generation fans but only with new and improved graphics. (A lot of) Younger people like games with good looking graphics and they like playing with each other rather than solo. Which is why the biggest game franchises out there right now are multiplayer. More importantly, the younger generations are the future of the Sims fanbase so it'll be best if they start marketing to them as well. I'm tired of investing in a new sims game every few years with no big, game-changing features.
PS....A multiplayer version of the Sims is in pretty high demand as well, so it'll be pretty risky if Sims ignores them. They could be losing a huge potential fanbase if they don't implement a new and improved multiplayer system. These are just a few of the tweets: (there are thousands more)
-CC would be a pain, since being able to see everybody's CC would require having the content downloaded to your computer. Either CC would be spread around willy-nilly (inflating your downloads folder, and having it so that everybody can have a random creator's stuff without so much as a credit), or else you'll be stuck with a limited number of presets. That's just how online games work.
-A single player game can run on my computer without requiring anything other than electricity. Once you connect to other computers, you'll need someone else to run a server. (It's possible to be a server yourself, but your average simmer doesn't have the technical knowhow or the internet connection to do a good job of it.) If EA runs the servers, they'll cost money. Maintenance, electricity, and in all likelihood a mod team. These thing all cost money, and they cost money on an ongoing basis. How much subscription would you be willing to pay in order to keep the new online sims up and running?
-Pay close attention to what sim social interactions look like. Your sims are engaged in an interaction until one of them disengages. Normally, when it's just you and your computer, the computer is happy to go along with what you as the player want to do. While it would be fun for a little bit to watch other player controlled sims wander around the world, though, how much ability should one player have to tie up another player's sim? On the one hand, if anybody can opt out at any moment, lots of sims would completely ignore you and cancel any interactions because they have other things they'd rather be doing. If starting an interaction can lock a sim in, have fun getting sidetracked from the stuff you want to do because someone else wants to up their social. Or just pick a fight.
These are just some basic issues inherent to an online game. (The Sims Online was basically a glorified chat room where you had to constantly grind to keep your skills up. There's a reason that model of MMO failed.) You can talk about different models - a microtransaction model instead of a subscription model, for instance. (Although play a few microtransaction heavy games before saying that you want this.) But given how often multiplayer sims has crashed and burned, you'll really want to explain how you'll deal with the flaws inherent to the idea.
Sims 4 basically revolves around skill building anyway and the graphics as they are would probably interest a lot of people out there.. For example Fortnite's graphics are similar and thats a huge hit. They could introduce new gameplay such as mini games for your sims that play off their skills. Sports games and other little competitions to win prices to use back home.
As for CC just dont allow it in the online bit? They could bring more CAS options with the expansion and before you visit the world you can change your sim so that it wont conflict. But when you return back to your home the changes reverse?
It seems like a lot of people saying no to the idea don't like playing with others, and thats fine. But some players would love to, even if its only 2 player. The thing with making an online version is that it wouldn't interfere with your solo version at all apart from maybe to bring home some new relationships and gifts etc.. And you know, there's always the option to not buy it.
If sims 5 is even going to be a thing, do people really want to just go through numbers? Sims 4 has a fantastic CAS and build mode in my opinion, more players can actually play the game without having to buy a new PC. Each year the expansions have gotten better. Bringing online to the table could open so many doors and opportunities.
Online could even be completely separate. A spin off.
The problem with combining this concept into one game is that it would spread resources too thinly. The type of focus that an online game would need is different than what a single player game does. I would not want a game where a lot chunk of the development energy is spent on something that I am completely uninterested in. I wouldn't buy it. Spin off the multiplayer concept for those who want it? Fine, I'm not the customer for that subject. I have nothing against them making a game like that though if there is sufficient interest.
I agree that I have no interest in micro-transactions. I came back to Sims because I like how it is not a game full of micro-transactions. It's not that I played games like that before. When Candy Crush was a huge fad among my friends, I bought a couple of lollipop hammers and then I said that it was not a concept that I was interested in and I walked away both from that game and from that style of gaming. I was turned off by the micro-transactions. I like TS's current approach which seems much more reasonable. I don't actually need extra content, if I wanted to in this game, I could ignore it. I do think it is good quality (other than bugginess, of which there is a lot but they do work on that). It's all optional and it's actually more reasonably priced than those "freemium" games.
As for my playing as a single player on my own and having to ignore or turn off chats from other players? Nope, I'm not interested. I don't want to engage with other players with my sims. I have my own game and I play on my own. I can understand people wanting their friends in their game which I might be more tolerant of than allowing random strangers to send chat notices. I would just not add any friends but I still wouldn't want multiplayer to be the focus of a PC game that I play.
Multiplayer is a different style of gameplay and story creation than single player with a different focus. I'm not even playing Sims modeled on myself. I'm not walking around as myself in the game because I can do that by going outside and living my own life. I play the game as an imaginative way to generate a world of interesting characters and plots which is something that I do myself. I'm not looking to talk to my friends in some fictitious world. I'm REALLY not looking to interact with total strangers.
A world of strangers all playing together would revolve around things that do not interest me. Seeing a total stranger walk up to fight me or "date" (euphemism) me? No. I'm completely uninterested and I would not buy that game.
If there's sufficient demand for a multiplayer game? Fine. If they want to add it to the mobile game? Also fine if mobile players want that. They don't need to mess with the existing Sims series and product for that though. As someone else said, this game requires a lot of attention for the single player format. It is also something that sets it apart from competitors.
I do like the original and creative ideas in the starting post of this thread, but it's just not for me I'm afraid. I don't really see how it would work with families. Someone can come knocking and steal away a spouse or...?
The highest number of likes I see for anyone requesting an online game again is 65 likes/hearts. That won't pay for a server. They had every oportunity to do this when they were creating TS4 and were in development of The Sims 4 Olympus Project, but they dumped it as they could see it wasn't going to be worth their time and money after the outcry from Sim City 2013. Now, if it was a brilliant idea, they wouldn't have dumped it, and you would be playing TS4 Multi player game right now, and not a single player pc game.
And if you think they are going to allow thirteen year olds to interact with sixty year olds with romantic interactions between Sims then you don't know much about age limit animations. And what would be the point of visting someone else's lot if I couldn't fix my Sim something to eat, have no control over food, entertainment or whatever. That would be hugely boring...about as much exciting as visiting TS3 Sims who threw you out for using the commode or fixing a meal. Everyone thinks their Sims will be able to interact and marry and have kids with other people's Sims=that's not going to happen or it will require an age limit. Especially if there are adults playing the game, you can bet on that at some point an age limit will be designated. ETA: The world is changing and it would be so politically incorrect to allow children to play romantic interactions with actual adults playing as Sims...it would be gross, and it will not happen or someone will be screaming it's wrong. It may or may not be..but this is a politically correct world these days, and it won't fly ever again.