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Olympus UI and Multiplayer Code in The Sims 4

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  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    jusMeh wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Well if you guys recall the former CEO basically commanded all EA games go online - it was one of the many things about him that infuriated me. Go back and look at many of the interviews he did and that is all he talked about. So can we really blame the Sims team to complying with the vision that quite clearly to me was J.R.'s?

    By Maxis making the mobile - a separate game actually was an ideal solution if you ask me - as it should have been to start with - with both Sim City and Sims 4 - but of course JR was all about a single game doing it all whether or not the players wanted such things. Because of JR's many interviews many of us long before we even heard there was going to be a New Sim City and a Sim's 4 was on the forums speaking lengthly how we hoped neither was online and that we were not having it. I remember so many discussion on the Sims 3 forums - so when Sim City came out and was online as we suspected - we seriously went a bit ballistic fearing our beloved Sims were also being made online. We were right then - more than we realized.

    To me it even clearer now that by making Sims 4 mobile is actually a good thing - they get their online and the Sims everywhere thing and they leave our game the single player it was always meant to be. It's just too bad for us they didn't do this to start with before they started work on Sims 4....

    yes this is what annoys me the most. i kind of understand the situation they were in at the time. but i wish they again found this soultion before working on the sims 4 which yeah has created the game we have today which while it has elements i like and enjoy it also has more stuff that makes it overall a disapointment.

    Exactly.

    glad you understand exactly where i am coming from cuz apparently someone is making me feel like i should not feel like the game has elements i like and still makes it overall disapointment cuz i should eather focus on the stuff i do enjoy 100% or not buy the game according to some people.

    Just put the trolls on 'Ignore', and yes I need to follow my own advice. All they do is suck the life out of every thread they dislike or every thread expressing dislike of their fave game. *rolls eyes* They're not even worth acknowledging, j/s. People like that claim that people like us are 'broken records' in the complaint dept., well they're the same exact way, saying the exact same things in every thread like "I like this feature that YOU dislike" etc, etc., it's all nothing more than nonsense ad nauseum. People who bought this plum game have EVERY single right to complain, EVERY right. Period.

    edit: In fact, let me take this a step farther: Post: "I hate that there's no transportation in this game. I want cars."
    Post B: "I hate transportation; I do NOT want cars ever. It's fine the way it is."
    Post: "I wish there were toddlers! (before toddlers were put in the game)
    Post B: "I hated toddlers in Sims 3! I don't want toddlers in this game!!"
    Post: "I wish..."
    Post B: "I don't want.... I love it the way it is!!!"

    You get my drift.

    Oh, but then there's the Open World argument: "I want open world w/out loading screens!"
    Post B: "I HATED open world in Sims 3!!! It was BUGGY and plum and took 6 years for the Sims to get anywhere, and there were NOTHING but rabbit holes!!!1111 and I LOVE the loading screens!!!!"

    Again - ad nauseum. Nothing but the Sunk Cost Fallacy, among other things.

    yeah seriously like its like i like stuff in the game yes but i also like i said hate the lack features in the game.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    mirta000 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »

    i sort of agree with you cuz yeah i know nothing will and can be done about it. but i also do not think we should remain slient about it. like to be honest i am not convinced tolders would have gone they way they did if we were silent about it.

    I'm pretty sure that they lied directly to us at one point going "TS4 never was Olympus!" and that's just... Rude. Like why would you do that?

    yeah i know right. but i mean not much we can do about that and its funny the people defending the devs for being honest will want proof they said that exact thing or that we do not fully understand what olympus was/is. or something like that.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    jimmysnan wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »
    Hey guys. The Sims Mobile has stirred up some discussion about Olympus so I decided to go ahead and look into it deeper. I'm glad I did.

    You can check out my post on SimsVIP, if you're so inclined.

    Excellent read! You provided in a very articulate way why we have these limitations we have tried to explain to people for three years (almost). With the tech speak it should make it clearer to players why people were able to discern these things for themselves without having any programming and or modding background, but pure common sense. :D

    well i actually feel like they should not have tired to it that way in the first place its kind of their fault we ended up with the game we have in the first place.

    There's a good chance, looking at how the business case would probably work, that either they could make what they had work for a single-player offline Sims 4 or there would be no sequel to Sims 3, at all. The sunk cost of all that design and development work would be high; you can either keep moving forward on top of as much of your sunk cost as you can, or you can write all the sunk cost off not just part of it. The first scenario is much more likely to result in an actual new game instead of none.

    Personally, I'm fine without CASt (I'd just like more swatches for some things, or an outside tool for easier CC making, similar to Body Shop) and I wasn't a fan of open world. I also like Sims 4. I'm glad they moved forward with it. , we've developed such diverse play styles and been exposed to so many different art styles, etc. That would have remained true if they'd scrapped everything, eaten that huge sunk cost, and still moved forward.

    I like every sims version. I like the Sims 4, some parts of it I love but I'm just not ever going to pretend mistakes weren't made and I doubt I'll ever except misdirection during concept development as an excuse good enough to simply ignore the mistakes, either. All the talking in the world about resource limits and time constraints really doesn't make much difference to the average consumer of which I am one.

    i agree but hey if we bought it apparently the mistakes do not mater in the long run cuz if they did mater we would not buy it. see people have a simple mindset of if the mistakes bother you so much do not buy it and if they dont bother you then buy it just do not complain about them.

    I think the point some are making is yes it was a mistake from our point of view to continue with such a limited framework but nothing can be done about it now except hope that if and when the next version comes along lessons will have been learned about what the community wants to see. As for the Sims 4 we're two and a half years in and probably won't ever see open world, cast, or terrain tools. It's now your decision whether you can accept that and try to enjoy what the game does have to offer.

    i sort of agree with you cuz yeah i know nothing will and can be done about it. but i also do not think we should remain slient about it. like to be honest i am not convinced tolders would have gone they way they did if we were silent about it.

    i have to disagree about toddlers i think they were coming from the beginning but they had some upper management who were on another planet when it came to what simmers wanted. I think she was about the bottom line money not what the customers wanted
    Oh yeah and she wanted to dance lol

    yeah i saw an interview with her she clearly did not understand what simmers wanted and i think at the time they were implying well its your fault for being upset features are not in the game for oh idk wanting those features in the game.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    I don't understand why people fuss about who is working on what, and why things are not done soon enough? I don't care (but obviously some do) at all, I look at the game, as a game. Doesn't matter who is working behind the game. If I enjoy it, I play it!

    well do you enjoy the game.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    Triplis wrote: »
    mirta000 wrote: »
    I will give you this one warning: Please refrain from making statements about what I do and do not think of this community.

    The Sims 4 is a different game compared to the past iterations and we are treating it differently. From the content we produce to the way we market the product. You assumed that we were going to keep things the way they were before, that was not something we confirmed nor did we ever promise that we would do that with this iteration. What we have done is brought a new experience into the Stuff Packs, introduced Game Packs, and have been bringing new experiences with our Expansion Packs. We made the decision prior to The Sims 4 releasing to no longer have split teams (meaning not all at EARS) which has proven to be in the best interest of the game and having a stable product since all things are developed side by side and can be cross checked with one another.

    However TS4 currently is more bugged than TS3 ever was. Meaning how is it a more stable product when it's boarderline unplayable?
    What does best interest for the game mean even? Best profits for EA? Or what the buyers prefer? Because one thing that is very obvious to me is that buyers are not asking for this slew of stuff packs and that a lot of people are feeling the content drought all the time, even though you release more often, because you're releasing less meaningful content.
    Ok, so I'd like to know what information you have that I am missing that confirms what you're saying.

    "TS4 is more bugged than TS3" In what way?

    "borderline unplayable" In what way is it unplayable?

    "a lot are feeling the content drought all the time" What is a lot and who are they?

    "less meaningful content" Isn't that just an opinion-based value judgment?

    well overall players do feel like there is "less meaningful content" i am sure some people do not feel that way but then i am sure there are some people who think the sims 1 has the best gameplay out of all the series and is better then any of the other 3 games.
  • OEII1001OEII1001 Posts: 3,682 Member
    jusMeh wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    yeah its an interesting read and makes me seriously think they chose a really horrible time to release the sims moible cuz yeah its opening a bunch of can of worms. cuz from what i understand there is no real reason the game in its current state can not handle an a create a style like in the sims 3 and an open world!

    There's no reason why they couldn't add it except for the fact it's the type of thing you need to design from the beginning. The sims 3 objects have several "layers" to them, which allowed you to do things like pick colors for bed sheets, bed frame, etc. The sims 4 objects, because they weren't designed with this feature in mind, use a single texture file. There is no interactive layer for color changes. Every single object would have to be redone to support it at this point.

    Open would could have been done except the core of the game's functionality was designed the way it is currently. It would have probably delayed the release greatly to have rebuild the household data structure and traveling system.

    I know that's not exactly awesome news, but hope that helps explain why it is the way it is.

    it explains why but its not very good i mean it just kind of upsets me a bit. like i am not sure how i am supposed to take comfort in this oh because they made a bad marketing choice we get a shallow game of what could have been.

    You may be taking the whole thing a little too personally. Maxis developed a video game you didn't like. That's it.

    and that changes the fact that they made a poor choice how. they should not have not tired to make the game the way did from the start and now they are in a bit of a tough spot and only because they finally provided vampires and tolders did the game finally become a bit of an improvment for a bunch of people but like vampires and tolders can only add so much. they really need to improve the game alot still. and it should have been great from the start but they made a poor choice and now we are stuck with this shallow game.

    Well, I'm enjoying the game, but I'm not a real simmer. Regardless, does this revelation change anything? You didn't like the game before you knew this, and you don't like it now. I liked the game before and after. None of it is personal. There's no reason to take it as an offense directed toward you specifically. There's no reason to take comfort because there's nothing to be comforted from. You just don't like the game.

    a little bit it just means they made a mistake and now we as the customors are paying the price. and to be honest it does not look like they are doing much to fix it other then tolders and vampires and now maybe pets which yeah apparently should make everything all better.

    Paying the price? If you don't like it then don't buy it! And never buy something before you know what's in the proverbial box. It really isn't so dramatic.

    i like elements of the game and those elements make it worth buying and playing for me but at the same time i also think its lacking in so much stuff. there is stuff i do like but the stuff i do like is not enough for me to focus on and not notice there are other things i do not like.

    Once again I am getting the suspicion that I'm being trolled. Going to back away slowly now.

    amusing coming from someone like you, who goes into nearly every thread just like this one, and then you -and those LIKE you- proceed to troll the people who post, and y'all try to derail the thread, much like you are doing at this very moment - and all because you cannot handle someone disliking your fave!!111 game. It's hilarious! So why don't YOU relax? Not everyone is gonna looove your fave game, yanno. So relax (just like you're always telling other people to do) just relax, dude, it's not a federal case. Really, it's not. And no, you also did not "back away" like you claimed you would, you simply derailed this thread even more so. Wow. Yet - it's typical. So very typical.

    And YES tons of people WERE RIGHT about Olympus. Yes, we knew it all along and didn't need a thread to tell us this stuff. Thanks @TwistedMexican anyhow, though. :D Guess the skeptics were more likely to believe the fact coming from you. ;)

    My favorite game is Baldur's Gate. Pool of Radiance is a close second. What's your favorite game?
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    Selios wrote: »
    I don't want to be rude here. Why the sims 4 supposed to be a new gaming experience .It is still the fourth game of the franchise. Meaning people compare it to past games, and how things work. Because of its a sequel, and its fourth iteration.

    I wholeheartedly second this. I've heard this exact argument regarding other games as well (Fallout 4, if I'm remembering correct...?), and I view such statements as a blatant deflection. It's perfectly rational for people to consider Sims 4 to be like the other 3, yet we've often gotten response akin to "we have a different vision now." Well, clearly that vision is quite controversial, because at the very least we know Sims 4 isn't doing as well as Sims 3 did. Yeah yeah, we don't know definitively, but I imagine they'd want to tell the press if 4 outpaced 3.

    People have complaints and concerns about Sims 4. To simply respond to those with "this is a different game" does nothing to actually tackle and address any of those complaints. I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we've still been given zero reasoning or rationale as to why we lack:

    Cops and Burglars
    Firefighters
    Doorbells
    Carpools
    Cars

    Etc etc. If I asked "why are there no firefighters" and heard "this is a different game" as an answer, then it's quite understandable why I'd feel unsatisfied with that answer.

    Yes, that I was thinking as well. Sure I'm okay if the game does new things. It is a new game after all, and the previous games weren't exactly the same. Still, the game is a sequel. I will also expect old things back. Also, old things touch upon and made better

    you don't think it's at all unreasonable to be asking for every feature from previous games, improvements on those features, and new features added on top of it all?
    especially when the budget for the game is lower than before?

    actually no i do not and um if the budget for the game is lower then before that is not a good excuse.
  • SeliosSelios Posts: 81 Member
    edited May 2017
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    Selios wrote: »
    I don't want to be rude here. Why the sims 4 supposed to be a new gaming experience .It is still the fourth game of the franchise. Meaning people compare it to past games, and how things work. Because of its a sequel, and its fourth iteration.

    I wholeheartedly second this. I've heard this exact argument regarding other games as well (Fallout 4, if I'm remembering correct...?), and I view such statements as a blatant deflection. It's perfectly rational for people to consider Sims 4 to be like the other 3, yet we've often gotten response akin to "we have a different vision now." Well, clearly that vision is quite controversial, because at the very least we know Sims 4 isn't doing as well as Sims 3 did. Yeah yeah, we don't know definitively, but I imagine they'd want to tell the press if 4 outpaced 3.

    People have complaints and concerns about Sims 4. To simply respond to those with "this is a different game" does nothing to actually tackle and address any of those complaints. I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we've still been given zero reasoning or rationale as to why we lack:

    Cops and Burglars
    Firefighters
    Doorbells
    Carpools
    Cars

    Etc etc. If I asked "why are there no firefighters" and heard "this is a different game" as an answer, then it's quite understandable why I'd feel unsatisfied with that answer.

    Yes, that I was thinking as well. Sure I'm okay if the game does new things. It is a new game after all, and the previous games weren't exactly the same. Still, the game is a sequel. I will also expect old things back. Also, old things touch upon and made better

    you don't think it's at all unreasonable to be asking for every feature from previous games, improvements on those features, and new features added on top of it all?
    especially when the budget for the game is lower than before?

    actually no i do not and um if the budget for the game is lower then before that is not a good excuse.
    Why is that not a good excuse? Just because you said so?
    What better excuse is there to not do something than "we don't have the money to do it"?....
    even people on the same side of this discussion as you have agreed that what I described was an unrealistic expectation. thank you for being an example of the type of people I was referring to, though.

  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    Selios wrote: »
    I don't want to be rude here. Why the sims 4 supposed to be a new gaming experience .It is still the fourth game of the franchise. Meaning people compare it to past games, and how things work. Because of its a sequel, and its fourth iteration.

    I wholeheartedly second this. I've heard this exact argument regarding other games as well (Fallout 4, if I'm remembering correct...?), and I view such statements as a blatant deflection. It's perfectly rational for people to consider Sims 4 to be like the other 3, yet we've often gotten response akin to "we have a different vision now." Well, clearly that vision is quite controversial, because at the very least we know Sims 4 isn't doing as well as Sims 3 did. Yeah yeah, we don't know definitively, but I imagine they'd want to tell the press if 4 outpaced 3.

    People have complaints and concerns about Sims 4. To simply respond to those with "this is a different game" does nothing to actually tackle and address any of those complaints. I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we've still been given zero reasoning or rationale as to why we lack:

    Cops and Burglars
    Firefighters
    Doorbells
    Carpools
    Cars

    Etc etc. If I asked "why are there no firefighters" and heard "this is a different game" as an answer, then it's quite understandable why I'd feel unsatisfied with that answer.

    Yes, that I was thinking as well. Sure I'm okay if the game does new things. It is a new game after all, and the previous games weren't exactly the same. Still, the game is a sequel. I will also expect old things back. Also, old things touch upon and made better

    you don't think it's at all unreasonable to be asking for every feature from previous games, improvements on those features, and new features added on top of it all?
    especially when the budget for the game is lower than before?

    It's not about wanting every feature. The problem is twofold.

    1) Saying "this game is different" is a dismissal of complaints. For example if you complained "this game should be open world," I could reply back and state that with open world come a number of advantages and disadvantages that they felt overall aren't worth it, arguing that they'd rather prioritize rotational play or multiple families per save file even if it comes at the cost of things like story progression. That may not be an answer you like, but it is an answer as to the method that let's you know and understand their reasoning. If you ask that same question and I answer "this game is different," I haven't exactly expounded upon any of my thoughts or reasoning.

    2) The method and the purpose in omitting something. If I tell you "this game is different," it's a bit difficult to explain how being "different" means firefighters need to be skipped. Sometimes being different is a good explanation for changes, but other times it isn't, as being different and housing a traditional feature are not mutually exclusive. In this case, stating "it's different" doesn't really explain anything about why Firefighters are gone, nor justify it.

    actually you bring a up a good point they considered adding celebrites to the sims 4 city life but decided not too because they heard from the fanbase not alot of people liked in the sims 3 and they did not understand why. so they had no way to improve upon it since they did not know what was wrong that is a good reason for not adding a feature and understandable one.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    mirta000 wrote: »
    Selios wrote: »

    that's a fair expectation, too bad almost no one seems to follow the same logic as features that were considered unsuccessful are still being demanded in the forums
    as for the sims community being forgiving, and that being the reason, I would have to disagree. There's plenty of people within the community who are upset that the base game is not a shiny version of TS3 + all expansions. And even if those people didn't exist, plenty of other games follow the expansion pack model and have communities which support it, so I don't know why this community would be any more forgiving than those.

    because normally players expect a new game to release with the features that were implemented in expansions in a previous game. Civilization gets really negative reviews often for "not being a complete game".

    I understand "the open world did not work" bit, however the exchange was supposed to be stability. And the game is not in a very good shape right now, so I don't feel like that was a fair trade.

    i felt like the open world did work it was amazing at least for the time and infact should/could have been improved upon. granted i think the open world not being added is more complicated then just "because people did not like it/it did not work we decided not to add it"
  • FairyGodMotherFairyGodMother Posts: 7,406 Member
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    I don't understand why people fuss about who is working on what, and why things are not done soon enough? I don't care (but obviously some do) at all, I look at the game, as a game. Doesn't matter who is working behind the game. If I enjoy it, I play it!

    well do you enjoy the game.

    If I enjoy the game, I play it, as stated above. And to answer your question, I uninstalled the game :o I won't fuss about it, it is a good game though, just not a game for me. I love the Toddlers and the Vampire Pack (both are fleshed out) but after two years+ of uninstalling and reinstalling and buying the stuff coming out, I realized that this just isn't the kind of gameplay I need for me to fully enjoy the game.
  • Horrorgirl6Horrorgirl6 Posts: 3,170 Member
    If the sim budget is lower than previous games. It honestly doesn't make sense, and this would be a bad call for Ea . I mean if a game sells well its budget shouldn' reduce. It should be slightly increased if anything.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    jusMeh wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    yeah its an interesting read and makes me seriously think they chose a really horrible time to release the sims moible cuz yeah its opening a bunch of can of worms. cuz from what i understand there is no real reason the game in its current state can not handle an a create a style like in the sims 3 and an open world!

    There's no reason why they couldn't add it except for the fact it's the type of thing you need to design from the beginning. The sims 3 objects have several "layers" to them, which allowed you to do things like pick colors for bed sheets, bed frame, etc. The sims 4 objects, because they weren't designed with this feature in mind, use a single texture file. There is no interactive layer for color changes. Every single object would have to be redone to support it at this point.

    Open would could have been done except the core of the game's functionality was designed the way it is currently. It would have probably delayed the release greatly to have rebuild the household data structure and traveling system.

    I know that's not exactly awesome news, but hope that helps explain why it is the way it is.

    it explains why but its not very good i mean it just kind of upsets me a bit. like i am not sure how i am supposed to take comfort in this oh because they made a bad marketing choice we get a shallow game of what could have been.

    You may be taking the whole thing a little too personally. Maxis developed a video game you didn't like. That's it.

    and that changes the fact that they made a poor choice how. they should not have not tired to make the game the way did from the start and now they are in a bit of a tough spot and only because they finally provided vampires and tolders did the game finally become a bit of an improvment for a bunch of people but like vampires and tolders can only add so much. they really need to improve the game alot still. and it should have been great from the start but they made a poor choice and now we are stuck with this shallow game.

    Well, I'm enjoying the game, but I'm not a real simmer. Regardless, does this revelation change anything? You didn't like the game before you knew this, and you don't like it now. I liked the game before and after. None of it is personal. There's no reason to take it as an offense directed toward you specifically. There's no reason to take comfort because there's nothing to be comforted from. You just don't like the game.

    a little bit it just means they made a mistake and now we as the customors are paying the price. and to be honest it does not look like they are doing much to fix it other then tolders and vampires and now maybe pets which yeah apparently should make everything all better.

    Paying the price? If you don't like it then don't buy it! And never buy something before you know what's in the proverbial box. It really isn't so dramatic.

    i like elements of the game and those elements make it worth buying and playing for me but at the same time i also think its lacking in so much stuff. there is stuff i do like but the stuff i do like is not enough for me to focus on and not notice there are other things i do not like.

    Once again I am getting the suspicion that I'm being trolled. Going to back away slowly now.

    amusing coming from someone like you, who goes into nearly every thread just like this one, and then you -and those LIKE you- proceed to troll the people who post, and y'all try to derail the thread, much like you are doing at this very moment - and all because you cannot handle someone disliking your fave!!111 game. It's hilarious! So why don't YOU relax? Not everyone is gonna looove your fave game, yanno. So relax (just like you're always telling other people to do) just relax, dude, it's not a federal case. Really, it's not. And no, you also did not "back away" like you claimed you would, you simply derailed this thread even more so. Wow. Yet - it's typical. So very typical.

    And YES tons of people WERE RIGHT about Olympus. Yes, we knew it all along and didn't need a thread to tell us this stuff. Thanks @TwistedMexican anyhow, though. :D Guess the skeptics were more likely to believe the fact coming from you. ;)

    My favorite game is Baldur's Gate. Pool of Radiance is a close second. What's your favorite game?

    well i like the sims, i like grand theft auto, i like pokemon, i like skyrim and fallout 4 actually. plus i like telltale games.i used to play lots of wow and swtor i also played alot of starcraft i have alot of games that are my favorite. even some older ones.:)
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    I don't understand why people fuss about who is working on what, and why things are not done soon enough? I don't care (but obviously some do) at all, I look at the game, as a game. Doesn't matter who is working behind the game. If I enjoy it, I play it!

    well do you enjoy the game.

    If I enjoy the game, I play it, as stated above. And to answer your question, I uninstalled the game :o I won't fuss about it, it is a good game though, just not a game for me. I love the Toddlers and the Vampire Pack (both are fleshed out) but after two years+ of uninstalling and reinstalling and buying the stuff coming out, I realized that this just isn't the kind of gameplay I need for me to fully enjoy the game.

    okay cool you really are one of those people who are like it really is a simple mater of if i do not like it i wont buy it if i do i will buy it.
  • FairyGodMotherFairyGodMother Posts: 7,406 Member
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    I don't understand why people fuss about who is working on what, and why things are not done soon enough? I don't care (but obviously some do) at all, I look at the game, as a game. Doesn't matter who is working behind the game. If I enjoy it, I play it!

    well do you enjoy the game.

    If I enjoy the game, I play it, as stated above. And to answer your question, I uninstalled the game :o I won't fuss about it, it is a good game though, just not a game for me. I love the Toddlers and the Vampire Pack (both are fleshed out) but after two years+ of uninstalling and reinstalling and buying the stuff coming out, I realized that this just isn't the kind of gameplay I need for me to fully enjoy the game.

    okay cool you really are one of those people who are like it really is a simple mater of if i do not like it i wont buy it if i do i will buy it.

    Yes I am. It has been a struggle going back and forth with this game. I knew it was different when I first played the game. I had hopes and dreams and saw potential and tried it several times. Lots of good packs started coming out and I do like all the packs. Just something missing with this game because it doesn't hold my interest. That's ok though, I love seeing pics from everyone and hearing their stories. It brings a smile to my face knowing a lot of people can play the game and really like it.
  • OEII1001OEII1001 Posts: 3,682 Member
    If the sim budget is lower than previous games. It honestly doesn't make sense, and this would be a bad call for Ea . I mean if a game sells well its budget shouldn' reduce. It should be slightly increased if anything.

    It makes a lot of sense actually. Budgets don't simply grow. Imagine if they did. Eventually the financial risks involved in game publishing would outweigh potential rewards. Look to the open world action series like Assassin's Creed as an example of budgets gone mad. Games need to reach extraordinary sales figures in order to warrant support and sequels. You're either Overwatch or you're a failure.

    I'm fine with budgets being lower. After all, the faults of The Sims 4 do not stem from lack of funding. The real issues are likely more complicated than we will ever be privy to.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    I don't understand why people fuss about who is working on what, and why things are not done soon enough? I don't care (but obviously some do) at all, I look at the game, as a game. Doesn't matter who is working behind the game. If I enjoy it, I play it!

    well do you enjoy the game.

    If I enjoy the game, I play it, as stated above. And to answer your question, I uninstalled the game :o I won't fuss about it, it is a good game though, just not a game for me. I love the Toddlers and the Vampire Pack (both are fleshed out) but after two years+ of uninstalling and reinstalling and buying the stuff coming out, I realized that this just isn't the kind of gameplay I need for me to fully enjoy the game.

    okay cool you really are one of those people who are like it really is a simple mater of if i do not like it i wont buy it if i do i will buy it.

    Yes I am. It has been a struggle going back and forth with this game. I knew it was different when I first played the game. I had hopes and dreams and saw potential and tried it several times. Lots of good packs started coming out and I do like all the packs. Just something missing with this game because it doesn't hold my interest. That's ok though, I love seeing pics from everyone and hearing their stories. It brings a smile to my face knowing a lot of people can play the game and really like it.

    for me i can enjoy elements of the game but yeah i need creative ways to handle the game right now as the game just feels hollow and empty right now again i am hoping the game pack changes that but who knows.
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    If the sim budget is lower than previous games. It honestly doesn't make sense, and this would be a bad call for Ea . I mean if a game sells well its budget shouldn' reduce. It should be slightly increased if anything.

    It makes a lot of sense actually. Budgets don't simply grow. Imagine if they did. Eventually the financial risks involved in game publishing would outweigh potential rewards. Look to the open world action series like Assassin's Creed as an example of budgets gone mad. Games need to reach extraordinary sales figures in order to warrant support and sequels. You're either Overwatch or you're a failure.

    I'm fine with budgets being lower. After all, the faults of The Sims 4 do not stem from lack of funding. The real issues are likely more complicated than we will ever be privy to.

    i feel like lack of funding would be a factor why this game has issues not the main/only factor but a factor lol.
  • DeservedCriticismDeservedCriticism Posts: 2,251 Member
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    Selios wrote: »
    I don't want to be rude here. Why the sims 4 supposed to be a new gaming experience .It is still the fourth game of the franchise. Meaning people compare it to past games, and how things work. Because of its a sequel, and its fourth iteration.

    I wholeheartedly second this. I've heard this exact argument regarding other games as well (Fallout 4, if I'm remembering correct...?), and I view such statements as a blatant deflection. It's perfectly rational for people to consider Sims 4 to be like the other 3, yet we've often gotten response akin to "we have a different vision now." Well, clearly that vision is quite controversial, because at the very least we know Sims 4 isn't doing as well as Sims 3 did. Yeah yeah, we don't know definitively, but I imagine they'd want to tell the press if 4 outpaced 3.

    People have complaints and concerns about Sims 4. To simply respond to those with "this is a different game" does nothing to actually tackle and address any of those complaints. I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we've still been given zero reasoning or rationale as to why we lack:

    Cops and Burglars
    Firefighters
    Doorbells
    Carpools
    Cars

    Etc etc. If I asked "why are there no firefighters" and heard "this is a different game" as an answer, then it's quite understandable why I'd feel unsatisfied with that answer.

    Yes, that I was thinking as well. Sure I'm okay if the game does new things. It is a new game after all, and the previous games weren't exactly the same. Still, the game is a sequel. I will also expect old things back. Also, old things touch upon and made better

    you don't think it's at all unreasonable to be asking for every feature from previous games, improvements on those features, and new features added on top of it all?
    especially when the budget for the game is lower than before?

    It's not about wanting every feature. The problem is twofold.

    1) Saying "this game is different" is a dismissal of complaints. For example if you complained "this game should be open world," I could reply back and state that with open world come a number of advantages and disadvantages that they felt overall aren't worth it, arguing that they'd rather prioritize rotational play or multiple families per save file even if it comes at the cost of things like story progression. That may not be an answer you like, but it is an answer as to the method that let's you know and understand their reasoning. If you ask that same question and I answer "this game is different," I haven't exactly expounded upon any of my thoughts or reasoning.

    2) The method and the purpose in omitting something. If I tell you "this game is different," it's a bit difficult to explain how being "different" means firefighters need to be skipped. Sometimes being different is a good explanation for changes, but other times it isn't, as being different and housing a traditional feature are not mutually exclusive. In this case, stating "it's different" doesn't really explain anything about why Firefighters are gone, nor justify it.

    actually you bring a up a good point they considered adding celebrites to the sims 4 city life but decided not too because they heard from the fanbase not alot of people liked in the sims 3 and they did not understand why. so they had no way to improve upon it since they did not know what was wrong that is a good reason for not adding a feature and understandable one.

    Is this serious? Like can you quote them on that?

    I would consider it absolutely baffling if they didn't know why the Sims 3 celebrity system was unpopular. The answer is simple: No matter who you were, you would eventually become a celebrity. Befriending any celebrity awarded star status, getting certain jobs did it, I think having certain skills did it...The big thing was that if you befriended ONE celebrity then you counted as one, and you would only accrue celebrity status, never lose it. To make it worse, a celebrity would also inevitably get rich, because people would mail you free cars and hot tubs and the like. As such, it basically broke the balance of the game (which was already poor) and made it super easy to become rich and famous, to the point that it would actually be MORE challenging to avoid getting rich and famous.
    "Who are you, that do not know your history?"
  • brendhan21brendhan21 Posts: 3,427 Member
    brendhan21 wrote: »
    Selios wrote: »
    I don't want to be rude here. Why the sims 4 supposed to be a new gaming experience .It is still the fourth game of the franchise. Meaning people compare it to past games, and how things work. Because of its a sequel, and its fourth iteration.

    I wholeheartedly second this. I've heard this exact argument regarding other games as well (Fallout 4, if I'm remembering correct...?), and I view such statements as a blatant deflection. It's perfectly rational for people to consider Sims 4 to be like the other 3, yet we've often gotten response akin to "we have a different vision now." Well, clearly that vision is quite controversial, because at the very least we know Sims 4 isn't doing as well as Sims 3 did. Yeah yeah, we don't know definitively, but I imagine they'd want to tell the press if 4 outpaced 3.

    People have complaints and concerns about Sims 4. To simply respond to those with "this is a different game" does nothing to actually tackle and address any of those complaints. I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we've still been given zero reasoning or rationale as to why we lack:

    Cops and Burglars
    Firefighters
    Doorbells
    Carpools
    Cars

    Etc etc. If I asked "why are there no firefighters" and heard "this is a different game" as an answer, then it's quite understandable why I'd feel unsatisfied with that answer.

    Yes, that I was thinking as well. Sure I'm okay if the game does new things. It is a new game after all, and the previous games weren't exactly the same. Still, the game is a sequel. I will also expect old things back. Also, old things touch upon and made better

    you don't think it's at all unreasonable to be asking for every feature from previous games, improvements on those features, and new features added on top of it all?
    especially when the budget for the game is lower than before?

    It's not about wanting every feature. The problem is twofold.

    1) Saying "this game is different" is a dismissal of complaints. For example if you complained "this game should be open world," I could reply back and state that with open world come a number of advantages and disadvantages that they felt overall aren't worth it, arguing that they'd rather prioritize rotational play or multiple families per save file even if it comes at the cost of things like story progression. That may not be an answer you like, but it is an answer as to the method that let's you know and understand their reasoning. If you ask that same question and I answer "this game is different," I haven't exactly expounded upon any of my thoughts or reasoning.

    2) The method and the purpose in omitting something. If I tell you "this game is different," it's a bit difficult to explain how being "different" means firefighters need to be skipped. Sometimes being different is a good explanation for changes, but other times it isn't, as being different and housing a traditional feature are not mutually exclusive. In this case, stating "it's different" doesn't really explain anything about why Firefighters are gone, nor justify it.

    actually you bring a up a good point they considered adding celebrites to the sims 4 city life but decided not too because they heard from the fanbase not alot of people liked in the sims 3 and they did not understand why. so they had no way to improve upon it since they did not know what was wrong that is a good reason for not adding a feature and understandable one.

    Is this serious? Like can you quote them on that?

    I would consider it absolutely baffling if they didn't know why the Sims 3 celebrity system was unpopular. The answer is simple: No matter who you were, you would eventually become a celebrity. Befriending any celebrity awarded star status, getting certain jobs did it, I think having certain skills did it...The big thing was that if you befriended ONE celebrity then you counted as one, and you would only accrue celebrity status, never lose it. To make it worse, a celebrity would also inevitably get rich, because people would mail you free cars and hot tubs and the like. As such, it basically broke the balance of the game (which was already poor) and made it super easy to become rich and famous, to the point that it would actually be MORE challenging to avoid getting rich and famous.

    here i think this is the article i read cuz this looks like exactly what i read just scroll through it and they will explain it

    http://www.idigitaltimes.com/sims-4-city-living-why-celebrity-status-reputation-werent-right-expansion-566868
  • SimGuruDrakeSimGuruDrake Posts: 1,648 SimGuru (retired)
    edited May 2017
    This is a legit question: how many words per minute can you type?

    With regards to your response to my post I am going to condense it to just the major points, I'm wanting to address --its pretty long and I want to get to the heart of what I can.
    There's no mention of why press copies were withheld. There's no mention why it's always been radio silence on the Sims 4 and Olympus/online topic, when this thread is clear proof people would care to hear about that; that's the entire subject matter of this thread yet you've omitted any commentary on that subject.

    You're right, I did not answer any of that. Not because I didn't want to but because I have zero insight into any of that. I didn't start working at EA / Maxis until May 2015 --well over eight months after the release of the game, over a year after CAS trailer was shown, and over a year and four months from when it was unveiled at Gamescom. I don't answer questions when I do not have the answer or have nothing to really contribute.
    There's a very strange implication that we've never noticed a change until a SimGuru mentioned it, which is either blatantly false (yes, I would say we've all absolutely noticed the EP production speed of Sims 4 is the slowest of the franchise) or misunderstands the purpose of that observation of mine.

    I answered this in response to someone else's comment but you were more than likely working on this post when I made my response so here it is again:

    "The Sims 4 is a different game compared to the past iterations and we are treating it differently. From the content, we produce to the way we market the product. You assumed that we were going to keep things the way they were before, that was not something we confirmed nor did we ever promise that we would do that with this iteration. What we have done is brought a new experience into the Stuff Packs, introduced Game Packs, and have been bringing new experiences with our Expansion Packs. We made the decision prior to The Sims 4 releasing to no longer have split teams (meaning not all at EARS) which has proven to be in the best interest of the game and having a stable product since all things are developed side by side and can be cross checked with one another."

    However, regardless of intention, it's clear we cannot always rely on you to give us all the information we seek, especially when it might be bad or private information about the product.

    Well, its either I tell you things and lose my job or I don't tell you things and keep my job...not a hard choice lol.

    But really, you cannot realistically expect any employee of any company to tell you things that you are legally not privy to hearing. If there was something occurring internally that would severally affect the studio/development (like layoffs) we would absolutely tell you --case and point is a recent downsize within PopCap.
    And the second point, how am I supposed to know if I've noticed a change or not? I'm not disagreeing with you here, but rather just want to highlight that that isn't really something you nor I can even really comment on or know for sure.

    But isn't that the point? You didn't actually notice that certain people moved off to other projects. This is something I responded about on twitter but for all of the panic that one little statement from a SimGuru caused you never would've noticed had they not mentioned that small movement. I have not once seen posts in these forums after any release of a new product where anyone is combing the credits and posting about who worked on what pack (though I'll probably see that more now since mentioning this.)
    Clearly this news of Sims mobile has me quite shaken up and all around concerned, for a number of reasons. To see commentary on workers leaving but no statement on why or who joined on etc of course doesn't help.

    Does it though? From what I've been able to tell you don't really seem interested in The Sims Mobile and most of your posts on The Sims 4 doesn't seem like you enjoy our latest PC offering either. That's not to say you aren't allowed to provide criticism or thought, I fully support one doing so regardless of whether it is positive or negative as long as it is constructive, but you don't seem all that concerned and really shouldn't be since I've made roughly 10+ comments on the subject (I really need to get that "SimGuru" tag implemented so everyone can easily find when we leave comments in a thread.) Whomever is working on The Sims Mobile didn't leave Maxis, they are still with us which is what is important.
    You once made a statement "we'll keep updating Sims 4 as long as it makes sense to," but with all due respect, this is again a rather empty statement with zero substance, as it makes no assertion of what qualifies as the conditions of "makes sense to." It does get people optimistic and thinking wishfully that Sims 4 will last longer, and beg your pardon, but you profit from optimistic customers, so yes I'll question the motivation of wording that statement in that exact fashion.

    I actually do not remember making that exact statement, I believe that was Rachel or maybe Lyndsay. Also, in case people might not be aware we've been releasing quarterly teasers since April last year to highlight content coming down the pipeline. We've had a total of 5 thus far and we give you insight into what is coming to The Sims 4 within that three-month time frame. For this quarter you know that you are getting a Game Pack and a Stuff Pack before the end of the quarter. And then in July, you will get another quarterly teaser that will inform you about what will be coming in the new quarter.
    I can never hope to definitively prove my point, whilst you and the whole of EA/Maxis likewise refuse (or at the very least, heavily avoid) to provide info or evidence about the main concerns I've raised. We're at an impasse, and I don't see that changing, so I have to ask what the purpose is to this discussion unless something about that were to change, so here I am just questioning the purpose of your post.

    Specifically the bolded point: Or we are legally obligated to not talk about certain things?

    Also, the purpose of my post was to answer things that I could. I've also made it clear in the past that I do not like saying "I can't talk about it." or "I can't answer that" because it gets repetitive and redundant. So I stick to what I can comment on and leave the rest be unless I'm able to bring in another SimGuru who can better speak to it than I can.

    Regardless I hope you have a wonderful evening :)
    Post edited by SimGuruDrake on
    Global Community Manager for Maxis / The Sims
  • Evil_OneEvil_One Posts: 4,423 Member
    Does it though? From what I've been able to tell you don't really seem interested in The Sims Mobile and most of your posts on The Sims 4 doesn't seem like you enjoy our latest PC offering either. That's not to say you aren't allowed to provide criticism or thought, I fully support one doing so regardless of whether it is positive or negative as long as it is constructive, but you don't seem all that concerned and really shouldn't be since I've made roughly 10+ comments on the subject (I really need to get that "SimGuru" tag implemented so everyone can easily find when we leave comments in a thread.) Whomever is working on The Sims Mobile didn't leave Maxis, they are still with us which is what is important.

    It's also part of the problem, I can't speak for everyone who's upset with The Sims 4, The Sims Mobile or The Sims Freeplay but one thing that really annoys me is where I can clearly see ideas and feedback meant for The Sims 4 appearing in the other two.

    The Sims 4's ideas and feedback sections are sub-sections of the Sims 4, not The Sims in general nor Mobile, Freeplay or anything else.

    raw
  • SimburianSimburian Posts: 6,906 Member
    @SimGuruDrake I don't envy you your job.

    If we didn't care we wouldn't complain or argue. Something to hang on to. These games have helped a lot of us (me included) shut out the outside world for a bit and relax so we have got a bit addicted to anything connected with it. The sudden announcement of Sims4 Mobile was a bit of a shock.

    As you say, you are treating us as grownups and judging from the above posts you have very intelligent grownups playing the game, some of us older and even elderly simmers - after 17 years of playing the games. That is something for EA/Maxis to be proud of and try to hang on to.

  • SkobeeSkobee Posts: 2,864 Member
    edited May 2017
    @SimGuruDrake It's not that we don't love the game and the series, it's because we love it so much we like to have our bug fixes to make the game playable. We care enough and that's why we "complain". I spend money on this game, money I work hard for, we deserve to know when some serious issues are getting fixed and if we're told the truth about things. It's not personal, it's just some things we think about and struggle with. I've been playing since the Sims 1, the least we deserve is a working game with minimal bugs and glitches and that works when new packs are added.

    It's not only that, it's things we miss a lot. When City Living was going to be released I set my heart out to be able to build my own apartments, to let my creativity lose since i'm a builder. However, we couldn't and only had apartments in one world. I was so heartbroken I decided to not buy it at full price, because when I got Sims 2 apartments there was so much more gameplay for me that I spend ages on, which was actually worth the 40 bucks. Maybe you don't realise how long we've been playing and how expensive the series is? We're just asking for more options to play, to really dive into the game. I want to build my own world, create from the ground up, like i've always been able to. That's it.. :(
    Origin ID - RosyAngelina
  • rudy8292rudy8292 Posts: 3,410 Member
    MissCherie wrote: »
    This has had zero impact on our development. You don't know how long we've been working on this project (and no I will not discuss it as it is not my place) and you didn't even seem to notice the change until a SimGuru mentioned it.

    I'm sorry what? I don't want to sound disrespectful, but where have you been the past year or so? It is often discussed how slow the EP are coming, it was said by Graham (if I remember correctly), that the EP production would slow down to one a year beside every few months.

    We did notice the change, the right thing to say would be to say we didn't knew why, but saying that we didn't even notice is insulting, and it show that you think we are plum.



    Amen! <3
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