The fate of the Sims franchise

NoahBangs · July 2016

Ea themselves have said that if The Sims 4 flops, there will be no Sims 5. It will be the end of the franchise.

My prediction is that if they don't return open world and everything that made the Sims 3 great, that's it for the Sims.

UmbralFlower · July 2016

Out of everything missing from ts4...you choose open world as the "ts5 is doomed" thing? Oh well, I guess it's a refreshing change of pace from all the toddler threads. (Not bashing toddlers -- before someone says I am.)

I think it was already said that open world was something that wasn't coming back because of how the engine is.

Hyeion · July 2016

That kinda sounds like emotional blackmail,
But from a business perspective, It's logical.
I think the Sims 4 is going okay in sales perspective, even with all the problems.
And even though I loved the Open World, I have to recognize they made it this way so The Sims 4 wouldn't be too heavy too.
However, I think they need to have more worlds in the future.
And from everything, I think the Open World is the last of the problems.

jackjack_k · July 2016

The Sims 3 was the worst of the first 3 games (critically and commercially) and its biggest features were Open World and CASt.

Clearly they weren't enough to sell the game, so EA scrapped them as "selling points" of the franchise.

The Sims 2 sold over 20 million on all platforms as of 2007(?) while the Sims 3 halfed that and sold over 10 million as of 2014 on all platforms (it was also released to more platforms too).

While it would be good to have those things (if they actually worked and Devs made them work), EA has a clear sales stratergy.
If something doesn't work, or sell the game, they often choose to remove it, than to make it work.

Open World's issues, CAST's lag issues, SimCity's online issues, The Sims Urbz flopping (even though the reason why it flopped was because the Sims 2 overshadowed it) etc. I could go on.

If EA make another Sims game, my #1 prediction is that Multitasking will not be in the game as it is in 4.
They will program more options individually for certain objects (eg. Listening to music while cooking). But they will remove it as a default for the entire game.

MinecraftdSimmer · July 2016

NoahBangs wrote: »

Ea themselves have said that if The Sims 4 flops, there will be no Sims 5. It will be the end of the franchise.

My prediction is that if they don't return open world and everything that made the Sims 3 great, that's it for the Sims.

Actually, as much as I want open world, its not going to happen. And this won't be the end of the Sims 4, it is selling just fine. EA has made Sims 4 made more for casual players, which make up aprox. 65% of all gamers. So whatever Simmers do not buy the Sims 4 will be replaced by a casual gamer, really thats why they don't care too much about some of these complaints

Simfan923 · July 2016

Open world will most likely never happen. They would have to rework the entire game engine and they're already too far into this installments run to scrap everything and start over. Not to mention they probably don't have the resources and the time to do that. Open Worlds is just one of those things that needs to be accepted as never returning to TS4.

gnelso1239 · July 2016

What's finally eating away at my enthusiasm is the incredibly scaled-down base game progression from Sims 3 to 4, and my opinion that they're milking content for every last frickin' dollar. Finally, and the biggest issue for me: passing along near-game-breaking bugs from content pack to pack. In many cases it's over-promise and under-deliver, and then either it's lip service about persistently annoying bugs, or no redress at all. I am on the fence about Sims 4, the content right out of the gate isn't worth it to me, It has potential, but be it the execs/devs or whomever, the almighty dollar is driving this beast and I'm not into being cajoled or pacified. It has some real good potential, but already the trend line for me is really shaky and not looking too good. Just my opinion. Oh, and I'd fully expect them to exploit the heck out of the demand for toddlers. I'd be darn surprised if they don't come in an expansion pack.

jsn · July 2016

I'd say the sims 4 is a success financially since it's sold over 5 million copies (not counting extra packs), so the future seems to look good

kingkong192 · July 2016

No! It has to go all the way to sims 10!

tonicmole · July 2016

There are very strong rumors that Sims 5 is currently in development for the Xbox One and PS 4, and will be ported to PC later. At least hinting at a shortened Sims 4 life cycle, or possible delayed launch of Sims 5 on PC.

Vibse · July 2016

tonicmole wrote: »

There are very strong rumors that Sims 5 is currently in development for the Xbox One and PS 4, and will be ported to PC later. At least hinting at a shortened Sims 4 life cycle, or possible delayed launch of Sims 5 on PC.

I would like a link to this information. I really doubt EA/Maxis would develop any main Sims game for a console before they release it for pc.

mmt3363 · July 2016

As much as I hate to say it, I really don't care anymore if there is a Sims 5. I don't particularly care if Sims 4 continues to do well or not (though more than likely, it'll be a not in my opinion at the rate things have been going). I have returned to Sims 3 pretty much exclusively (with a little Sims Medieval every now and then) and only really peek in this forum every now and then to see if ANYTHING has changed. (Spoiler alert: nothing has.)

TS4 is an okay game if you look at it for what it is rather than what it's missing. It's pretty. It runs smoothly. It has enjoyable features in their own right. But none of it is a game changer for me the way TS3 was. TS3 changed the way I played, it changed my expectations for the series, it broadened my horizons for what I thought a life simulator could be. Even with the glitchiness and issues with TS3's engine, it is still, in my opinion, a much more immersive and imaginative game series than any other Sims game past or present. I'll gladly play the Sims 3 till I die if EA/Maxis never provides me with something better.

Really I could wax poetic about TS3 indefinitely, but TS3 isn't why I have gotten to the "don't know, don't care" attitude towards TS4 series. That attitude is thanks to how the current series is being handled by the sims team and the company at large.

The near radio silence that they have held about the game since launch, the attitude certain gurus use when communicating that continued silence to the community, the over the top amount of stuff packs released compared to the nearly nonexistent amount of expansions, the snails pace the series seems to be moving at, the refusal to confirm or deny whether toddlers are possible, the insulting and callous way higher ups within the sims team have addressed the issues of "missing" content such as toddlers in TS4, the lack of developer walkthroughs, just the general feeling that this time around the gurus honestly aren't as devoted and in love with the series as their fans and the lack of passion for the game that comes across to me when they DO talk about it, and the way that the forums seem to nearly be policed to suppress as much critisim and negative feedback as humanly possible (like critical toned topics about TS4 getting booted to TS3 general discussion and other lesser surfed sections of the forums, for example).

It all leaves a terribly bad taste in my mouth. Why should I care about the fate of a game that's developers and producers don't care about my enjoyment and investment as a customer? That doesn't see the point in keeping me well informed of new and potential content? That refuses to answer questions that I and many other simmers have been asking since before launch?

To me, the answer is I shouldn't care. I don't work my plum off and make money to fork it over to a company that has made it quite clear where I stand with them. I don't feel that I owe them my support when they seem to have a total dismissive disdain for the questions and concerns of those who have made their jobs possible to begin with, so they will get my apathy until they give me something to care about again.

That's just my two cents.

Lustianicia · July 2016

jackjack_k wrote: »

The Sims 3 was the worst of the first 3 games (critically and commercially) and its biggest features were Open World and CASt.

Clearly they weren't enough to sell the game, so EA scrapped them as "selling points" of the franchise.

The Sims 2 sold over 20 million on all platforms as of 2007(?) while the Sims 3 halfed that and sold over 10 million as of 2014 on all platforms (it was also released to more platforms too).

While it would be good to have those things (if they actually worked and Devs made them work), EA has a clear sales stratergy.
If something doesn't work, or sell the game, they often choose to remove it, than to make it work.

Open World's issues, CAST's lag issues, SimCity's online issues, The Sims Urbz flopping (even though the reason why it flopped was because the Sims 2 overshadowed it) etc. I could go on.

If EA make another Sims game, my #1 prediction is that Multitasking will not be in the game as it is in 4.
They will program more options individually for certain objects (eg. Listening to music while cooking). But they will remove it as a default for the entire game.

Nothing you just said was even remotely true... The Sims 3 was the most critically acclaimed game in the franchise. It has very high ratings from fans and critics alike. Most people's problem with The Sims 4 is because it took away a lot of the good things that Sims 3 actually had. Who the heck are you kidding?

The Sims 2 and Sims 3 are both critically acclaimed games in the series. Stop using this thread as an opportunity to attack Sims 3 for some problems that not all players have (or had).

Lustianicia · July 2016

EA's trying to scare people into buying the game. That's why.

I really hate their logic with it though... because the entire reason why Sims 4 isn't doing well is because they removed a lot of features/content that previous games had (toddlers, cars, create a style, open world, etc). According to their logic, it's much better to just not making any games after this one instead of simply fixing the mistakes they made with the one that didn't do so well... makes no sense at all. Especially when fans have literally been saying what they want in the game over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (x100,000,000,000,000) again. But, for whatever reason, the developers continue ignoring us and decide to create content that nobody asks for. That's EA logic.

catloverplayer · July 2016

NoahBangs wrote: »

Ea themselves have said that if The Sims 4 flops, there will be no Sims 5. It will be the end of the franchise.

My prediction is that if they don't return open world and everything that made the Sims 3 great, that's it for the Sims.

TS4 is really getting good now with kids content,restaurants and waterslides,bird feeders and windchimes.

Paragraph messed up because my Note 5 has been having glitches since I updated it with marshmallow I think it is.

Polyrhythm · July 2016

Vibse wrote: »

tonicmole wrote: »

There are very strong rumors that Sims 5 is currently in development for the Xbox One and PS 4, and will be ported to PC later. At least hinting at a shortened Sims 4 life cycle, or possible delayed launch of Sims 5 on PC.

I would like a link to this information. I really doubt EA/Maxis would develop any main Sims game for a console before they release it for pc.

I've seen a super similar rumor about TS4 coming to consoles since early this year...feels like the same rumor just being circulated around and rewritten on each site it appears on lol

Hyeion · July 2016

mmt3363 wrote: »

As much as I hate to say it, I really don't care anymore if there is a Sims 5. I don't particularly care if Sims 4 continues to do well or not (though more than likely, it'll be a not in my opinion at the rate things have been going). I have returned to Sims 3 pretty much exclusively (with a little Sims Medieval every now and then) and only really peek in this forum every now and then to see if ANYTHING has changed. (Spoiler alert: nothing has.)

TS4 is an okay game if you look at it for what it is rather than what it's missing. It's pretty. It runs smoothly. It has enjoyable features in their own right. But none of it is a game changer for me the way TS3 was. TS3 changed the way I played, it changed my expectations for the series, it broadened my horizons for what I thought a life simulator could be. Even with the glitchiness and issues with TS3's engine, it is still, in my opinion, a much more immersive and imaginative game series than any other Sims game past or present. I'll gladly play the Sims 3 till I die if EA/Maxis never provides me with something better.

Really I could wax poetic about TS3 indefinitely, but TS3 isn't why I have gotten to the "don't know, don't care" attitude towards TS4 series. That attitude is thanks to how the current series is being handled by the sims team and the company at large.

The near radio silence that they have held about the game since launch, the attitude certain gurus use when communicating that continued silence to the community, the over the top amount of stuff packs released compared to the nearly nonexistent amount of expansions, the snails pace the series seems to be moving at, the refusal to confirm or deny whether toddlers are possible, the insulting and callous way higher ups within the sims team have addressed the issues of "missing" content such as toddlers in TS4, the lack of developer walkthroughs, just the general feeling that this time around the gurus honestly aren't as devoted and in love with the series as their fans and the lack of passion for the game that comes across to me when they DO talk about it, and the way that the forums seem to nearly be policed to suppress as much critisim and negative feedback as humanly possible (like critical toned topics about TS4 getting booted to TS3 general discussion and other lesser surfed sections of the forums, for example).

It all leaves a terribly bad taste in my mouth. Why should I care about the fate of a game that's developers and producers don't care about my enjoyment and investment as a customer? That doesn't see the point in keeping me well informed of new and potential content? That refuses to answer questions that I and many other simmers have been asking since before launch?

To me, the answer is I shouldn't care. I don't work my plum off and make money to fork it over to a company that has made it quite clear where I stand with them. I don't feel that I owe them my support when they seem to have a total dismissive disdain for the questions and concerns of those who have made their jobs possible to begin with, so they will get my apathy until they give me something to care about again.

That's just my two cents.

Sigh. Yes.

Vibse · July 2016

Polyrhythm wrote: »

Vibse wrote: »

tonicmole wrote: »

There are very strong rumors that Sims 5 is currently in development for the Xbox One and PS 4, and will be ported to PC later. At least hinting at a shortened Sims 4 life cycle, or possible delayed launch of Sims 5 on PC.

I would like a link to this information. I really doubt EA/Maxis would develop any main Sims game for a console before they release it for pc.

I've seen a super similar rumor about TS4 coming to consoles since early this year...feels like the same rumor just being circulated around and rewritten on each site it appears on lol

yeah thats why I would love a link to the strong rumor that was mentioned.

Schantal · July 2016

jackjack_k wrote: »

The Sims 3 was the worst of the first 3 games (critically and commercially) and its biggest features were Open World and CASt.

Clearly they weren't enough to sell the game, so EA scrapped them as "selling points" of the franchise.

The Sims 2 sold over 20 million on all platforms as of 2007(?) while the Sims 3 halfed that and sold over 10 million as of 2014 on all platforms (it was also released to more platforms too).

While it would be good to have those things (if they actually worked and Devs made them work), EA has a clear sales stratergy.
If something doesn't work, or sell the game, they often choose to remove it, than to make it work.

Open World's issues, CAST's lag issues, SimCity's online issues, The Sims Urbz flopping (even though the reason why it flopped was because the Sims 2 overshadowed it) etc. I could go on.

If EA make another Sims game, my #1 prediction is that Multitasking will not be in the game as it is in 4.
They will program more options individually for certain objects (eg. Listening to music while cooking). But they will remove it as a default for the entire game.

Lol!! What? This isn't true AT ALL, it was the best selling sims game of all time. I posted the statistics several times (and no, I am not talking about some random Wiki page either). I won't post them again because its redundant, but this is simply false information and not true lol.

SnowWolf58 · July 2016

mmt3363 wrote: »

As much as I hate to say it, I really don't care anymore if there is a Sims 5. I don't particularly care if Sims 4 continues to do well or not (though more than likely, it'll be a not in my opinion at the rate things have been going). I have returned to Sims 3 pretty much exclusively (with a little Sims Medieval every now and then) and only really peek in this forum every now and then to see if ANYTHING has changed. (Spoiler alert: nothing has.)

TS4 is an okay game if you look at it for what it is rather than what it's missing. It's pretty. It runs smoothly. It has enjoyable features in their own right. But none of it is a game changer for me the way TS3 was. TS3 changed the way I played, it changed my expectations for the series, it broadened my horizons for what I thought a life simulator could be. Even with the glitchiness and issues with TS3's engine, it is still, in my opinion, a much more immersive and imaginative game series than any other Sims game past or present. I'll gladly play the Sims 3 till I die if EA/Maxis never provides me with something better.

Really I could wax poetic about TS3 indefinitely, but TS3 isn't why I have gotten to the "don't know, don't care" attitude towards TS4 series. That attitude is thanks to how the current series is being handled by the sims team and the company at large.

The near radio silence that they have held about the game since launch, the attitude certain gurus use when communicating that continued silence to the community, the over the top amount of stuff packs released compared to the nearly nonexistent amount of expansions, the snails pace the series seems to be moving at, the refusal to confirm or deny whether toddlers are possible, the insulting and callous way higher ups within the sims team have addressed the issues of "missing" content such as toddlers in TS4, the lack of developer walkthroughs, just the general feeling that this time around the gurus honestly aren't as devoted and in love with the series as their fans and the lack of passion for the game that comes across to me when they DO talk about it, and the way that the forums seem to nearly be policed to suppress as much critisim and negative feedback as humanly possible (like critical toned topics about TS4 getting booted to TS3 general discussion and other lesser surfed sections of the forums, for example).

It all leaves a terribly bad taste in my mouth. Why should I care about the fate of a game that's developers and producers don't care about my enjoyment and investment as a customer? That doesn't see the point in keeping me well informed of new and potential content? That refuses to answer questions that I and many other simmers have been asking since before launch?

To me, the answer is I shouldn't care. I don't work my plum off and make money to fork it over to a company that has made it quite clear where I stand with them. I don't feel that I owe them my support when they seem to have a total dismissive disdain for the questions and concerns of those who have made their jobs possible to begin with, so they will get my apathy until they give me something to care about again.

That's just my two cents.

THIS is very well-written and exactly how I feel as well. So glad that it's already written so all I have to do is quote it. Sims 3 was a progression from Sims 1 & 2. Sims 4 is an entirely different world that is so barren and empty along w/being many steps backwards.

Jerrello · July 2016

NoahBangs wrote: »

Ea themselves have said that if The Sims 4 flops, there will be no Sims 5. It will be the end of the franchise.

My prediction is that if they don't return open world and everything that made the Sims 3 great, that's it for the Sims.

I don't think open world at this point is possible with the Sims 4. I can even admit that open world made sims 3 feel kinda empty a lot times. If they could manage to run the game fluidly with a healthy amount of steady traffic then great..otherwise..what's the point?

The problem is EA keeps giving us a bunch of objects that substitute for gameplay. The gameplay in Sims 4 is too predictable, safe, and watered down. There is no excitement, mystery, or edge anywhere to be found.

MarmarSims · July 2016

Sims 5 might happen, because of the success of the game packs, stuff packs and Expansion packs. Of course, there would be.
Maybe we'll have to wait another 5 years..? I'm 16 by then.

Because remember, making games costs money

Open worlds? You would want to wait for 60 minutes or 1 hour loading screen..? I don't, but, there's actually a little open world inside the game.
If you live next to a park, you can go there without loading screens. Which is kinda nice.

rshell193 · July 2016

If the Sims in the Sims 3 looked like the Sims in the Sims 4, I would play the third one honestly

GypsyPrince · July 2016

It looks to me like the franchise is slowly dying. It's getting there at least

halimali1980 · July 2016

if it ends then let it be, better than dragging the franchise into a mud of failures.

Maybe one day another company will take up the work and do a real life simulation.

king_of_simcity7 · July 2016

'If The Sims 4 fails then there would be no The Sims 5'

Well lets hope that everyone (other than me) buys everything TS4 related 'because it has The Sims name on it' and then there will be enough funds for TS5.

But they need not to worry, as when TS5 comes, a few (not all) players will drop TS4 and buy TS5 anyway.

Because... It has... The Sims... on it...

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The fate of the Sims franchise

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